dad

I could feel eyes watching me, but none of the people on the busy street seemed to be looking my way. As I walked I could hear a second pair of footsteps behind me. They echoed my steps in near-perfect unison, but as I quickly came to a halt, I couldn't miss the extra step that followed. 

My blood froze, my heartbeat was pounding so loudly in my ears that I thought I was going to go deaf. 

Not wanting whoever was following me to know that I was aware of their presence. I carefully reached into my pocket and brought my cellphone to my ear.

 “Hey, I'm on your side of town and was wondering if you’d like to get lunch with me? Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll come to your place.”

 I was too scared to go home. I couldn’t risk leading this person right to my front door. Where could I go that was safe? With my heart in my throat, Ever-so-slightly, I turned around. 

There was a woman, dressed in casual streetwear and sunglasses. She didn’t think I recognized her, but she wasn’t fully certain either. My hand gripped the pepper spray in my bag as I called out to her

“Who are you?” I swallowed, trying not to sound so afraid

 “Why are you following me?”.

 I got no response, so I did the only logical thing I could have done, I ran. 

The opposite direction of my home. The closest thing to me was the woods 

surely they won’t follow me there? 

The woods smelled like damp earth and crushed leaves, sharp and green and alive, every breath I took tasted like panic. 

My lungs burned, my throat raw and my mouth was dry with fear, sweat ran cold down my spine as the branches tore at my sleeves and slapped against my face. 

The woods felt too dark, every shadow looked like it was reaching for me, but I ran anyway. My boots slipped in the mud, the tree roots felt like they were reaching out and grabbing at my feet, my heart pounding so violently I thought it might burst out of my chest.

 The worst part?

 I couldn’t hear the thundering pursuit of her boots behind me

 No..

Just slow, steady footsteps.

 I risked a glance behind me and the world tilted, my foot caught on a hidden root. I went down hard, palms stinging. 

The taste of dirt and blood flooded my mouth as my teeth sank into my bottom lip. 

I scrambled up, my heart in my throat, vision blurring…and ran straight into her. 

Strong hands closed around my wrists, gripped my hair, everywhere at once, it felt like.

 The scent of her hit first, something warm and clean beneath the forest's damp rot, a contrast that made my stomach twist.

 “No…please..” I gasped, my voice breaking.

 I was shoved back against a tree, the bark biting into my shoulders, rough and cold through my clothes.

 My breath came in sharp, painful bursts, like I couldn't pull enough air into my lungs no matter how hard I tried.

 “Running already?” she murmured, voice low, dangerously calm. 

My wrist still pinned above my head, I attempted to pull free and failed again.

The strength she was holding me with felt effortless and casual like she wasn’t even really trying yet. 

She leaned close, so close I could feel her breath against my lips, her breath smelled clean, controlled, and steady. 

So different from my own, which tasted like blood, fear and dirt.

 “I thought you’d run a bit longer,” she said softly.

 Tears burned at the corners, my body shook, not just from exhaustion, but from the sickening certainty that I was completely overpowered.

 Every instinct screamed at me to fight, to run, to do something, but my muscles felt like water around my bones.

 “Let me go,” I whispered, barely able to form words “please.” 

She began tracing my jaw with a light, almost gentle touch that somehow made it worse.

 My skin crawled where she touched. 

My stomach twisting with anticipation and dread, my throat tightening until I could barely swallow, “You’re shaking,” the woman observed, almost fondly. 

“I can feel it.” 

She loosened her grip just a fraction,just enough to give me hope. 

I lunged. 

She caught me instantly. 

A hand slammed back onto the tree beside my head, blocking my escape.

 The other pinned my wrists again, higher this time, forcing me to stretch, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I gasped for air. 

A soft laugh.

 “See?” she said “You really don’t stand a chance.” 

The words sank into me like cold water.

 My fear deepened, thick and heavy, pressing against my ribs. 

The forest seemed to close in, the smell of moss and rot and night wrapping around me, trapping me in this moment.

 My mouth tasted like copper. 

My hands were numb.

 My legs trembled so badly I wasn't sure I could stand on my own anymore.

The woman leaned in, our faces inches apart. 

“You really did run beautifully,” she said. “But you should know…I always catch what I chase.” 

I didn't bother trying again. 

