Page 21 of Grace

Mr. Miller seemed to forget Chase was standing right there—he looked at me as if he’d been on a diet and I was a dessert full of calories. A dessert so delicious it would be worth weeks of guilt.

Chase studied his face, then glanced at me. His breath caught, and his Adam’s apple shifted, his jaw tightening. When he turned back to my teacher, there was a dark fire in his eyes, as if someone had cranked the heat to maximum in the middle of summer.

He shoved himself away from the door and slammed it shut. Locking me in.

I heard something thud against the side of the van. I screamed.

What the hell?

I released the interior latch, pushed the doors open, and tumbled out of the cargo hold. I hit the hot, sand-covered ground.

A warm, sticky liquid pooled beneath my fingers. I shook my head, forcing my hair out of my eyes.

Mr. Miller lay motionless on the ground, a deep gash—more than an inch long—split across his head. Dark blood poured from the wound.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, nausea crawling up my throat, tears stinging my eyes.

“What have you done?” I screamed.

“Grace.”

He stepped toward me, blocking my escape. I scrambled away on the ground like a worm, but I didn’t get far. My palm throbbed, and my head spun, full of adrenaline threatening to make it explode. After only a few feet, Chase scooped me up as if I were a child.

“Let me go! Put me down!” I screamed, pounding my fists against him.

The next moment, I was in the air.

Chase hurled me back into the van’s cargo space, beside Mr. Miller, whose eyes had opened. His vacant, lifeless stare fixed on me.

My stomach twisted violently. Bitter bile surged up my throat and flooded my mouth. I gagged—and vomited loudly onto Mr. Miller’s white pants, sobbing and coughing at the same time.

Chase stepped on the gas, and took a sharp turn, throwing me against the metal wall of the cargo space. Mr. Miller’s limp body crashed into my bicycle.

My body convulsed. Vomit—and Mr. Miller’s blood—splattered my face. I was trembling with shock, until the only sound I was capable of making left my mouth.

“Help!”

But the roar of the engine swallowed my voice. My mouth burned with bitterness, and my vocal cords felt raw as acid scorched my esophagus. I was covered in bodily fluids, I felt filthy. Still, I forced myself to focus and managed to pry the latch open. I wanted to jump from the moving vehicle.

Chase must have seen the door flailing in the wind. He pulled over abruptly, sprinted to the back, and yanked me into the cargo space.

“Let me go!” I screamed.

I kicked and thrashed wildly, accomplishing nothing except making him angry.

Something hard struck the back of my head. Everything went black.

When I came to my senses, a sharp, unbearable pain shuddered through my body. I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a blinding flash in the dim light.

My body was numb.

I was dizzy.

He’s kidnapped me.

The realization sent my heart racing.

I looked around, blinking. The back of my head throbbed, my eyes burned, and my body felt rigid and senseless, like a piece of dry bark—dry bark imprisoning my soul.