Page 28 of Axe
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Allison
Seven Years Ago
She’s going to be here any minute.
I checked to make sure the window was unlocked before I darted out my bedroom door and down the hall. We needed snacks and Mom had gotten all the appropriate things just for this night. Like she did every year.
It was my seventeenth birthday, and instead of having some crazy party, I kept the same celebration that I’d had since I could remember.
You see, my best friend and I were born almost exactly six months apart. And our mothers, well, they had been friends for a very long time, so it was only natural that they pushed us together from the moment I popped out. The friendship may have been encouraged to a suffocating degree, but it was never forced for us. We loved one another as if we were sisters. The thing was, Lulu and I balanced each other out in just about every way.
I was calm and quiet, if not a little reserved, while she was the light that lit up the party. She was street smart and good with people, while I was the one that made straight A’s. She had wavy dark brown hair and I had straight blonde.
It worked well though, because when she would get a wild hair to do something crazy, I was always there to reel her in. And when I would lose myself in homework, she would come and pull me out of my hole.
So, it was my birthday and Lulu and I had this tradition, you could say. She would sneak into my window and we would spend the night watching movies and eating junk food in my bed. I did the same for hers. It wasn’t like our parents didn’t know, but they played along, letting us have our silly little celebration.
I thought back to how the whole thing started. It was fourth grade. We were sitting in my room and she made a joke of how she would climb into my room in the middle of the night on my birthday just to scare the crap out of me. Well, a few months later she attempted to do just that, only the window was locked. So from then on, it became our thing.
I grabbed the bag of junk food sitting on the counter and turned to go back into my room. Mom wasn’t home yet and I knew she’d bring cupcakes when she got off work.
Angry voices rose from the front of the house, catching my attention. A shiver ran down my spine as I made my way to the front door to see what was going on. My dad’s frame filled up the front doorway with his back to me, while some man stood there with an eerie look on his face.
“You owe me,” the man said and his voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Not today. I know what I agreed to, but just give her one more day,” my dad’s voice sounded strained but not like he’d been caught off guard.
I wondered what the heck was going on, and even though I had a feeling I should turn around and lock myself in my room, I stayed rooted in place. I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about but I had a feeling it couldn’t have been good.
Suddenly the man’s eyes caught mine and I could no longer hide the fact that I was eavesdropping.
“Ahhh, there she is.” A wicked smile spread across his face as his eyes raked over my body.
“Allison, come here,” my dad said and since I was a good child, I always did what he said.
I stood beside my dad, and my hands trembled so bad it made the bag shake, filling the air with its harsh sound.
“Yes?” I asked unable to take my eyes off of the stranger.
“I’m sorry,” my dad said and out of the corner of my eye, I could see his body deflate with acceptance. “It’s time for you to go.”
Then all at once, the room started to spin around me, the bag dropped from my hand as the stranger reached out and grabbed me. His fingers dug into my arm as he dragged me closer. His sweaty scent filled my nose and all I wanted to do was double over and heave up what little I had in my stomach.
“No. No! Dad?” I screamed as the man dragged me away.
I looked into my dad’s eyes, hoping to find the love and tenderness I’d always found there, but instead, I saw nothing. Not even a flicker of regret or guilt. I had no idea what was going on but I had a feeling in my gut that my life was about to change.
The flight kicked into my system and I jerked to get away so I could run, but his hold was too strong on me.
“Be a good girl, get in the car and maybe I won’t come back later and kill your mother,” he said through gritted teeth.
My body snapped to attention, there wasn’t a faint indication in his voice that led me to think that he wouldn’t do what he’d said.
“Good, very good. You may be a good keep, after all,” he said in my ear as his hot breath fanned my neck. It felt sticky and hot and I swallowed hard, trying to force the bile back down. He buried his nose and my hair and inhaled deeply. I wanted to get away but I also wanted to save my mother. I had never felt so torn in my life. “Let’s go.”
There were men waiting in his SUV. The windows were tinted so dark that I knew no one could see in. I was held down in the seat and tied up. Fear kicked in and I started to cry, try as I might, there was no way I could hold it back. I was scared like I’d never been scared before. This wasn’t a movie or a prank. This was real and I knew I was about to face my worst nightmare, even if I had no idea what that entailed.
