Chapter 12

Chapter 12



Cassy was terrified, there was no better word for it.  How had the numbers dwindled down so fast to where she was the only female left in the house?  How had they screwed up not just once, but four damn times? 

In a panic and out of options, Howie and Kevin were going out and scouring the woods for any sign that someone had been there.  They weren’t hunters and Cassy knew by that point that they had to be dealing with one.  There way no possible way for someone to abduct Starr and get out of the house and disappear into the woods unless they had extensive practice doing so.  She had been hunting with her cousins before and knew how easily it was to vanish when you had experience doing so.  The woods had fascinated her after those few trips.  She just couldn’t believe in the modern day that there were still places that existed that covered the secrets of everyone who entered there, human and animal alike. 

Brian refused to let her go with them, even though she was probably the only one who could have read anything from the branches and leaves.  He said it was because he didn’t want her to hurt her ankle again but she knew he just couldn’t stand the idea of letting her out of his sight.  Even when she went to the bathroom, she would come back out to find him pacing in front of the hallway until she was back in his arms. 

He was so tired, he barely slept in his desperation to keep her safe.  His devotion to her was no less than his devotion to God.  Cassy had never before been with a man who cared for her so completely that she had absolutely no doubt in her mind about his love.  She didn’t know if it was his faith that made it seem so pure or if that was just his personality.  Either way she was lucky to have him. 

Lucky to be alive.

There was a nagging thought in Cassy’s head that had been bothering her since Starr had disappeared.  She still didn’t understand why she was lucky.  If the guy was a hunter, he’d logically go after the weakest member of the group.  It was pretty basic, if you want to decrease a group’s numbers, you took out the weakest ones first to drop the number count and then took out the strongest to send the rest of the group into a panic.  She should had been the first one taken out followed by Alana. 

Why were she and Starr the last two?  Cassy had the bum ankle and Starr had never been athletic, even though she was far from physically weak.  Cassy was wounded, there shouldn’t have been anyone more vulnerable than her and yet somehow she was the only one left.  They had been so careless at first, that time when Starr and Howie had gone upstairs to see if someone was there, even Brian had left her alone for a few minutes here and there until her friends had started disappearing. 

“They’ve been gone a long time,” AJ took a drag off of his cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke out the open door.  His hand was tapping against his knee, a sure sign he was agitated. 

Brian and Cassy glanced at the clock, “They’re fine,” Brian tried to reassure his friend, “There’s no way one guy, even a strong one, could take out both Kevin and Howie without making enough of a racket for the rest of us to hear.”

“It is getting kind of late,” Cassy admitted.

“Then we should probably get something made for dinner, they’ll be hungry when they get back,” Brian lied easily.  No one was very hungry anymore, it was a duty to the body, nothing more. 

“Right, I’m sure food is what they’re going to be thinking about when they come back without the girls,” Nick pointed out from his place on the floor.  They were able to let him sit up with help but he still had to spend most of his days motionless. 

“If they want to keep searching, they’ll have to keep their strength up,” Brian shrugged and walked into the kitchen, Cassy close behind him. 

He opened the freezer and then shut it glumly, “Problem?”  Cassy asked.

“Just one more thing to worry about,” He opened the door again for her to look inside, “We’re running low on meat with this many people eating it.”

“You think we’re going to starve?”  Cassy turned to him in a panic.

He patted her hand, “It’s not that bad, we’ve probably got enough for another two weeks before we’re going to have a problem.  We just have to start spreading things out further is all.  Less meat, more potatoes and rice or something like that.  If people aren’t eating as much, we just have to stop cooking so much hoping they’ll have a bigger appetite,” He tweaked Cassy’s nose, “We noticed it really early on, we’ll be fine.”

“I think you’re right,” Cassy agreed, sitting down and pealing the potatoes he handed her.

“How do you figure?”

“It just feels like something’s come to a head, like something has got to change one way or another and it’s going to happen soon.  I’ve been thinking this through and I think we made a major mistake.”

“Which one?”  Brian asked, placing the strips of venison in the pan and watching them steam.

“This murderer, he had a million chances to take me and he never bothered.  I’ve got this bum ankle and wouldn’t have taken much effort but he didn’t.  Why do you think that?”

“Because I’ve been watching you?”  Brian asked.

“Not all the time, not at first before my ankle started to heal up and he started taking my friends.”

“So why do you think he’s left you here?”

“I don’t think he ever meant to take me,” Cassy dropped another pealed potato into the bowl of water, “I think we wasted time and energy trying to keep me safe when the other girls were the ones he wanted.”

“Are you saying we should have dropped you off in the middle of the yard with a bow around your neck?”  Brian turned around to face her. 

