Splintered (24 page)

Maddy stopped moving. Complete stillness was the only thing she could think of to communicate that she understood.

“Good. I’m going to climb into the van and uncuff you.”

That’s my chance. I can—

“Stop. Get it out of your head right now. You’re thinking the second you’re free, you’ll scramble out of the van and run away. Don’t try it. The next time you defy me, the pain in your head will be the least of your worries. I know how to inflict suffering the likes of which you’ve never imagined. Cross me and I will show you. You’re mine now. I have all the time in the world to introduce you to each and every one of the nerve endings in your body.”

Fear seized Maddy. She was afraid to move a muscle. Afraid to incur his wrath. She had no doubt he’d make good on his threat. She didn’t know which was more terrifying, the words he said or the confidence with which he spoke them. The man carefully stepped into the van. He hunched over and unlocked her handcuffs.

Maddy let her arms fall forward into her lap. The cramping in her shoulders eased somewhat. She looked down at her wrists, wincing as she dabbed her shirt against the open cuts.

“Put your arms behind your back.”

This is all a dream.
It has to be.

Maddy was afraid to look at him. She slowly leaned forward, moving her arms behind her. She heard the clink of the closing metal and felt the sting as the tight cuffs once again ground into her skin.

The man shuffled past her and jumped out of the van. “Scoot along on your butt until you reach the edge.” She did as she was told. “That’s right. Now stop.”

The man grabbed her upper arms and pulled her out of the van. She squinted, looking around at where she was. A dark brown, one-story house stood to the right of her. Trees and thick brush lined the property on either side. She couldn’t tell if neighboring houses were close or not. The van was parked beside the house, at the end of a long driveway.

The guy who’d been behind the wheel walked up and whispered something to the other man. The driver was only a little taller than Maddy. He was skinny, with messy sandy-brown hair. He smiled with a kind of a crooked grin.

Focus on his facial features.

Finally gathering some courage, Maddy tried to memorize his face. She concentrated on the type of questions the cop who’d created the sketch at the police station had asked her. The eyes were close together. He had freckles on a short stub nose, ears that jutted out a bit. He looked like a goofy kid, but older.

Maddy looked around for more details of where she was.

The second I escape, I’m going to put these bastards in jail.

As the scary man pushed her forward, she saw numbers on a stone pillar: 10309. Her footing was off from the shove, and she fell to her knees. With a firm grip, the man stood her up and led her toward a door at the side of the house. The other one ran around them and opened the door, stepping aside to hold it.

To keep the mounting panic in check, she tried to gather details of what was around her, but it was like everything was running in fast-forward. Images of a kitchen came and went, but her mind couldn’t hold on to any of them. A hand pushed against the middle of her back. The scary man kept moving her forward, then told her to stop. They stood in front of what looked like a bedroom door, but the doorknob was missing. Wood plugged the hole where the knob should have been.

“Don’t move,” he said. The man reached up to the top of the door. He pulled a shiny, brass slide lock open. There was another at the bottom, and he opened that too. A rectangular hole had been cut out along the bottom of the door. It reminded Maddy of the movies she’d seen of prison doors that had holes cut out of the middle so guards could slide meals through.

Is that what they’re going to do? Throw me in a room and keep me locked away?

Maddy felt like she couldn’t breathe. She tried to sniff in as much air as she could get.

The man pulled on a makeshift door handle that had been mounted just above where the doorknob should have been. The door swung out toward them instead of into the room. He moved Maddy aside so he could open it fully. As he stood beside her, she could feel his cold stare boring into her. She tried to comprehend the bare room in front of her. It was empty of everything except a thin mattress pad in the middle of the floor and chains snaking out from a small hole in one of the walls.

Fear ripped through her. She involuntarily backed up. Her body wanted to flee from the images of her future flashing before her. She knew she’d be punished for disobeying his order to stay put, but it was like her body had a mind of its own. She couldn’t stop her legs from shuffling backward. A yelp sounded behind her, and Maddy jumped. Turning around, she saw the sandy-haired man. She’d backed straight into him. Her eyes locked on the door behind him. She wanted to make a run for it, but knew it was useless to try and get out with her hands bound behind her back.

