Page 6

Chapter 6

April

Everything aches.

And I feel filthy…everywhere.

When they leave, there’s a part of me that is relieved knowing I’ll have time where I’m not having to try and fend them off.

Davey is the worst.

Doug has a tendril of empathy, sometimes. He lets me up to go to the bathroom so I don’t have to lay in my own mess.

Maybe one of these times that they leave, they won’t come back.

That’d be better. Starving to death seems a more pleasant alternative.

I hate them both. More than I ever thought it was possible to loathe a human being.

My dad’s bitchy step-cunt seems like unicorns and fucking teddy bears compared to this hell I’m in now.

When I hear the whine of their snow machines, my stomach twists in dread.

Blustering cold swirls through the small cabin when they kick the door open.

“Did you see that guy? Like his horse would ever catch up to us.” Doug pulls off his helmet and shakes his wild hair out of his eyes.

Wait, there’s someone else?

Can that mystery man help me?

“Yea, I wish we could just shoot him and be over with it.” Dave unzips his snowsuit and leaves it in a pile on the floor.

“Wasn’t that one of the rules, though? We can’t kill anyone?” Doug follows his brother, but stops at the woodstove.

Thank goodness he’s putting a couple of logs on. It’s starting to get chilly in here.

I guess if they never came back, I’d probably freeze to death long before I starved. There was some book I read that said hypothermia is one of the best ways to die.

The next time I’m free, maybe I should just run into the woods, find a nice tree to curl up next to, and fall asleep.

“Rules are meant to be broken.” Dave reaches onto the shelf and pulls down a half gallon jug of whiskey.

Doug glances towards me, then digs into his pocket for the key to the cuffs. “But they said we wouldn’t get paid if anyone dies,” he whines as he unlocks me.

His voice drops as he grumbles to himself next to me. “I bet whoever that is has a phone to check in with. I ain’t that stupid ya know.” He sits back, almost imploring me to agree with his eyes.

“Well, you did kidnap me.” I shrug. “But thank you for letting me get up.” I’ve learned a little bit of nice goes a long way with him.

But his words resonate as I step over the beer cans to the rudimentary bathroom.

It’s barely a bucket over a hole in the floor. Still better than nothing.

A phone.

I could call Dad. The cops. The fucking army.

Hell, I’d call Jeffrey Dahmer and sick him on these two assholes in a heartbeat.

Like every other time I’m up, I scan the room for a possible plan of escape.

If only I could get a hold of the keys to the snowmachine. I know I could remember how to ride one.

I think the last time I did, I was twelve or thirteen. One of mom’s retaliation cheating trips against Dad. She ran off with an outdoor enthusiast who took his time showing me how to drive one.

In hindsight, he probably just liked having me on his lap.

A shiver runs through me. I’m not sure if it’s the cold or the memory.

“Doug!” Dave shouts from the living room. “Come have a drink! I think we got at least a dozen of those stupid cows over the edge.”

I can hear Doug shuffle out of my room.

I’m so bruised, it hurts to wipe after I pee.

Is this how my life ends? In a fight with my dad, then stranded in some remote god-forsaken place starring in my very own horror movie?

“I’m ready for my end credits,” I mouth to the blank wall.

Dropping my face into my hands, I take every second I can in the refuge of the bathroom. This seems to be the only place they don’t mess with me.

There’s no window in here, no way to escape. All that’s in here is a handful of cleaning supplies.

Huh. Not like these two buffoons would ever use them.

They both get louder, with occasional banging on the walls as they boast about whatever awful thing that they did.

I could get away.

There’s someone out there who probably hates them as much as I do.

He could help me, if I could make it to him.

But I can hear the wind howling outside, and snow is working its way in through the cracks in the shitty siding.

The sounds of the two brothers yelling grow more sporadic.

Please let tonight be one they skip visiting me.

I swear hours have gone by. Or twenty minutes.

I have no idea.

Yet silence fills the tiny bathroom. The only noises are coming from the storm.

Tiptoeing to the door, I crack it just enough to see two sets of legs sticking out from the couch.

This isn’t the first time they’ve drunk themselves into a stupor.

But it’s never been when I haven’t been chained up.

My heart races and pounds in my ears.

Now is my chance. What should I do?

Bash their fucking heads in is my gut reaction.

Is that the best choice?

Think, April.

I need to get out of here. I haven’t heard them talk about any other vehicle, and with the storm, I doubt I’d be able to get very far in a car.

So I get their keys. And maybe Dave’s snowsuit.

How do I find the guy?

Doug is always messing with his GPS, talking about keeping track of where the cows are.

Would that lead me to the mystery man?

Shit. Can I kill them?

Fuck yea. They deserve it a million times over.

But how? If there’s a gun, I’ve never seen it.

The handcuffs. I bet I can latch them to something. There’s three extra sets in my room besides the one attached to the bed.

Now or never. I have to try.

Davey is the bigger threat. He’s splayed out snoring with his head tilted over the back of the nasty couch.

