Force You Down

Chapter Six

Jacklyn

The next couple days pass by in a blur, until Monday morning at ten a.m. where I'm helping Allan put all of his belongings in his car.

"Mom and dad should be here any minute, so you won't be alone for long. Sorry for leaving so early." Allan says as he hugs me goodbye.

"No worries, I know you don't want to talk to either of them at the moment. Thank you for staying with me." I thank him, and he gives me a small smile before crouching into his car and pulling out of the driveway. I bolt back inside, making sure all of the doors were locked. I stroll into the living room and put on an episode of a Family Guy.

Five minutes pass and I hear someone jiggling the front door doorknob. I jump to my feet and run into the kitchen, pulling out the biggest knife we own. I hold it out in front of me and creep down the hallway, watching the doorknob. Someone is trying to jam the key in the door and when the lock finally clicks they push open the door. My heart is pounding and I tighten my grip on the knife. I want to cry in relief when my mom walks in holding all of her bags in her arms. She sees me and gives me an incredulous look.

"What are you doing Jacklyn?" She asks, and my dad comes in behind and stares at me too.

"Sorry if I'm a little on edge, someone did try to abduct me two days in a row." I snap sarcastically, pivoting on my heel and putting the knife back. They follow me into the kitchen.

"What is the matter with you?" Dad asks, and I roll my eyes.

"You know what isn't fair? Treating your three older children with love and care and with your youngest put your job before her." I snarl, and they both look taken aback. "I could've been raped, successfully kidnapped, or killed, and even knowing that you guys continued to work and half heartedly send me a text. I need a new phone by the way." I'm slightly out of breath by the time I finish. My parents stare at me in shock.

"Honey, you know we couldn't have left-" I cut Mom off.

"Yes, you could've. That's what any normal parents with a child in danger would do." I rub my temples tiredly. "Can we please just get a new phone? I'm not going anywhere without one." Dad sighs and nod, so I walk past them and to my room, quickly changing in a pair of high-waisted shorts and a crop top. I fix my messy bun so it looks slightly more presentable. I don't bother with makeup. I skip back downstairs, where my parents are waiting for me by the front door. We don't speak for the entire ride, until we stop outside of a diner.

"Breakfast?" I ask and Dad nods, giving me a small smile. We walk inside, where we're instantly seated and given menus. Having already been there before and knowing what I wanted, I close my menu and look around the restaurant. I see an elderly couple eating and holding hands across the table. My heart swells with admiration.

I hear the bell on the entrance doors tinkle and watched as the waitress guided three men into the table beside us. As they sit down, one of them makes eye contact with me and my stomach instantly plummets.

Mike. You've got to be kidding.

He smirks at me and I turn to my parents quickly to notify them. "Mom." I whisper, my eyes flickering back to Mike. He shakes his head at me, reaching into his leather jacket and giving me a peek of his pistol. I look away and back at my mom who's look at me expectantly.

"Nevermind." I say, goosebumps crawling all over my skin even though it was hot as hell outside. The waitress comes to our table and asks for our order. When she leaves I glance back to Mike, who's already smirking at me. I turn my head quickly and pretend to look outside, my heart racing and my palms sweating.

I swear I'm going to have a heart attack one of these days.

In about five minutes we're served our food and I avoid looking at Mike, even though I can feel his eyes burning into me the entire time. My parents are talking amongst themselves and I pretend to listen, deep in my own thoughts.

I didn't know if and when Mike would come for me again. What if he did and I couldn't get away a third time?

My dad pays for the meal and I eagerly stand up, more than ready to leave. I unfortunately had to walk right past Mike, because a waiter was taking someone else's order on the other side of the table. I follow my parents out, keeping as close to the table as possible.

"Baby." I hear Mike coo, but I refuse to look at him. He grips my wrist and stuffs a note into my hand, and this time I look at him. His eyes are intense and look slightly wild.

"You're not leaving me again." He growls, and I rip my wrist away from him.

"Fuck you, you sick piece of shit." I spit at him, and as I walk away I can hear him and his gang laughing and whistling.

"Soon babygirl, soon." Mike calls after me, and I practically run out of there, catching up to my parents. I squeeze the note in my hand as I crawl into the backseat and buckle myself in. As Mom drives to the nearest T-Mobile store and Dad scrolls through Facebook, I quietly open the paper.

6.19.17

Be ready babygirl, because you're not getting away a third time. Don't bother telling your parents, because I will shoot them in the head like I did with Raphael and make you watch.

That was tomorrow. I shut my eyes and rub my face. I crumple it up into a ball, roll down my window and throw it out.

The rest of the day passes by, completely out of it for the majority of it. I start up my new phone, texting Grace that I was okay, with her immediately texting back telling me that she would FaceTime me later that night.

I thought of how I could avoid getting kidnapped again and keeping my parents safe. I didn't want to stay with Grace with the possibility of her getting hurt.

I could rent a hotel tonight in the busy, safer part of the city and stay there all day tomorrow, and just tell my parents that I was staying with Grace and wouldn't be back until Wednesday. Yeah, that'll work.

I ask my parents and they naturally say yes, so I pack an overnight bag, a few books, some food, an empty water bottle, and a wallet full of cash. I got into my car, and locked it, driving out of the neighborhood and into the city. The sun is setting as I park in front of a hotel, grabbing my bag and locking my car. I walk inside the average hotel and walk up to the front desk.

"Hi, how much is it for a two night stay?" I ask the front desk man politely.

Looking bored, he sighs as if I were a nuisance. "$100 for one night, and you need to leave by 12:00 on Wednesday."

"Thank you, could I get a room for two nights?" He rolls his eyes and gives me a room key, giving him $200 in return. I walk to the elevator, and push my floor number in once I'm inside. I'm on the third floor, room 233. I unlock my hotel room door and walk inside, locking the door immediately. The room is small and isn't the most fancy, but I wasn't staying for long.

I change into my typical nightwear and get ready for bed, seeing that it's nine o'clock. I lay in the stiff bed and turn on the TV, flicking through the random shows. Eventually I fall asleep, my phone on the charger right beside me.

Wednesday passes by achingly slow, and I brought food with me so I didn't have to leave my room. I switched between reading, watching TV, or scrolling through every type of social media on my phone. At five p.m., my mom texts me.

Hey sweetie, a friend of yours stopped by the house just now, I think his name is Mickey? I told him you were at friends house for the day. Thought I would let you know <3

My heart stops as I read the message over and over again. Mike almost got me, and my parents. He tricked my mom.

I step out of bed and made sure the hotel door was locked and so was the window, closing the blinds and curtains.

I sit back on the bed, and hug myself. I was so tired of this. What did he want? Did he just want to kidnap me, rape me, and then leave me for dead? I become increasingly more paranoid for the rest of the day.

Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep.