Eluded (25 page)

"Wife," he said, over my mouth.
"You must have been tired. I waited for you to wake so we could
consummate our marriage."

I sat up in bed and wrapped my
arms around his neck. His skin was still warm from the shower. As
he closed his eyes, I opened mine and, in my peripheral, I could
see the red blinking light on the camera. We were being recorded. I
was being watched, and I wanted to know who was on the other
end.

Derrick continued to kiss me more
passionately, then he opened his eyes and stared into mine. It
startled me at first, but then afterwards he moved in more
deeply.

I pulled away from him. "I wanted
to watch you kiss me."

He licked his bottom lip, moved me
in front of the camera, then unclasped my bra. My breasts were
free. He looped his hands around my sides, then leaned into my ear
and whispered, "Say hello to Abbot."

Shock so wild and deep streamed
through me that my mouth fell open, but I pushed it back quickly as
Derrick moved in front of the camera. "Is this what you wanted to
see, Abbot?" He moved in and nibbled up my neck. "Tell him how you
feel about me, Lauren. Look into the camera and tell
him."

I forced a smile, dreading every
second then let my heart fold in on itself as I stared into the
camera. "I love Derrick Black, and today we made it official in the
perfect setting, under an oak tree with rolling hills in the
background. We are happy together, Abbot, so fuck off." I frowned
as I held the ring up to the camera, so if Abbot was on the other
end, he could see the magnitude of the situation. "He makes me
happy, and now we will spend eternity together." Lip service. I
said what I was supposed to.

If Abbot were watching, I wanted
to give him a clue so maybe he could figure out where I was by the
small context. Derrick didn't even notice as his hands roamed over
my body greedily, trying to cover every inch of skin that I
had.

Not being able to hold it back any
longer, he leaned me against the frame of the bed and slapped my
ass repeatedly. I held back cries of pain, but he didn't stop until
he heard me. With each strike, the wall of revenge became more
thick, more pronounced. Then, without warning, he dropped the towel
to the floor and grabbed my thigh, lifting it in the air. With one
swift motion, he forced himself inside of me, pumping me hard and
fast, smiling and laughing the whole time. After a while, he
grabbed a handful of hair with his fist and became more violent
with his thrusts. I silently prayed that Sophie would stay
put.

"Tell him who you love as I fuck
you," he whispered in my ear, forcing me to look into his eyes as
he lifted me up into the air and placed my legs around his
body.

"You. I love you, Derrick
Black."

"Now say it to the
camera."

"I love him. I love him so fucking
much. So. Fucking. Much," I cried out, knowing that Derrick
believed every word I said and hoping Abbot wouldn't.

Without hesitating, Derrick laid
me down and pounded me with long deep thrusts. I moaned fake moans
and scratched my nails down his back, hoping the pain of the marks
I left would tear him from his abusive state. They didn't. Harder,
faster, he fucked me until he almost broke me, not stopping, not
giving me any relief from him. Then, as if he had heard my silent
cries, he slid himself out of me, kissed down my body, and spread
my legs wide.

"Now you're going to come for me,
baby," he said with poisonous seduction in his tone as he swirled
his tongue up and down my slit. I stared into the camera, hoping
Abbot would see a flicker of helplessness in me. After minutes of
him moving in all the right places, I could feel the build of the
teetering orgasm, but I held it back. I didn't want to give him the
satisfaction of forcing that from me, just because he was a master
at pleasing women. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep
it at bay. More of his touch, and I was coming, releasing moans of
sorrow as he stole something that wasn't meant for him and never
would be. After he tasted my sweetness, he roughly thrust himself
into me and fucked me until he filled me. I hated every minute;
sadness covered my face, as I watched the red blinking light on the
camera. I had stared so intently at it, that when I closed my eyes,
I could still see the light blinking.

Every inch of me ached with deep
humiliation. Where he touched, I could feel and I wanted nothing
more than to strip from the skin that covered me. What did Abbot
think of me now that he had seen me with Derrick like this? Would
he believe that it was all a lie, or would he leave me to
die?

After he emptied himself inside of
me, he laid his body on top of mine and ran his fingers through my
hair, staring into my eyes, and kissing me with soft lips. I had
never felt so used, disgusted, and spiteful in my life. I hated
that he forced himself on me, that he fucked me like I was his, and
that I would always be. I even hated that he believed the lies I
told, and a part of me didn't know if I was digging my grave, or
helping dig his.

I closed my eyes and pretended he
was someone else, and that I hadn't been fucked, while on camera,
by a man who I hated with every ounce of my being. No matter what,
I would stick with the plan and do what I needed until I could kill
him.

I hoped Abbot was watching and
would find me before it was too late.

ABBOT

Thirty-six

I
clicked on the link that
was texted to my phone from Derrick. Never in a million years did I
expect to see a live stream of him and Lauren. He had fucked her,
and no matter what she said to the camera, knowing that I watched
on the other end, I noticed the lie burning in her eye. I knew the
truth, I knew how she felt, and I didn't believe a fucking word. I
couldn't and I wouldn't. The more I watched Derrick fuck her as
hard as he could, the more violent I became inside. With every
thrust, he ripped every shred of control I had into little
pieces.

The moans that escaped her . . .
they weren't right. They sounded like pathetic cries for help, but
as sick as he was, he liked them, he wanted more of them. I watched
for an hour as he laid her down and forced an orgasm from her body.
The look on her face as she stared into the camera was an
ingredient for cold-hearted nightmares. It was the type of thing
that I worked so hard to avoid. A helpless woman being taken and
overpowered by Derrick. After he came inside of her, I wanted
nothing more than to break his fucking neck. As much as I hated
watching, it was like a car accident, and I couldn't stop. After
they were finished, I noticed another crumpled body in the
background but couldn't see any specific features. Dark hair
covered her face, and she had the same build as Lauren. Maybe she
had found her cousin like she wanted? No matter, I focused on the
room and everything in it. Nothing stood out, except for a single
painting above the bed. Recognition flashed in my eyes, then a hate
as deep as the Atlantic followed.

