Page 47 of Blade

Unease settled in the pit of my stomach as we struggled through tall, dried grass and a million different weeds. I glanced behind me, debating just going back to the truck. Chad grabbed my arm and hurried me along.

We stepped into the dim interior of the barn and alarm bells went off in my head. I should’ve trusted my gut when we pulled up. “Blade?” I called out, though I knew he wasn’t going to answer.

The light from the doorway dimmed and I turned to see three men coming in the door. I started to walk backward toward the other end of the barn, but I bumped into a stack of crates. Dust and old bits of hay fell, and I sneezed.

The men just stood there staring at me and blocking the door. I scooted sideways to the edge of the crates and then around thecorner of them. To my relief they didn’t follow me, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think I was in the clear yet.

“Is that my pretty little Goldilocks?”

At the sound of that voice and that nickname, sweat beaded up on my skin and I became immobile.

No.

It couldn’t be.

Please God, no.

This was a nightmare and I’d be waking up soon. I heard footsteps but there was so little light, I couldn’t tell where they were. I ducked in between the end of the crates and a wooden stall wall.

“Where did she go?” I heard him demand from the opposite end of the barn.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, I moved deeper into the shadows. When I reached what I assumed was the wall of the barn, I realized I’d cornered myself. There was no way out. My shaking hand blindly felt around for something to use as a weapon.

Wait. What was that? Were those… ladder rungs? Reaching up, I confirmed that they were wooden rungs fixed to the wall. I wasn’t exactly sure what they went to, but I hung on them a bit to see if they were sturdy enough to hold me.

If they weren’t, I was fucked. But this time I wasn’t going down without a fight. So, I reached up and lifted my foot for the lowest rung which was still pretty high. As I heard several people milling about in the dusty old barn, I started to climb.

“What the fuck? I thought you said this barn was empty!” I heardhimsay in that familiar accent that made my blood run cold.

How had they found me? It had been over three years.

I kept climbing until I reached a platform at the top of the makeshift ladder. Carefully, I shimmied up on it trying notto think about what kind of disgusting things I was probably crawling through.

Afraid I might hit a rotten area, I laid flat on my stomach once I was fully on the platform. Eventually, they would figure out where I was, but I just needed to buy myself some time to think.

And pray that someone found me before they did.

Beneath me, I could see lights sweeping around and I knew they had flashlights and were searching for me. I started having flashbacks of the one time I escaped the room he had brought me to. I’d hidden outside in a boathouse for hours before they found me and dragged me back.

I’d been punished severely and shoved in the little cubby that became my home for so many days, I lost count.

I couldn’t go back to that. Tears burned behind my clenched eyelids.

“She didn’t go out the doors and there’s no windows. She’s here. We’ll find her,” I heard another male voice say.

“Did you hear that Goldilocks? I’m coming for you. You thought you could escape, but you forgot that I have endless resources and I’m very patient. I knew you’d slip up eventually and I’d get to you.” He chuckled darkly. “Wait until you see the pretty accommodations I have ready for you.”

Chills rushed over my skin and my heart thudded so loud I was afraid they would hear it. Something scurried next to me, and I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

They were getting closer. I heard them below me.

Please, please, please, I begged in my head.

Then I heard one of them whisper, “Over here!”

The next sounds I heard were someone climbing the ladder I’d used. This was it. I couldn’t believe it. It seemed my three years of freedom were actually an illusion.

When the text messages and phone calls started coming in, I should’ve known it was him. What shocked me was that Chadwas a rat. He’d been a new prospect, but he’d always been so kind to me before I left. To learn it was all an act, was another betrayal that I hadn’t seen coming.