Taken

Chapter 1

I woke up with a groan of pain, my eyes slamming shut against the sharp sunlight that hit my eye through the old and broken blinds covering the window. I didn't dare try to fix or raise them, knowing they would only break further. They were on their last leg and it was becoming a struggle to move them without them breaking apart to open the molding window behind. It became necessary in the summer so it didn't feel like I was being cooked alive inside this cramped room that felt claustrophobic at times.

I used to come in here to hide for the first two decades of my life. For the last seven years, I had been trying to escape it and the life that chained me to it. Well, as much as I could. The only time I returned, was after work to catch some sleep.

My stomach rolled with the contents of last night's dinner. A liquid dinner that consisted of cheap booze that gave me a temporary escape from a life that I was too afraid to walk away from despite being a grown woman. A grown broke woman who could barely afford groceries after paying bills that never held my name. The ones listed were too busy getting high and burning through money that could be put to better use. Though, they wouldn't think of it as that.

That didn't stop me from trying though. The measly amount I had managed to gather wasn't enough. But, even if I managed to save enough money and muster up enough courage for it to outweigh the fear of old threats and physical consequences, I wouldn't have just been able to walk away from this hellhole and leave everything bad behind. The bad wouldn't be all that was left behind.

I wasn't willing to abandon the good.

I turned my head, pressing it into a cool part of my worn pillow to try to ease the throbbing pain I felt behind my eyes. I welcomed the cool autumn air that had my body shivering and goosebumps rising on my skin. It helped alleviate the urge to empty my stomach but had me pulling my blanket up to my chin in search of warmth. The room I called mine was a second thought that had been added to the main ranch-style house and had originally been a small office. It wasn't connected to the heat that the rest of the house enjoyed and my space heater had broken last winter.

I let out a sigh, finding solace in the knowledge that the furnace was located in the basement. At least he wasn't at risk of freezing to death.

The little comfort I had found was quickly shattered by the muted sound of clashing dishes. My eyes snapped open as my body grew rigid. Another hard bang from the other side of my shut door had me jerking upright. The old blanket that had been providing me with little warmth dropped to pool in my lap as red numbers glared back at me from the single nightstand in my room that I had found on the curb with a 'for free' sign years ago.

Shit.

I swallowed hard and pushed up off my bed which consisted of a twin mattress and box spring on the floor, and reached for my cracked phone that sat beside the digital clock. The headache and nausea weren't all that had me regretting drinking a little too much last night after getting off work. Accidentally sleeping in had me considering maybe it was time to go sober for a while. I had been having a few too many close calls these past few weeks with my unhealthy means of trying to cope with a miserable life growing into an increasingly reoccurring bad habit, but this was the first time I had slept through my alarm. Or forgot to set one.

I cursed under my breath as I shoved my almost dead phone into the pocket of the jeans I had passed out in. Not only did I forget about the alarm, but I had also forgotten to charge it.

Throwing on the first sweatshirt I could find on the floor, I rushed for the door before the sounds making their way through had more time to grow angrier. I shut the door behind me and made my way down the hallway silently, avoiding all the creeks in the floorboards that I had cataloged to memory. I peered into my parent's room which was cracked open to see it was empty. The door to the ensuite inside was shut and the water was running. Sadly, I couldn't tell who was inside and couldn't make a guess based on the sounds from down the hall that had gone silent just before I had stepped out. It made me wish I had panicked less and listened more.