I muffled my cry of pain with my hands. It felt as if I’d almost amputated my feet, and I still wasn’t free. Leaning forward to check the cord, I saw that my pain hadn’t been completely in vain. I was almost there.

I lay back on the bed again as waves of nausea swept over me. “One more. You can do this.” I moved before I could give my brain a second to back out. One sharp tug, and my legs broke free.

A few stray tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. I quickly wiped them away. If I let my emotions loose right now, I’d never get myself under control. I swung my legs around so I was sitting up on the bed. Just a minute to breathe, to steady myself. Then I would run.

I listened carefully again. Still nothing but the wind. I stood and slowly made my way to the door, my fork in hand. It wasn’t a knife, but it could still take someone’s eye out.

When I was mere steps from the door, it swung open, banging against the wall. A figure filled the frame, the sun shining from behind. But I couldn’t make out an identity, only that it was male. “You know, you’ve been a real bitch to get ahold of.”

The man took two strides forward, and his face came into focus. My stomach twisted. “Sam?” The single word came out on a croak. “W-what are you doing here?”

“What do you think? It’s time to have a little fun, don’t you think?”

My head swam as the nausea intensified. The darkness in Sam was no longer carefully disguised. Instead, it poured off him in waves. My hand tightened around the fork, the metal biting into my skin. There was only one way he’d let me go, and that was if it were in his best interest. “This isn’t smart, Sam. Think. You’re the first person they’ll come looking for when Brody can’t find me. Let me go now, and you’ll have a head start—”

His dark chuckle cut me off. “Do you really think that it’s just me? That I didn’t have help?”

Another figure stepped into the doorway and held up a phone. “It’s so fun to watch you struggle. To think you were making progress when, really, I hold your life in my hands. I’d forgotten how much I liked to watch you hurt yourself trying to get free. It’s just like the trunk, only better. Don’t you think?”

The air shuddered in my lungs, disappearing as if I hadn’t breathed at all. How? This couldn’t be real. “M-M-Michael?”

He stepped into the cabin, a gun pointed at my head. “Hello, big sister. Did you miss me?”

48

Brody