The last thing I see before the darkness claims me is the hallway tilting sideways, my body suddenly weightless as Eli lifts me into his arms.
Then nothing.
Pain. That’s the first sensation that filters through. A throbbing ache at the side of my head that pulses in time with my heartbeat. I try to reach for it, to touch the source of the pain, but my hands won’t move. They’re stuck behind my back, something biting into my wrists when I try to separate them.
Zip ties. The realization seeps through the fog in my brain. My hands are bound with zip ties.
I try to call out, to ask what’s happening, but my voice catches on something in my mouth. Fabric, wadded tightagainst my tongue, secured with what feels like tape across my lips. A gag.
My eyes snap open, panic surging through me, but there’s nothing to see. Just darkness, complete and disorienting. I’m lying on my side on a hard surface that vibrates beneath me. The air is stale, hot, and there’s barely enough room to move. Every few seconds, the whole space jolts, my body bouncing painfully against the unforgiving surface.
A trunk. I’m in a car trunk.
The realization hits me like another blow to the head. Eli has me. He’s taken me from the house. We’re driving somewhere.
I try to control my breathing, to fight down the panic threatening to choke me around the gag. Think, Lila. Think. My feet are bound too; I can feel the same plastic cutting into my ankles when I try to move them. The space is too small to maneuver, barely big enough for me to lie curled on my side.
How long have I been out? Minutes? Hours? The side of my head throbs, and I can feel something sticky in my hair. Blood, probably. The car hits a bump, and I’m thrown against the side of the trunk, a muffled cry escaping around the gag as pain lances through my already injured head.
Anthony. The thought of him returning to the house, finding the boxes but not me, sends a fresh wave of panic through me. Will he know what happened? Will he realize Eli has taken me? Or will he think I’ve changed my mind, run away, abandoned him?
The car slows, the change in momentum sliding me forward slightly. Are we stopping? Where has he taken me? Fear claws at my throat as possibilities flash through mymind, each worse than the last. Is he going to kill me? Hurt me? Take me somewhere no one will ever find me?
We make a turn, the force of it pressing me against the side of the trunk. Then another. The road beneath us changes, I can feel it in the vibrations, smoother now, like we’ve moved from a highway to a smaller road.
I strain my ears, trying to hear anything beyond the rumble of the engine and the rush of blood in my head. Music filters through faintly, something classical, piano notes rising and falling. Eli’s music. He always played it when he was angry but trying to control himself. The sound of it now makes my stomach clench with remembered fear.
The car slows again, then stops completely. The engine cuts off, and silence falls. I hold my breath, straining to hear what comes next. A car door opens and closes. Footsteps on gravel, coming around to the back of the car.
A key in the lock. Metal against metal. And then….
Light floods the trunk as the lid opens, blinding me after the complete darkness. I squint against it, my eyes watering, trying to make out Eli’s silhouette against the dimming sky behind him. He must have been driving through the night.
“Home sweet home,” he says, reaching down to grab my bound ankles. “For now. Tomorrow you’ll find out just how tainted my love is.”
He drags me toward him, my body scraping painfully along the rough carpet of the trunk. When I’m halfway out, he hoists me up, throwing me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing. The blood rushes to my already aching head, and for a moment, I think I might pass out again.
As he carries me, I catch glimpses of our surroundings. A gravel driveway, trees thick around us, no other housesin sight. A cabin, rustic and isolated, looms ahead of us. We’re in the middle of nowhere.
No one knows where I am. Not Anthony, not Mia, not Valerie. No one will find me here.
As Eli kicks open the cabin door and carries me inside. Harshly dropping me on the livingroom floor, one thought crystalizes through the fear and pain:
I might not survive this time.
37
Anthony
Ipush the frontdoor open with my foot, arms loaded with empty boxes. “Lila? I think I got more than enough boxes this time,” I call out, stepping into the foyer. The house is quiet. Too quiet. Something feels off right away, like the air itself has changed since I left. “Lila?” I call again, setting the boxes down by the door. No answer comes back, just the hollow echo of my voice bouncing off the walls.
A chill runs down my spine as I take another step into the house. My eyes scan the entryway, looking for any sign of her. That’s when I see it, a dark smear on the hardwood floor. Small, but unmistakable. Blood.
“Lila!” I shout, my voice cracking with sudden panic. I run toward the library, feet pounding against the floor, heart hammering in my chest. “LILA!”
The library door stands open, just as I left it. Inside, the boxes she’d started packing while I was gone only have a few books inside. Some books are scattered on thefloor near one of the shelves, as if dropped in a hurry. The lavender chair where I’d made love to her just an hour ago sits empty, the throw blanket half on the floor.
I spin around, rushing back into the hallway. “Lila, where are you?” My voice echoes through the empty house, mocking me with its empty return. I check every room on the first floor. Kitchen, dining room, living room. Nothing. No sign of her.
