Page 70 of Haunted

“Your dad’s hunting cabin.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a little over two hours away by car.” He drummed his finger against his thigh.

“Get me something faster.”

Henley

My stomach rolled. I didn’t feel well. No, that was an understatement. My head was pounding and I swear there were a thousand cotton balls shoved in my mouth, it was so dry. Maybe I was getting the flu or something because I didn’t remember drinking excessively. With my diabetes, I avoided being drunk like the plague. Alcohol turned into sugar, and sugar was a big ole no-no.

Prying my eyes open, I blinked several times in rapid succession to clear out the cobwebs obstructing my vision. As the blurriness began to fade, I turned my head to the side and froze.Where the hell was I?Memories flooded my already aching brain. The storm. Jade pulling the car over to help. Camden, the bastard.

Oh God.

“Jade.” I wrenched up, the sudden movement causing the room to spin while my lunch threatened to reappear.Ignoring the dizziness and nausea swirling in my belly, I searched the room, my breath catching in my throat when I saw her tied to a chair in the corner. She was still breathing––for now––although, I couldn’t tell if she had any injuries. It was then I realized I was on a bed, and both Jade and I were stripped down to our underwear.

“Good evening, Sleeping Beauty.” His gruff voice sent shivers of dread down my spine. “Sorry about the side effects. Tranq dope isn’t the greatest stuff out there, but it’s efficient, especially when mixed with water.”

God, I was so stupid.I’d played right into his hands without even knowing it. About an hour into our drive, I’d complained about being thirsty. At first, he told me to keep my mouth shut, then Jade told him I was a diabetic. He seemed to change his tune rather quickly, but instead of having her turn into a gas station like I’d been hoping for, he pulled a bottle of water from his bag and handed it to me.

“We’ve got plenty of time before Calvin figures out all the bread crumbs I’ve left for him.” My heart rate spiked as he moved toward the bed. I scrambled backward, slamming up against the headboard. “Relax, Henley. There’s no rushing the process. It’ll take days until you’re begging me to fuck you.”

“That’ll never happen,” I spat.

“Of course it will. Women are all cheating whores when given the right”—he tapped his chin with a finger—“inspiration. Now be a good girl and go sit in the chair next to your friend. Don’t make me use this before I’m ready.”

He held a Taser in his hand, pressing a button on the side. I didn’t waste a second thinking about my decision as it crackled to life. I flew off the bed, running on bare feet across the room to my best friend’s side. Once he had me secured to the chair in a similar fashion as Jade, he left theroom, flipping the light off on his way out, plunging us into complete darkness.

“Jade,” I called out for her, my voice a harsh whisper in the desolate air.

“Mmm,” she hummed.

“Jade. You need to wake up.”

“Why are you yelling?”

I blew out a breath. “It’s the drugs. It’ll get better soon.”

“Shit, so that wasn’t a bad dream then?”

“Nope, and it gets worse.”

“How the hell could it get any worse?” She shifted in her seat. “We’re tied up in the middle of God-knows-where, with some bar-owning motherfucker who kidnapped us off the street when we tried to help his rain-soaked ass.”

“I think he might be the serial killer Keaton and the others have been searching for.”

“Well, hell. That’ll do it.”

Testing the strength of my bindings, they dug farther into my wrists with every twist and turn I made.

“We need to figure out how to get loose from these blasted things before he comes back. Do you have any leeway with yours?”

She grunted in response, “Not even a little.”

“Keaton will find us. We just have to stay strong until he does,” I said out loud, more to reassure myself than anything else.

“Henley?”

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