Page 31 of A Storm of Nightmares

I grab her blindfold and rip it off of her face, and her eyes fill with relief the second she sees me. She instantly starts to cry and mumble some words through the fabric in her mouth, but I can’t make any of it out. I remove her gag, and she takes a deep breath before continuing to sob loudly. “Shh, it’s ok, Jess. Let me get your handcuffs off, and then we’re getting the hell out of this place.”

I get her left hand freed quickly, but when I try to unlock her right hand, it doesn’t budge. I cuss under my breath as I struggle to shove the key into the hole. It’s jammed with something! I glance behind my shoulder once more, getting that eerie feeling that I need to hurry the fuck up. I give up on the cuff around her wrist and try the other end that’s locked onto the bedpost. It comes off easily, and I grab Jess’ hand to help her off the bed.

She squeals as she tosses her arms around me. “Thank you, Kat! I thought I was going to die chained to that filthy bed.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We still have to find our way out of this place and get to the hospital. Or the cops. Whichever we find first.”

Jess slowly pulls herself from me and opens her mouth to speak, but she freezes, and her eyes grow wide. She looks like she’s seen a freaking ghost. Goosebumps rise over my entire body, and I already know what’s going on before I turn around. You don’t have to be a genius to sense danger.

Rick is standing in the doorway, breathing heavily, eyes bulging with anger. There’s blood spilling from a nasty gash on his forehead, right at the hairline. I thought I knew crazy Rick. Angry Rick. But this Rick is new to me. He looks animalistic, and I find myself fearing him more than ever before. I push Jess behind me and put my arms up to protect her. I don’t know what my plan is, but I will not let him get to her, even if it kills me.

“You’ve ruined everything,” Rick mutters in a frightening, low voice. He steps toward me, and I instinctively step back. “I’m going to kill you, Katherine. I’m going to do it real slow, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it. I’m going to laugh as I watch the light drain from your eyes. It’ll be the last thing you ever hear.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I spit.

Rick lunges at me and wraps his hands around my throat before I have time to move out of his way. I stumble back into Jess, and she falls to the floor, screaming at Rick to stop. My hands are scratching at his, trying desperately to loosen his grip, but it’s not working. I can feel my chest tightening as the air leaves my lungs. My vision is starting to blur, and all I can think about is what he’ll do to Jess once he’s finished with me.

With every last ounce of strength that I have left, I pull my leg back and drive my knee up as hard as I can into Rick’s groin. He crumples to the ground, and I inhale deeply, my lungs on fire. I’m so shaken up that my feet seem to be glued to the spot. I don’t know what to do next. My mind is blank from fear.

Jess surprises me when she runs behind Rick, grabs the loose end of the cuff that’s still attached to her wrist, and pulls the metal chain tightly against his throat. He’s still weak from the blow I delivered to his manhood, so his reaction is delayed.

Rick slowly starts to stand while his fingers are trying to pull the chain off of his neck. I can tell Jess is struggling to keep a hold on him. I look around the room in a panic, searching for anything I can use as a weapon. Fuck, I don’t see anything.

Rick elbows Jess in the stomach, and she grunts as the air leaves her lungs and her eyes fill with tears, but her grip on the cuffs remains strong. If I wasn’t freaking out right now, I’d actually be really impressed by Jess’ unexpected strength. Rick is seconds away from breaking free, though, and then Jess and I will both be dead.

I gasp as I remember the large brass key that I have in my pocket. I take it out and stare at it for a second. It’s not that big; it’s a freaking key. But it’s the only thing I have. I nod to myself to build up the courage that I’ll need.

My fingers close around the key firmly and, without a second thought, I shove the end that’s meant to go into a keyhole directly into the side of Rick’s neck. I yank my hand away as blood starts to trickle down from under the protruding object. Rick’s eyes go wide, and then they glaze over, and his body slumps to the floor.

Jess and I lock eyes, and it’s clear neither one of us knows what the hell to do now. “Is he dead?” She whispers, eyes wide in fear. I look down at the body lying on the floor, unmoving and slowly bleeding out.

I shrug, “I have no idea, but I’m not sticking around to see if he gets up.” I step around the body of our captor, careful not to touch him, just in case he does rise from the dead for round two. I grab Jess’ hand in mine, and we dart out of the room as fast as we can, only to crash right into Keith’s hard chest.

He grabs me by the shoulders and does a visual inspection to make sure I’m alright. His index finger trails up from my shoulder to my neck, where I’m sure the evidence of Rick’s hands choking me is as plain as day. “You were taking too long. I got worried, so I came to get you. How did this happen?”

“Rick found us, and he was not happy with me... I think I killed him,” I admit through a shaky voice.

Keith’s brows furrow together. In a split second, he goes into cop-mode. He leaves Jess and me standing in the hallway, rattled to our cores, and goes to investigate. I turn to watch him as he kneels beside Rick’s body and checks his pulse. I find myself holding my breath as I wait.

Without a word or a glance in my direction, Keith grabs the fabric that was once Jess’ gag and ties it tightly around Rick’s hands, binding him behind his back. He leaves the room and joins us once more, looking unsettled. “He’s not dead, Kat.”

I let out a sigh of relief. As much as I hate Rick, I don’t know if I could ever recover mentally from killing somebody. Even deranged, kidnapping scum who deserve to die. I just don’t have it in me to have blood on my hands.

“Where are Dan and Betty?” I ask Keith, starting to worry about my sister again, now that all the excitement is over.

“This warehouse is right off of a main road. We got lucky, and a car was driving by and saw the three of us rushing outside. They stopped and called 911. I came back in here as soon as I knew help was on the way. Betty and Dan are waiting outside with the old couple that was driving the car.”

Sweeter words have never been spoken. Help is coming. We survived. Jess falls to her knees and sobs uncontrollably. I crouch down and pull her into my arms, my eyes meeting Keith’s. He smiles a charming yet haunted grin, and I mouth, “thank you,” as I feel my own tears toppling out onto my cheeks.

Chapter 21

Keith doesn’t let us stay crying on the floor for too long. We hear the distant wail of sirens, and he takes that as his cue to gather Jess and me from the ground. Jess holds onto Keith’s hand with a death grip, and I’m feeling faint, so I sling my arm around his broad shoulders for support. He slowly leads the two of us outside, and the feeling of sunlight on my face is indescribable. I haven’t felt the warmth of the sun in days.

We don’t make it more than five paces out of the door before two police cars and an ambulance pull up directly in front of us. Before I can even blink, a paramedic is rushing toward Betty, who’s sitting in the backseat of a dark red Chevy sedan. She’s wrapped in a tattered, pale-yellow blanket, and I imagine it belongs to the couple who called 911. Her face is ghost-white and her breathing is coming in pants.

I break away from Keith and start to walk to Betty. It’s as if time slows down, and I can hear everything and nothing all at once. I need to get to my sister. I lost her once, I will not lose her again. My mind starts to race with fear. Betty looks like death. I can’t imagine she would have survived much longer if we didn’t break out of there.

I finally found her. Well, sort of. But she’s here, right in front of me for the first time in four years. I will not let her die.

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