Page 42 of Drawn To You

I couldn’t say for sure how long I’d been out, but considering I could still see some daylight streaming into the barn I don’t think it was very long. My head pounded with each shallow breath I took, and if I even tried to move the slightest bit, the throbbing would be so intense that I felt like I was going to vomit.

Sterling has me.”There’s my pretty girl.” His voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I kept my head lowered as I refused to look at him. I was too afraid of what I’d see if I met his gaze. Would my resolve to fight him fall? Would I crumble and become submissive and just do what he says to survive?

“Enjoy your nap, sleepyhead?” The second I glared up at Sterling’s deranged eyes I could see the way his nostrils flared with anger at my defiant look and refusal to answer. “I should have never let you push me away. I should have just kept you where you belonged.” A bitter laugh came from me.

“You really think that I belong with you, you’re my fucking cousin Sterling!” He ignored my statement. “How many times did you let him fuck you?” I stilled, panic rushing through me as Sterling snarled, looking down at my breasts. “Does thinking about him right now make your perky nipples hard?” His hand grasped my chin tightly, and I squeezed my eyes shut at the pain it caused. My chin was going to have bruises from the pressure.

Suddenly, Sterling gripped the front of my shirt and ripped it from my chest, and I cried out as I watched as he pulled a knife out of his boot and trailed the blade down the curve of my breast only to slice the center of my bra and free my breasts.

His hand stroked over me gently at first, and a tear escaped my eye. I knew he wasn’t going to hold back. I knew that this time he wouldn’t be waiting until I was too unconscious from alcohol to understand what was happening or to fight him off. I knew he would no longer wait to creep inside my bedroom late at night and hover over me. Sterling didn’t care anymore. He was going to touch me no matter how hard I fought him.

Pain racked my body as his touch turned rough. My eyes flared open, and my fear turned to anger. “Get the fuck off me, Sterling.” I bucked and thrashed violently against him, and I think it surprised him for a second. Everything else seemed to fade away, as I entered survival mode. Fight or flight. I was going to do both.

“I don’t want you to touch me! I told you I am not your little doll, Sterling!” His hand clamped down on my hip, painfully, and the crazed look in his eye sent a new batch of dread into me. I was hesitant to do or say anything. “I’m going to ask you one more time, Abby.” Sterling‘s hand left my chin at some point and now rested over my throat, squeezing it just enough to gain my attention.

“How many times did you fuck him?” I said nothing in response not wanting to share any detail of what I had with Joshua with him. I didn’t want it to taint the memories somehow. “Please let me go, Sterling,” I gasped, looking up with watery eyes. “What are you doing?” Sterling raised an eyebrow at me as if I should have known this was coming. “No.. let go of me!” I screamed. My voice was starting to crack as I continued screaming while I thrashed against him. Sterling bent down and unzipped my jeans and glared at me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, we grew up together?” I asked through my sobs. I fought even harder as he pulled my jeans from my body. “No!” I screamed again. “Oh, Abby. You’ve been such a naughty girl. It’s almost as if you enjoy being punished.” Just then, I felt something prick the side of my neck, and Sterling’s face started to fade from view. “Good,” I whispered, “I don’t want to see your fucking face anymore” I hissed just before everything went black.

* * *

Joshua

When we had spotted the Barn at the end of the dirt road with Shannon’s car parked outside we had hung back at Maddox’s insistence and watched to assess the situation.

I wanted to rush in with guns blazing and get to Abby, ASAP, but Maddox had talked some sense into me by pointing out we couldn’t help Abby if we got ourselves killed. So we watched on as some dude walked Shannon out to her car. There were no signs of Abby anywhere but when Shannon got into her car and the guy headed back into the barn, I just knew that Abby was inside.

Please let her be OK!When Shannon headed down the dirt road towards us, we decided to cut her off and get some answers. Our plan to block her path by pulling my car diagonal onto the road, cutting her off, and forcing her to slam on her breaks at the last second worked like a charm.