“No, I don’t know if he would have even bothered with me then.  Look at what he went through to get Jedia.  He took a serious risk knowing the people who would have been running up and down those stairs with him right there but he was obviously desperate enough to know he wasn’t going to get her away any other way.”

Brian sighed, “You’re way better at thinking all of this stuff through than the rest of us,” he admitted, immediately rewarded by Cassy’s smile. 

“It’s too bad it’s not getting us any closer to any answers that we actually need though.”

“So how do you explain when he grabbed Starr?”  He asked, flipping the pieces of venison over and adding part of an onion Howie had chopped up the night before. 

“Knowing Starr...dumb luck.  Think of the racket she made with all of us just back on the porch.  Even he wouldn’t have taken a risk that big, what would have happened if she held him up for even another 15 seconds?  Howie, Kevin, and AJ were in there so fast he wouldn’t have had a chance to make it back into the woods.  I don’t think he was planning on her, it didn’t feel like what happened with Jedia, Kristine, or Alana.”

“What’s the difference?” 

“Those times, we were in a panic and he had all the control, we kept feeling helpless.  This time, he was in a panic trying to keep himself from being discovered and had to do something he wasn’t planning on.”

“Doesn’t change the outcome though,” Brian pointed out, “Planned or not, Starr is still gone.”

Cassy smiled grimly “Yeah but I think he’s going to make a huge mistake.”

“Like what?”

“If it’s someone with a beef with all of us, they’re from high school and Starr and Jedia fought like cats and dogs the last few years.  They still cared about each other but were just so different, most people wouldn’t know how much they meant to each other from watching them together.  I hope he has that impression too.”

“Why?”

Cassy dropped the last pealed potato in the pot, “Because, when you take Jedia’s brains and Starr’s stubbornness, I think he’s bitten off way more than he can chew.”

“You think they’d be kept together?”

“Hoping, but how many hiding places do you think he has?  With four girls in four separate spots, there wouldn’t be any way to keep track of them enough to ensure they stayed where they were left.”

Brian considered that, covering the pot of potatoes when they started to boil, “That’s assuming that they aren’t injured or dead,” He pointed out quietly.

Cassy shook her head, “They aren’t.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Bri, these are my girls, we’ve been together since elementary school.  You know how they say a mother can tell when their kid is in danger because they’re connected?  It’s the same with us.  When I wrecked my car, my phone was blowing up because they were all calling me.  We talked about it later and they all admitted to having a really sick feeling in their stomachs.  It happened the time Kristine thought she was pregnant.  She was so scared she was thinking about killing herself instead of having to face her family and again we all got that feeling and were calling her.”

“So what do you feel right now?”  Brian turned the heat down under the venison.

Cassy looked at him, her gaze steady.  “I feel worried, my stomach is upset with stress but I haven’t felt anything that made me think that any of them aren’t alive anymore.  They’re out there, Brian, and we can still bring them home.”

Nick rested back against the couch, his injured leg stretched straight out in front of him.  He had heard all of Brian and Cassy’s conversation but even her faith that her friends were still alive couldn’t bring him out of the sullen mood he had been in ever since he came to.  He ate, drank, pissed, slept, and moped.  The other guys had given up on trying to bring him back around, they had their own worries, their own girlfriends to miss and worry about. 

It just wasn’t fair.  After all the girls he had dated, after all the girls he had slept with, he had finally found the one girl that he wanted to stay with and she was taken away from him before he had even gotten into her pants, before he had been able to find out if the baby he dreamed about could be a reality.  Without her, he didn’t have anything.  Nothing mattered anymore, he couldn’t play any sports, he didn’t want to waste time on video games, he just wanted to hold her in his arms for five more minutes. 

It wasn’t fair.  She was gone and all he could do was replay their last night together over and over again in his head.  They had played a few games of pool.  He won more often than not but the games usually came down to the wire.  For a girl who spent so much time curled up with her books and research papers, she had picked up the techniques easily. 

“Corner pocket,” Nick gestured at it and easily sank the 8 ball, “I win again, how many does that make?”

“Four out of five,” Jedia replied, putting her pool stick back on the rack.

“Not going to try and even it out tonight?”  Nick asked

“I think I’ve lost enough for one night,” Jedia replied. 

“Doesn’t change anything though, that’s four you owe me,” He flopped down on the futon mattress and looked up at her with a broad grin.

“I still think you cheated that second game,” she protested.

“I didn’t.  Just had a really good incentive to keep on winning.”

Jedia bent over, removing her socks.  “Only counts as one,” Nick stated.

“Two socks,” Jedia objected.

“One pair.  Three more.”

She started blushing as she took off her shirt and shorts.  Nick had sat up at that point, his eyes glued to her.  “One more,” he said softly, his voice suddenly husky. 

“Nick,” Jedia pleaded. 

“Babe, if you don’t want to do it, don’t worry.  I said I wouldn’t keep pushing at you.”

