Lost Girl 3 (4 page)

I hear heavy boots walk down the stairs, and I whisper to Anna to sit down, to crawl up next to me and turn herself into a ball against my body. I whinge again when she touches my leg and curls up next to it, but I’d rather have that than to let her get hurt. Hopefully I can stop anything happening to her if she’s close. But the man isn’t after Anna. I feel him bend down near my face, I can smell the stench of his breath as he licks his tongue over my cheek and I shiver in disgust. Next I feel his hand reach for my hip and it takes everything in me not to be sick, but all he does is stick his hand in my pocket and pull out my phone before I hear his heavy boots march back to the stairs.

“Please,” I beg him. “Please don’t leave us down here.”

“Don’t you worry,” he chuckles again, “we’ll be back before you know it.” His laugh sounds sinister as he walks away, his boots thumping loudly on the wooden stairs that lead out of the basement.

“Are you okay?” I whisper to Anna after the door above us is locked.

“I think so,” she whispers back. “Are you?”

“I think I’ve broken my ankle,” I say.

“I’m sorry,” Anna cries.

“Don’t be,” I try to calm her down. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But this is all because of me wasn’t it? They’re Mama’s friends. If I hadn’t run away this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Please don’t cry Anna, none of this is your fault.”

She’s about to say something else, when her voice catches in her throat and I feel her tense up against my body, and listening closely I tense up too as I recognise the faint sound of my ringtone coming from somewhere behind the locked door. Then suddenly the sound stops and I gasp as I hear one of the men talking.

“You know who I am, and you know what I want,” he says with a loud harsh chuckle. I hold my breath while I listen for more, but there’s only silence. Silence, and the sound of Anna’s sharp breathing coming from my side.

“It’s okay,” I whisper to her, trying to calm her down. “I’ll make sure we’ll be okay, they won’t hurt you.” I grind my teeth and push myself up with my elbows. I shuffle around until I’m sitting with my back to her and reach around until I feel her wrists.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“I’m untying you.”

I fumble with my fingers on the tape that’s bound on her wrists until I finally manage to pick a corner free and pull on it to release her wrists.

“Do you think you can do the same with mine?” I ask her once I’ve freed her.

“Mhm,” she replies vaguely and starts picking on the tape. I wriggle my wrists a little as soon I feel some freedom to move around and slip one of my hands through the tape. I reach one arms up to my face and pull the cloth from my eyes. The basement is dimly lit by the last rays of the afternoon sun shining through the small window in one of the walls, but the light is bright enough to feel blinding for a little while after being in the dark for so long. I quickly take Anna’s blindfold off for her too, and as she blinks to get used to the light, I scan around the room. There are a few boxes scattered against one corner, and a filthy mattress covered in dark stains in another. A shiver runs through me, when I think of what could’ve happened in here before, and what might be our faith if we don’t escape as well.

I quickly wrap my arms around Anna without taking the tape off of my other wrists and cradle her in my embrace, softly rocking her from side to side. Pressing her head against my chest so she doesn’t see the mattress with the red stains and brushing my hand over her hair.

“You’ll be okay,” I whisper again and I’m starting to wonder if I keep repeating myself so I’ll start believing it too.

“Who do you think called you?” she asks after a while in a small voice.

“I think that was Rick,” I mumble, still gently rocking her.

She looks up at me with big bloodshot eyes, “do you think he will come and safe us?”

I fear he won’t, but I nod at her and give her a small smile, “I’m sure he will do everything he can, but for now, we have to be strong. Can you be strong for us?” I ask her.

“Mhm,” she nods quietly. “I can try.”

“Do you think that if we break that window, you can run to a neighbour and call the police?”

She looks at me with big eyes, “I think so.”

“Good,” I reply, and drop my arms away from her body to push myself up. I whinge and fall back down as soon as I put pressure on my foot, so instead I try and crawl over to the boxes.

“Help me go through these,” I say to Anna. “We need to find something to break that window.

“How is this?” she asks, pulling a rusty crowbar out of one of them.

“Perfect!” I say to her, and take my shirt off to wrap around the end, so it won’t make too much noise.

I push myself up again, this time making sure that I won’t use sore ankle, and swing at the window with the crowbar. The glass instantly shatters in a hundred pieces, and unwrapping my shirt from the crowbar, I wrap it around my hand to pull away any left-over shards from the windowpane.

“I’ll push you up to the window, but you’ll have to be careful. You have to look around you to make sure it’s safe before you pull yourself up. Okay?”

“Okay,” she nods. “But what about you?” she asks, looking at me unsure.

“I won’t fit through there, and I can’t walk to the neighbours like you can.”

“But I don’t want to leave you here,” she pouts.

“You have to Anna. You have to be strong now. Find a phone to call the police, and when you do, Rick will be so proud of you for helping.”

“He will, won’t he,” she smiles thinking of her brother.

“He definitely will,” I nod.

“Okay,” she agrees. “I will find a phone.”

“Good,” I say, and brace myself to push her up to the window. I grind my teeth when I lift her up, but I know it’s for the best. The pain I’m feeling now is nothing compared to what I could endure here.

“Is it safe?” I ask with a grunt as Anna is hanging on the window frame.

“I think so,” she replies.

“Okay,” I say. “Push yourself up, run as fast as you can to the nearest house and don’t look back.

“I will.” She pushes herself up with ease and her legs disappear through the window within seconds. “I’ll be back soon,” she whispers, sticking her head back inside.

