Amber Alert (Amber Alert Series Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter 24

James had just let us into the house as the sound of sirens came rushing down the street. He told us to hide, and added that we could only come out if he was the one calling for us. James was worried about whoever was coming toward us, and that meant it wasn't something I'd look forward to.

 "I have a good hiding place. Even he doesn't know about it," she giggled, as she slipped her hand into mine and led me through the house. 

She pulled toward the basement, only letting me go so she could hold on to the banister on her way down. 

"Jessi, where are we going?"

"In the floor, Mommy," she stated with no hint of joking in her eyes.

"The floor?" 

"Yeah!" she exclaimed with a smile as she lifted the rug. Then she pried her fingers into a crack between the floorboards, just like Garrett had done with the wall to hide her. I saw her cringe when the board snapped shut on her fingers.

"Jessi, you could hurt yourself."

"I can do it, Mommy," she stated, as the board flung up and crashed to the floor. "See?" she asked excitedly as she climbed into the hole. 

I glanced down as I heard a loud thud of someone banging on the front door or breaking it down. I quickly fixed the rug enough so that it looked undisturbed and wouldn't throw suspicion on our hiding spot. I slowly climbed in, sealing the board back into place above my head as I heard footsteps enter the house. It wasn’t tall enough for me to stand in, it was just right for Jessi, but I had to kneel to fit. It was as cold as a cellar in here; the concrete walls gave off cool temperatures that would have matched sitting in a refrigerator. 

Jessi was wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the pillow so she wouldn't have to sit on the hard floor. I smiled, it must have taken her a few visits into this hole, but she really knew how to last down here. She had really spent a lot of time hiding here if she was this prepared for a game of hide and seek. 

"Do you want to borrow the blanket, Mommy?" she asked, interrupting my silent compliments of her genius.

"Sure, but I'll share with you," I stated in a whisper, as I crawled over to her.

Footsteps soon walked over our hiding spot. We both froze; we hadn't heard them walk down the stairs or known that they were in the room until they were right on top of us. There were muffled voices, unintelligible since we were under them, but still present as the footsteps proceeded through the downstairs. 

I could barely hear James' words, but I could hear the edge in his voice. James sounded annoyed that these people had come into his house and sent us into hiding. 

James must have stood directly over us as I heard him ask, "What are you doing here?"

His footsteps soon went away as he traveled to a different area of the basement. There was yelling for a period of time, then a sudden burst of footsteps running up the stairs. Silence surrounded us as the slam of a door finally rattled to a stop. It was an uneasy eerie silence; there was just nothing, no sound, no voices, no music, and barely the sound of our own breathing. 

"Jessi, Anna! Where are you?" James called as he stepped over our hiding spot. 

"In here!" I called as loudly as I could. Soon, I could see his fingers as he began to move the board. It opened to fill the hole with a sudden light, blinding me, and James' voice reached my ears clearly for the first time in a while.

"How did you guys get down there?" he questioned, as he reached his hand down through the floor to help us out. 

 "Jessi found it and put us in here when you told us to hide," I said, as he hoisted me up through the hole in the floor.

"Is this where you've been hiding during hide and seek?" James asked with feigned horror. "That's cheating!" he yelled as he pulled her up. It made me wonder how many rounds of hide and seek he lost because she hid in that hole.

"No it's not! You said I could hide anywhere," Jessi exclaimed as she put both feet down on the floor.

"I guess I did say that. Oh well, who's ready for dinner?" James asked, getting an excited squeal out of Jessi.

"What happened James? Who was here?" I asked, as we traveled up the stairs toward the kitchen.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I glanced around the house. Everything was flipped and thrown in all directions without a care about where it ended up. There wasn't a neat area in the house, and after being in an empty house for so long, the mess actually bothered me. I cringed slightly at that realization; I would never be able to break my hold from that house, or Steve for that matter.

"It was the police. They were ordered to search my house by Chief Rivers because he wanted the tape back. I got a call from Tony though, the tape has been processed and sent to the other police stations, so there's no worry," he said with a smile, pulling out a tray from the refrigerator. It now made sense why he lied about taking the tape, he didn't want the processing to get stopped.

"Well, except all of them seeing what happened to me and the other girls," I said with a hitch in my voice.

"There's nothing to be afraid of Anna. He'll be caught," James promised in an attempt to reassure me, but I didn't believe it.

