You Belong To Me (22 page)

Mitch missed the first call that came into his cell because he was in the shower. It wasn’t until almost twenty minutes later that he came out and noticed the missed call alerts.

Seeing that it was Danielle who was trying to call him set his mind at ease, he had hoped that she would return his call.
  While dialing her number, he began to get dressed. When he heard the sound of someone answering his call he began to speak. “Baby I'm so sorry, things took longer than expected but I'm on my way. Miss me yet?” He asked when the call connected.

“Hello Mitch,” Ethan laughed cruelly as he pictured the look on Mitch’s face. Before Mitch could say another word Ethan
continued, “Listen Mitch, I've no time for pleasantries so keep quiet and listen to me. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I have Danielle. That’s right Mitch, she’s with me and before you get all crazy she’s fine, for now.”

“But here’s what I need yo
u to do, I need for you to meet us here at your special place Mitch and just so there’s no confusion, I mean your cabin. You got that; you are to get in that truck of yours; alone and drive here. Danielle and I will be here waiting and if you so much as even think about calling the police, I’ll kill her you got that? Don’t forget that I’ll be able to see you coming from a long ways away Mitch and if I see any signs of anyone following you or anything like that, she’s dead. Now, do you understand? A simple yes or no will suffice,” he said with hatred in his tone.

“Yes,” Mitch growled.

“Good now what are you waiting for? Hang up the damn phone, get in your truck and start driving,” Ethan demanded right before he hung up the phone.

Mitch immediately went to hi
s night stand and pulled out his gun, “This ends tonight!” He yelled out as he raced out into the warm evening. It wasn’t until he was on the interstate that it all began to make sense. Ethan had started the fire to get him away from Danielle. “That son of a bitch,” Mitch cursed as his grip tightened around the steering wheel. Ethan knew that Mitch would stop what he was doing to get to the fire and  by doing that, he would leave Danielle unprotected and vulnerable. “I practically hand delivered her to that sick bastard,” Mitch shouted. “How the hell could you have been so stupid?” He asked himself angrily.

Even though the engagement party was at full swing, both Shayla and Jason couldn’t help but notice that Danielle
and Mitch hadn’t arrived. “I hope everything’s okay,” Shayla said to her fiancé. “It’s not like Danielle to be this late, come to think of it, she’s never late. Maybe I should give her a call.”

Jason rested a hand on her shoulder, “I'm sure it’s nothing ba
be, she and Mitch just might be having a party of their own,” he winked.

“Go ahead and give her a call and tell them we’re waiting, and we’re gonna have to make up for lost drinking time when they get here,” Jason
  joked.

After leaving a voicemail on Dan
ielle’s cell, Shayla and Jason went back to enjoying their engagement party.

When Danielle woke up her face was throbbing and the taste of blood was in her mouth. The flex cuffs were still on her and she immediately recognized where she was, she was lying
on Mitch’s bed, in his cabin. My god, she thought to herself as she began to struggle even harder. What the hell does this lunatic have planned?

She became acutely aware that not only was the cabin quiet and dark, but that Ethan was nowhere to be seen. S
he didn’t want to call out his name, and risk him coming back in after her. Maybe he left me here alone, she thought to herself as she quietly crept off the bed. She wondered what happened to her shoes as her bare feet touched the hardwood floors. They must have come off during the struggle, I hope.  The thought of Ethan having to touch her, even if it was just to remove her shoes made her cringe.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Ethan appeared. He had been standing outside in the hallway silently wa
tching and waiting for her to wake up from her unconscious state.  

“Well it’s about time you woke up,” Ethan said and quickly grabbed her by her bound wrists and led her back onto the bed. Danielle couldn’t help but panic while she struggled in his arms.
“Ethan please stop this, you need to let me go now.” She tried to speak as calmly as she could. So far Ethan hadn’t brandished his knife at her and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Danielle, you’re probably wondering by now, why I brought you here. Well
I’ll tell you,” he said, paying no regard to her requests for him to let her go. He only tightened his grip on her. “You see Danielle, I know this is you and Mitchy-poo’s special place, or at least that’s what your Mitch likes to call it.

So while thinkin
g of all the places that I could take you I decided on this one location because after-all, what better place to have you sit here, happy and at peace while you watch your so-called boyfriend, die. You see Danielle, I’ve been watching you for quite some time now and I know that you’ve been single for a very long time and that’s partly my fault,” he said as he paced the room. “I mean after-all, if I hadn’t been so shy and nervous around you I would have asked you out years ago and we’d be happily married by now. Wouldn’t you agree?” He asked taking a step closer to her.