“Hi, I’m Daniel. Glad to meet you. You don’t have worry to anymore. Your mom can’t hurt you now.”

What is he talking about?

“You’re going to stay in my room.” He gently took Maddy by the arm and turned her around. He tried to lead her into the room, but she refused to cross the threshold.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, but Hank said we had to keep it empty. For training purposes.” Daniel leaned in and whispered into Maddy’s ear. “You do good in your training, and you’ll earn privileges in no time.”

Maddy started shaking her head back and forth. Her groans became louder.

“Daniel, why don’t you go start lunch?”

Daniel hesitated, but then started walking toward the kitchen. He gave one quick glance over his shoulder. He offered up that crooked grin again, but she noticed that the concern never left his eyes.

The scary man—what was his name? Hank, that’s right. Daniel and Hank.

Hank picked her up at the waist and carried her into the room. He dropped her on the mattress. The thin padding did nothing to cushion the blow of her tailbone hitting the floor.

He walked back to the door and padlocked it closed. A piece of wood was affixed horizontally over the door as was another piece next to it, on the door frame. A latch held the two pieces together and the lock went through the latch. The key was attached to a coiled, plastic green wristband Hank wore.

He turned and pulled his shirt up over his head and dropped it on the floor beside him. Maddy scooted backward until a wall stopped her retreat.

Focus and remember. Focus and remember.
Like a magical chant, she kept repeating those words in her mind.

Hank had a head of thick black hair and a goatee to match. From across the room, she couldn’t make out his eye color—but his eyes were small and beady and completely focused on her. Deep lines etched across his forehead, smaller ones shot out from the corners of his eyes. The white skin of his chest stood in stark contrast to his tanned arms and face. She’d thought he might be Hispanic at first, but now realized the deep brown color of his skin was probably due to being in the sun a lot.

He kicked off his shoes. Then he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. He yanked his pants off and threw them to the side, along with his socks. His gaze never strayed from Maddy’s huddled figure against the wall. Naked and hard, he walked toward her.

This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.

“Lay down,” he ordered, pointing to the crumpled mattress pad.

Maddy couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Terror froze the tears that had started to flow the second she’d entered the room.

Hank grabbed her ankle and pulled her away from the wall so quickly her head banged on the floor. He backhanded her across the face. Pain ricocheted through her head.

“Do as I say, the first time I say it.”

Maddy fought through the pain and scootched her body over on top of the pad. Hank bent down on all fours, hovering over her. Icy blue. That was the color of his eyes. Maddy tried closing hers. She wanted to block out what was happening, but decided the fear of not seeing what was coming next was worse, so she opened them. His face was directly over hers. His breath was hot. A foul smell escaped his mouth. She struggled for air through her nose as he roughly grabbed her breast.

This can’t happen! It’s not supposed to be like this my first time.

Maddy wanted the tape off her mouth so she could scream for help. Anything other than just lie here and take it. She shook her head back and forth trying to think of a way to break free.

Hank unzipped Maddy’s pants and pulled them off, then he ripped at her panties. He pressed his body down on hers. She could feel his hardness against her skin. Panic caused her to start bucking under his weight.

Hank grabbed her by the throat and squeezed hard.

Stop! I can’t breathe!

“Don’t move again,” Hank warned.

When the pressure on her throat tightened, Maddy forced her body to go limp even though every part of her wanted to fight. It was the only way she knew how to show him that she would start listening, that she’d do anything if he’d only let her live.

Hank removed his hand.

She inhaled as much air as she could get.

“Now spread your legs.”

Maddy knew she had to obey. There was nothing she could do to stop him. It seemed like fighting back only made things worse.

What would Katniss do in this situation?
Pull out an arrow and let it fly into the bastard’s belly.

