Page 43 of Lost Soul

“I want to believe that’s true, coz if you did... Love him. I’d have to give you the warning ‘bout how dangerous it is.” He taps the door with his palm and backs away.

“What could be dangerous about love?” I laugh. Nervously.

“When you’re the president's daughter, just about everything for the guy who you catch feelings for. ‘Specially if he’s a member of this club.”

He picks up one of his tools, a spanner I think, and twists it around in his hand before he continues. “You don’t fall for her back, that means you’ve broken her heart, and Daddy wants you dead.

You do fall for her, and decide to make her yours the way the men around here own their women. Daddy makes you suffer before you’re dead.

So if you did have feelings, either way, you’d be signing Jessie’s death certificate.” Skid strokes his hand through his beard as he takes a seat on the stool by the workstation. “Prez loves that boy like a son, but club rules are club rules, and I don’t think either of us want that for Jessie.”

I nod my head, taking everything he says in like I’m hearing something I don’t already know.

“So it’s a good thing I don’t have feelings for him then, huh?” I try my best to sound upbeat, despite my heart feeling like it’s been shredded.

Skid can see how his words have affected me, I’m not that good an actress.

Jessie spends that afternoon, and then most of Sunday driving around with me so I can get used to being behind the wheel again. It feels good to spend time with him, but I can’t stop what Skid had said replaying over and over in my head. And of course, he’s right. Skid’s always right.

Coming to terms with it isn’t really the issue, deep down I suppose I’ve always known I couldn’t have Jessie. I’d just chosen to ignore that fact rather than move on from it.

I can’t imagine another guy caring about me the way Jessie does. I’ve never wanted anyone else, I wouldn’t know how to. Jessie has been my future since I was ten years old.

Determined not to let Skid’s warning knock me down, I drive out of the compound on Monday all by myself, the tunes I’ve chosen blasting out of my stereo as I drive myself to school. Maddy is waiting for me in the carpark and looks like she’s about to burst with excitement when I park up.

“Wow, this is awesome. Looks even better than the picture you sent. I’m so jealous.” She checks out my new ride.

“You wanna take a ride when we’ve finished class?” I ask, grabbing my bag off the passenger seat and hopping out to join her.

“Course I do,” Maddy answers without hesitation.

“Cool, meet me here after.” I click the automatic lock, and we walk into school together.

School drags like a bitch, probably because I’m excited about going for a drive with Maddy. Being away from the club makes it so much easier to forget the whole Jessie dilemma, and hopefully, Maddy will be too distracted to mention him. I text Daddy and Jessie, tell them where I’m going, and promise to pick up Pizza on my way back through town. When I finally finish my last lecture of the day Maddy is already waiting for me at the jeep.

“Ice Cream over at Pikes Peak,” I suggest.

“That’s a great shout,” she giggles, throwing her bag into the back before jumping into the passenger seat. The ice cream parlor up at the peak do the best cookie dough ice cream in the entire world, Mom used to take me there when I was little.

We head out of the parking lot up towards Pikes Peak. We’ve only got a few miles out of town when I notice the sign for a gas station, and a quick glance at the dash tells me I’m low. I forgot about all the responsibilities that come with driving.

I pull in and grab my purse before starting to fill up, I’m concentrating on the pump, and don’t really pay much attention to the black van that pulls up beside us, not until I hear Maddy scream.

It all happens so fast after that, the side door sliding open, the huge guy wearing black dragging her out from my passenger seat. Maddy struggles but it’s hopeless, she’s like a fish caught in a net as he roughly throws her inside the back of the van.

I drop the pump to the floor and race towards her. Fully prepared to take out whoever it is that’s trying to take her, whoever they are will soon regret it. They’ve picked the wrong girls to mess with today.

But I’m halted by a strong arm, one that wraps itself around my neck and crushes all the air from my windpipe.

Strong hips force me to move forward, closer to the open van door. Then I’m taken off my feet and tossed inside.

I just manage to catch a glimpse of the terror in Maddy's eyes before the door rolls shut, and traps us both in darkness.

The tires screech, and our bodies lunge forward as the van speeds away, both of us tumbling around the empty space. We scream as loud as we can through our tears, banging and kicking against the solid panels. Our bodies knocking against each other’s as we frantically search in the darkness for a latch to open one of the doors.

In the end, we only find each other, and we cling to each other tightly, throats sore from screaming, and heartbeats pumping like they could burn out any second. We sit together in the silence, both too petrified to speak, and we wait for the journey to hell knows where to end.

After what feels like ages, the van noticeably slows down. Rough bumps beneath the tires throw us around, but we hold on to each other best we can.

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