Page 42 of Embracing My Nightmare
My nerves spiked and I gripped my purse, quickly walking into the store. I filled my cart with assorted melons, berries, and exotic fruits before making my way to the check-out. As I passed one aisle, I turned to find a man staring at the shelf, looking out of place. He turned toward me, and my feet tripped over nothing as my heart leapt into my throat.
Walking faster, I unloaded the cart onto the belt, looking over my shoulder for the man. My hands were trembling as I swiped my card and pushed the cart out of the store. The glass door showed the man leaving without purchasing anything, his footsteps falling in line with mine. Swallowing deeply, I briskly walked to my car, knots forming in my stomach.
His reflection showed in the side of a van’s window and he was following me. I recognized him as the man who had threatened my adoptive parents that day at the beach. His face was ingrained in my memory after they beat me that day. I always blamed him for making them angry and for him to reappear now had me terrified.
Whatever he wanted from me couldn’t be good. Stepping up to the driver’s side of my car so I could grab my weapon hidden in the door, a man walking from a car diagonally parked from mine startled me. Looking up, I saw Chuck’s brother, Cameron, standing there, looking worried as I fumbled with my keys.
My eyes were wide, and panic was ruling my thoughts. He held his hands up in surrender and I looked over the top of my car, seeing the man on his phone, his eyes locked on mine. Cameron turned his head and saw the man who suddenly stepped behind a large vehicle.
“Are you okay, Elise?” he asked, and I heard compassion in his voice mixed with surprise.
Shaking my head, my voice quivered with adrenaline. “I’m being followed.”
“Let me help you,” he responded and took a step toward me. I stepped back and he stopped. “I know you don’t know me, but I’m Chuck’s brother. I promise, you can trust me.”
Looking over my shoulder, I saw the man, his face filled with tension as he spoke to someone on the phone. Cameron might be sleazy, but in this situation, sleazy won over being scared. I nodded and he took the keys from my shaking hands before he put the bags into the back seat.
Walking around the car, I kept my eyes on the man and just as I was about to pull the door closed, I heard fast-falling footsteps approaching. Cameron jumped into the car, yelling, “Close your door!”
I slammed it shut, just as the man from my memories pounded on the glass, screaming my name and telling me to get out of the car. Cameron punched the gas and we shot from the space, barely missing the man as he screamed into the phone.
The man ran to his car and tried to start it, only to jump out again and beat his fists on the roof. I hooked my seat belt as Cameron kept the tires squealing all the way out of the lot. He ran the stoplight and my heart was racing so fastI felt dizzy. Forcing myself to take deep breaths, I looked at him. He had a smile on his face that seemed out of place for the adrenaline packed situation we had just experienced, and the whole situation unnerved me.
“Thank you for helping me. Can I drop you somewhere on my way home?” I asked him, looking around at where we were.
Realizing we were going away from the lake, I suggested, “Cameron, my apartment is near the lake if you want to turn around.”
He mumbled to himself as he pushed the gas harder, forcing me against the seat. I was getting scared at his sudden change in demeanor, and I hoped to get him to at least slow down so I could talk some sense into him. Braking hard at a red light on the edge of Pierce Bluff, he turned to me.
His menacing smile had me pushing against the door as he reached out and brushed the hair off my face. “You look so much like her.”
His boney fingers were ice cold and I felt the dread boil up from deep in my soul.
“Who? I don’t understand, Cameron. I need to get back to Chuck’s house.” I mentioned his brother, hoping to bring him back from whatever ledge he was walking.
“I can’t do that. Not yet,” he remarked and pulled off when the light changed his speed normal as he looked in the mirrors. Sighing with contentment, he settled against the seat and turned the radio on, singing along with the music.
Discreetly, I tried to reach my cell phone when he abruptly pulled the car over and put it in park. I turned to stop him, but my brain didn’t comprehend exactly what was happening as he quickly grabbed my purse and found my cell phone. Seeing that Devlin had been calling repeatedly, my heart sank, thinking I may never see him again.
Cameron tossed the phone out the window and I watched my lifeline to Devlin soar through the air, landing with a sickening thud on the concrete. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small vile and a dirty handkerchief. I fought to unhook my seatbelt, my fingers not working from the dread coursing through me. Tilting the bottle, he wet the rag and tossed the bottle into the backseat.
He grabbed my hair and pulled my head over the center console. I felt strands being ripped out with his force and my tears began to fall. I hit at his arms and chest, trying to get him to release me. Because of his size, he easily overpowered me in the small space, and I was powerless to stop him.
Placing the rag over my mouth and nose, he secured it until I couldn’t hold my breath anymore. He kept humming the tune from the radio as he held me firm. The first whiff had my throat burning, followed by sudden nausea and dizziness. The edges of my vision quickly closed in and my last thought before being dragged under was how sorry I was that I didn’t get to tell Devlin I loved him, one last time before I died.
