Page 93 of Love Me Again

I groanwhen I feel a sudden ache in my head. My head felt so heavy, I could barely lift it, and my neck was aching terribly.

I peel my eyes open and blink a couple of times until the blurriness clouding my vision clears, and look around the darkroom I was in. Where on earth am I? I wince when I feel a pinch on my wrist and my fingers felt numb.

I glance down and see my arms are bound to the armrest of the chair I was sitting in. I was still in my bridesmaid dress—Aimee and Josh’s wedding. I was at the wedding. How did I end up in this dark and dingy room? Sheer panic rises inside me when I remember Alaia was with me before everything went dark around me. I look around the room frantically, my heart racing a mile a minute. Where’s my baby? Where’s Alaia?

“Alaia.” I gasp and lift my eyes to the door. “ALAIA!” I scream, tugging on my restraints. I sob, trying to wiggle my wrists free, but they were bound so tight the rope burnt my skin. I try to move my legs, but they were tied to the legs of the chair. “ALAIA!” I shout, sobbing frantically. “Where’s my baby?!”

What is happening? Where am I? Where’s Alaia? Why am I tied to a fucking chair? “Help! Somebody, please help me?!” I cry, looking around the room. There were no windows, only a dirty bed with a paper-thin mattress in the corner. I felt like I was in a prison cell, and it smelt rotten. “Can anybody hear me?!” I call out again. “Cole?!” I wail, letting my head fall forward. “What’s is happening?”

I jump, and my head snaps up to the door when I hear it unlock. I shrink back into the chair when a tall, stocky man walks in, his face covered. My heart was hammering against my chest so hard that I thought it would stop altogether. I lift my gaze up to him. “Who the hell are you?” I ask, my voice raspy from lack of water and shouting. “Where’s my baby?”

“Your baby is fine, stop screaming, or you won’t fucking be.” He threatens. His voice was deep and menacing.

“I don’t believe you. I want to see her.” I cry, looking up into his steely eyes. “Please give me my baby,” I whimper, pleading. “I’ll be quiet. Please, just give me my daughter back.”

He stood still, staring at me, and nods once. “H, bring the kid!” He snaps, and I see another masked man walk past the door.

“What do you want with us?” I ask, and he turns and looks at me again with a glare that made me recoil. Whoever this man was, he was dangerous. His whole demeanour was terrifying.

“So many questions, Cupcake. You’ll find out soon enough if you stay quiet and be a good little girl, and if you don’t...” He snarls and leans in close and waves a pocketknife in front of me before he runs the cold blade down the side of my face. “I’ll slit your throat and shut you up indefinitely. Got it.” I stare into his cold, unyielding grey eyes and nod slowly. “No one is going to hear you, so I wouldn’t bother screaming for help. If you want your precious baby to keep her adorable little head intact, I suggest you cooperate and stop talking.” He growls, snapping the blade shut. “I don’t like talkers.” He hisses, standing straight and looming over me. I gasp when I hear Alaia crying. The other masked man walks in holding her, and I sob when I see her.

“Alaia.” I instinctively go to lift my arms to reach for her and wince when the rope pinches my skin. “It’s okay, baby, mummy’s here.” I whimper when she reaches out for me crying. I could tell she’s been crying for hours. Her eyes are puffy and red, her beautiful face tear-stained. I look up at the man beside me. “Please, give me my baby. I need to feed her; she’s hungry. That’s why she’s crying.” I sniffle. “I’ll do whatever you want, I swear.” I plead, crying, and he looks at Alaia.

“She refused to take the bottle. She’s been screaming for fucking hours.”

My heart shatters at his words. “Because she’s still breastfeeding. I’ll keep her quiet, I promise.” I say earnestly and look at Alaia, who was crying so hard she was hiccupping. I sigh when the tall man beside me cuts the ropes with his knife. I rub my wrists and see they’re bruised, and my skin was raw with rope burns. I hold my arms out and take Alaia from the other guy when he holds her out to me. I wrap my arms around her tight and hold her against me while I sob. “Oh, thank God you're okay. It’s okay. It’s okay, baby, I'm here, I’ve got you, mummies got you now.” I whisper, kissing her face. Alaia stops crying, and her little body hiccups in my arms, and she whines a little. “Oh, I know, I know, shhh baby.” The men walk out, slam the door shut, locking it behind them. I exhale and kiss my daughter's head, rocking her as she calms in my arms. I loosen my dress and warily pull out my breast to feed her. Alaia latches on and sucks at my nipple hard and gulps hungrily. She was starving, and that thought alone made me sob silently. What did these people want with us? What are they going to do with us?

As I watch Alaia feed, my mind wanders to Cole. He must be worried sick, wondering where we are. I’m hoping and praying he will find a way to find us wherever we are. If I know Cole, he will find some way to save us. He won’t leave us here. I had no choice but to hold onto that hope for dear life. I was terrified— not for me, but for my baby. I don’t care what they do to me, but if they hurt Alaia. I close my eyes and push that thought out of my mind. Cole won’t let anything happen to us. “Daddy’s going to save us, baby. We just need to stay strong long enough for him to find us.” I whisper, brushing my finger over her cheek, and she sighs, looking up at me with those beautiful green eyes—eyes that are identical to the man I love. I close my eyes, and hot tears roll down my face. “Cole, please save us.” I breathe, my voice quivering. “Please, baby.”