Relieved, Jedia had pulled her dancing frog pajamas out of her duffle bag but stopped short of putting them on.  Jedia the prude, Jedia the innocent, Jedia the ice princess, she had heard it all over and over.  Sometimes the teasing was good natured, sometimes the jab of the words hit her where she was the most vulnerable.  She could be dead the next day, did she really want to die being Jedia the prude? 

“Nick?”

“Hmm?”

“A bet’s a bet, right?”  She stood back up, turned around and let her bra hit the floor, standing in front of him in just her green striped bikini briefs. 

He stared at her, making her blush even brighter.  Every rational thought in her brain was telling her to turn away from him, to put more clothes on before she embarrassed herself more.  “Jedia, if you don’t want to take this any further, you need to put your pajamas on.”

“Oh,” She slipped her top on quickly, “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.  I’m the one worrying about my self control right now.”

Jedia finished changing and slipped under the blanket next to him, his back facing her.  “You won’t even look at me now,” she said softly, “I know I’m not as pretty as the girls you’re probably used to...”

Nick looked over his shoulder at her, “Don’t even try that one.  Jedia, you’re beautiful and that’s kind of the problem right now.  I just need a few minutes to get things back under control, that’s all.  I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“Oh,” the color went back into her cheeks. 

“Unless you’ve changed your mind,”

“No,” Jedia answered quickly as a very loud internal YES went through her mind. 

“That’s what I figured,” Nick rolled over and kissed her, “Jedia?”

“Hmm?”

I love you. 

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

He had been so stupid.  She had taken a step, showed how much she cared about him, how she was willing to step out of her comfort zone for him and he had the perfect chance to do the same thing and didn’t.  Now she was gone and who knew if he’d ever have a chance to tell her how much she meant to him.  She was the only one who bothered to ask him the hard questions, what he would have done with his life if he hadn’t been in the Backstreet Boys, what he wanted to do if the band wasn’t around, what his secret dreams were, all the answers the magazines didn’t want to hear.  She wanted to know more about him than he knew existed. 

Now she was gone.  How could anything matter anymore? 

“Sorry we were gone so long,” he heard Kevin at the door. 

“Find anything?”  AJ asked, unable to keep the hope from his voice.

Kevin took off his boots, setting them in the corner “Yeah, but it didn’t really help.”

“What was it?”  Nick couldn’t help but ask.

Kevin pulled a scrap of fabric from his pocket, “It looks like the top Starr was wearing and there were some broken branches and a boot print nearby.  We kept going back to the spot and using it as a starting point, checking each direction but there wasn’t anything else.”  He glanced at Howie who was silently pulling off his sneakers, dropping them in a pile and walking out to the back porch. 

“He’s going to drive himself insane if he keeps thinking he’s just going to stumble on a secret hideout and bring her home,” AJ remarked. 

“The rest of us have been dealing with this for days...over a week now.  He’s had less than 24 hours and lets face it, with how fast we caught onto what happened, this should have been the one time we were able to find some kind of trail to follow.”

“Dinner’s ready,” Cassy walked back into the living room, wiping her hands on a towel. 

“Alright.  Nick, you want us to bring you a plate or do you want to move to the table?”

“Not hungry, you go ahead.”  Nick turned away from his friends. 

Kevin jaw tightened.  He walked into the room and fixed a plate of venison, mashed potatoes, and canned peas and brought it back out, setting it down next to Nick’s spot on the floor.  “How stupid are you going to feel if you’re wasting away to nothing when we bring Jedia home?”  He asked.  “She’s probably busting her ass to stay alive and come back here to you and you’re acting like a child.”

Not bothering to look back to see if Nick was eating or not, Kevin stalked back into the kitchen where everyone else was already poking at their food, thanking Brian and Cassy for cooking and pretending that they were eating more than they were. 

Hours later when he was ready to pass out for a few hours on one of the mattresses in the living room, Kevin glanced over to where Nick was dozing leaning up against the couch with a mostly empty plate sitting next to him.  Kevin picked up the plate, taking it back to the kitchen and washing it with a small smile of satisfaction. 

                                                                    ~*~*~*~*~*~

It was early.  The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the first rays touching the tops of the trees.  He could see it through gaps in the boarded windows.   Such a beautiful view from up here.  There was no place he’d rather be right now.  With four girls tucked away, his work was getting more difficult and he had to make a choice as to which group to stay closer to.  In the end, it hadn’t been much of a choice, why would he bother with Jedia and Starr when he had Kristine tucked away. 

There was always the concern that if she and Alana didn’t think he was nearby that they’d try calling for help, alerting the remaining people on the first floor to their whereabouts.  Brett had taken measures towards that as well.  He had cut their food and water consumption down to the absolute minimum he could to keep them alive.  They were weaker than newborn calves, there way no chance of them being able to scream anymore. 

