Page 9

The distant whimpering and muffled cries snapped Abel out of his delirium. It took him a moment to regain his focus and remember his surroundings. The cage . He became acutely aware of the pain coursing through his body and the excruciating headache, a result of banging his head against the bars. Memories flooded back to him in a torrent, and he turned to face the adjacent cage, dread surging within him once more.

The flashlight beam had dimmed but still emitted enough light to illuminate the girl’s vacant eyes as she gazed back at him. The girl he’d thought was Savannah. Believing the madman’s victim was his sister had shattered his mind. Learning that the girl was a decoy did little to mend the fracture; he could still feel the fissures. They grew deeper, spreading wider as his mind locked on the whimpering cries coming from somewhere outside the room where he was caged.

Abel grabbed the bars, heart racing. “Savannah?” His voice cracked, rasping up his dry throat, raw from screaming. “Savannah!” He rattled the cage, shouting at the top of his lungs. “ You fuck! Don’t you fucking touch her! I’ll fucking kill you! Savannah! Savannah!”

A switch was turned on, casting a dim light into the room; it wasn’t sufficient to illuminate the whole space, but it was enough to show how spacious it was, similar to a small warehouse. Abel noticed additional cages in the shadows, but he couldn’t determine if they were occupied. If they were, the occupants remained silent. Or they’re dead.

The heavy metal door creaked open, and Abel fell quiet, his heart thumping in his ears. His knuckles throbbed as he grasped the bars tightly. The man entered with Savannah. Her hands were bound in front of her, and a cloth gag muffled her sobs.

“Savannah!” Abel cried.

The girl spotted him and cried out, breaking into harder sobs.

“You’re a rude guest,” the man said. “Making so much racket. But fortunately for you, I’m a considerate host.” He untied Savannah’s gag and nudged her forward.

“Abel!” she cried, rushing forward and kneeling by the cage. With her wrists bound, she grasped Abel’s hands, weeping helplessly against the bars. She reached out to touch his bruised face. “Did he… did he do this to you?”

“No.” Abel clutched her fingers through the bars.

“Wh-What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Abel glanced at the man who stood back, watching them. “Did he… do anything to you?”

Savannah shook her head, struggling to contain her sobs. “Not really.” Her voice shook badly, and she lowered her head, quaking. Was she telling the truth? She might lie to spare him the pain.

“ Did he do something to you?” Abel demanded.

“No,” Savannah choked. She pressed her against the cage. “Is-Is he gonna kill us, Abel?” she whispered brokenly. “I don’t want to die… I don’t…”

Releasing an unsteady breath, Abel murmured, “We’re going to get out of this. We’re going to make it home. Somehow… we will.” By now, their family and friends were looking for them.

“Where…” Savannah’s breath shuddered out of her. “Where is Maddy? Have you seen him?”

“No.” Abel struggled to speak, his dry throat aching and rough. “I haven’t.”

“Do… Do you think he’s in here?” She looked around and froze when she spotted the dead girl in the cage nearby. Savannah screamed and tumbled to the side, her hands clamping over her mouth. “Who… Wh-Who is that?”

“I don’t know,” Abel whispered sickly.

“Wh-What happened to her?” Savannah cried.

“Should we tell her?” The man sidled closer. “I bet she’d enjoy the story.”

“No,” Abel rasped, his tension mounting as the madman neared Savannah. “Where is Maddy?”

“Maddy?” He smiled. “Oh, right. This sweet girl’s boyfriend. Don’t worry about him, he’s being taken care of by… well, you probably don’t want to know. My companion gets a bit thirsty around cute young boys. Personally, I don’t get it, but to each his own, huh?”

Tremors shuddered through Savannah’s fingertips and into Abel. He thought about Angel and the abuse and trauma he’d endured to protect his little brother, keep him untouched by the vile men around them… and how terrified he’d been when Maddy was on the island.

If they rape and kill him… or even if they leave him alive… Angel won’t come back from this.

Maddy wouldn’t either.

The man sighed. “I’ll tell you what. Because I don’t want you to think I have no empathy, I’ll let you see your boy.”

Abel stared at him uncertainly.

“You don’t trust me?” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t either, after…” He gestured toward the other cage and smiled. “But as a show of good faith, I’ll leave your little sis here with you while I go get him.”

Abel glanced at Savannah.

“Be right back.” The man exited the room, dragging the door closed behind him and locking it from the other side.

“Do you really think he’s gonna let us see Maddy?” Savannah whispered.

“I don’t know.” Abel hurriedly surveyed the large room, most of which remained in shadows. “Savannah, I need you to try to find something to break me out of here. A metal bar, something. If I can get free, maybe… maybe I can get a jump on him when he comes back.”

Savannah hesitated. “He’s big… a lot bigger than you.”

“That’s why I need to surprise him. Go! Look!”

Savannah scrambled to her feet.

“Take the flashlight, there on the floor. It’s weak, but it might help.”

Savannah recoiled when she neared the other cage, quickly snatching up the flashlight. She moved quickly around the room. “I-I can’t find anything,” she sobbed. “There’s nothing.” Savannah rushed back to Abel when the metal door unlatched and huddled close to the cage. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Abel murmured. “It’s not your fault.”

The door screeched open, and the man entered with Maddy, a cloth bag over his head.

“Maddy!” Savannah cried out and started to run to him when the man warned her off.

“I said you could see him. That’s all. No touching.”

When the kid heard Savannah, he struggled against the man’s grip and emitted muffled cries from beneath the cloth bag.

“Maddy…” Savannah whimpered. “Please don’t hurt him… please…”

“You see…” The man sighed and shook his head. “There’s the rub, darling. I offered your friends a fair deal, but they are planning to fuck me. My boy should know better, but apparently he needs to be reminded who I am.”

His boy? Abel went rigid with fear. “What do you mean?”

The madman’s countenance twisted in an evil grin as he pulled out a large blade.

“No…” Horror flooded Abel.

“No!” Savannah cried.

“This time…” The man dragged the tip of the blade along Maddy’s ribs, and the boy flinched, breathing harder as panic gripped him. He shook his head and emitted muffled cries and protests. “… I believe my boy will learn his lesson, once and for all.”

“Don’t—”

The man turned Maddy, and stabbed him in the stomach, wrenching the blade up through his soft flesh as the boy gagged and fell against the knife.

“ NO!!” Abel staggered back in horror.

“Maddy!!” Savannah wilted onto the floor, screaming and crying. “MADDEEE!!”

The madman smiled small, and wrenched the knife free, letting the body drop to the floor with a heavy thud. He gripped the bloody weapon and approached Savannah.

“No!” Abel lurched forward, slamming against the cage. “Don’t touch her! Don’t fucking touch her!”

The man just smiled dully and grabbed Savannah’s arm. The girl screamed in maniacal horror and fought him frantically as Maddy’s blood smeared her skin.

“ Let her go!” Abel bashed violently at the bars. “Don’t fucking touch her, you fuck!!”

Dragging the shrieking girl toward the door, the psychopath pointed at the boy’s body, bleeding out on the floor. “I’ll be back for him. Maybe I’ll wrap him up in a pretty bow and mail him to my boy.” He chuckled and exited the room, closing the heavy metal door, muffling Savannah’s screams.

Abel clutched the bars and stared at Maddy’s body. The crack in his mind webbed outward, eroding his sanity.

We’re not going home…