Page 2 of Wanted

“I sawyou with him, Sara. I saw you kiss him. Hold his hand. I saw you hug him.” Hishot breath fanned my face. “It should have been me. But you sent me away. Andnow, you must pay for your sins. Pay for every one of them.”

The manbefore me wasn’t the same man from eight years ago. Yes, he was crazy,certifiably out of his mind. But the Samuel from long before wouldn’t havewanted to punish me so. He simply wanted to be with me. We were involved insome sort of twisted—albeit normal, in his mind—relationship.

He’dcertainly had enough time over the years to dream up all sorts of ways formaking me pay for what he thought I did to him. In his warped brain, I was toblame for having him locked up in the nut house.

With hisacknowledgment of Alek, there was no doubt in my mind he thought I’d beencheating on him. What was his punishment going to be for my infidelity? I hadto derive some sort of argument when he broached the subject again.

I had tothink like a crazy person. What words would satisfy the insane?

“Whatare you going to do to me?” Maybe I should have thought about the possibleanswer to my question before I asked it. Sometimes ignorancewasbliss, especially in a case such asmine.

I hadeverything to live for, more so than when he’d stolen me before. I had greatfriends and had finally found the man of my dreams. A man who was never goingto hear me tell him I loved him. A man who would forever blame himself forwhatever Samuel was going to do to me.

I knewhow much Alek tried to protect and keep me safe. My abduction was going todestroy him. Even if he found me, the damage was irrevocable. Knowing how muchhe’d sacrificed over the years to see to it no harm came to me, Samuel haddestroyed his security in the blink of an eye.

Mycaptor shuffled across the room, ruffling through drawers and tossing thingsaround. When he was finished, he made his way back up the stairs, never answeringthe question I’d asked him.

Waitingwas the one thing which was going to unravel me. Obviously, I didn’t want himto harm me, but there was no telling how long he would drag out theanticipation for what was to come.

The moretime I had to contemplate my new fate, all sorts of scenarios running rampantinside my head, the more my reality drifted away from me.

And Ineeded to be in the present if I was going to have any chance of survival.

~2~

Sara

I woke up to the side of my face being smacked. At first it waslight, then when I’d still not opened my eyes, it was sharp and painful.

“Wake up, Sara,” Samuel said as soon as he knew his slap had donethe trick of bringing me back to my twisted reality. He hovered over me, hisbody close to mine as he tested the restraints, making sure they were stillintact.

The more my consciousness took over, the more I realized I reallyneeded to use the restroom. My poor bladder hadn’t been empty in I had no ideahow long.How long have I even been here?Would he loosen the chains or would he make me use a bed pan like last time?

I’m about to find out.

“Samuel, I have to go to the bathroom. Can you please untie me?”

“No,” was all he said.

“Please,” I begged. “I don’t want to make a mess all over myself.I’ll be quick, I swear.”

His tone became more agitated the more I pushed him to respond. “Iknow if I untie you, you’re going to try and escape.” He’d walked across thesmall space and was rustling through an old, beat-up drawer. Earlier, he’dbrought a small lamp down with him, which allowed me to see what he was doing. “You’veonly been here five hours and you already want to leave me.” Slamming thedrawer shut, he turned toward me and shouted, “You want to leave me and go backto him!” His fists were clenched at his sides and I knew better than to pushhim when he was so lost in his delusion. “But you can’t. I won’t allow it. Iwon’t lose you again.” His last few words were barely spoken above a whisper, andthey were more haunting than the ones he shouted.

My thoughts were immediately overrun by the people in my life.My best friend Alexa who would be beyondworried about me, knowing the whole story of my past; Matt, who had recentlylearned of what had happened to me all those years ago; and Alek, the one personwho had tried to save me, even from myself sometimes.

If what Samuel had said was true and I had only been missing forfive hours then Alexa and Matt might not even know yet. But there was no doubtAlek knew. I would nevernotshow up,especially not without at least contacting him. He was forever reminding me tocharge my phone and make sure I kept the ringer on, but even then, I would havefound a way to call him.

Regret suddenly gripped me from the inside. Damn it! I shouldhave never ditched Brian. Even though he eventually found me, he had beendistracted, so worried about what Alek would have done to him had he not caughtup with me. If I’d done what I was supposed to then my shadow would have beenaware of our surroundings, cutting Samuel off as he approached or even securingme so well, he would have never even shown himself.

Damn my stubbornness and need to always go against Alek’swarnings.

A noise to my right pushed me from my thoughts, and it was then Irealized my need to go to the bathroom had only intensified. I heard shufflingacross the floor before the groan of the step.My bladder muscles are going to be tested.I hope they’re up for the challenge.

I wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed until he came backdown to the basement. He quickly approached me, scaring me enough to cause meto flinch. The scowl on his face told me he didn’t appreciate my reaction. Reachingforward, he unbound my hands from the posts above my head but left therestraints around my ankles.My poorlimbs screamed when I lowered them, soreness and the rush of blood causing me towince and moan in discomfort.

Before I knew what was happening, he lifted me from the oldmattress and instantly bound my hands behind my back. He was making sure Iwasn’t going to try and escape. I stumbled as he ushered me toward the toiletin the corner of the room. It wasn’t a far walk, but the chains around myankles made it near impossible to take a steady step.

As I opened my mouth to ask him how he expected me to go to thebathroom without the use of my hands, his fingers flew to the button on myjeans, yanking them down along with my underwear. Mortified, I turned my headto the side and held my breath. Gripping my shoulders, he pushed me down untilI sat on the toilet seat.

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