Brett turned his head slightly, looking upon his Kristine’s beautiful face.  He still had to keep her chained to the wall; there was no telling what Alana would do if they were close to each other.  He regretted the fact that his Kristine had to be in such an uncomfortable position and he hoped that soon they’d be able to leave this place.  A few other things had to happen though, and he planned on getting them started that day.

First, there was something special he wanted to do for his Kristine.  He walked over to where she was sitting and crouched before her.  Even though she was sleeping, her forehead was creased with small lines of pain.  He knew that her arms and shoulders must be hurting after being held for such a long time.  He’d remedy that soon.  For a moment he was still, listening to her soft breathing.  It was soft and fast, with a hint of a wheeze behind it.  Yes, it was definitely time for him to remind her of his kindness.  She needed to remember that he was in charge, that he was the provider.  Reaching into his back pocket, he removed a small key and inserted it into the lock which held his Kristine’s handcuffs on the hook above her head.  Releasing the lock, he slowly lowered her arms to her lap, then sat back and waited.

She didn’t wake, just whimpered in pain as he lowered her arms slowly.  A single tear coursed down her grimy cheek, leaving a clean trail.  She started to awaken and began to alternately cough and gasp.  Slowly, her body began to tip to one side and he watched her slide down the wall until she was lying prone on her right side.  She woke up with a soft cry of pain, feeling the blood rush back through her arms.

Slowly, the worst of the pain haze faded from her mind, only to be replaced by a tingling feeling in her arms and fingers.  Her eyes slowly opened and, to her great surprise, she saw the wooden floor beside her and her arms lying in her lap.  She closed her eyes, not trusting her sight any longer, moved her head slightly, and looked again.  No, she was definitely lying on the wooden floor and her arms were not being held up anymore.

Exhausted, she could do nothing more than moan slightly when she tried to rise to a sitting position.  Kristine closed her eyes when she felt strong hands grasp her shoulder and move her slowly upright.  Her head lolled to the side and she opened her eyes slowly.  Groggily Kristine faced her captor who was squatting directly before her.

He smiled at her and reached a hand forward and cupped her cheek.  She was too weak to move away and could only close her eyes.“Today is a very special day, baby,” he whispered to her.  Kristine’s head lolled forward, her eyes opened and she stared at him numbly.  “Do you know what today is?”

She shook her head dumbly, her breathing shallow and labored, her eyes filled with painful tears.  Brett reached out and took her handcuffed hands with his.  “Please,” Kristine managed to whisper from between cracked and swollen lips.

Brett ignored her low plea and continued.  “Today is your birthday, baby.  You’re 20 years old today.”  He squeezed her hands between his and smiled at her.

Kristine blinked at him, letting the tears spill down her dirty cheeks.  Why does it matter that it’s my birthday?  Why are you doing this to me?  Why can’t you just let me go? I don’t want to die!

Before her mental anguish rose to a fever pitch, Brett released her hands and stood, still smiling broadly.  “I’ve brought something for you,” he said.  “I think you’ll like it.”  He turned and moved out of sight, bending down between some antique furniture.

Kristine heard faint movements on her right and allowed her head to slowly roll to that side.  Alana had awakened and was slowly sitting up, careful to make as little noise as possible so that their captor didn’t hear.  Looking at her, Kristine felt a new wave of sadness and anger wash over her.  Alana looked as horrible as she felt.  Bruises covered her naked body and she shivered in the early morning chill.  For the millionth time, Kristine wished that her hands were free so that she could give Alana her shirt and shorts, anything to make her suffering less.

Alana wasn’t faring much better in the pain department than Kristine.  She was weakened from the enforced lack of food and water and her hands shook almost uncontrollably.  Dried blood caked her lower lip and her many injuries forced her to move slowly.

“Happy birthday, baby.”  Brett’s voice so nearby forced Kristine back to the present.  With dread in her heart, she rolled her head back to face her captor.  Brett stood before her, a wide grin on his face, and a birthday cake in his hands.  In the center of the cake stood a lit candle, its flame dancing in the drafty attic.

Brett stooped and set the cake on Kristine’s outstretched legs.  Feeling as though she were in a dream, Kristine looked down.  Her body didn’t seem to belong to her anymore and moving the extremities required much more effort than she remembered.  A lump rose in her throat as she realized that this could be the last birthday she would ever celebrate.

“Go ahead, baby,” Brett coaxed, “Make a wish.”

Kristine tried to inhale enough to speak, but her injuries prevented any more than just a weak gasp.  “Please,” she said again, tears spilling down her cheeks, “Please.”

“Make a wish, Kristine,” Brett said softly.  Kristine leaned her head back against the wall of the attic, looking again at her captor with fear and dread.  After several shallow breaths, she managed to swallow the lump in her throat.

