“I’m calling the police,” Keelan said as he pulled his phone from his pocket and put it up to his ear.
Knox rolled her over and cupped her face. “Shiloh?” The three of us hovered behind him, trying to see if she was alright.
I let out a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes a little. I went up to the guy and rolled him over with my foot. “What did this fucker do to her?”
Colt stared down at the guy and his eyes went wide. “This is the guy that’s been bothering her.”
Keelan whirled around, having heard even though he was on the phone with the police. “What the fuck, Colt?!”
I looked at my twin in disbelief. “You knew someone was harassing her and you didn’t tell us?”
“I saw him hitting on her one time. She said he gave her a bad feeling,” Colt said, looking stricken. “Fuck, I should have walked her to her car.” He ran his hands through his hair roughly. “Fuck!”
“Help should be here any minute. There’s a fire station and hospital just down the road,” Keelan said as he hung up his phone.
“Keep your eyes open, Shiloh,” Knox snapped, patting her cheeks. “Shiloh!” he yelled when that didn’t get her to open her eyes. He grasped her shoulders next and shook them. “Open your eyes, damnit!”
We stood there watching Knox shake her like a limp rag doll and I’d never felt so helpless.
“Check her pulse!” Keelan ordered.
I knelt down next to Knox and put my fingers to her neck. Her pulse was beating. “She has a strong pulse.”
Knox began feeling the back of her head and neck. He had a frantic look in his eyes as he did. “Her head seems fine,” he said as he continued to look over her body, lifting her shirt and running his hands down her legs. “She’s not bleeding anywhere. I don’t understand why she won’t wake up.” He turned her on her side and a syringe with a needle attached rolled out from underneath her.
We all watched it slow to a stop in shock. “He drugged her.” Keelan voiced what we were all thinking.
“I’ll kill him,” Colt seethed as he moved over to the unconscious guy and kicked him in the stomach. Colt got another two kicks in before Keelan pulled him away. Sirens went off in the distance and got louder as they got closer.
“Let the police take care of him,” Keelan said to Colt, trying to calm him down.
Colt was panting, livid. “I should have walked her to her car.”
“She’s going to be alright,” Keelan assured him.
I grabbed Shi’s hand and looked at the unconscious guy. I was committing his face to memory. If I ever saw him after today or he came near Shiloh again…I squeezed Shiloh’s hand, trying to control my rage. The police needed to hurry up and get here before I tried to kill the fucker next.
1
Twist. Twist. Pull.
Ribbons of blood slowly rolled up my arms toward my elbows. My pillows were stained with dark red dots and down by the foot of the bed, beneath my ankles, were large copper blotches that had seeped into my gray comforter. The tan ropes tied around each of my wrists and ankles looked as if they had been dipped in red wine.
Twist. Twist. Pull.
I’d repeated that process over and over again—rubbing away my skin against the splintering rope as I did.
How long had it been since Mr. X had tied me to my bed and left me? He had brought me in here when it had still been dark outside. The sun was up now. It had been up for a while.
Twist. Twist. Pull.
My eyes were glued to my open bedroom door, feeling as though Mr. X would appear at any moment. I tried not to let my eyes drift to the tips of Shayla’s white sneakers. He had slit her throat just outside my bedroom. Her body was still where she’d fallen. She was dead. There was no denying it now. I had tried to get help—tried to escape. But every window and every door I’d tried had been nailed shut. The only one I hadn’t tried was the front door. Mr. X had caught me before I could.
I had a feeling that was the only way out.
Twist. Twist. Pull.
Strangely, the pain of my nerves rubbing against the rope had numbed. Was it my need to escape—my adrenaline blocking out the one thing that could slow me down?
Twist. Twist. Pull.
I had no idea when Mr. X would come back. I wouldn’t let myself think about what he would do to me when he did.
Twist. Twist. Pull.
I had to get out of here.
Twist. Twist. Pull.
The rope around my right wrist slid up around my hand. I held my breath as I pulled on it again and the rope squeezed over the rest of my hand, passed over my fingers, and I was free. A new surge of hope rushed through me.