Page 9 of Shattered

I’m still alive, so there’s hope, albeit faint, but hope nonetheless.

The next time he wakes me up, I decide to try something different with him.

“Samuel, if we’re going to make our relationship work, you’re going to have to trust me enough to untie me.”Please…please, let this work.

“I don’t believe you, Sara. You don’t want to stay.You want to leave me…just like everyone else.”

“No, I don’t, I swear it.I want to be here with you, I promise I do.You have to believe me.”

“Stop it! Stop lying to me, Sara!” he shouts.Not sure how far he’ll go, I fall silent.“I’ll be down later with some soup for dinner.”

Startled awake by a loud noise, I try to focus on what I think I hear.Voices.Coming from directly above me.Maybe I’ve finally fallen off the edge of sanity.

Am I hallucinating?

The voice proceeds to become louder with each passing second.Someone is shouting.Then, as if all of my prayers are answered, I hear actual words.

“Where is she, Samuel?Just tell us where she is and everything will be all right.”I don’t hear my captor respond.

After what seems like forever, I hear loud, heavy footsteps pounding down the wooden steps.I pray it isn’t Samuel.I pray it’s anyone else.

“Down here! She’s down here!” I hear a man shout.These are the last words I make out before slipping back into the darkness

~~~~

Samuel Colden held me hostage for nine long, torturous days.The detectives told me he had formed an unhealthy attachment, believing we were indeed involved in a relationship.He had somehow gotten hold of my work ID badge and made hundreds of copies, plastering them all over his house.He even taped images of himself next to them.

A happy couple.

A farce to feed his delirium.

He continued to go to work during the days I was trapped inside his house, pretending as if everything was completely normal.I’d found out later on people had asked about me, wondering why I never showed up for my shifts.It wasn’t until they called my house two days later that they found out I was even missing.

Even though there were witnesses placing me with Samuel the night I disappeared, it still took them nine days to come and rescue me.But I was grateful they found me at all.

Thankfully, he didn’t sexually assault me.While he’d torn away all sense of safety and security, at least he hadn’t stolen my innocence.The only comfort I had was the fact he was taken away and would be locked up for a very, very long time.

So began my journey to overcome my tragedy.I worked hard to not let it define me.

Everything was going well until Alek shattered my world.

~5~

Alek

I’d let another two weeks go by without contacting Sara.She said she needed more time and I gave it to her, even when it killed me to do so.Not being near her was tearing me apart, a little bit every single day.

Ever since I stepped through the door of Full Bloom, my world had been altered forever.

For the better.

Seeing the effect I had on her was mind-blowing, the best-case scenario I could have hoped for.But I never thought I would be caught up in her just as much.Looking back, I didn’t know why I’d been surprised.She was beautiful and intelligent, someone who wasn’t afraid to tell me what she thought.A trait I didn’t even know I’d been longing for in a woman.

I loved the back and forth between us.Me trying to exert my need to be in control and her pushing back at every turn.

She was a challenge.

She was a breath of fresh air.

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