Kidnapped

You're Not in Trouble Until You're Caught (Revised)

I didn't go back downstairs for fear that my dad wasn't really finished with me yet. It was the worst I had ever gone through. Skip was there to watch. And laugh. He always loved to see what new things my dad liked to try on me when my dad punished me. Shudders racked my body. I slumped against the wall and slid down into a sitting position.

Ashley was right. Freedom came at the cost of running away. Escape meant facing the world with the knowledge of my past. Not a day would go by that I wouldn't have to look over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't there. Nowhere would be safe. Where would I go? With no money and no living relatives that I knew of, escape seemed almost pointless. But that didn't change the fact that I needed to get out.

My body still ached from my most recent session in the basement. I wanted to forget it all; the torture, the screaming, the pain. I wanted to forget the girls brought into my life by my dad. I wanted to forget my mother and what I did to her; what I almost did to Ashley. Everything around me was screwed up or twisted in one way or another.

Everything but Ashley.

Visions of my personal Hell melted away and Ashley's face replaced them. I thought back to the moment when she kissed me. I had been so shocked that I couldn't feel it at first, but when I recalled it to memory, I could almost feel everything again. The beat in my chest drummed harder against my ribs but it wasn't fear that fueled it; the thought of her lips on mine inspired something beautiful in me. Her body felt warm against me and her touch was soft enough to melt away the bad in the world, if only for a moment.

Stop being so dramatic, I scolded myself.

I sat with my back against the wall to brood. It seemed like an eternity had passed before I returned to her. Ashley looked up at me, startled at first.

"Okay," I said, "let's do it."

The straps hardly contained her sudden outburst of joy. She squealed quietly and excitement burned in her eyes while I undid her restraints with trembling hands. The moment they were free, her arms wrapped around my neck in a quick embrace.

"Let's go!" She grabbed my hand and started for the door.

"Are you nuts?" I tugged her away from the door and kept my voice low. "We can't just go now. They are still down there. If they see us they'll-." The end of that sentence didn't need to pass my lips. Whatever horrors those two men could cook up were best left to the imagination. Even then, the wildest nightmares might not compare to what they could think up. Capture meant a fate worse than death, worse than anything I had ever known. This girl knew nothing of pain.

Not yet.

Paranoia crept into the back of my mind and prodded my thoughts down a dark path. How could the two of us escape? Who were we to succeed where so many others had failed? With or without my help, the risk was too great to even consider taking. Regret twisted my stomach in cold knots. I should've said no.

I stepped away from her to think easier, but she didn't let go of my hand. I rubbed my forehead and grunted in frustration. Backing out wasn't an option. Once 'yes' passed my lips, my fate was sealed. Even if I did back out, the girl might feel vengeful and tell my dad that I even considered running.

I took my hand away from her and ran it through my hair. The moment I did, Ashley planted a soft kiss on my cheek and my breath hitched in my throat.

Despite all the risks, escape could mean a life with her.

Stop thinking that.