Danielle violently shook her head no. “That’s okay Danielle, you don’t have to answer me, I know you so well that I know you want me as much as I want you and I apologize for keeping you waiti
ng so long. But now the wait is over Danielle. You see, I’ve come to the realization that if it weren’t for Mitch, you and I would be together. This little whirlwind romance that you’ve got going on with him is going to end tonight. I’ve called Mitch and told him that you’re here with me. So you see Danielle, I'm not such a bad guy after-all. I'm going to allow you to say goodbye to him and then I'm going to let you watch as he takes his very last breath. And once I’ve taken care of Neanderthal, you and I can go away and you can forget all about this nonsense. What do you think of my plan Danielle? It’s brilliant isn’t it?” He asked as he produced a thick roll of duct tape and bound her already cuffed wrists to the massive wooden headboard.

“Ethan please le
t me go; this isn’t a good plan Ethan. There is no reason to hurt Mitch,” she pleaded with tears in her eyes. She knew that any minute Mitch would be walking into a trap, a trap she had no way of warning him about.  Danielle stammered, “Please Ethan, I’ll just break it off with Mitch. I’ll tell him that I don’t want him anymore, that I want you. Then he’ll leave and you I can go away together Ethan, just like you planned, so you see there’s no reason to hurt him.”

Ethan reached for his knife and slowly ran
it along the side of Danielle’s face. “Oh Danielle, Danielle, Danielle, just how stupid do you think I am? Do you think you can sit there and tell me what to do?” He asked. She could hear the low growl in his voice now, and could see the look in his eyes was changing, he was no longer calm. She had gotten him mad and there was no telling what he was about to do.

“Danielle, oh my Danielle, just sit back, relax and let me take care of your soon to be dead boyfriend, you got that? Now when he gets here I don’
t need you making any noises to distract him so I'm going to make sure you can’t scream,” he said sternly as he reached down into his bag and once again retrieved the duct tape.

“Ethan wait, wait please, you don’t have to do that. Ethan please, just untie
me. I’ve got to use the bathroom Ethan,” Danielle begged. Ethan tossed the duct tape between his hands as he sat contemplating whether or not he was going to allow her to use the restroom. “You have been here awhile.” He stressed.

“And not to mention the
ride up. Fine, I’ll let you use the bathroom, but before I do Danielle understand this, if you make any attempts to run, scream, or cause any kind of commotion, I’ll make sure that boyfriend of yours doesn’t see that pretty face before he dies, you got that?”

When Danielle nodded her head in agreement, Ethan picked her up crudely and guided her over to the bathroom.

Mitch was still on the interstate and nearing the cabin when he dialed Jason’s number.

During the drive he had contemplated whether or not he should involve his friend and tell him what was going on. It was, after all the night of Jason and Shay’s engagement party, but he needed to let someone know exactly what was happening. “Just in case,” he whispered to himself as he waited for Jason to pick up his phone.

“Thank you for letting me use the bathroom Ethan, but I am quite capable of going by myself.”

Danielle was fuming, not only had he refused to let her close the door, but he stood in the doorway, watching her every move. “Danielle, n
ow I’ve accommodated you long enough, either you go here and now or you don’t go. Now what’s it gonna be?” He asked with a sick leer. Danielle needed to gain control, she refused to let Ethan stand there and watch while she used the bathroom. “I don’t have to go,” she said, glaring at him.  Pure anger fueled her next response. “Ethan, I do not want you, and I never will.” The words were cold and callous, just like the blade of Ethan’s high quality hunting knife.

“Danielle, don’t you ever talk down
to me like that again,” he said. Just then Ethan bawled up his fist, and violently smashed the bathroom mirror. His rage boiled over as the threats poured out of his mouth towards her for not accepting his advances. Ethan tugged Danielle out of the bathroom and pushed her back onto the bed, tearing her gown even more as he did so.

After he reaffixed her to the bed post and firmly placed the duct tape over her mouth, he leaned down close to Danielle. He stared at her intently as he ran his hands along the s
ides of her satin gown and used it to wipe off the blood that was dripping from his knuckles.

As Mitch neared the road that led to his cabin, he noticed how long the drive seemed to be tonight. He was driving to save the woman he loved, but he had no way of knowing whether or not Ethan was true to his word. What if she’s not even with him? He began to question. What if she’s somewhere else and Ethan has come up with some sick plan to get rid of me? I don’t care, he told himself. As long as Danielle is safe that’s all that matters and as far as Ethan is concerned, he’s going to die tonight.

