Gone (Gone #1) (21 page)

Alex was surprised, but he pulled her closer, returning the kiss. Unable to breathe, he ran his hands through her hair. After a moment, he sat back and looked at her. "Are you okay? Are we moving too fast?"

"No." She forced her lips on his again, this time opening his mouth with her lips.

His eyes opened wide with surprise. Was this really the time for this? His heart raced. Of course he would have loved to take things to another level, but were they really ready? She already had so many regrets with Macy's disappearance. He didn't want her to have more regrets—especially when it came to him.

She brought her tongue into his mouth and he jumped. They bumped noses.

"Ow." Zoey sat back, rubbing her nose. "I don't think that's supposed to happen."

He couldn't help smiling, and they both laughed.

She leaned back against the pillow. "Maybe now isn't the time for that. I think going to sleep in your arms would be nice enough."

"Me too." He put his arms around her again.

She ran her fingers along his arm, and he couldn't help flexing. She kept rubbing his arm, and then after a minute her arm fell to the bed. He could hear her breathing heavily.

"Sweet dreams." He kissed her hair and closed his own eyes.

Light

Macy felt something move along her hand. She didn't even bother trying to roll away. What was the point?

Part of her wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She had already cried and screamed more than she could bear. Her shoulders were in constant pain from having her wrists tied behind her back. Her legs were wet and cold from not being able to remove her pants to relieve herself. Even worse than that, the back of her legs burned with a relentless intensity. She could feel the sores back there from the dried excrement.

She had passed being hungry. Earlier, she had been so hungry she would have eaten rodents if she could have. Now she felt nothing in her stomach.

She was sure she had been down there for a few days, though she had no way of knowing for sure with cloth over her eyes. And even if it weren't for the blindfold, her thoughts were all over the place, and she was pretty sure she was going crazy.

Although the fact that she questioned her sanity gave her hope that she still held onto a shred of it.

Her throat was parched.

Chester had left her water before, but even if he had this time she had no way of getting it. She had rolled around the floor at one point, hoping to find some. It had been futile, and she had only made herself thirstier in the process.

Sounds of the trap door moving caught her attention. Was she actually hearing it? Or was this further proof of her slipping sanity?

Thud.
That sounded like something landing on the floor above.
Squeak, squeak.
That sounded like the ladder.
Thump.
Two feet landing on the dirt floor. Was he going to rescue her?

"Are you ready to follow directions now, Heather?"

The voice sounded real, but so had the others.

"You have to be thirsty." She felt fingers tugging on the duct tape. In one solid, painful motion, the tape was ripped from her face. Then she felt tugging on the blindfold. Bright light blinded her. Macy closed her eyes as tight as she could and shoved her face into the dirt floor, trying to get away. After so long in the dark, it was too much. "You didn't answer my question. Are you ready to be good?"

She kept rolling around, trying to escape the light. Even though she closed her eyes, they refused to adjust.

"Your grandparents are going to be gone for a couple of hours, so now is the time to go back to the house and get cleaned up. Or I can leave you here longer. It's up to you."

"I'll go. Take me with you."

"Are you going to be good now? I need to know we won't have a repeat of the other night."

"Yes. Anything."

"Looks like we'll have to throw these clothes away. Or should I save them as a reminder in case you act up again?"

"No."

"Good. Let's get you up there so you'll be cleaned up when Grandma and Grandpa get back. I told them we took a road trip. You'll be able to go along with that story, right?"

Macy nodded.

"What? I can't hear you."

"Yes."

"And do you remember falling down the stairs?"

"What?"

"That's how you got all those bruises. Do you remember?"

"I remember."

A shadow blocked the sun as he moved behind her. There was a snip, followed by another. Her arms fell free to her sides and then her ankles spread apart from each other. Pain shot through her arms, and tears stung her eyes.

"Look at those marks. You'll need to wear long sleeves until they heal. Understand?"

Macy nodded, focused on how much she hurt everywhere.

"Stand up." Chester kicked her in the side.

Keeping her eyes closed, she pushed against the ground. Sharp pains ran through her arms. Her butt and legs stung where sores had formed. "I can't."

"There is no can't. Should I leave you here?"

"No!" She ignored the pain and forced herself to stand up.

"Open your eyes."

Macy's legs wobbled underneath her. What would he do to her if she fell? She swallowed and forced her eyes open. The light was even worse, but she couldn't risk him leaving her down there again. She blinked fast, trying to get her eyes to adjust.

"Are you thirsty?"

She nodded. The pain in her shoulders was too much. She pushed her arms behind her back, relieving some of it.

"There's some water in the house. Let's go."

Macy groaned. Could she even make it that far?

Chester went to the rope ladder and climbed up. He looked down at her. "Come on up."

She forced one foot in front of the other, stumbling with each step. Pins and needles ran through her legs, feeling the most painful at the bottom of her feet. The sores hurt even worse as she moved her legs.

The ladder was about six feet away. How was she going to make it there, much less to the farmhouse?

"Can you hurry up? We need to get you cleaned up before your grandparents get back."

She stumbled forward, forcing herself to go faster despite the various pains screaming out at her. Tears stung her eyes again, making her vision blurry. She managed to get to the ladder, but as soon as she brought her arms forward the pain became so intense that she jumped. She couldn't even bring them to her sides without it hurting. How was she supposed to pull herself up the ladder?