Doug’s curled around the empty bottle, drooling onto his own pants.

Well, they’re out cold.

I can barely breathe my heart is beating so fast. With shaking fingers, I slowly thread the cuff around Dave’s wrist.

When he snorts and shifts in his sleep, I almost piss myself.

The click of the lock seems to echo like a gunshot, but he doesn’t stir.

Slowly, I reach over to do the same for Doug so I can fasten them together.

It isn’t ideal, but it’d slow them down if they decide to get up.

When I pick up his hand to slip the thin metal ring around it, his eyes open.

“What are you doin’?” he slurs. His lids drop to narrow slits.

“I gotta lock myself back up. Where’s the key?” I hold my breath. I hope he’s drunk enough for this to work.

A lazy grin spreads across his uneven mouth. “Yea, cause I’m gonna get me some later.” He turns to the end table and jerks his chin. “It’s there.” He drops his head back onto the arm rest. “You be ready for when I wake up.” Drool dribbles from the corner of his lip as he loses consciousness again.

Fuck.

There’s a set hanging off each of them, I use the third to fasten the two cuffs together.

Well, looks like this last loop will reach his foot.

I wonder if I can get it around Doug’s ankle?

When it clicks, I want to shout in victory.

Next up, the snowsuit.

Shit, it’s twenty sizes too big, but it will have to work. There’s no way I can wear the boots.

I grab the GPS, working the small screen, I keep zooming out further and further until a small rectangle shows up on the topography map.

That has to be the other guy.

Damn, I really hope I’m doing the right thing. I’m putting my life in the hands of someone who doesn’t even know I exist.

Anything is better than this though.

What do I do about these two? I’m no where big enough to just beat them to death. And they’ve barely fed me for days, I don’t know if I’d have the strength to fight them off.

I just need to get away.

The helmet fucking reeks like Dave’s bad breath, but it’ll keep the chill off.

I grab both sets of keys along with the one for the cuffs in hopes they won’t be able to chase me.

Pausing, I stare for a long time at them. I wish I had a big knife. Maybe a machete, so I can hack at them over and over, and they can feel the pain that I’ve felt.

One day. When I’m stronger.

I’ll find them with my own arsenal and ruin them for what they did.

But today, I have to save myself.

When I fling the door open, I leave it that way to tromp through the blowing snow.

Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll be the ones to freeze to death.

Fumbling with the snowmachine keys, it takes me three tries to get it to go in correctly.

Shit.

How? I struggle to dredge the memories of the lessons up through this haze of hunger and agony.

Turn it, push the start button.

The engine must still be warm, because it fires right up.

That’s when I hear the first yell from inside.

I have to go. Now.

It takes off with a lurch, then almost stalls out.

No, no, no.

Feathering the gas, the Arctic Cat builds momentum until I’m racing down a trail.

The cabin disappears into the stormy night.

I’m free!

Screaming into my helmet, the tears begin to flow.

I did it.

I escaped.

It’s more of a workout then I remember weaving through the trees. The blowing snow is so fierce, I can hardly see just a few feet in front of me, so I have to go excruciatingly slow.

My fingers go numb quickly, but I’m able to brace the GPS onto the dash, looping it around the key so it doesn’t fall off.

Just follow the dot. Don’t get stuck.

My toes are next to lose feeling, and soon my feet feel like dead stumps below my knees.

Halfway, I think?

Icy tendrils work their way down my collar, freezing my neck and back until my arms start to feel heavy.

Keep pushing.

Why am I slowing down?

Because I can’t make my thumb work anymore.

If I lean forward, I can just push the throttle with my elbow.

When the dump of adrenaline wanes, an overwhelming exhaustion starts to tug at me.

I’m so damn tired.

At least the cold makes the pain fade.

There isn’t another tree in sight. If I just close my eyes for a second, I can coast for a little bit.

Damn it.

I’ve stopped. Must have slipped off the gas.

Once I start moving again, I can see the dot is so freaking close on the tiny screen, but feels like it’s still miles away.

I can’t sleep, even as the fatigue clutches at my vision, gnaws at my focus, and tries to drag me into the quiet darkness.

The whine of the engine gets louder.

Fuck, I’m going too fast!

I sit up, but not in time to avoid a huge pine tree.

The skis run up one of the thick roots, launching me, and the snow machine, into the air.

When I land, all the air is knocked out of my lungs, and stars burst behind my eyes.

I can still hear the motor screaming in the night.

My arms and legs don’t listen to my inner pleading to get up.

Maybe I broke my back and I’m paralyzed?

Nothing hurts.

Just kind of a warm lulling sound of my heart beat as the snow starts to gather on my face shield.

This isn’t so bad.

I feel fuzzy.

A little nap won’t hurt, will it?

Heat swells through my body and I feel like I’m floating.

Only a tapping sound echoes from the distance.

The deep voice sounds like it’s coming through water. “Who are you?”

Tiny stinging snowflakes land on my cheeks, rousing me just enough that I can squeak out two words before the void takes me.

“Help me.”