Was that really why he’d murdered her in cold blood in front of me?
“It wasn’t about the outfit, Milo. It was a test to see if you would be good andlistento me. A test that you very clearly failed… Besides, Melanie Larson was never going to get a free pass. You just gave me an excuse to kill her sooner than I’d originally planned.”
“I-I don’t…Whoareyou? Why are you doing this to me?
“Shh, don’t worry about that right now. If everything goes according to plan, you’ll know soon enough. Right now, I need you to pay attention. Can you do that for me?”
I found myself nodding as he used his thumb to brush away one of my tears.
Anxiety curled in my stomach. The tender way he was touching me was somehow scarier than if he’d been violent.
I was tied helplessly to my bed while a murderous stranger touched me however he freaking wanted.
So messed up.
Why was I so cursed?
I choked on a sob as he pulled back and slid his phone out of his pocket. I noticed he’d attached the chilli pepper charm he’d stolen from Melanie to an anchor on the phone case. It swung gently in the dark, mocking me, as he turned the screen to face me.
It took a second for my brain to register what he was showing me, and once I did, my blood went cold.
“No…”I breathed.
“Yes. That’s your mother, isn’t it?” the stranger asked, histone low and dark.
And sure enough, there she was. She was in an unfamiliar bedroom, reading what looked like a gardening magazine.
I scanned the footage in horror, desperately looking for something that I could use to tell the police that might help them find her, but there was nothing. No window. Just a comfortable-looking bed, ship lap walls, and a wooden floor.
I began to violently shake, and the man quickly stuffed the phone back in his pocket. He pinched my jaw firmly beneath his fingers as I began to cry.
He’s kidnapped my mother.
He was holding my very sick, very confused motherHOSTAGE!
What was I going to do!?
My heart rate spiked, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Panic completely took over my body, and I heaved as I fought to stay in control. My eyes were so wide theyhurt,and my lungs were aching. I could only seem to be able to draw in air through short, agonizing bursts.
“Shit… fuckingbreathe,Milo…”
I was fully gone. I couldn’t catch my breath. The room was closing in on me, and my chest heaved in short bursts as I struggled to inhale.
“Fuck…” my captor cursed. Suddenly, he wasn’t sitting next to me anymore.
He was untying me.
I felt more than saw the restraints fall away from my ankles. I was still struggling to breathe past the vacuum in my chest when he expertly undid the knots at my wrists. Once I was free, my instinct was to curl up into a tight ball to ride the panic attack out, but the man wouldn’t let me.
Instead, he guided me into a sitting position and gently pressed my head between my knees.
“Breathe, Milo. In through your nose, and out through your mouth. Come on… You can do it…inhale… exhale…”
He coached me through my panic attack while gently rubbing soothing circles into my back.
I wanted him to stop touching me.
I wanted to scream at him to get away from me, to get the fuck out of myhouse…
