Page 56 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

ELLIE

God, my head hurt so bad.Myeyes opened slowly, butIwanted to close them right back because the light made my head hurt worse.Irealized, though, in the brief moment my eyes were open, thatIdidn’t recognize the space.Itried to open them again, succeeding enough to take in the fact thatIdefinitely did not know whereIwas.

Even though it hurt using my brain, things started to come back to me.Atthe pub, looking forWade.Bethwalking out the back door with me, only to be hit by something.Andthen nothing.Thislooked like a house, butIdidn’t thinkI’dever been here before.

I realizedIwas on a bed, but whenIwent to move my arms to sit up,Icouldn’t.Ilooked up and realized my arms were tied to the top of the bed.Okaythis wasn’t good.Istarted to pull my arms hard to try to release them, but there was no give.Icould feel the panic rising in me, because, let’s face it, no one hit you over the head, took you to a strange house, and tied you up for a good reason.

My legs weren’t tied, soItried to scoot myself into more of a sitting position closer to the headboard.Therewas a window to my right and a big tree outside, soIcouldn’t see whetherIwas in a neighborhood, on a farm, or anything.Justthen,Iheard the door open and a familiar voice that brought chills to my spine.

“Glad to see you finally woke up,Elliana,”Randallsaid from the doorway with a big smile on his face and a glass of what looked like water in his hand. “You’vebeen very bad,Elliana, and now we have to talk.”

Fear filled my body, becauseIknew that look on his face.Itwas the one he would get when he was mad and about to get violent with me.

“I’m very displeased you tried to run away from me,Elliana,” he said appearing calm on the outside, butIknew he wasn’t. “Butwhat really distresses me is that you have been unfaithful.”

OhGod.Wade.Isthat whyIcouldn’t findWadeoutside?Didhe hurt him too?Andwhat happened toBeth?

“Wh...Where’sBeth?”Iasked as my voice cracked a little. “Didyou hurt her?”

“HurtBeth?”Hechuckled a little. “Ofcourse not.She’sbeen helping me all along on this little recovery mission.”

That answer shocked me, and he must have seen it on my face because his smile grew bigger as he walked further into the room.Itried to curl my body up more, but my hands being tied above me made that much harder.

“That first time you answered the phone at the pub,Iwas already here inGeorgia,” he started to explain with a smirk on his face that exuded hostility. “Itracked your car here, but whatIdidn’t know was whether you were parked here for the pub or something nearby.Whenyou answered the phone,IknewI’dhit the jackpot.Rightafter you hung up,Bethwalked out of the pub.Isimply explained to her thatIwas your boyfriend and that we’d had a small spat butIwas planning to get you back.Shewas more than happy to give me your schedule so thatIcould surprise you.”

The way he said surprise told me he didn’t mean it in a good way, butBethlikely took it that way.

“I have to admit thatIthought he was a bit creepy at first and wasn’t sureIwas going to help him,”Bethsaid, stepping into the door frame behindRandallwith a small grin on her face, which quickly morphed into something downright evil. “Butthen you had to go and steal something that wasn’t yours.Wadeis mine!HeandIwere getting close and were going to be lovers if you hadn’t stepped in,” she said as she started walking towards me.

It all started coming back to me.Howshe kept asking about whetherWadeandIwere a thing.

“OhGod,”Igasped. “Youwrote the note with the tip money,”Isurmised out loud.

“Not just that,” she said, pride written across her face. “Allthe things to your car?Thatwas me.”Shegiggled a little maniacally. “Icould tell they drove you crazy.”

This was not the sameBethIknew.Thewoman in front of me was unhinged.

I shook my head, saying, “Ididn’t do anything to you.Why?—”

“You lied to me!” she screamed, her voice rising. “Youtold me andTammyyou weren’t interested in men, that you were giving up dating—but you lied!Youwere with him the whole time.Heheld your hand, he kissed you.Isaw it with my own two eyes, andIknew you had put your whore hands all over him and slept with him!”

Her voice had risen to a full-blown yell. “Theonly way he would betray me like that is if you tricked him—if you seduced him away from me!”

“Calm down,Beth,”Randallinterrupted for the first time since she started going off the rails, his voice edged with irritation, as if even he found her sudden outburst exhausting. “Ican assure you she will be punished for cheating on me.”

Then he turned back to me, his eyes filled with venom—and a twisted excitement, no doubt from the things he planned to do to me.

Oddly,Randall’swords seem to have an effect on her.Shecalmed down instantly.

“Yes,Ineed to leave anyway, because whenWadefinds out that you left him to go back toRandall, he will be very upset, andIplan to help soothe him and return us to the wonderful relationship we had before you arrived,” she said, nodding to herself as though her crazy thoughts would actually turn into reality.

“Go ahead,Beth.Ihave everythingIneed here.Yourservices are no longer needed.I’llwill walk you out,” he said and followed her out the door.

I realizedIdidn’t have much time, butIhad to figure out a way out of here, because when he came back, he would likely beat me to within inches of my life, if he even let me live at all.Iturned my body to see how my arms were tied to the bed to see ifIcould position myself to loosen them or get out.Istruggled and was able to get my mouth close to try to use my teeth to undo the knots, but they were on tight.

Bang!Bang!

I flinched at the sound of the gunshots.Two, and not far.Ifroze.Whowas that?Whywere there no screams?Itried to work even more frantically at my ties becauseIhad no idea what was happening in the other part of the house, butIknewIcouldn’t stay there.

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