Taylor

When I realized I couldn't think of a way out, I began to think about Eric. Why had he targeted me? Had it been for revenge? The problem was I hadn't witnessed my parents' murder, I'd just seen the aftermath of it. I hadn't seen the murderers that night.

It had been the physical evidence that had put them away for life—not me—so I couldn't understand why he'd been after me. I hadn't done anything to impact his life; in fact, it had been the other way around.

A little later I heard the door open and I closed my eyes. It was easier to pretend to be asleep than have to deal with Eric. I was tired and the fear had sapped my energy. I just didn't have it in me to try and deal with him.

The steps creaked from the weight of his steps as he descended the stairs. The sound of the last creak told me he was close. I kept my eyes closed and my breathing regular so he wouldn't suspect I wasn't sleeping.

I heard light footsteps to the bed and then after a few seconds, I felt his breath so close to my face that I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he whispered, "You're so beautiful."

Not moving or reacting to the revulsion I felt at his words was hard. I wanted to tell him no, I wanted to tell him that he couldn't have me, even if it was by force. You couldn't make someone want to be with you, it wasn't how the world worked.

I felt the brush of his lips against my forehead and I felt like I was going to throw up, but somehow I remained still. Fear gripped my stomach and I felt myself hold my breath for a moment before I realized he might notice, so I released it slowly.

I heard the sound of something being laid beside the bed on the hard floor before I heard his retreating steps.

By the time the door shut, I was in a panicked state and I shot up in the bed. I drew in a deep breath, trying to calm myself down in case he came back. I pressed my hand to my mouth to keep myself from crying out.

The fact that he was becoming affectionate made the dread rise up inside of me. It could only lead to one thing and I couldn't let that happen. The only person I ever wanted to share my body with was Sin.

I wanted to cry about the unfairness of this whole situation, but it didn't matter. No amount of tears and screaming were going to get me out of this. But I let the tears stream quietly down my face as I rested my head on my knees, trying to ease some of the fear inside by releasing some of the emotions that were suffocating me.

It was hard not to think about all the things that I hadn't gotten a chance to do. But I had to keep myself from drowning in the depths of misery, so I tried to focus on the few memories that made me happy.

I brushed the remnants of my tears from my face as I remembered my first day at college and meeting Jordan. She'd been a good friend to me. I believe that, given the time, we would have built a friendship that would have lasted through the years.

Connor. I felt a physical pain in my chest at the thought of never seeing him again. I didn't want to admit it, but my death was going to devastate him. After what happened to our parents, he'd done everything he could to keep me safe, and it still hadn't been enough. He would blame himself even though he couldn't have stopped it. He'd done everything right and he was still going to lose me.

Fresh tears began to fall down my face when I thought of how I hadn't spoken to him in the last week. I'd always regret not speaking to him one last time, even it was just to forgive him and hear his voice one last time.

And to tell him I loved him.

I pressed my hand to my mouth again to suppress the sob that wanted to break free. Never once did I ever think that this was how my life would end.

I thought about Matthew and how he would react to me being missing. He was probably blaming himself because he'd been employed to protect me and he'd failed. I didn't blame him; I blamed the crazy upstairs.

The only other person who had become an important part of my life in the short time that I'd experienced normality was Sin. The anger that I felt toward him dissipated and all I was left with was the love that I felt for him. He'd been an enigma, but once you broke through the barriers the person underneath was still scared to get too close to anyone because he was scared he'd get hurt.

It was hard to understand him without knowing about his past. All I knew was what he'd told me and that had been enough for me to understand why he was the way he was.

Then I thought about the stupid folder that had ruined everything between us. I hadn't even been tempted to have a peek at it. It didn't matter what he'd done in the past; what had mattered was what he did now. He'd walked away at the first sign of trouble.

I took a deep breath and released it. I didn't want to cry anymore, it wasn't helping me find a way out and it wasn't making me feel any better.

Most girls in my situation would be hoping that there would be a knight to swoop in and save her. But I'd learned through my past that that didn't happen in real life—in real life, people died.

I thought about Sin one last time before I pushed all the thoughts out of my mind. I felt emotionally and physically exhausted, but at least my stomach wasn't aching as much.

I lifted my shirt to see the dark bruises imprinted by the seatbelt across my chest and stomach. It was a good sign that there wasn't any serious damage. I thought about Matthew, at the gash on his head, and I prayed that he was okay.

As I dropped the shirt, I saw the plate of food and my stomach growled. I was hungry. I picked it up and studied the food for a moment. I was too hungry to care if Eric had laced my food with something. It was pasta with meat and vegetables. It tasted great and I began to eat. I needed to keep up my strength and I couldn't do that if I didn't eat. It was also another puzzling thing about Eric. Who made food like this for their prisoner? I placed the plate back on the floor and I got off the bed.

As I began to think, I paced back and forth. He wasn't really treating me like a prisoner. Yes, he had me locked in the basement, but he hadn't tied me up.

Then it struck me that he was treating me like someone would treat a person they cared about—well, except for causing an accident to kidnap me and locking me in his basement. But I knew Eric wasn't playing with a full deck of cards. It didn't make me feel any better because I knew he would not be caring when he took me by force and I would fight back. It wasn't in me to just let him take it from me.

He was unstable. I'd already seen the small signs and I knew if I fought back he would really hurt me. There was no way to escape the basement so I would have to think of another way to get away because, if I didn't, I was not going to make it out of this alive.

I wondered when Eric had developed this unhealthy obsession for me. Had it started after the hearing or had it been later? If Connor hadn't been such an overprotective brother, would Eric have gotten to me sooner? I pushed the thought from my mind, unable to deal with the answer that I might get.

I bit down on my lip as I contemplated what I was going to do.