Gone

Chapter 15

It's been hours since he came in; hours since he caressed my cheek, and told me how much he loved me. My stomach was rumbling in hunger, and it was starting to hurt. My legs were hurting from the cord that was sinking in my skin, and my arms were tired from staying in that same position, for hours. Everything was hurting.

I've been screaming for as long as I can remember, but I stopped knowing that I would anger him into killing me just like he killed Damien. I kept moving and pulling regardless of the sounds of footsteps coming down the hall. I knew he was coming, I just didn't care. I didn't care if he was angry at the raucous I was causing, I didn't care if I had to stay here for days.

Finally, he reached my door. With a smile on his face, he opened it with a tray of food. It smelt good; better than my mom's cooking. He knew it was my favourite. Lasagna with a lot of cheese just like my mom used to make them. I remember the days where I would come down and see her covered in the sauce as she would take it out of the oven. No, I shouldn't linger in the past. I have to get out of here.

"I'm so sorry. I had to go to the store for the ingredients. I know this is your favourite."

He kneeled in front of me and grabbed a piece of lasagna from the dish. He smiled, ear to ear, and brought the fork up to my mouth.

"Oh silly me. You still have that tape around your mouth." he put the fork down and ripped the tape off. It hurts, but I knew he didn't care. He was mad at me for making so much noise, but he didn't want to show it. He grabbed the fork and brought it back to my mouth.

"Here you go." he forced a smile, waiting for me to eat it. However, I didn't.

He waited for a few seconds before dropping the fork on the dish. He sighed and looked at me with a frown.

"Why aren't you eating the food that I took the time to make?"

I didn't say anything; I just looked at him with a glare. He chuckled, his voice shaking. I knew he didn't go to sleep. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was messy, probably from tossing and turning all night.

"I'm not eating it from you." I spat.

"Well, you have to!" he yelled, scaring me. He was angry, tired and crazy. The pressure of knowing that he killed someone and kidnapped a girl for his selfish desires took a toll on him. But, a part of me thinks that he didn't care about what came next. "Please," he begged.

"Fine, but you're not feeding me."

He nodded as he got up. He untied the knot from the cord around my arms but left the ones on my feet. "After you're done eating, I'll bring you to your room." he made his way next to the door and stayed as he watched me eat my food.

If he left, I could've untied myself and run away from this place, but I knew he was smart enough to stay and watch me. I ate everything, not leaving a trace of food on the dish, and drank the glass of water that was next to the dish.

"Good girl." he smiled at me as he walked behind me to untie the knot from my ankles. He grabbed my arms tightly and brought me to my feet. It was hard to walk. My legs were sore from sitting down for as long as I could imagine, and my arms were hurting from the cords. It was more painful now because, of his grip. He helped me walk up the basement stairs until we stopped.

"I'll have to cover your eyes." he grabbed a black cloth from his pocket and tied it around my eyes so I couldn't see anything. He held my arm tightly once again and brought me to another room. I heard him close the door and lock it before holding me by the shoulders.

"I spent days building this room for us. I hope you like it," he said, happily, untying the black cloth from my eyes.

The room looked modern, and the recessed lights dimly lit it. The walls were painted grey except for one wall that had white bricks. The bed was in the middle of the room, and it was big enough for three people to sleep on.

"Do you like it?" he looked at me with a smile.

"No, not really," I said, bluntly.

He frowned at my comment before sighing.

"I know that you're mad at me for everything, but I didn't kill Damien."

"Why should I believe you?"

"There's no reason for you to believe me, but I kept him in another place. That's why I took forever to come and get you. I went there to take care of him."

"Why wouldn't you just let me go?"

"Cause I love you, I would do anything for you. If it means going to jail, so be it." he rubbed my back, making me very uncomfortable.

I know he was lying when he said he didn't kill Damien. I've seen my dad lying to my mom several times, I just knew when someone was lying to me. He kept looking away and he kept fidgeting with his fingers. He wasn't right in the head especially with everything going on. He looked like he was about to break down and he had that crazy look in his eyes.

"You must be tired. You should lay down." he pulled me towards the bed while still keeping that grin on his face. He knew I didn't believe him, yet, he pretended not to show it.

"I have things that I have to take care of. Don't go anywhere else." he unlocked the door, not forgetting to lock it before he left.

I sat on the bed while looking at the room. It was pretty but it didn't have any windows to show sign of life or to illuminate this dimmed room and it didn't make me feel safe. I had to get out and get to a secure place where he won't get to find me. Unfortunately, there is no easier way to get out of here, and that means I'll have to use the hard way. Lockpicking. I knew one-day lockpicking would help me, but not this way. Because of my alcoholic dad, Ian had to teach me a few tricks on how to protect myself and how to escape in dangerous situations like this.

Lockpicking is difficult for some people, but the more you do it, the more it's easier for you to unlock a door and that's how I learned. I was lucky enough to put my hair up with a pin this morning so I wouldn't worry about finding a tool. I got up from the bed and grabbed the hairpin out of my hair, making my hair fall to my shoulders and made my way to the door. A few twists and turns made the trick and the door finally unlocked, revealing a hallway that goes all the way to a set of stairs and showing wooden doors which meant that there was a lot of snooping involved. I knew I shouldn't bother to pry into his rooms, but I couldn't help it. My curiosity got the best of me. The first door I made my way to was unlocked which I found very odd since he was very adamant about me staying in one place and not go anywhere else. 

I was shocked. If you were just a normal person checking this room out, you would've thought that there was nothing wrong with these pictures. However, for me, it was creepy. It was pictures of me. Talking to my friends, eating food, me posing at a family picture a while back and other pictures of me in my room. It was an office with a couple of bookshelves and a desk with a computer sitting in front of a black office chair. I walked around, grabbing books out of the bookshelves, but nothing was interesting. It just showed that he was an actual English teacher. Shakespeare and other famous poets were placed on his bookshelf where it accumulated dust. It felt like he placed it there only for decorations. I made my way to his desk where the computer was, only to find out that it had a password. Great. He wasn't that stupid. I've tried multiple passwords, but only ended up locked out. 

I sighed, looking around the room until I landed my eyes on a big grey binder. It was placed on chair in the corner of the room like someone had just gone through it before leaving it there. I made my way to it and grabbed it with both my hands. It was heavy and large, making me feel like I was carrying a brick. Papers were showing and some were almost about to come out. I sat down on the chair and placing it on my lap before opening it. Pages and pages of pictures, notes, plans and other stuff. I kept skimming through the pages, getting more and more scared when I land my eyes on a missing poster of another girl. She had brown hair and green eyes with a large smile on her face, almost similar to me. Before I could dig any deeper, the door opened, revealing him with an angry expression on his face.

Sorry for not posting a lot, I've been spending time with my family instead of on my phone. I'll try my best to make time for this book and I promise you I will finish it.