Should have known better

4 No More

K  would disappear for several days. Once after a long absence, he brought in a small refrigerator and food.
"Here's what you get when you are a good girl," he told her.
She was glad she didn't have to wait for him to show up to eat anymore. There were times she went days without eating. At least now, she could make a sandwich.

K continued to drug Abby and rape her whenever he wanted. She had become numb to it. At least she was mostly unconscious and the rapes were like dreams. He was never hit her or hurt her, which was weird. He was gentle. Afterwards, he would run a nice, warm soapy bath.  Maybe in another life, it would have been pleasurable. 

Abby wondered what her family must be thinking about her disappearance. K had brought her a newspaper and she saw that it had been 6 months that he had held her captive. She wanted to know if anyone was looking for her and asked K.  
He gave her a newspaper from the week she disappeared.
Local Woman Missing
Abby Parker of Greenville has been reported missing. Her vehicle was found abandoned at Luigi's Italian. Ms. Parker is recently divorced. Her ex-husband has been cleared. Foul play is suspected.

Abby asked K how long he was going to keep her. He didn't answer. He stood up and left locking they heavy door behind him. He always locked the door. She heard him climb the stairs and shut the cellar doors. 

That night K came busting in. He had been drinking, a lot. He grabbed Abby and threw her on the floor. He hit her hard across the face. Abby was crying. After he viciously beat her up, he said that the police had come to his work and questioned him. They found his emails on her home computer. "They wanted to know if we ever met for that lunch. I said that you were a no-show." He explained. He called her a stupid bitch for not deleting the emails. He got up and left her on the floor bleeding.
Abby laid there not moving. Her jaw hurt so bad. She thought it might be broken. She tried to get up, but there was a searing pain in her side, a cracked rib.  

Abby was finally able to pull up by the bed. As she laid there she stared at the door. Something was different.
It wasn't locked. Here was her chance. She made her way to the door and slowly opened it. There was a ladder to the right leading up to a cellar door. She quickly climbed up, ignoring the pain in her side making her way to freedom.

Running barefoot was hard. Her feet were getting abused by the acorns, rocks, and sticks. Finally,  she reached the woods. Very carefully she made her way past the brush into the safety of the trees. She ran across pine cones that tore into her feet and fell over rocks and stumps. It was torture. Suddenly, the landscape changed. The ground was wet. It was then, that she realized that she was surrounded by swamp. She was making her way across the exposed roots when she heard him leave the house. She hid behind a tree and watched as the went into the cellar an then flew back up in a rage. "ABBBBBBYYYYY!!!!" he screamed. 

Abby flew across the roots. Suddenly, everything around her lit up purple and blue. She looked down at her white t-shirt and saw it glowing bright blue. K had installed blue lights in the swamp. He would find her in no time. Abby jumped into the water and made her way to a deeper section. She was terrified at what might be lurking below, gators, snakes, snapping turtles, but she pressed on and started to swim. She found a place to crouch in some grass. She took off the shirt and panties. She rolled them up and pushed them down in the water. She got as far into the tall grass as she could. She went below the water to wet her hair. It was so cold, but she didn't care. The cold was helping her injuries. K was coming into the swamp with a flashlight. "You can't hide from me. I am going to find you," he yelled.

Abby snapped off a dead reed and used the stem as a straw. She went down under the water as far as she could using the rocks and roots to hold herself down. She used the reed as a snorkle of sorts to breathe. She could see him above the water walking with the flashlight. Abby had intertwined herself in the grass roots and could not be seen from above. She waited for what seemed like forever. Finally, the light was gone. She didn't believe he was gone so she stayed down. After several minutes, she slowly came up. She looked and listened. The only sound was a frog and some crickets. She heard him yelling back toward the house. This was her chance. She swam to the other side of the deep section where she was and climbed out. She still had the clothes,but didn't dare put them on. She slowly walked through the swamp for miles. 

Abby saw a light through the trees. She crept on and found a small house. There were lights on inside. She could smell a fire burning. There was a small barn. Across the back porch was a clothes line full of clothes. Abby sneaked over and took a dry t-shirt and put hers on the line. There was also a pair of overalls. They were big, but they would work. She also grabbed a pair of socks and started to head to the barn, when she heard the unmistakable click of of a gun. 

"Hold it right there, missie. You think you can just come in here and steal from me? Turn around," a very angry woman hissed.

Abby slowly turned around. "I am so sorry. I need help."

The woman was not impressed, "You got that right, thief. You gonna need help."

Abby tried to explain, but the woman did not want to hear it. She made Abby go into the house and sit at the kitchen table.

"You hungry?" the lady asked.

"No, m'am. I need the police. I have been kidnapped," Abby pleaded.

The woman said the police did not come out in the swamp. She would call her nephew and he would come in and take her to town. She made Abby a sandwich and a glass of milk.

"What'd you do, take a swim in the swamp? Lucky a gator didn't eat your scrawny ass. Here, eat," the woman said.

Abby ate the sandwich and drank the milk. The woman guided Abby to the couch and gave her a pillow and blanket. She went to the phone on the wall and dialed a number. "Hey, yeah, found a girl. She come out of the swamp. Tried to steal my laundry, but  I caught her. I need you to come get her in morning." The woman hung up the phone.

She told Abby to try to sleep and her nephew would be there in the morning. Abby felt very tired and quickly fell asleep, too quickly.