Page 53 of Layne Closure Ahead

She gasped for air but didn’t wait long to recover. Pushing off the stairs with her feet, she jetted up the steps toward the second floor. Her feet pounded against the floor as she flung herself around the ninety-degree angle at the top of the mid-floor landing before dashing up the rest of the way to the second floor.

His words shouted behind her. “Little harpy! Come back!”

He had to be out of his damn mind if he thought she was going to go anywhere near him. She reached her bedroom and slid down onto her knees toward her bed, where she reached underneath to where she had a partial arsenal stored. Her hands grabbed frantically for the first available weapon of choice.

She drew forth a semi-automatic pistol and flicked the safety off. When she pulled back the slide to load the chamber, she didn’t hesitate to aim it at the doorway as Eric came charging in. Her finger pressed against the trigger.

Click.

Her eyes glanced down and noticed the bullet jam from the top view of the chamber. Fuck. She popped up onto her feet, not having time to mess around with the mechanical failure. She spun the pistol around in her hand and swung the grip at him.

Eric caught her forearm while his other hand twisted her wrist painfully until she couldn’t hold onto the firearm any longer. It fell to the floor with a clunk. “That’s not being a good little bird, now is it?”

Layne winced at the painful angle of her wrist but it didn’t diminish the hatred raging behind her eyes. “I will never be your bird to keep in a cage.” She gave a front kick towards his gut.

While his grasp on her wrist was released, it was only in exchange of capturing her foot’s attack. Eric pushed back on her leg changing her momentum against her to knock her off balance as she fell back smashing into the area where her mattress met her nightstand.

Her arm knocked her lamp onto the ground with a shatter of porcelain, while her other arm tried to brace her fall as her hand grasped at the down-filled comforter. The engagement ring he had forced on her had also been on top of the nightstand and was also knocked off onto the floor.

The anger in Eric’s glare at her was reaching an all-time boil. “Did you think I wouldn’t know? You could have had the best life has to offer with me.” He loomed over her while she was cornered there. “It’s a shame because I was looking forward to showing everyone how I could own and tame the wild Layne O’Reilly.”

His hands reached down, grabbed Layne by her shirt, and yanked her up onto her feet. Eric pulled her in so she was face-to-face with him.

With ragged breaths, Layne didn’t shy away from looking him in the eye. “Go fuck yourself. I was never going to be yours.”

His fist slammed into her temple. Layne dropped to the floor as the impact sent her mind for a brief mental vacation riddled with darkness.

When her consciousness slowly came back to her, she lay there on the floor as her eyes squinted. A splitting headache loomed over her brain and an unparalleled grogginess suffocated her thoughts. Layne groaned and placed her hands on the floor to push herself up. It felt like it took the effort of a thousand lifetimes.

When she lifted her hands, they stopped midway up to her face. That’s when she noticed the cold rounds of metal handcuffs latched around her wrists. Her mind fought to recognize why they were there.

As her wits became about her, she tugged on the chain connecting each wrist to feel it did not give her much leeway. Between the joints of the cuffs was a length of a metal chain that connected directly to the underside of the bed frame in front of her.

The ringing in her ears was deafening. Glancing around it seemed that she was alone, but the roaring in her ears wasn’t easing up, it was only getting worse.

She coughed as she managed to shift onto her knees with her hands linked together. Her eyes burned each time she blinked. Her nostrils flared with each breath taking in an overwhelming odor of burning wood.

Soon, she recognized the source of the ringing in her ears. It wasn’t inside of her head, it was inside of her home. The smoke detectors were all sounding off. Their high-pitched sounds sliced through the air.

Layne looked over to her wide-open bedroom door. The sight had a panic rising inside her chest. The billowing smoke and visible flames at the end of the hallway were eating away at her home.

It was all like a vicious monster slowly creeping towards her bedroom, ready to consume her. Frantically, she pulled at her hands and the connected chain prevented her from getting very far from her bed. Each pull was harder than the one before it. Layne grunted with each yank feeling the pinch of metal biting into her skin.

She used her body weight to lean back and her foot against the edge of the bed to try and overcome the strength of steel. Continually she glanced over at the open doorway to notice her time was running short as the smoke continued to edge towards her room.

She ferally screamed out in frustration. Tears leaked from her eyes as she choked on a sob. Layne couldn’t let this be how her story ended. “God, please, just this once,” she begged for the pity of her maker.

The fear and adrenaline left her uncontrollably shaking as the situation felt insurmountable. She leaned forward, pressed her head against her mattress, and shut her eyes tightly. The sheets soaked up her tears. “Please…”

She sank back to sit on her ankles. Her eyes hurt from dryness in the air licking away her emotions. Feeling lost she stared at the metal bracelets around her wrists which were now painfully raw from all her frantic struggles.

A sensation came over her in that moment of hopelessness. One final renewed effort filled her. Layne laid herself on the floor and took a look under her bed to see where the chain connected. Her one shot at a miracle presented itself to her. There may not have been hope in breaking steel, but a long shot presented itself.

Her eyes caught sight of the box underneath her bed that stored all her kinky toys. What were the chances that the keys from one set of cuffs were likely to open another? Using her legs, she maneuvered the box of goodies closer to her until she could use her hands to open up the lid and begin digging for what she hoped was still in there.

Her fingertips finally tracked down the key. It belonged to a set of Smith & Wesson cuffs, and looking at the etching on the ones around her wrists she frowned. It was another brand, Peerless. “Fuck.”

Not having any other bright ideas, she tried the key in the assembly anyway. When the most beautiful clicking sound was heard and she felt the loops loosen on her she could have sat there and cried if she had enough time to do so, but she didn’t.

---