I can’t believe I’m in this spot where I’m treading life and death on a thin line like a rope.
They hadn’t touched me after throwing me into a horse stable for the night. They questioned me repeatedly, but I kept quiet.
Ms. Salem slapped me several times, kicking me in my stomach so much so I feel like I have a cracked rib.
But I’ll take it. After they killed my Danny, I’ll take anything over, giving them what they want.
They asked about Bane, Cobra, Texas, and Creature.
They don’t know their real names, only mine and Danny’s. I will never tell them anything about them. I’d rather die than risk other people’s lives, throwing them to the wolves that search for them.
They’ve barely given me food since they took me that night. I’m severely thirsty and feel like I’m becoming more disoriented as the hours go by.
Whenever I need to use the restroom, they take me into the woods behind the barn and force me to go in the dirt.
I overheard Ms. Salem and her father talk about their plans for me. They will kill me tonight since I haven’t said one word to them.
My mouth is dry, my lips chapped, and I’m completely drained and tired.
I’m losing hope that Kane and his team will find me.
Every second, every minute of the day, I see Danny’s face. My heart cracks repeatedly when I picture our last moments together.
He was shot.
He’s really gone.
I start sniffling into my arms, hugging myself.
He’s dead because of me and my stupidity.
I shouldn’t have ended things with him. I shouldn’t have told him those horrible things when we were in the rain. All he’s wanted to do since we met was protect me, and I threw it in his face while telling him it hurt me to love him.
How could I have let my selfishness reach me like that?
I sob even harder.
And now he’s gone?
Maybe I should let them kill me. I don’t want to live without him.
Even if I make it out of this, I can’t live without feeling his strong arms hold me like a safehaven. It’ll hurt me to wake up every day knowing he won’t walk through that door in his uniform after he gets home from work. I don’t want to fall asleep again if I can’t do it in his arms.
I won’t be able to sleep knowing I’ll turn around in the bed, and it’d be empty and cold.
I’ll never love another man again. Danny Rider will always have my heart.
I lost my brother, my baby, and now Danny?
I’ll join him in hell if it means I get to be with him forever. Our bodies will perish, but I love him so fucking much that I’m praying it’s enough to have our spirits forever intertwined in the afterlife.
The thought of him in a casket like my brother makes me shrink into myself, and my stomach turns and my world goes dizzy for a minute. And I feel like I’m about to explode and scream. I feel like I’m already going crazy without him.
I don’t want to see my beautiful, sinful man dead in a casket.
Even in his last moments, he sacrificed his life for me. He pushed me out of the way and shielded me at the last second when it meant his own life.
I hate myself.
My face is wet and flushed from the constant grief, and I’m not sure I can do this anymore.
I shift in the corner of the horse stable, my whole body sore, and I try my hardest to free myself from the rope. It’s burned against my skin, and I’ve been bleeding slowly.
It’s dark again, the night consuming me, and I feel myself going out again. My blood pressure is dropping to dangerous limits, and my muscles and eyes are fragile.
I’m no longer hungry. I’m no longer thirsty. I no longer crave these fundamentals to survive. That’s how I know I’m in trouble.
“She’s pale. Her lips are turning blue. She’s dying,” one of the kidnappers warns Ms. Salem.
I’m drifting in and out of sleep, my breathing slowing down, and all I want to do is go to sleep entirely and dream of Danny.
Maybe if I’ll fall asleep, I’ll get to see him. Maybe he’ll talk to me. I dream of Paul even though he’s dead…
Maybe I’ll dream of the man I fell hopelessly in love with.
“Good. She can join her brother.” She laughs wickedly.
I blink slowly, and Ms. Salem drinks her water in front of me. Then she throws the bottle to the floor by my feet. Water splatters everywhere, and my eyes widen. I gather the last fraction of energy I have stored and crawl to the water bottle.
My knees scrape against the cold ground. It’s still freezing, and I’m the only one in this barn with hardly anything to keep warm.
Everyone else wears jackets, coats, and beanies.
I grab the water bottle and drink one gulp down. A few drops hit my tongue, and I’m shaking it desperately into my mouth.
“Hungry, too?” one of the kidnappers asks me in an evil tone.
I’m on my knees, the plastic water scrunched into my hands, and I look up at him.
He unzips his jeans and pulls out his hardened length.
I quickly start crawling back into the corner of the horse stable, covering my eyes with my shaky, cold hands.
“Death’s little whore. I’ve got something you can snack on,” he mocks me, stalking toward me.
I’m circled into a fetal position, dreading his presence, but he doesn’t stop. I can hear the footsteps getting louder, and he pulls my hair upward.
I scream, clawing his hand, scratching the skin off.
He hisses in pain but holds his grip on my hair. He bends down, getting into my face.
“I always fuck our hostages before we kill them. Tonight is your execution, by the way. I’ve got the green light to have my fun with you before we hang you.”
“Leave me alone, you piece of shit!”
He roars with laughter. This man is easily over six feet, covered in tattoos from his face down to his neck. He’s overweight, and his double chin sticks out the more he tries to get in my face.
“I like her, Omar. Are you sure we have to kill her? I want to keep her as a toy.”
“Are you sure?” Omar reaffirms from a few feet away.
“She’ll be my new favorite shiny toy. Not a pet. A pet gets shelter, food, and water. You’ll get nothing but my cock when I’m ready to play with you and when I’m done using you, fucking every single part of you so bad that the Grim Reaper will no longer want you by the time I’m done, I’m going to cut off your fingers, your toes, one digit at a time for every day that you’re my toy.”
I start screaming. This man is crazy. I’d rather die. The thought of me becoming some sex slave that gets dismembered slowly over time with this psychopath has me craving death over a life of torture.
“Kill me!”
I’m sorry, Danny. I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry, Paul.
He grabs a gun out of his pocket, pointing at me, shoving it into my mouth, and I scream harder.
“Oh, yeah?” He looks over to Omar and Ms. Salem, and they’re amused, as if a sick show is entertaining them.
“We can hang the one they call Bane instead. We can shoot her. I’m getting annoyed by her cries. I don’t want to hear your pets whimper at home,” Omar tells him nonchalantly.
“Kill me!” I scream again through the gun, wailing uncontrollably. He forces it more down my throat, and I feel so helpless.
I’m going to die. At least it’ll be quick and not torturous.
“I’m going to cut your fucking head off, bitch! Keep testing me!”
I scream again at the top of my lungs, howling with agony, the gun rattling back and forth against my teeth before he pulls the gun from my mouth. He strokes the tip of his length, and I cover my ears and eyes with my hands, but it’s no use. He points his gun at me while he touches himself. Getting closer, he plants the weapon on the top of my head.
“Say hello to Death for us!” he snarls.
“Tell him yourself,” a voice echoes through the barn.
I gasp, and everyone grows quiet. Then a shot rings out, and the man that held a gun to my head drops to the floor, his blood splattering all over my face and chest.
Danny.
