Page 1 of Wanted

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Sara

I wokeup with the worst headache I’d had in a long time. It’d been years since I feltthat way—eight years, to be exact.

Knowingthe previous few hours weren’t a nightmare, everything came crashing over melike a tidal wave.

Theparking lot.

Brianbeing hit in the head and toppling forward.

Me onthe ground.

Thenlooking into the face of the one man who turned my sweet, innocent life upside-down.The one man I’d tried to block from the deepest recesses of my mind.

SamuelColden.

He was therein the dark, stifling room with me. I could sense it from the way my body reacted,an innate fear radiating through every cell of my trembling body.

How long have I been here? Where did he take me? Will anyonefind me this time?

Allthose years before, it took the authorities nine long, agonizing, torturousdays to find me, and they’d been informed Samuel was the last person to see me.He was identified as giving me a ride, for Christ’s sake. And itstilltook them that long to rescue me.

How longwould it take for someone to come save me this time? There in Seattle, if I waseven still there, left it wide open for the possibilities of where he could bekeeping me. It would be so much harder this time around.

Thelonger I laid there, the more I seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. Itried to will myself to stay awake for longer than five minutes at a clip, butmy body had other ideas.

Unfortunately,I could remember exactly all the feelings I was going through and, oddlyenough, with lucid clarity.

Iremembered the headaches, the aches from where I was being restrained, thefading in and out of blackness and the utter fear. Fear which traveledthroughout my entire body, my soul even.

I didn’tknow how long I’d been there, waiting for something else to happen, anything tohappen. I didn’t want to succumb to what I undoubtedly feared Samuel was goingto do to me, but I didn’t want to prolong it for endless hours…days even. If hewas going to kill me, I would rather he do it and stop torturing me.

I heardhis shoes scuffing the wood boards above my head.

I heardthe jingle of keys.

Then Iheard the door open and heavy steps descend the creaky stairs.

Darknesssurrounded me like a blanket of despair while I waited for Samuel to make hismove.

The areaI was being held in had to be some sort of room hidden in the basement. Thedank, musty smell was a tell-tale sign. He was smart enough to know he would bein more danger of being caught if he held me on one of the main floors.

So manyquestions raced through my head. Was the house abandoned? Did he rent theplace, waiting for the opportunity to snatch me up? Was he watching me? If so,for how long?

Thebiggest question afflicting me was what were his plans for me this time?

It wasthen I heard short, rapid breaths hitting the shell of my ear. Instantly, my ownbreathing quickened and goose bumps broke out all over my skin, giving me afeeling of pure dread.

“I’vemissed you so much, Sara. You’re all I thought about when I was locked away. Itold you I never wanted to go back, but you made me.” His fingers slid along myjaw. “You made me go back there, Sara,” he repeated.

To drivehome his complaint, he gripped my hair and painfully yanked my head to theside, making me cry out.

“Please,Samuel. Please, don’t do this to me.” I trembled, unable to control the shakes whichhad taken over my body. “I want to go home. Please, just let me go home.”

“Tohim?” A question at first. Although, the next time he spoke, it was astatement. “You want to go home to him.”

“Please,”I begged. I knew better than to mention Alek. Knowing it would enrage himfurther, I did my best to keep off-topic from the man he apparently alreadyknew about.

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