My legs gave out before my courage did, my knees buckled and I sank to the forest floor, my palms digging into the wet leaves and cold mud, the smell of the earth filled my nose, thick and suffocating. 

My breath coming out in broken, sobbing gasps I could no longer control.

”Please,” I whispered again, not even sure who I was begging anymore. 

The women watched me for a moment, head tilted, eyes dark with something unreadable. 

Then she moved.

 In one swift motion, she crouched and grabbed me by the arm, hauling me upright as easily as if I weighed nothing. 

I cried out, the sound tore from my throat as I was lifted off my feet “no!...no, stop please!” I pleaded, kicking weakly, my boots barely grazing the air. 

“Easy” she said, voice calm, almost soothing “you’ll hurt yourself” the words felt like a threat wrapped in silk. 

 I was thrown over the woman’s shoulder, my stomach pressing into hard muscle.

 Blood rushed to my head, and I pounded my fists weakly against her back

 “put me down!, let me go!” my voice vanished into the trees.

 She walked towards the forest opening onto a narrow gravel road where a dark vehicle waited, engine off, silent and patient. 

The sight of it made my chest seize with terror “no, wait.” I whispered “please don’t!” the trunk popped open with a dull thud. 

My heart lurched violently.

 I thrashed, finally finding a surge of desperate strength, but it didn’t matter. 

She lowered me into the trunk anyways, one hand firm on my shoulder the other guiding my legs inside almost as if she was packing away a bag instead of a person.

“Please, please” i sobbed, voice cracking, tears streaking down my face “i’ll do anything, just please don’t”

“Shh..” she cooed “i know you will” the carpet scratched against my skin as i curled up instinctively, trying to make myself small, trying to disappear. 

My breath came in fast, shallow gasps, my chest tightening until I felt like I was breathing through cloth.

 “Don’t close it,”  I begged, “please don’t close it…” 

the woman paused for a fraction of a second, looking down at me, Then without any more hesitation the trunk lid came down. 

Darkness washed over me, The sound was deafening, the heavy “thunk” echoing through the enclosed space, the air felt thinner immediately. 

“No, No!” I cried out, pounding on the lid with shaking fists “ let me out! Please!” I knew it was no use, the car had been started. Vibration rattled through the trunk, through my bones, through my teeth. 

I curled tighter, knees pulled to my chest, arms wrapped around myself as I shook violently. Every bump in the road jolted my body. I had no way of knowing where I was being taken. The car drove on. I was trapped in the dark, with nothing but my terror and the sound of the road carrying me somewhere I couldn’t escape from.

The car slowed to a stop, the sound of gravel crunching underneath thick soled boots became louder and louder as the woman walked towards the trunk, towards me.

The trunk latch clicked. The cold night air rushed in as it was lifted all the way open, sharp and clean compared to the suffocating metal box. I gasped, blinking against the sudden brightness, the woman stood above me outlined by the moonlight, calm as ever.

“We’re here,” she said quietly. 

Something inside me snapped. Before the woman could reach towards me I exploded out of the trunk with a strangled cry, slamming into her with every ounce of desperation I had left. My shoulder hit hard, she staggered back a step. 

For one fragile, split, impossible second, it felt like I might actually break free. I desperately shoved at her chest, trying to twist away out of the strong arms that held me tight

 “let go of me!” I screamed, voice ragged and feral. 

My hands connected. Fists pounding, nails scratching anything that would make contact, but it was like attacking stone. The woman just grunted softly, more startled than hurt. I aimed towards her face and my wrists were caught mid swing. Both of them, pinned. 

“That’s enough! Start walking” she said, breath steady despite the struggle.

 “No! I won’t go in there" I say as I drag my feet deep into the dirt as she tries to steer me towards the dark cabin.

 I thrashed once more and the woman maneuvered me easily, flipping me straight into the dirt and gravel pinning my arms to my back. 

“i gave you a chance to be calm,” she murmured, not cruelly, but disappointed “you chose not to”.

“Fuck you!” I choked out. 

Her grip on me loosened “you done?” she asked quietly. 

“Fuck..you” i whispered, my words coming out weak and breathless with her weight on my back 

“i heard you the first time.” she said smugly

My arms were still twisted behind my back, wrists held firmly together. The position made my shoulders ache. I tried once more to pull free, not a real attempt this time more like a reflex, anything to ease the ache. Her hand on my wrist tightened slightly, as a warning. That was enough to make me stay still.

