Page 41 of Drawn To You

If I wasn’t freaking out before then I definitely was now as she pulled onto a tiny dirt road. Was she just going to leave my body in the middle of nowhere? That’s what it was starting to look like. But just as that thought started to take root in my mind I could see what looked like an old, abandoned metal barn in the distance.

“Time for your big surprise, Abby!” She said and laughed manically once again, the sound grating to my ears.

When she pulled over and parked just outside the set of large barn doors I could feel the panic start to grow inside me because I knew that now that we had reached our destination she was likely going to kill me.

When she flung open her door and stepped out I tried to form a plan of action. I had to fight to get out of here if I wanted to live. So when she came around to have me step out of the car maybe I could slam the car door into her and make a run for it? The plan started to take shape in my mind only to crash and burn a second later. Fear sliced at my throat. The blood drained from my entire body as I looked ahead. No. No, no, no. A strangled gasp left my mouth as Sterling stepped outside of the barn. What the FUCK?”

* * *

Abigail

Sterling stepped up to the car and quickly flung open the door. The next thing I knew I felt his strong grip on my throat. My first reaction was to be submissive and cower from him, but then something inside of me switched on the second I looked him in the face. Rage. Strength. Determination.

I wouldn’t submit to him ever. Fuck that. Submitting to him again was about as dismissive as letting him get away with raping me all over again. Wasn’t fucking happening. I was pissed off because I was so close to being free from the damage that he had done to me that I wasn’t going to let him have that power over me again. This was ending here, and now. “Let me fucking go, Sterling” I choked out, trying to pull out of his hold.

Sterling pushed me up against the car door, the metal cut painfully into my back. My breath swooshed out of me as I tried twisting out of his hold, so I could at least attempt to run as far away as I could because I knew that if they got me into the barn that there would be no more chances for me.

The usually light blue color of his eyes looked black as he glared down into my face, squeezing my neck so painfully I had no other choice but to claw at his hands. “I hear you’ve been playing whore for a married man, Abigail. You know adultery is a sin and that you have to be punished.” His hand constricted tighter, and darkness started to cloud my vision. No! I wanted to cry. How did he and Shannon even know each other? How had they ever crossed paths? How is this fucking possible?

Joshua. His face flashed in my mind’s eye, what would he think happened to me? Would he know his ex-wife had something to do with it? Suddenly a deep calm came over me and I decided to fight, and for one fleeting moment, I thought I could escape Sterling’s grip by raising my leg and kicking him in the balls. But he must have realized what I was about to do before I even had a chance.

His other hand clamped down painfully on my thigh, and he slammed my leg back down to the ground. His grip around my neck lessened for just a second, and I fought to get away, but he didn’t let me get far, he gripped me by my hair and pulled me into the barn where he flung me to the ground, causing me to smack my head on the concrete floor. The throbbing was instant, and I felt the warmth of the blood running down the side of my cheek for the second time today.

“You were supposed to remain pure,” he snarled, pulling me up by the back of my hair once again. I started to cry out from the pain. “You were supposed to be better. You know the teachings of the church!” His nose ran down the curve of my jaw, and I almost threw up from the contact. “At the very least, I thought you knew you were meant to be mine, but I was wrong.” I started to sob, wishing that Joshua would somehow magically find me.”I thought I told you that you were mine, Abby.” My vision was starting to go blurry, but I still struggled to fight like hell to stay awake and alert.

“I was the one that taught you how a man is to be with a woman. I was supposed to be the only man to touch you and you let some filthy Adulterer corrupt you by putting his dick inside your sweet little cunt.” His hand in my hair yanked tightly again, and I cried out. Then I felt his other hand go in between my legs, and he roughly grabbed me there, stunning me for a quick second before I heard Shannon’s voice.

“Well this has been great fun, but I will be heading out now. Make sure you stick to your end of the bargain.” She said to Sterling. “Don’t worry she is going home where she belongs. You won’t have to see her in California ever again and she will be punished for her sins with your husband.” “Wait, please don’t leave me with him.” I pleaded with her.

Shannon looked at me for a second and that was all it took to know she wasn’t going to help me. I had hoped there was at least one sympathetic bone in her body. But all I could see was cold calculation. “How?” I asked her and she must have known what I was trying to ask because she answered my question. “Pure luck really.” she laughed. “Good old Sterling here contacted me about a month ago. Apparently, he had tracked you down a while back and had been watching your movements. When he picked up on the fact that you were seeing someone, well he ran a background check and discovered much to his horror that the man you were sleeping with was a married man and that his sweet little cousin had turned herself into a home wrecker.”

“That’s not how things went down and you know it! Your vows were broken the moment you cheated on Joshua.” I snapped, angry at how she was twisting things to make herself sound like some kind of victim. “Shut up!” she screamed. “I don’t want to hear any more of your filthy lies. How can you sit there and justify how you broke up my family? You lured my husband away from me. Luckily Sterling has come to my rescue. He promised to right your wrongs and restore my family the way God intended.”