Dinner passed by in a blur for me. Jessi was uncharacteristically quiet while James seemed to be processing everything after the police raid. They didn't talk or look up from their meals the whole time, so I was left to entertain myself. I glanced between them, noticing the family resemblance was in the face. Both had bright green eyes and a soft curvature in the lips brought on by the heart shaped face.

Although, their mannerisms were nothing alike—James was shy and quiet, Jessi was loud and outgoing, even for such a young girl.

"Mommy, are you going to sleep with me again tonight?" Jessi asked with a meek voice, as she tugged on my t-shirt to get my attention.

"Not tonight, Jessi. We are going to see how you sleep without me tonight and we will see where it goes from there," I explained with a soft smile on my pale pink lips so she would know she wasn't in trouble. 

"Tomorrow we find Daddy, right?"

"I hope so. I really hope so, Jessi."

"Do you miss Daddy?" 

"Yes, I do," I said as I caught James smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. I glanced at him and his smirk grew larger, in the 'I knew it' kind of fashion. 

I took Jessi's hand and led her away from the table to get her ready for bed. I glanced around and noticed that some of the furniture was actually broken during the search. It must have been Rivers’ most loyal people to do this.

With or without the tape, this was blatant destruction of property with no reason other than self-preservation.

James had started picking up the house by the time Jessi and I got out of the shower, which improved my mood dramatically. I was so stressed about the mess, because I knew that if Steve had come home to that I would have been punished in vile ways. I shook my head to get rid of the memories as I pushed Jessi toward the bedroom.

It felt great to have showered after these last few days. I felt as if I had gotten rid of all the grime and remembrance of living in that house, and that I was finally my old self again. I could feel myself smiling more, even with what was happening. At least I didn't have to worry about Steve, or being abused like that again. Each time I even thought of it, I cringed and gagged slightly. 

By the time Jessi was ready for bed, James was upstairs in bed waiting for her to come in so he could go to sleep. 

"What do you wish for tonight?" I asked her as I tucked her into bed. She used to wish to be out of the house every night, now she always had a different answer.

"For you and Daddy to be back together."

"That's a good thing to wish for. Soon we will be, and you'll be here again. Now go to sleep, I will see you in the morning," I said as I got up.

"Wait!" Jessi called, as I was about to walk out of the door and seal her inside with her father.

"What's wrong, Jessi?" I asked leaning on the door jam.

"I'm scared," she stated bluntly.

"Why are you scared?" 

"The shadow man."

"The shadow man?" I questioned. Had she seen what I had seen last night? Why hadn't she told me before now? Does that mean it wasn't me dreaming, that it had actually happened? If so, then what was it, and what was I in for tonight now that I wasn't with them?

"There's no shadow man, Jessi," James stated with a small chuckle. 

I took a deep breath and nodded in agreement, whether for Jessi's benefit or mine, I'm not sure. "There's no shadow man, Jessi. Don't worry," I said with a smile as I shut the door behind me.

I walked down into the basement and found the bed that James had prepared for me. It was simple, just a mattress and two sheets with a pillow. Although, I was so tired right now that it looked like heaven. It felt as if my eyes had just closed when I heard something moving around me. I had seen it the night before, just outside of the door. The shadow that would forever haunt my dreams, and probably in death, was with me in the basement. I woke up looking into Steve’s eyes, there was no time to react before his hand covered my mouth.

"You've caused me a lot of trouble, Kelly. Now I have to end it."

Chapter 25

"You've caused me a lot of trouble, Kelly. Now I have to end it," Steve repeated, placing the cool steel blade of a knife to my throat.

I opened my mouth to try to scream again, but no sound came. I needed to warn James, protect Jessi, and still make it out of this alive. I could only think of a way to successfully do two of those, but at least they would be safe. I just wouldn’t be alive anymore.

"Now, remember the rules. Don't struggle and it will all be fine."

Just when I thought I had gotten all the grime and memories off of me, that I had been fully cleansed, Steve came back into my life and made it worse than before. The memories came flooding back the second I saw his eyes. I could see the lust, desire, and anger, along with the slight gleam of the knife in his eyes, but there was no sound. It was dead silent, which made me wonder if everyone was dead. Why else would it be so quiet?

"Kelly, why would you do this to me? I thought you were happy with me."