Liam sat next to me, watching my
every move, listening to the moans and pants of Lauren as Derrick
fucked her raw. I punched on the gas as we made our way out of the
city, and he questioned where we were going. I looked over at him
with disgust in my tone. "To the house where I grew up, before we
moved to London."

It took hours to get to the
secluded neighborhood of the countryside. As I pulled onto the road
that would bring me to my destination, I slammed on the brakes and
waited. The sun was setting, we only had about thirty minutes of
daylight, and were a few miles away. The hike to the house would
have been difficult if the brush hadn't been cleared. It had been
almost two decades since I had visited, and as we rolled forward, I
knew what Derrick intended was personal, and directed at
me.

The body parts of the women that
he sprinkled around the city were tied with red bows. He had known
that when my sister was taken, she was wearing a red bow in her
hair. Every murderous act he committed was for me, wrapped with a
pretty little bow, and I'd go to him so we could finish what was
started years ago.

LAUREN

Thirty-seven

W
hen he was done with me,
he ordered me to shower and waited for Sophie to wake up. I knew
what would happen to her, and as I bathed, I tried to wash away
every place he touched. I scrubbed so hard, my skin pinked and
throbbed with pain. As much as I wanted to rush in there and save
her from the monster, I couldn't, and it destroyed me. Once I had
stripped the top layer of my skin from my body, I stepped out of
the shower and cool air brushed against my skin. I stared in the
mirror and didn't recognize the face that stared back at me. Who
had I become?

As I stood there, Derrick rushed
into the bathroom screaming at me to dress, and threw clothes at
me. I picked them from the floor and hurried to the next room where
Sophie was putting on blue jeans and t-shirt. She didn't smile and
neither did I, as I saw the spot of blood on the blanket. He had
been too rough with her. When I moved to comfort her, Derrick
bolted through the door. He threw a bag of cocaine on the bed, then
ripped it open. White powder spilled next to the fresh blood. He
took a hit off of his pinky, then jerked me to him and forced me to
take a hit. Moments later, I lost myself in stars.

Poison-induced adrenaline. I was
in space, flying in hyper speed above the world, completely out of
my body, trying to focus on Sophie and Derrick. He forced Sophie to
him, and I grabbed his arm with a tight grip and shook my head.
With a strong hand, he slapped me across the face. I stumbled, but
got back up.

"No, Derrick. Sophie already had
some. Didn't you?"

No matter how fucking out of my
mind I was slipping, I knew that she couldn't do it, not while she
carried a baby, not in the frail condition she was already
in.

"Yes, when you did yours. I did
too."

He narrowed his eyes, so lost in
the high, not knowing what had happened. "You're lying."

"I did, I swear, Derrick. I swear
to it." Then he grabbed our hands and led us at a fast pace out the
back door with a single flashlight. The air was freezing, and my
hair was wet, but the drugs warmed my veins as the drip ran down my
throat. I swallowed it down but wanted to throw it up. No matter, I
knew it was too late. It was already mixed with my blood, making me
crazed and paranoid.

Weeds and thorns pricked at my
skin as he moved us higher in elevation. I stumbled a few times,
and he yelled for me to get up, that I was slowing us down, so I
did. Whenever I fell, I got back up, something I was getting used
to. He moved us faster and further away from the house, until the
lights faded away in the distance. The wind was more violent the
higher we climbed.

Sophie slipped on gravel and loose
rocks, so I helped her up and braced her with my arm as we climbed
to the top of the mountain. Once we were at our destination,
Derrick pulled out a knife and pushed us off the trail into dense
woods. The sounds of the night screamed in my ears as my head
pounded. Sophie and I huddled close to one another as Derrick
paced, talking to himself, completely tweaked out. Paranoia was
deadly.

The two of us sat for hours,
shivering in the cold. Derrick eventually stopped pacing, lay down
on the ground, and stared up. The sun was barely rising in the
distance, and I was grateful for the little amount of heat that
radiated from it.

He looked over at me and smiled.
"You remind me of my mother right now," he said, as he tucked my
hair behind my ear. "The darkness of your hair and the tone of your
skin." He smiled again. "I killed her, you know. I fucking killed
her. I hate her for what she did to me. For leaving. But I found
her. I found her and ended her."

A chill ran up my spine as it all
started to make sense. The reason why all of us had the same look .
. . he was constantly searching for his mother, so he could kill
her again and again. We were treading in dangerous
waters.

Derrick stood and stared down the
trail, then rushed back to us, forced us into the high brush, and
ducked beside us. I stared out to see what he was waiting for, then
moments later, Abbot and Liam walked past us on the
trail.

My mouth dropped open in
shock.

He had done it. He had really done
it. I hadn't felt happiness in quite some time, but knowing that
Abbot had successfully tracked us down made me happy.

Beside me, Derrick growled, then
grabbed my arm and instructed Sophie to stay where she was. He
pulled me forward and yelled at Abbot. Swiftly, Abbot and Liam
turned around and Derrick placed his arm around my neck, knowing
that he could strangle the life out of me or break my neck in a
matter of seconds. I stared at Abbot, who was staring at me, then
looked over at Liam, who was staring at Derrick.

"Don't you take another fucking
step, Abbot, or I'll kill her where we stand." He tightened his
hold on my neck and I gasped for air. My vision faded in and out of
focus until my legs went slack underneath me. Before I completely
crumpled, Derrick gave me a small moment to recoup. I greedily took
in gasps of air, in case he was showing his strength in
waves.