Hours go by, and I must have cried myself to sleep on the bed because I jump awake when I hear the door unlock, and I tighten my hold on Alaia, who was asleep in my arms. I hear muffled voices from behind the door, and a second later, the same man as before walks in, likely to check on us to make sure we were still alive. I look up at him as he walks over to me, and I sink further against the wall. We stare at one another for a long moment. I had a million questions, but I was too scared to open my mouth in fear of what they would do to Alaia. “Hand me the kid.” He commands, and I hold her tighter against me and shake my head.

“No, please, please, I’m begging you don’t take her from me,” I beg him, tears filling my eyes, and he only stares back threateningly.

“You'll see her when she needs to be fed. Hand her over.” I look down at her asleep in my arms, and I press a kiss to her head, inhaling her scent before he pulls her from me. I whimper as he takes her away.

“She’ll need to be changed soon,” I say, and he turns and gives me a dark look before he walks out and locks the door. I choke on a sob and bury my face in my arms as I cry. How long were they going to keep me captive? Are they going to kill us? I was driving myself crazy, wondering the same questions repeatedly. I pace the small room back and forth restlessly. I had no idea what time it was. Was it night-time or day? I felt like I was trapped in that room forever. They would bring Alaia to me when she was restless and hungry or needed to be changed before taking her away again. I didn't understand why they wouldn’t just leave her with me. I only left the room when I had to use the bathroom, and I was blindfolded until I got to the toilet. There were no windows in there either.

I was anxiously shaking my leg sitting on the bed when the door unlocks, making me start, and the two men from before walk in at the same time. I glare up at their masked faces, and the taller one points at the chair. “Sit.” He commands, and I get up, my knee’s shaking as I walk over to the chair and sit down. I see the rope in his hands and pull my wrists to my chest.

“Why are you tying me up again?” I ask, my voice quivering, and he glares at me hard wordlessly. I close my eyes and place my arms on the armrest and wince as he ties me up tightly. “How long have I been here?”

“Three days.” He mutters as he ties my ankles to the chair. Is that it? It feels like weeks to me. “You’ll get your answers shortly.” I watch him as he stands and takes a couple of steps back. They don’t leave. They just stand there, leering at me like I was a piece of meat. I frown when I hear footsteps on the gravel. I lift my gaze slowly, and my eyes go wide, almost bulging out of my head. No fucking way.

“Oh, my God,” I whisper, horrified as I stare at the person standing before me. My vision blurs with tears as I watch Sophie hold my daughter in her arms. “You did this?” I ask, and she smirks icily, bouncing Alaia in her arms.

“Surprise bitch.” She utters, holding my daughter's hand. “Oopsie, I should learn to watch my language in front of the baby.”

I fight in my restraints as I glare at her. “Sophie, give me my baby.” I hiss, looking at Alaia, tears rolling down my face. “What do you think you’re doing? Have you lost your goddamn mind! Give me my baby!”

Sophie narrows her blue eyes at me and laughs. “Your baby? Oh sweetie, she’s my baby now—or she will be very soon.” She states coolly, and I gape at her aghast.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Sophie?!” I shout, tugging on my restraints, not even caring about the burns it was leaving on my wrists. I look up at the guy beside me. “Untie me, please, untie me goddamn it!” I cry helplessly, and he rolls his eyes with a sigh. “What’s your plan? Are you going to kill me and raise mine and Coles baby yourself? Are you fucking insane?!”

Sophie hands Alaia to the other guy standing beside her and gestures her head to take her away. My eyes follow Alaia until she disappears out of sight. Sophie walks closer to me and smiles showing her pearly white teeth that I had the urge to headbutt right into her fucking skull. “Myself? Oh, honey, no. I wouldn’t dream of keeping her away from her father.” Sophie drawls, staring into my face, and I fist my hands tightly. “Alaia will be going back home to her Daddy today.” She tells me, and I release the breath I had been holding. Thank God. She wasn't as batshit crazy as I thought she was.

“What’s the idea here, Sophie? Are you going to pretend you found Alaia and hope that Cole will fall in love with you?” I ask bitterly, and she grins maliciously. “You’re fucking crazy.” I hiss acidly, tugging on my restraints again. Sophie holds her hand out to the tall man, and he drops a knife in her hand. I recoil and look at the blade when she holds it open in front of my face. I watch her closely and scream when she impales the knife into my thigh and twists before she rips it out. I sob at the red-hot pain that shot through me when she stabs me.

“You have no idea just how crazy I can be, Shayla.” Sophie calmly states like she didn’t just stab me in the fucking leg. “Tristan and I were always meant to be together. If it weren’t for you, showing up and confusing him, he would have come after me, and we’d be together right now. You ruined everything!” I cry out when she slaps me hard across the face. “If I can’t have him, neither can you, nor anyone else for that matter.”

---