I felt anger surge through me as he tried to worm his way between my legs. I was sick and tired of being his toy. I wasn't Kelly, I wasn't here to please him and let him live out his sick fantasy of a perfect wife. I was my own person, and I wasn't going to let him take advantage of me anymore. I shoved him off of me as hard as I could and kicked the knife from his hand.

"I'm not Kelly. My name is Anna!" I stated with force as I quickly got to my feet.

I ran to retrieve the knife, but before I could, he grabbed me. Steve grabbed hold of my waist and forced me over the mattress so I wouldn't make a sound when I crashed onto it. He placed himself over me again, this time making sure I couldn't get him off, and forced me to look in his eyes. There was a noticeable change in demeanor.

"Well, Anna, I guess you're done playing along. Too bad, you could have lived longer, but I also have a promise to keep to you."

I swallowed hard in fear as I remembered the promise he made to me.

"I'll throw you out into the woods for a few days, then I'll come after you. When I find you, you'll wish you were back here letting me have you like this. Oh, it won't be pleasant, but you have to learn, and this is how you learn." He jammed the cloth into my mouth as I attempted to scream, effectively muffling any sound I made.

"A promise is a promise, Anna," he stated as he spat my name.

He ripped another piece from the sheet and blindfolded me. I was plunged into darkness in the blink of an eye, there was only a little slit that I could see through, and all I could see was Steve making sure I was secure.

I felt him pull at the neckline of my shirt as he forced me from the mattress. Steve took rough hold of my shoulder and pushed me around the basement. I tried to see through the small slit, but it was difficult to tell where I was in the basement. I hit my foot on the first step and was forced to walk up the steps. I planned to scream at the top until Steve threatened, "If you scream, I'll kill them both. I'll rape the girl and then kill her for even thinking that Garrett was her father."

I swallowed my scream as he pushed me toward the exit. There was a subtle click as a door opened and a soft breeze that blew in from the outside.

"Keep walking," Steve ordered quietly as he pushed me out the door. I heard it click again as he lightly shut the door behind us. It made me wonder how many times he had done this before, the door made almost no sound.

Steve led me through James' yard. The cool dewdrops touched my skin as my feet crunched on the grass. We hadn't been walking long when a sudden thud met my ears. Something had hit metal, maybe a hand or rock, but what was metal near the yard?

My feet hit pavement a second later, it scratched and tore at the soles of my feet as I stumbled. There was a creak as a door opened near me, and then I felt Steve shove me forward. My body landed in a heap on something soft, but my hands crashed into the carpet lining the car.

"I would take you with me Anna, but I enjoy the chase and this is just the beginning. You had learned to live with your fate, but it was all an act," he spat as he backhanded me across the face. I fell onto the cushion behind me. "You couldn't just play along could you? You just had to find some way out. I blame that son of mine, if he hadn't been there it would have been fine. I should have learned my lesson that only two can be around each other, if you add a third then it just makes it complicated!" he screamed as a punch landed on my stomach. I let out a high-pitched cry that covered up another voice behind me.

"Shut up! After I'm done with Anna, she's all yours!" Steve yelled at someone else in the car.

I screamed louder as he landed blows harder and faster than before. I felt punches land on my stomach, face, and arms when I tried to block blindly. There was the sound of a struggle in the front seat, the fabric of the chair moving and the clicking of a seat belt. Steve pulled me up a few minutes later, and judging from the pain over my body, I was going to have trouble running now. 

Well, he kept his promise, it was worse than before, just not the way I thought he meant.

"Now get out. I'll be coming to find you again soon. You'd be too easy to kill now, but because you made it so easy for my friends to find you by sending out that tape, I would suggest not going into any more towns," Steve said forcing me up from the mattress, sending pain surging throughout my body as I crashed to the ground.

"I'd run if I were you, Anna, and hide if you think you can. When I find you, you'll be dead and I'll be finding another wife." Steve stated with a chuckle.

"Why?" I asked through a hoarse voice.

"You've always been my favorite, right from the start, that's why I'm giving you another chance. Not that it will do you much good. I can't have a troublemaker for a wife, so spend your last few hours wisely.

Here, you can take my loser son with you, too. He's as good as dead anyway," Steve sneered as he tossed me out of the car onto the road. "You get twelve hours. Spend them wisely."