When he returned to the bedroom, Ethan found Danielle still tied to the headboard but sobbing uncontrollably. “Now, now Danielle, stop that, your bo
yfriend will be here any minute. Now if you don’t stop that crying, you’ll never see him again, nod if you understand Danielle.” When Danielle failed to acknowledge him, Ethan slapped her hard in the face. Stop that crying Danielle do you understand me?” He roared in her face. Danielle nodded her head.  “Good, now you sit tight and don’t make a sound you got that? He asked before slapping the duct tape on her mouth. It’s show time and I’ve gotta take my position,” he said with euphoria in his voice.

Daniell
e sat perfectly still and watched as Ethan took his place behind the bedroom door. He held his hand up to his lips and made a keep quiet motion with his finger. Besides the sound of the crickets and cicadas outside, Danielle felt as if she and Ethan were the only ones left in the world.

She held her breath as she listened to the sound of Mitch’s truck pulling up to the cabin.
  She had no choice but to wait for him to walk into the trap. She thought to herself, he’ll be enraged, he’ll go looking for Ethan and Ethan is going to do things the coward’s way and take him by surprise.

Mitch wasted no time getting out of his truck and entering the cabin. He already had his .45 tucked in the waist band of his jeans, and out of site. Before he even opened the door he
was calling out Danielle’s name. Danielle could hear his shouts loud and clear but was unable to respond to them. She moaned and groaned as loud as she could, anything to get his attention. Within minutes he was bolting up the stairs and into the bedroom.

The second he saw her tied to the bed post, Mitch made a move towards her. But something was telling him to be cautious and he paused a moment and watched as Danielle began shaking her head violently and used it to point in the direction of the door. Bef
ore Mitch could realize what was going on, Ethan had stepped from behind the door and with his arm rose at a bend used his elbow and plunged it down onto the back of Mitch’s head, knocking him out cold.

Danielle let out a muffled scream as she watched him
fall down to the floor. “Oh don’t worry Danielle; he’s not dead, not yet anyway. He’ll come to in a bit and when he does, the real fun can begin,” Ethan said. He then picked Mitch up and sat him in a chair. With Mitch slumped over, Ethan secured his wrists behind the chair. “There, you see Danielle, he’s not going anywhere. Now all we have to do is wait for him to come to and you can say your goodbyes,” Ethan said before walking into the bathroom.

Danielle struggled violently as she watched Mitch begin to
regain consciousness.

“Here, this might help.” Ethan threw a cup full of cold water in Mitch’s face. “Ah, there you are. Come on Mitch, focus, I know you can do it.” Mitch shook his head as he fought to remove his restraints.
  His words were strangled by the tightly bound duct tape covering his mouth. “You’re so very predictable Mitch,” Ethan said as he removed the gun Mitch had tucked into his waistband.

“Now that I’ve got your attention Mitchy-poo, let me catch you up on what’s been happening,” he said
as he crawled onto the bed next to Danielle and let the cold tip of the gun run up and down her legs.

Rage over took Mitch as he kept his eyes on Danielle. He could see that not only was her gown torn and tattered, but she had been hit in the face and one
of her eyes was swollen. The harder he thrashed, the louder Ethan spoke. “Now Mitch, I called you here because Danielle has something very important to tell you. Now normally I would tell you myself but I think for this occasion I’ll let Danielle do the talking and remember Mitch, don’t interrupt,” Ethan let out a mocking chuckle. “Oh that’s right, you can’t! Now Danielle I'm going to remove this from your mouth, you say anything that you’re not supposed to and I’ll kill him slowly you got that?”

Danielle
nodded her head in agreement. “That’s a good girl now you ready for this Mitch? Here we go,” said Ethan as he gingerly removed the bind from around Danielle’s mouth.

Danielle thought hard about what she needed to say, she needed to buy more time. She

needed for Ethan to release her from her restraints. “Ethan, please baby, this will go a lot smoother if you untie me,” she said as she seductively ran her leg against him. “Come on baby, won’t it be so hot to let him watch while I take you into my arms and kiss you? Wouldn’t you like for him to see that Ethan?” Danielle swallowed hard at the thought of having to kiss him. There’s no other way, she told herself. Please god let this work, she silently prayed. Ethan sat still and moaned softly while he watched Danielle run her leg against him.

Mitch could feel his heart begin to pound faster and faster as he sat besieged and yelling out muffled obscenities through his constricted mouth. The scene that was unfolding in front of him was one that he could not stand
to watch much longer. He knew that Danielle was trying to buy time so that one of them could break free and tackle Ethan. He also knew that taking control of a man Ethan’s size would be quite difficult for Danielle. Mitch eyed her inquisitively as she continued trying to convince Ethan to untie her.