“I want to see my mother,” she managed to get out before she was racked again with a coughing fit.  Her coughing managed to put out the candle’s flame, and Brett rescued the cake before it slid off of her lap.

“Soon, baby, soon,” he promised easily, moving the cake to one hand.  Sitting down on the floor next to her, he caressed her cheek again.  This time, Kristine managed to evade him, if only marginally.  Brett narrowed his eyes a moment, setting his jaw in a grim line, but after a moment, he allowed his anger to pass and looked upon his Kristine more gently.

“Here.”  He ripped a small piece from the corner of the chocolate cake and moved it before her lips.  “Try it, baby.”  He deftly slipped the piece of cake into her mouth, still slightly open from coughing.  Kristine froze, unsure what to do.  Do I accept this from him?  It will keep me from starving, but does it give him more power over me?  Shouldn’t I just spit it out on him?  That would really make him angry.  Please, I can’t think, the pain is too much.  I can’t do it.  I want to see my mother!

In the end, her body acted instinctively for her, swallowing the morsel before she had any longer to think.  Brett smiled broadly.  “Here, have another piece,” he said, moving a larger bite to her mouth.

This time, Kristine evaded him by moving her head up.  “Please,” she managed to whisper, staring at him with pleading eyes.

“What do you want, baby?” Brett asked, again forcing the cake into her mouth.  After a moment of swallowing and catching her breath, Kristine focused on her captor again.

“Alana,” she croaked.  “Please give Alana some too.”

Brett’s eyes narrowed in fury.  “Why should I give anything to that whore?” he growled, leaning closer to Kristine.  “It isn’t her birthday, it’s your birthday.  I give what I like to who I like.”

Kristine whimpered softly.  “Please,” she whispered, “I’m the birthday girl.”  She gave her captor the best winsome smile she could manage at the moment, a gruesome twisting of her facial muscles, yet it seemed to work.  Brett’s eyes softened and the sinews in his jaw relaxed.

“You know that I love it when you’re giving,” he said softly and leaned forward, kissing her fully on the lips.  Kristine froze again, her eyes wide, leaning back as far as she could to escape this new assault.  Brett broke the kiss and drew back to look at her.  Not noticing or not recognizing the fear in her eyes, he smiled at her, and then rose to his feet.

He looked over at Alana and narrowed his eyes once again.  “I want you to know that I’m only doing this for you because she asked.”  He strode over purposely toward Alana, who shrank back as far as her chained leg would allow.  “Here,” Brett spat, throwing a large chunk of cake on the grime-ridden floor before Alana’s feet.  He turned away quickly as if the sight of Alana eating turned his stomach.

Returning to Kristine, he resumed feeding her small bites of cake, talking to her gently and ignoring the terrified look in her eyes.  Alana remained frozen for a long time after Brett moved away from her, but eventually hunger won over her fear and she crept forward to grab the chunk of cake.  She weighed it in her hand for a long moment, studying the back of her captor’s head to ensure he wouldn’t turn around to see her.

God, I hate feeling guilty about this. She thought.  He gave the goddamned cake to me; I should be able to eat it.  Man, my stomach hurts so bad.  She looked at the piece of cake again before cramming as much as she could into her mouth.  Whatever I eat now, he can’t take away from me, she thought, stuffing as much in as she could hold, chewing frantically.

All too soon, the piece of dry chocolate cake was gone and Alana succumbed to searching the floor for crumbs that had fallen.  She didn’t know the next time she would get food and anything she could do to keep up her strength she would.  She was going to kill that bastard, come hell or high water, and she was going to make him pay.

Brett dusted off his hands on his pants and gently caressed Kristine’s face before standing up.  “I hope you enjoyed your cake,” he stated, looking down at her and standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I did.  Thank you for it,” Kristine recognized the look on his face, realizing he wasn’t going to budge until she told him she appreciated him.  He wasn’t going to be satisfied until he owned every ounce of her self worth, until he possessed every inch of her soul.  To think she had let him do the exact same thing back in high school, it terrified her to think of what she would have become if her girls hadn’t jumped in. 

“Brett,” she wet her lips, “Do you know what I’d really like for a birthday present?”

“The cake wasn’t enough?”  There was a warning in his voice. 

“No, the cake was wonderful.  It’s just this one other small thing.  I know you’re busy but I thought...”

“What is it, baby?”  He had relaxed slightly again. 

“Can Jedia come up here with us too, since it is my birthday?”

His smile vanished and he shook his head firmly, “Not a chance.  Why would you even ask me for something so stupid?”  He cracked his knuckles and she winced instinctively, making herself even less of a presence on the floor. 

“I just miss her.  She wouldn’t have to stay, I just wanted to see her again.”