Maddy told herself to go somewhere else in her mind. If she could concentrate hard enough, she could morph into one of the heroines in her books and transport herself to another location, leaving this bedroom far behind. Because if she were firmly locked away in her mind, she wouldn’t have to experience the vile things that were about to happen to her body.

While driving into work, Lily received an automated message informing her that Maddy had missed school again. She had no idea where her daughter had gone off to this time, but with every passing hour that Maddy ignored her phone calls and text messages, Lily’s temper flared. She’d been taking it out on her coworkers all day.

If that girl thinks she’s going to see her father tonight after pulling a stunt like this, she’s got another thing coming.

Lily slowed the car as she reached the house, wondering why all the lights were off. She pulled into the driveway and felt the anger she’d been holding onto all afternoon immediately evaporate. Worry crept in to take its place.

At the front door, she fumbled with her keys, looking for the right one. She tried to calm her racing thoughts, reminding herself the dark house wasn’t so unusual. Plenty of times she had walked in to find Maddy in her bedroom reading a book, the only light shining from a reading lamp clipped to her headboard.

“Maddy? Maddy, are you home?”

Lily turned on every light she passed. The living room and kitchen were empty. She opened the bathroom door. Also empty. She’d expected to come home to find the radio blaring and Maddy trying on every outfit in her closet. Her father would be here soon. The house felt
too
empty somehow.

Lily took a deep breath and forced herself to look down at the crack along the bottom of her daughter’s door. Complete darkness. She flung the door open.

Empty.

She turned on the light and darted over to the closet, only to find a pile of clothes and a stack of boxes still packed away from the move. Lily ran back to the bathroom, realizing she hadn’t looked in the shower. It was also empty. She knew she was acting irrationally, but panic had set in.

The backpack.

If Maddy had ditched school and come home, her backpack would still be here. Even if she left again, she wouldn’t have wanted to haul that heavy thing around. Lily searched every corner of the house a second time. Nothing.

No matter how angry Maddy had ever gotten at Lily, not once had she ignored an entire day’s worth of phone messages. Something must have happened.

She’s hurt. She got hit by a car. She’s in the hospital. Or . . .

Lily refused to let her mind consider the other options. No matter how loudly the “what-if’s” shouted, she refused to listen.

Lily shut her mind down. Only the most basic motor functions kept working. Her legs carried her into the kitchen. Her hand grabbed the phone off its base. Her fingers dialed 911. Her mouth spoke to the operator. Then she stood, paralyzed, cradling the phone against her chest. Her worst fear had finally been realized. Tuesday, September 29—the other shoe had dropped.

“Ma’am? Ma’am? Did you hear me? Could your daughter be over at a friend’s house?”

Lily looked up at the police officer standing in front of her. She’d been patiently answering his questions. Yes, Maddy had skipped school that day. Yes, she’d done it before, but no, she never stayed out this late. And she never ignored calls for this long. The officer—Lily struggled for the memory of his last name—Cameron, Officer Cameron didn’t comprehend the direness of the situation.

“You don’t understand,” Lily said. “Maddy has no friends. Her bedroom is the only place she’s ever at this time of night. So please, stop with all these damn questions and go find my daughter!”

“Ma’am, she hasn’t even been missing for twelve hours yet. She’s fifteen with a history of truancy. She probably headed over to the mall and is late getting home.”

“No. She was supposed to meet her father tonight. She wouldn’t be late for that. She wouldn’t miss it for anything. Can’t you put out an Amber Alert or something?”

“No, ma’am. I’ve checked the house, and there’s no evidence of foul play. The only thing I can do right now is finish getting information for my report.”

“How in the hell is a report going to find my daughter? You need to call Detective Wallace.”

“Detective Wallace? Why, ma’am?”

“He . . . he would know what to do.”

“Detective Wallace’s shift already ended. He wouldn’t be in the office right now. I can leave him a message if you’d like to speak—”