“Ethan baby, you know I'm right,” she cooed. “Untie me so that I can really show you how much I love you. I can’t do that with my hands tied baby.”
 

Ethan got so close to her that once again she could feel his
breath on her face.  “I’ll untie you after you give me a sample of that kiss Danielle,” he smirked. “Sure baby.” Danielle swallowed back the bile that was rising up her throat. She made a quick glance in Mitch’s direction before closing her eyes and leaning in for the kiss. Ethan forced his tongue into her mouth and she fought hard not to bite down on it. She needed to get untied before she would be able to anything to defend herself and help Mitch.

Mitch let out a muffled yell as he watched Ethan kiss her
.  “Okay baby, let’s save it for after you untie me,” Danielle said. She was holding back her tears. She didn’t want Ethan to think that she didn’t enjoy the kiss.  It took a few more minutes of enticing and touching before Danielle was finally able to convince Ethan to untie her. No what do I do? She thought to herself, as Ethan began cutting away her restraints. She’d have to debilitate him long enough to untie Mitch and set him free. When she glanced at Mitch, she instantly knew what she was going to do.

Danielle discerned that she would have only seconds before Ethan would recover but she had to try, had to make him suffer and hurt long enough to get to Mitch. She timed it with instantaneous precision.
  Danielle rubbed her wrists as she continued to caress Ethan’s leg with her own. She could tell that he was getting quite aroused and that’s exactly what she was hoping for. “That’s right baby, I can’t wait to make you feel good,” she purred fictitiously as Ethan began to close his eyes and lean in for another kiss.

Mitch knew what she was doing; she was trying desperately to save their lives. He hated the fact that she was the one who was going to have to do it. He knew that if she was able to subdue Ethan, she would have only seconds to cut him of the tie
s that were binding his hands. As she began planting soft kisses all over his face, Danielle managed to gently coax the knife out of Ethan’s hands. 

He had become completely enamored by her kisses and when he placed his arms around her forcing her to lay
down on the bed, she pounced. Danielle grabbed hold of the knife and lunged it into his abdomen. She kept her wits about her and quickly pulled it out; she needed it to cut the restraints off of Mitch.

Feeling him become limp, Danielle pushed him off of he
r and Ethan landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

Danielle quickly jumped off the bed and with her body running on pure adrenaline managed to reach behind Mitch and sever his ties. Just as Mitch was about to grab Danielle and get her to safety, Ethan rega
ined his footing and placed a hand onto his gaping wound. The three stood there for a moment in awe and shock.

For a time it looked as if he was going to fall to the ground, but he was slowly removing his second bow knife.
Ethan felt his now uncontrollable rage take over and it caused him to lunge towards Danielle. In a sudden move, Mitch pushed Danielle out of the way and she turned just in time to watch Ethan plunge the knife deep into him.

She let out a horrific scream as
she watched Mitch fall to his knees. She ran over to him and held him in her arms while Ethan stood hulking over them. “Run Danielle,” Mitch managed to groan the words before passing out. Danielle knew that there was to be no more running, Ethan had taken away the man she loved. There was no way she was going to let him leave the cabin alive, even if it meant sacrificing her own life to take away his. She was too far away from the gun to try and reach for it and the other knife had been kicked away somewhere during the scuffle.

Without thinking, she lunged at Ethan and began using her fists to punch him in his face. His hands were slippery from blood as he tried and failed to control her flailing punches. Soon their struggle led out into the hallway and in
front of the stairs. Ethan had managed to wrap his hands around Danielle’s throat and as he began to choke her, she drew her leg back and with all her might,  kneed him in the groin. He let out a loud yelp and lost his balance, he began to slip and he was taking Danielle with him.

The two were still intertwined as they fell down the stairs. Danielle could feel one of her ribs pop and the bone in her right arm give way as it cracked against the hard wood stairs. The pain was excruciating and she prayed that
it would all be over soon. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion and as they neared the bottom, Ethan’s grip on her lightened and he was no longer grunting.

With a sickening snap, he hit the bottom step hard. And with Danielle lying awkwardly
on top of him, he tightened his grip around her once more and said, “You belong to me.” Danielle hoped that he was dying and leaned in closer so that she could look into his eyes.

“I belong to no one Ethan, least of all you. I hope you rot in hell,” she s
aid as she watched him draw his last breath.