“There’s no way.  Not like you’re smart enough to realize this but there’s no way I could get her up here and just for a few minutes?  That’s a complete waste of my time.  Besides, you already have a stupid whore for company, you don’t need a know-it-all too.”

“Oh.”

“I’d knock some sense into you for asking me something so stupid but it is your birthday so I guess I’ll let it slide this time.  Just make sure next time you want something that you think about it first.”

“I’m sorry, Brett.”

He nodded curtly, chaining her arms back up and sliding the chain back over the hook in the wall before turning to leave.  He paused at the door, looking back at her with a strange expression on his face, “Jedia has company of her own now anyways,” he glanced over at Alana, “You and I are going to be leaving here very soon.”

Kristine’s blood went cold as the door latched quietly behind him.  “Kristine?”  Alana croaked uncertainly from her spot on the floor. 

“You need to get those last few locks picked and fast,” she replied, “I don’t know how much time we have left.  From what he just said, and the fact that he’s spending less time up here and starting to starve us, I think he’s got Starr.”

Alana moaned, pulling out the box of nails and starting to fiddle with the padlocks again.  She was working off of adrenalin and fear, what energy was stored in her body had been depleted days earlier.  Before it seemed like they had plenty of time for her to improve her lock picking skills but Brett had made it obvious that their time was running out.  She just had to hope that her body wouldn’t completely fail her before she succeeded. 

                                                                     ~*~*~*~*~*~

The breakfast table was just as quiet as the dinner table had been.  There was toast, hashbrowns, and coffee but not much else.  The eggs were mostly gone, the carton they had left they were using for pancakes which went further to satisfy six people.  Brian’s prediction about the food was accurate and they were all starting to see it.  They were far from starving but necessity was going to force them to create some interesting new menus. 

“You guys going out again?”  AJ asked, spreading his toast with a thick layer of strawberry jam.  There were still plenty of preserves and pickles on the shelves.  They were all neatly labeled in a handwriting none of them knew, most likely Alana’s mother’s.  Alana had mentioned how her mother planted a garden back home and she was obsessive about putting up whatever she grew, a habit she had picked up from Alana’s grandmother. 

Either way, the house was far better stocked than most summer homes would have been.  Cassy had mentioned how Alana’s father had brought up a truckload of groceries on their initial visit to the house, preparing it to be overrun by two adults, five college aged girls, and two high school girls. 

Mentally AJ gave her father a huge ‘thank you’.  If the man hadn’t been so prepared, they would have been in far worse condition than what they were already. 

Kevin looked up from his mug of coffee and glanced at Howie who was staring out the back door, ignoring the food on the table.  “You want to try again?”  Kevin asked.

“Yeah,” Howie’s response was clipped. 

Kevin looked back at AJ with a shrug, “Guess so then.”

“Do you think it would help to have another set of eyes?”

“You want to leave Brian here with two injured people?”  Kevin’s eyebrow shot up. 

“What Cassy told us last night, about the guy not being after her, it made sense to me.  If the guy isn’t coming after her, the three of them should be alright.  She’s getting around on her ankle better and is a pretty tough chick.  Brian isn’t a pushover either and between the two of them I figured they could defend Nick.  What you guys need is another set of eyes out there.”

“What we need is a police search and rescue unit and a troop of search dogs,” Kevin replied dryly. 

“We’ve got a dog,” Nick pointed out. 

At one all three heads turned towards where Maddy was lying on the floor.  “He wouldn’t be able to pick up Alana’s scent after this long, would he?”  AJ asked. 

“No, but he might be able to catch Starr’s,” Kevin’s eyes lit up with excitement, “Howie, can you go through her bag and find a shirt she wore?  It’s worth a try at least.”

Howie walked back to Alana’s purple room, Maddy following behind him.  He scratched the dog’s head, “You miss her too, huh boy?”

Maddy whined, butting his head against Howie’s hand.  “Yeah, I know.”

Howie pulled Starr’s bag out of the closet and began to search through it for a top she had worn recently when his hand brushed against a thick bunch of papers.  He pulled them out, recognizing the envelopes for the letters she had written to her family and friends. 

The rubber band used to bind them snapped in his hand, the envelopes scattering on the floor.  Howie set her clothes down, gathering the letters back up and glancing at the names on the envelopes.  There was one for her mother, one for her sister, one for her long gone father.  There were names he didn’t recognize at all and letters to each of the other girls.  There was one for him.

He stopped short, turning it over again in his hand.  His name was clearly written on the outside in blue ink.  He had realized all the rest were written in black, this one had obviously come at a different time. 

He glanced through the rest of the envelopes for the ones he was sure would had been left for the rest of the guys, or at least for the one that had to be there for AJ. 

There wasn’t one. 