"What are you waiting for?"

"I can't."

"What is it with you? Are you an Ameri-can or an Ameri-can't?"

She stared at him, ignoring the pains in her neck. What kind of a stupid question was that?

"Get up here or I'll leave you down there until they leave again. I can't guarantee when that will be." He moved the door.

"No. I'll do it."

Macy held her breath, anticipating the pain. She moved her hands in front of her as fast as she could, hoping that would eliminate some of it. It didn't help. She would have to push through it.

Her grip was weak, but she managed to grab onto the ladder. She closed her eyes as the tears began to fall. Soon she would be getting out of the dirty clothes and getting cleaned up. That's what she had to focus on; otherwise the pain would be too much. Beads of sweat formed around her face.

She cried the whole way up, but she made it, thinking of the bathtub and new clothes. Maybe she could put some ointment on the sores on her legs. They were probably infected since she hadn't been able to clean them. Each sore felt hot, and it got even worse every time her pants rubbed against her legs.

When she reached the top, she wasn't able to pull herself up onto the floor. Everything hurt, and she didn't have the strength. She had barely made it to the top of the ladder. What if she fell to the ground below?

"Help me. I ca…I need help."

He stared at her.

"Please," she begged.

"Oh, all right. Since you asked nice." He reached down and grabbed her arm, roughly, and yanked her up.

She fell to the floor, rubbing her arm where he had grabbed her.

"Get up. They're going to be back soon. You need to get cleaned up, and I have to get rid of this beard. I've gone too long without shaving."

Groaning, she forced herself back up again. He slammed the trap door shut and kicked some hay over it.

"Let's get to the house." He walked on ahead of her. Did he expect her to keep up?

She forced herself to walk. Her muscles ached, and the sores burned, but at least the pins and needles had gone away. That was something at least. Her arms naturally went behind her back, relieving the pain. She would have to hold them forward once George and Ingrid came back, but for now, she was going to nurse her wounds.

He turned around and waited once he got to the barn door. "Hurry up."

"I'm going as fast as I can."

"You can do better than that. Oh, by the way, I saw your old family."

Macy stopped. She stared at him, her many questions not reaching her mouth.

"They were all sleeping when I got there, so I let myself in. Your best friend was in your room. She wasn't sleeping, and that threw me off. I had to shut her up."

The blood drained from her body. "What did you do?"

"Oh, she's fine. She woke up cold, but otherwise unharmed. I couldn't let her wake anyone else. Pick up your pace, and I'll tell you more."

Her heart raced. What had he done? Was Zoey okay? What about her parents and Alex? She walked faster, ignoring the searing pain. "What did you do?" she asked again.

He walked through the door, waited for her to exit, and then he closed the barn door. "First, I got rid of your bloody clothes. Your old family was pretty upset about seeing them." He turned to look at her. "They probably already think you're dead. That's the plan. They're going to move on, so you don't need to worry about those ties anymore. You're Heather, and I'm your dad. Don't forget that."

She nodded. Her family wouldn't move on. They wouldn't. Or would they?

"Oh, and keep in mind that I got back in again. I didn't hurt anyone…this time. Don't get mouthy with me again, or I won't be so nice next time."

Her sores burned as she walked. He thought this was nice? Why had he gone into her house again? Just to threaten her? Had he actually done anything to her family? He admitted to doing something to Zoey, but supposedly she was okay. What exactly did he consider "okay?" He probably thought Macy was okay, but she needed to have a doctor look at the sores. She knew that would never happen.

When they finally got to the house, he opened the door for her. "Why don't you go to your room and grab some clean clothes? Then you can get a bath. I'll shave in my room—don't worry about me."

As if she would. She nodded and walked past him.

"Wait."

She stopped.

"Give your ol' dad a hug."

Was he serious?

He opened his arms. Apparently he was. "Come on, Heather. I've missed your hugs. Throw your dad a bone."

Macy caught a glance of the barn through a window. She didn't ever want to go back there again. She stifled a gag and walked to him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"That's not a hug, Heather. Give me a real hug."

Gritting her teeth, she wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the pain, and gave a little squeeze. Even more pain shot through her arms.

He hugged her tighter. "That's my girl. Now go get cleaned up. We're going to have a great time with your grandparents when they get back."

Macy walked back to the room that was supposed to be hers. It was Heather's, and always would be. When she walked through the door she froze, her heart skipping a beat. Her favorite teddy bear from her real bedroom was sitting on the bed.

He really had been back to her house. Chills ran down her back. Even so, she ran to the bed and scooped up the bear, hugging it tight, not caring about how much her arms hurt. It was something familiar, something loved.

The smell of her home, her
real
home, brought instant comfort. She squeezed the stuffed animal all the tighter, pretending that she was back home and that she had never sneaked out to meet Jared.

She threw herself onto the bed, careful not to hurt her sores, imagining that she was back on her own bed. Macy buried her face into the bear's stomach and breathed in the smells even harder. She could see her room in her mind—every detail.

Would the bear hold the scent forever? Could she go back home in her mind whenever she wanted now?

A pounding on the door brought her back to reality. "Are you going to get in the bathroom? Your grandparents are going to be back soon," called Chester.

"Coming!" She squeezed the stuffed animal, never wanting to let go.