As soon as she came to a full stop, Maddox rushed up and slashed her tires as I pulled her out of the driver’s door. “Joshua? What? What are you doing here?” She asked playing stupid. But I knew her for the skilled actress she was and knew enough to know everything about her right now, down to her facial expression was a complete and utter facade.

My eyes stayed locked on her lying scheming face, and I felt my muscles tensing like they were preparing for something big. “What’s the end game, Shannon? Why? Why did you fucking bring Abby to a barn in the middle of nowhere? What is the purpose? Who is that guy you were just talking to?” I growled, taking a step closer to her. “Tell me!” I yelled and rushed at her hoping to intimidate the truth from her, but her eyes sparked to life like she was enjoying this like the sick fuck she was. She was more fucked up than I ever thought.

“You won’t hurt me, Joshua.” Shannon grew more serious. “I’m the mother of your children. How would you ever be able to look them in the eyes again if you hurt their mother?” The only thing that held me in place was the fact that she knew who had Abby, and what he had planned for her. But I knew she was the one behind all of this.

“Who is the guy and why?” I asked again and Shannon’s mask dropped and she seethed “Because she took something that belonged to me. That’s why!” Shannon licked her lips as I moved in closer.

“Who is the guy Shannon?” I felt the blood drain from my face as she said, “His name is Sterling, he is Abby’s cousin. Did you know her family was a bunch of religious fanatics? Regardless, Sterling contacted me and offered to take Abby off my hands, apparently has a hard-on for his little cousin and he wants to take her back home with him where she belongs and she’ll be out of our way.”

“We both know, Abby has nothing to do with our divorce Shannon” I seethed. “Oh, but she does. You were mine. Everything was fine before she came along and ruined everything. I was fine with you fucking her Joshua. But filing for divorce!” My heart began thumping faster and faster, and my other hand almost came up to wrap around Shannon’s neck to drown out the sound of her voice.

“At first, Sterling had just wanted more information from me.” Shannon’s lip twitched, and my stomach fell to the floor. “Imagine his concern when I told him all about how his precious little cousin was fucking my husband.” “So that’s it? Do you have no morals or conscience? You wanted me as your meal ticket so fucking bad that you gave up an innocent girl to that deranged psychopath for a life of physical and sexual abuse?” I couldn’t stomach looking at my ex-wife a second longer. “Maddox,” I barked “Find something to restrain Shannon until the cops can get here. and Shannon, sit down and shut the fuck up.”

Thirty Two

A Real Shit Show

Joshua

“So what’s the plan, Joshua?” Maddox walked over to me, and we locked gazes. Time was ticking, and my gut clenched at the thought of what Sterling was doing to Abby while we wasted time. Turning my back on Maddox, I walked over to Lily who was on the phone with the emergency dispatcher. “What’s their ETA?” I asked. “Ten minutes. They are saying we should wait for them to get here in case he is armed.” she quickly explained.

“Fuck that!” My voice was gritty as I tried to rein in my emotions. I wanted to shut down until I didn’t feel the panic twisting in my body. “She’s… You didn’t see the haunted look on her face when she told me what the sick fuck did to her!” My voice reached levels that I didn’t even know possible. I was terrified. I was fucking terrified and swore I’d kill every mother fucker on this green earth that even dared to touch her. I knew I was spiraling out of control but I didn’t even care.

* * *

Abigail

The room was spinning and I felt like I was on a carnival ride. He’s going to hurt me again. A tiny voice whispered in the back of my head. “Tell me, Abby, so you can be punished for your transgressions. It’s the only way to purify and redeem your soul, so we can go to the Celestial Kingdom together.” Sterling’s words cut through my fear like a sharp blade. “You can’t lie to me. I’m one of God’s holy disciples and he will tell me if you lie.” “My wrists are hurting, Sterling, please untie them,” I begged. “I’ll untie them if you promise to be good. I’ll have to hurt you if you’re bad. Do you understand?” My eyes opened, and fear like no other hit me again. “I understand,” I whispered, and he moved to untie my bindings. Anger lit me up inside, but I tapped it down. If I was going to get out of this alive I needed Sterling to free my bindings.

---