Page 29 of Burn Me Down

“What the hell has gotten into you,” I snapped back, surprising myself.

“Either put it on yourself, or I put it on for you.”

I was tempted to make him do it, but I figured that was pressing my luck. “Are you going to kill me?”

“No.”

That one word should be comforting, but my heart pounded harder. I pulled the hood on and tied it into place. He took my arm and ushered me across the room.

“Hold up.” I could hear him moving around. What was he doing? He touched my leg. “Lift your foot.” I did as he asked, and he put my shoe on. This really wasn’t good. Where the hell was he taking me? “Okay, let’s go.”

He grabbed my arm and led me through what felt like endless darkness. The ground went from hard to soft, like grass, to rough and uneven.

“Give me your arms.” He tugged them behind my back, and the unmistakable zip of plastic ties secured my arms. My pulse pounded harder as a vehicle door opened, and he helped me up and inside. “Lay down.”

As soon as he got in, I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe,” was all he said before we were on the move. Did that mean the police were coming and we needed to leave? What did he consider safe?

No music was playing, and I couldn’t see any streetlights through the hood. Was he taking me out to the middle of nowhere to shoot me and be done with it? I was so sure there was good in him. I saw the battle raging in his eyes, one that pained him and touched me, but fear made it difficult to think of anything other than my impending death. Just the material touching my face was almost too much. I was choking as a panic attack threatened to consume all rational thought.

No, stop it. He said he wasn’t going to kill you.

We slowed down, pulling into someplace before what I figured was a truck came to a stop. He got out and opened the back door, and a bright light pierced the black hood. Grabbing me under the arms, he pulled me out like I weighed nothing and set me on my feet.

“Hold still,” he ordered, and I managed not to jump at the sound of a knife flicking open. My dad used to fish so I knew that sound well.

With a quick slice, he freed my hands and then pulled the hood from my head. I looked around and recognized the entrance to the state park.

“There is an emergency phone over there,” he said, folding the knife and putting it in his pocket. “I made sure it works.” Pulling a small satin baggie out of his pocket like we were in the 1800s, he handed it over. “There is enough money in there to get home and get food if you’re hungry.”

“I don’t understand,” I said as he grabbed a large duffel from the truck bed and dropped it at my feet. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Like you’re letting me go?”

“You would be correct.”

“But….” I looked around, panic setting in. My reaction made no sense. I knew it didn’t, but I couldn’t let him drive off. Whatever it was that drove me was screaming not to let him go.

“But what?” His hand rested on the truck door. “This is what you wanted. You wanted me to let you go. That’s why you tried to knee me and escape. Well, here you go. You can call your friend, the police, or the president if you want. Tomorrow, you can return to work and your routine as if nothing ever happened. Consider it a few days of forced rest. You needed it anyway.”

I knew that the moment he pulled out of the driveway, I would never see him again. He couldn’t leave like this. He closed the door, and it could only be a moment of temporary insanity that came over me as I ran in front of the truck and put my hands on the hood. He revved the engine, but I glared at him through the windshield and refused to move.

“What the hell are you doing?” He yelled out the driver’s side window. I hated that he was still wearing the leather mask.

“I said I was sorry. Did you not get my note?”

“Yes, I did, but that doesn’t explain why you’re in my way.”

“You can’t just leave me here, not now.”

“You’re confusing the fuck out of me. I took you against your will. I kidnapped you. That should be reason enough for you to run over to the phone and call the police.”

“I don’t understand this either, but you can’t go.” That was the truth. There were simply no words to explain what I was feeling. It made zero sense, and if Vi saw me, she would shake me and drag me out of the way as she called the police.

“Yes, I can, and I’m going. Now get the hell out of the way, or I’ll tie you to the emergency phone post.”