Shannon had orchestrated this whole thing. She was using my crazy cousin to do her bidding by playing the jilted woman and painting me as the harlot. She was hand delivering me right into the hands of a mad man, just so she could get rid of me and get her claws back into Joshua. As I watched Shannon turn her back to me and walk out the barn doors all I could think was that this was so twisted and that I was so fucked!

A muffled cry left me, as tears and blood, streaked down my cheeks as I fought against my growing fear. I will never be what you want. I won’t be some compliant doll for you to play out your sick fantasies with, you sick fucking bastard.” My attention shot to the door behind him, and deep down, I knew there was no way out. But I was going to try anyway. As soon as he turned away from me in anger at my insult, I darted forward, but one smack to the back of my head, and I was struck down, drifting in and out of consciousness.

* * *

Joshua

“Something feels wrong,” I told Maddox as we pulled up to my house and stepped out of my car. “That’s just stress.” I shook my head, it wasn’t just stress. “I’m going to call my boys, then Abby. Something just feels off. I’ll be right back…” My words were cut off when I saw Lily pull up to the curb and jump out of her car and run up. She was laser-focused on me, and her face was flushed. Maddox and I both froze going into high alert, seeing that Lily’s features were pulled a little too tight to be normal. “What’s wrong?” I asked, meeting her halfway. She was out of breath but forced the word out anyway. “Abby.” My heart began to slip.

“What about her?” I snarled full-on panic setting in. “I was meeting her at Java Co and we were going to get ready for tonight together. But just as I was pulling up I watched Abby get into a car with Shannon and they peeled out of the parking lot like a bat fresh out of hell. Now Abby’s not answering her phone and I’m scared something is wrong.”I felt nothing but panic and rage slithering through my veins as I stood there. Why would Abby get in the car with Shannon? If something were wrong with one of the boys why wouldn’t one of them have called me? Where were they going? This wasn’t good. I knew in my gut that something was seriously fucking wrong.

I should have known that something was about to go wrong. Shit! Leveling my breathing. I pulled my phone from my pocket. Zero missed calls. I dialed Abby’s number and just like Lily said it was going directly to voice mail. Next, I dialed Shannon to see if she could tell me what the fuck was going on. No answer. “What the fuck?”I shouted. Next, I called Shannon’s mother. I needed to know the boys were OK and maybe she would have some answers for me. Ten minutes later I was more confused than ever. Luckily Shannon’s mom had confirmed that both my boys were safe and staying the night with her. But she had told me that Shannon was out of town with Robert on a romantic getaway. Nothing was adding up. Maybe Lily was mistaken? If Shannon were on a romantic getaway with Robert then that would explain why she wasn’t answering.

As a last resort, I was dialing Robert. “Joshua?” Roberts’s voice sounded on the other line, “Hey, Robert. Is Shannon or Abby with you right now?” “Ah no, What’s going on? Why do you think Abby would be with us?” he sounded confused. Now I was really concerned. What the fuck is going on? “Never mind. Enjoy your vacation.” I said prepared to end the call when he questioned me, “What vacation?” and just like that I knew Shannon was at play here. I didn’t bother responding and just hung up. He didn’t know anything. I spun around and looked at Maddox and Lily. I think Shannon is up to something. This just isn’t adding up.” “You don’t think she would really hurt Abby though do you?” Lily asked looking more concerned than before. “I honestly don’t know anymore,” I said, fear for Abby choking me now. That’s when an idea formed and I remembered that I still had a shared location with Shannon. That is if she hadn’t thought to turn it off. I pulled out my iPhone and went to the app. Bingo! I set the directions in my navigation and ran to my car. “Got a location!” I yelled and Maddox and Lily were hot on my trail. They both jumped in my car and we took off. Once the directions loaded and I realized where they were my stomach bottomed out. “Why the hell would they be out in the middle of nowhere?” Maddox questioned and I felt my face drain. Whatever the reason was I hoped and prayed we get there before it was too late.

The whole ride there my mind kept going back to one question. What had made Abby get in the car with Shannon? Had Shannon threatened her for some reason? Maybe she forced her to go somehow. Blackmailed her or something? If Abby was hurt… My chest caved at the thought, and my entire body shook.

Thirty One

Nobody Touches What’s Mine!

Abigail

My head was pounding and my body wouldn’t stop shaking. Why was it so cold in here? My hands were tied behind my back, and I was strapped down to a metal chair in the center of the Barn. I could see Sterling off to the side and it looked like he was setting something up on a table. Tools of some kind? The thought made my skin crawl and my stomach roil. The fear nestled deep in my belly my heart had been pounding since I had woken.

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