Never Ending (in editing as of 2018)

Chapter 8: Gone

Tara's POV

The wind blows my hair in front of my face. The sun disappears behind the clouds. I sit on a park bench and stare at my feet. Nobody's out walking or at the park and the streets are even empty. I decide that this walk was pointless and stand to leave when something stops me. The rustling of a bush mixed with another cold draft of wind, but the main thing that stopped me is the crunching of leaves beneath feet.

"Surprised you aren't with that boy," a voice says. I turn around immediately and bump into a firm body. My wrists are grabbed tightly and I shake my arms to try and get free. I look up at the person holding me and it's Mr. O'Hair.

"You made a big mistake," He growls. "Now I've lost my two best employees."

"So what? Blake is going to be in jail. He deserved it," I snarl. The man laughs.

"My son isn't my only loss," he explains.

"What do you mean?" I ask. My voice wavers but the question comes out harsher than I intended.

"Eli," he says. "Such a good worker. It's really a shame that he backed out a few months ago."

There's no way Eli sold drugs. He would've told me when he told me everything else. I pull in a shaky breath.

"Prove it." My voice quivers. Mr. O'Hair laughs.

"Just watch. Eli will know exactly where to find you. It's the perfect trap," he explains. "You really didn't know?"

I gulp and shake my head no.

"Him and my son always brought in the most business," he says. "Now he's in jail and Eli quit. The only people on my team are losers."

Mr. O'Hair pulls me up against his chest. Even though I've never been around drugs, the smell of them were prominent on him. I refuse to look up at him and to feel overpowered by his glower. My gaze stays fixed on his chest.

"I need you to get them back," he growls.

My eyes widen in fear and I try to turn and run. He pulls me into him again and my back meets the front of him. His arms cross over my chest tightly and they squeeze, making it harder to breathe. I dig my fingernails into his forearms and he hisses in pain, but he doesn't release me.

I smack my elbows into his stomach again and again and rock my body back and forth, trying to get his grip to loosen.

After letting my struggle drag on, he brings his hand up and slaps the side of my head hard. I stagger in his hold and push against him harder. Then, I feel pressure build up in my arm.

I pull my eyebrows together as the noises around me falter and then my vision starts to get blurry. I pull weakly against Mr. O'Hair one last time, knowing that it would do nothing.

If I don't make it through whatever is happening to me, at least I went down with a fight.

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Eli's POV

I lied in Tara's bed for almost an hour with no response from her. I didn't think anything of it until I heard her mom come upstairs and tell Tom that dinner was ready.

I text Tara again but the message doesn't go through. I jump out of her bed immediately and run across the hall to Tom's room. I pound on the door until it swings open and I come face to face with Emily, who steps aside to let me in.

"It's Tara," I say. My voice comes out deep and shaky as I claw at my hair.

"What happened?" Tom asks as he gets out of bed.

"I need to know where Abigail lives."

"What happened?" Tom growls as he pulls on a clean t-shirt.

"I don't know," I exclaim as I pull out my phone. "She hasn't answered me in almost two hours, and my last text message didn't go through."

"She left by herself?" Tom asks. I nod, feeling disappointed in myself. I should've just gone with her, even if she didn't want me to.

"I'm coming with," Tom says. "I know where Abigail lives."

A sick thought occurs to me. If John found her after leaving the police station, then she's in real danger.

"This might not be safe. You need to stay with Emily. You can't leave her and the baby," I explain.

"She's my sister," he says. "I'm coming."

I sigh, knowing he won't take no for an answer.

"Let's go," I say. Tom kisses Emily good-bye and I run down the stairs to the front door. Tara's mom walks out of the kitchen as Tom thunders down the stairs.

"What's going on?" she asks as she wipes her hands on a dish towel.

"Nothing, Mom. We'll be right back," Tom says as he swings open the front door.

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Tara's POV

My eyes fly open but meet darkness. Wherever I'm at is dark and smells of musty sweat.
I look down at myself and feel around my body with my hands. My shirt has newly torn holes all over the surface and my bra is barely covering my chest. I adjust my top and feel around me for my pants as well. I find them pooled around my ankles and go to pull my arms down to grab them, but I'm yanked back. A rope rubs against my wrists and I lean up against a cold wall which I'm attached to. I whimper in pain from the rope's burn and feel around with my fingers to see if I could get free.

A door to my right flies open, stopping me. Light pools in the open doorway and I blink to stop the burning from it.

"Oh, good, you're awake. I want you to remember this. It won't hurt just you," Mr. O'Hair growls. I bite my lip in order to keep from yelling out or cursing at him so much that my mom would probably disown me.

"Why am I here?" I whisper instead.

"I'm going to die if my company falls apart. I need Eli back so I might as well get him by taking what's his," he says.

I know there's no hope in being rescued. Eli thinks I'm at Abigail's. I even told him I got there safely. I ignore Mr. O'Hair's approaching footsteps.

"It's a shame, really. You're a pretty one," he says, dragging a finger across my cheek.

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Eli's POV

Tom leads me a few blocks away and we stop running in front of a tall brick house.

"This is it?" I ask, gasping for breath. Tom nods. I run to the front door and pound on it quickly. A short lady answers, looking shocked.

"Can I talk to Abigail?" I ask her.

"Um, sure," she responds and turns from the door. The lady calls for Abigail and she comes walking down the stairs.

"Oh, hey, Tom, Eli," Abigail says as her mom walks away. She was acting completely normal despite the fact that I never talk to her and we've only ever had contact because of a school project we did last year.

"Tara's here, right?" I ask. She furrows her eyebrows in confusion

"No," Abigail says. I clutch my arm and turn away, breathing deeply. I should've been more prepared.

"Eli?" she asks, but I ignore her. I press my palm to my forehead.

"Do you know where she is?" Tom asks.

"I haven't seen her since school." My blood runs cold. It's even worse now that Tara lied to me. She said she got there safely, but she never even arrived. I feel like throwing up or killing someone.

"Eli?" Tom asks, grabbing my shirt sleeve. I look at him and his face is pale but his eyes are angry.

"We gotta go now," I say to Tom and take off down the street.

"Eli!" Tom yells, running after me. I'm already on my way to where I need to be, if I'm correct.