Howie sat down on the floor, staring at the envelope, at the tiny cursive letters that made up his name.  It only took him a second longer for the need to read whatever she had left him to completely consume his mind.  He quickly slit open the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of folded paper inside. 

Howie,

I’m not going to put down the whole “if you’re reading this then I’m dead” bit.  I guess it’s kind of obvious at this point so there’s no reason to dwell on the fact, right?  I’m kind of expecting it at this point anyways.  I guess I’ve lost what hope I had. 

The thing is, I’ve never been really happy, never completely.  The closest I ever came was spending time with my girls and even then something was always lacking.  I’m always writing things out and then when life never measures up, I just get disappointed.  I just never expected to take my life down this path.  Meeting you and the rest of the guys has thrown my pessimism for a loop.  I never in a million years thought I would have ended up friends with you guys, sure I hoped for it, most girls my age do.  It’s just so much more than I had ever dreamed of happening. 
I really don’t know how to explain this well, so please just stick with me as I try and figure this all out for myself. 

There’s such a fine line between fantasy and reality here.  It took a lot of thought for me to figure any of this out and I guess I’m still trying to bring it around to a reasonable conclusion.  My feelings for AJ, I finally saw that they were based on you guys as a band.  They were based off of a fantasy of who he was, what he stood for and what I thought we could have been together.  The problem is that he’s not that fantasy I have.  He’s a real person with real hobbies, a real personality, and very real likes and dislikes and the more I learned about who he really was, the more I think I started to realize that he and I were never going to match up on more than a friend level. 

I think that was why I had to back away from you.  You see, the fantasy persona I had for you was incomplete.  What was there was pretty accurate and then every bit of you that I experienced was pure reality.  It was a reality I was comfortable with and because of that, I was able to trust you, to really talk to you assuming that I was gaining a really awesome friend.  I was thrown off when you told me you wanted something more, that was something that I assumed only happened in fantasies, not in my reality. 

I’m not going to lie, you scared the crap out of me. 

The problem is that around the time I realized that AJ was a fantasy, I also realized that you could be my reality, that you knew so much about me and you still wanted to be with me regardless of it all.  I think what scared me even more is that a part of me realized that you would be so easy to love and that maybe, a part of me had already started to do just that. 

Jedia and Kristine would joke around with me and tell me that I’m the strong one, just because they punch my shoulder and I don’t move (it’s really just because they couldn’t hit hard enough to bruise a baby).  But tell me, if I’m supposed to be so strong, why does the idea of telling you any of this make me so scared?  Every single time I’ve woken up the last few days, I’ve told myself that I’m going to talk to you, to tell you all of this and that, even though the idea terrifies me, I want to be with you.  For the first time in my life, I think I could be really happy with my life if you were a part of it. 

You can tell how far this has gone considering I’m writing it in a stupid letter instead of telling you to your face so by the time you read this, I’ll be dead and I won’t have to deal with the fear anymore, just a lingering regret that my last days on Earth were spent as a coward.

I guess I used that stupid cliche after all. 

I’m sorry. 

Love,

Starr

The letter was dated four days earlier.  Howie just couldn’t believe it, all the time they wasted, all the time they could have had together and maybe if he hadn’t been so wrapped up in the newness of the relationship he could have protected her the way he should have and she would have still been there with him. 

He had to find her.  He had to get her back. 

He grabbed the sweatshirt he remembered her wearing the night they slept out on the swing and pressed it against his face, breathing in.  He could smell the sunflower oil she had worn every day since he had met her.  Even in the days before he was able to admit to his own feelings about her, he would try to get a hint of that smell.  It was so light, it usually got overpowered by sunblock, bug spray, and the brighter scents her friends wore.  The scent was so sweet, so understated and it had just seemed to fit her.  Not the bright color of the flower of course but just that most people just saw a giant flower, they never really paid attention to how sweet it really was. 

Now maybe it could help bring her back to him. 

Howie stood up and looked down at the shirt, noticing the damp spot on the front.  He hadn’t even realized he was crying.  “Come on, Maddy,” He motioned for the dog to follow him out of the room.  Kevin and AJ were already waiting at the door for him to put on his boots and clip the leash to Maddy’s collar. 

Kevin took the sweatshirt and knelt down in front of the dog, holding out the sweatshirt for him to sniff.  “Starr, find Starr,” he commanded, opening the door so Maddy could seek out the trail that would hopefully take them to the girls. 


                                                          ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
               
“You’re sure that will work?” Starr asked, unable to keep the disbelief from her voice.

“Pretty sure, he’s a classic narcissist,” Jedia replied, “he needs to feel superior, like he’s won something and I don’t think he’s going to kill us until he can feel like he’s done that.”

“We’re not going to get out of it that easily,” Starr pointed out. 