“Now, are you going to cooperate so I can get you up off the ground?” she asks and I nod immediately, anything to get off the cold hard dirt.

She lifted me up onto my feet, stepped in front of me and began brushing the sticks and loose dirt off my clothing. I fight the soft smile that wants to rise to my lips seeing her still sweet nature coming through despite what we're doing here.

 “Now, walk” she says softly. 

The words were simple but my legs wobbled as I tried to move. I stumbled almost immediately, but before I could fall her firm hand caught my upper arm “i can’t…” I murmured.

 “Yes, you can”. She said as she began to steer me forward anyways.

 Ahead of us stood a familiar building, a tad larger than a cabin but still just as isolated, its shape dark against the moonlit sky. One dim light glowed above the door. 

“No,” I whispered “please, don’t do this.”

The woman stopped just long enough to open the door, warm air drifted out, carrying the faint familiar smells of wood and cleaner from the last time we were here.

 “Inside,” she said, her grip shifted for a moment.

 I felt a fraction of space between us. My instincts screamed at me and I tried to run, I barely made it two steps. A hand caught the back of my jacket and yanked me backwards sharply. Crying out as my balance vanished, I was pulled right into solid arms again. 

“You’re really determined.” she murmured near my ear. I struggled weakly, but I had no strength left anymore , my hands trembled and my legs barely could hold myself up anymore. I was turned around and guided through the cabin doorway. The door shut behind us with a dull final thud.

Inside, the light was brighter than outside, making me squint. The main room was plain, old wooden walls, floors and heavy furniture kept in the same spots as it originally was. The windows had been covered up with thick pieces of foam with the intention to keep the sounds inside.

 I could feel the anticipation rising with every second. She released my arm and stepped away looking at me, not rushing me. I looked towards the door quickly 

“Don’t even think about it” she said quickly as if she could read my mind, my shoulders sagged and my hands hung uselessly to my sides, shaking 

“Why are you doing this?” I whispered again, my voice hollow with exhaustion.

 “Because, I've been watching you for weeks, and you just looked too beautiful to not take the chance, it was too easy to get you” she said with a toothy little smile. Her words settled in the room like weight. But the silence didn't last. 

My eyes flicked to the side of the room towards a narrow hallway, half-shadowed and unguarded. It wasn’t much, barely even a possibility. Fear makes possibilities feel enormous.

I moved suddenly, a sharp inhale, a twist of my shoulders and I bolted past the table she was standing beside towards the hallway, boots still coated in dirt slipping against the wooden floor , for one wild heartbeat, hope surged through my chest. The woman laughed. Actually laughed. 

“Oh, come on!” I heard closely behind before I felt a hand grip the back of my shirt pulling me backwards hard. I cried out as she lunged into me, sending us both to the floor. Air rushed out of my lungs as the wood slammed against my back.

 “Got you” she said smugly.

 I immediately tried to buck her off of me, panic flooding every nerve. I shoved at her shoulders “GET OFF!”

“Oh, this again?” she interrupted, almost amused, she caught both my wrists in one hand and forced them over my head with humiliating ease. 

“You really think you’re going to get out of this?” she asked, grinning down at me. “That’s quite adorable”

“Fuck you” i spat, thrashing harder

“Mm” she tilted her head mockingly “whose under who again?”

I tried to knee her, but she shifted her weight onto me effortlessly

“Seriously?,” she said with a scoff “are you done?” 

She leaned closer, close for her voice to drop into something lower, more intimate, even more patronizing.

“You know what your problem is?” she murmured “you keep mistaking desperation for ability”

Her grip tightened suddenly forcing a sharp cry to escape my lips.

“I let you run in the woods because it was fun,” she continued casually, “I let you jump out of the trunk. I even let you make it halfway across the room just now”. 

A smug smile spread slowly across her face “you’ve never actually gotten close to escaping me”.

My stomach twisted and my face fell because deep down I knew it was true.

“There it is,” she said softly “that look”

I tried turning my face away but she catches my chin immediately, forcing me to look back up at her

“Oh no, no,” she chided “don’t sulk now, you were so brave a second ago”

“Please…” I whispered, the fight in me finally cracking apart into trembling exhaustion