“No!” I demand. “Get safe and don’t come back.”

“Oh,” she mumbles with a pout. “Okay Summer.” And with that she is gone and I’m left alone in the basement.

I let myself drop back down to the concrete floor, and pull myself over to the mattress. Choosing a corner that doesn’t have any stains on it, I lay down and close my eyes, waiting and hoping for Anna to have found some help.

Suddenly I hear the key in the door to the basement again, and my eyes fly open. I look up to see the skinny guy marching down the stairs. He looks me straight in my eyes when he gets to the bottom and comes over in big strong steps with a look of lust in his eyes. “Getting ready for me are you?” He asks, licking his lips as he’s eyeing up my naked upper body.

Standing in front of me he starts unbuckling his belt when a sudden breeze of cold air rushes into the basement and his head snaps towards the broken window.

“Where’s the girl?” he shouts in a rambling voice.

I don’t answer him, instead I push myself up closer to the wall, terrified of what’s to come.

“Where’s the fucking girl?” he shouts again.

“I… I don’t know,” I whisper in a trembling voice.

“Don’t you fucking lie to me!” he shouts. “Where’s the girl?”

“She--” I don’t get to finish the sentence. He pulls his belt out of the belt loops surrounding his jeans, and in one swift move slaps his belt across my face. I clasp my lips together, grind my teeth and wince in pain, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of screaming at the agony I feel that the burning after pain of the lash is giving me, but at the same time feeling relieved that it was just a lash of the belt he’s given me, and he isn’t doing what I feared he might do when he took his belt off.

“I don’t want to ask you again!” he shouts at me.

“She left,” I say, trembling.

“She left?!” his voice bellows through the basement.

I shake in reply, unable to answer him.

“You’ll pay the price for this. You know this right?” he’s still shouting, but now he’s licking his lips again too as he’s unbuttoning his dirty jeans.

Suddenly the door at the top of the basement creaks open again. “What’s going on down here?” the heavy guy asks without coming down the stairs.

“Nothing,” Skinny answers. “I was just about to have some fun with the woman.”

The heavy guy chuckles, “leave some for me.”

“I might,” the skinny guy answer in his sinister voice and turns back to me. “Now where were we?” he asks, his eyes lingering on my bare belly again. “Ah yes,” he chuckles, “I remember. You’ve let the little girl escape, and now you will pay the price.”

Slowly he bends down over me, and places his hand in between my legs. I close my eyes, pretend to be anywhere but here, wishing Rick was with me to keep me safe. But none of that is happening and I feel his hand stroke between my legs.

“Open your eyes!” he shouts at me, and I do as I’m told. Slowly I open them, and see him reach his free hand into his jeans. He pulls out of his cock, and roughly takes my hand and pushes it against it. I purse my lips to stop myself from being sick, and think of anywhere but here. Sandy beaches. Sunset walks. Anything, to not have to focus on what I’m doing, on what he’s making me do, as he forces my hand to move up and down with his hand on top of mine. Suddenly he steps away from me, and I let out a sigh of relief, but it isn’t long lived, as he takes my feet in his hands and I scream out in pain as he stretches out my legs and spreads them.

“Aww,” he mocks me. “Is your foot still sore?” He chuckles menacingly again, “I know how to take that pain away.” And he proceeds to my jeans, unbuttons them and pulls the zipper down. But before he can pull the jeans down my legs, we both hear sirens down the road. He gets up in an instant, buttons his jeans back up, gives me one final warning look, and runs out of the basement, up the stairs.

I let out a sigh of relief, and without realising it, I curl myself into a ball and start sobbing until I hear a little voice at the window.

“It’s the police,” Anna whispers. “They’re here to safe us.”

“Anna?” I say, looking up from the mattress. “Anna, what are you doing here? I told you to stay safe.”

“I am safe,” she smiles. “The police is here. They’re coming for you. And Rick is here too.”

“Rick is here?” I ask in disbelief. “Where is he?”

“Right behind them.” And as she said that, the door to the basement bursts open and four armed men storm inside, followed by a frantic Rick, who runs over to me and wraps me tightly into his arms.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Rick in shock.

“I knew who’d taken you, I knew where they lived. I called the police, and came here straight after.”

“But…” I stutter. “I sent Anna out to call the police.”

“She did as well,” he smiles. “Thank you for that. Thank you for saving my sister.”

“You’re welcome,” I smile at him. “But how did you get here?”

“I borrowed my dad’s new wives car. You were right you know,” he says, as he picks me up to carry me out of the basement. “She knew about me. Apparently he used to talk about me all the time. You wouldn’t believe how happy they were for me to show up.”

“I told you,” I grin at him weakly as he carries me up the stairs.

“I know you told me,” he says, still smiling. “You were right all along. And I want nothing more than for them to meet you.”

“I’d be happy to meet them,” I smile, then close my eyes and rest my head against his chest. “I’d be happy to.”

“Good,” I hear him chuckle, “because I’d want nothing more than for you to be there when I go back to them.” I hear the loving smile in his voice as he lies me down on a bed and I quickly open my eyes to look around me. I see the blue flashing lights of the ambulance and the police and looking down I see the ambulance stretcher underneath my body.

Happily that all this is over, I close my eyes again, “take care of Anna,” I whisper to Rick.

“I will,” he whispers back, close to my ear. “Right after I’ve taken care of you.”

~

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