“No, he’s going to end up resorting to physical violence and insults until he feels like he’s broken us down to where we see him as the better, stronger, and smarter person.  If he kills us in anger or in frustration we bettered him and made him lose control.  We would end up dead but on our terms and I don’t think he’s going to let it end that way.  He’s put way too much work into all of this to let us take control back.”

“So ignoring him, not paying anything attention to him...”

“He needs the attention.  He needs people to recognize how amazing he feels he is even if it’s out of fear.  It also puts an emphasis on what he can’t control, we’re making a strong point that he doesn’t have power over us.”

“He’s going to beat the shit out of us.”

“Probably, but the whole idea is to make him lose control and to make him get angry.  If he’s angry he’s going to make a mistake somewhere and we’ve got a better chance of getting away from him.”

“Jedia, if this works I swear I will never pick on your psychobabbling rambles ever again.”

Jedia hesitated, “How are you feeling?”

Starr shrugged, “I’m fine as long as I don’t stand up too fast.  Why?”

“Like you said, he’s going to try and beat us back into submission to put us back under control.  I’m just worried that he’s going to go for your head again and you’re not going to be able to recover.  We don’t have the option right now, but you really should have gone to a hospital for the blow you already took.”

“Sure thing, just let me pull out my super cell phone that gets signal in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere or would you prefer using my bat signal?”

Jedia looked up suddenly and stared at the door, “I would have preferred not to hear that.”

Starr’s heart started to pound as she heard the thud of the footsteps coming closer.  The door creaked open and then shut softly behind him.  For a moment the three of them stared each other down and then Brett smiled. 

Starr couldn’t help the rage she felt boiling inside of her just seeing him there.  Alana’s mother, the closest thing she had to a maternal figure she could relate to, was dead because he couldn’t get over a fucking high school relationship.  All those other people that would never be going home because of him. 

Just one good strike, that’s all she wanted.  Just one blow to make him feel even an ounce of the pain he had put so many other people through. 

The anger must have been clearly visible on her face because Jedia gave her a nudge and then a warning look that didn’t go unnoticed by Brett.  “That’s right, listen to your stupid friend.  She knows better than to try and fight me,” he sneered. 

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, she forced herself to focus on her breathing.  Meditation had never been her strength but desperate times...

He moved around the tiny area, eyeing the two of them and not bothering to hide his glee.  “How’s it feel to be outsmarted by a stupid redneck?  Yeah, I remember you calling me that.  You acted like it was something that made you better than me, like it was a reason why Kristine shouldn’t be with me.  Well, if I’m so stupid, why are you two sitting here with me in charge?  Fucking bitches, who’s the smart one now?”

Jedia stared down at the floor.  The first time he had told her she was stupid it had stung, she had almost believed him.  Unfortunately she wasn’t the same girl he had known in high school, not completely.  College had given her a self confidence boost as well as the knowledge to evaluate him and his actions.  She understood them on a better level than even he did and that alone helped keep her sane, helped her hold tight to the facts that she was intelligent no matter what he said to try and bring her down.  He wouldn’t be able to break her, not like that at least.

Brett stared at Jedia for a minute longer, his jaw tightening before turning on Starr, “Even though you’re fucking stupid, at least you have someone out there who gives a shit about you.  This ugly bitch doesn’t have anyone.  Ugly on the outside, ugly on the inside, who would ever want to be with her, fucking a cow would be better than having to deal with her.  I’m doing you a favor really, no one is ever going to love you so I might as well let you die alone now instead of having to do it sixty years down the line.”

Starr couldn’t help the smirk on her face.  “What’s so fucking funny?”  Brett demanded. 

“You’re not as smart as you think you are,” Starr retorted, “For someone who’s supposedly such a great hunter, you miss a hell of a lot.”

His boot connected with her side, bringing tears to her eyes and making her roll over in pain.  He grabbed her hair, lifting her a few inches off the ground, his fist ready when she heard the happy dog barks.  They were faint but the next time she heard the barks, they were accompanied by the low tones of men talking and it was obvious they were coming closer. 

Brett had obviously heard them too.  He stared at the side of the shed, his eyes betraying the worry he was feeling.  He glanced down at Starr who was smiling again, despite the pain in her ribs.  “Gotcha,” she whispered. 

Jedia started to shake, it was playing out like a terrible movie and she knew Starr well enough to know what she planned on doing.  The second the noise was close enough, she was going to scream, telling whoever was out there about their location.  Brett would kill her but Jedia would be saved.  She was going to sacrifice herself to get Jedia out of there and Brett knew it, he had to know it. 

The noises were getting closer and Starr found herself praying to a God she didn’t even believe in anymore.  Piety out of fear and a last resort to save what was left of her soul. 

She was caught off guard when Brett threw her back down to the floor and with three steps, had crossed the shed and yanked Jedia up, pulling a hunting knife out of his pocket and holding it against her throat.  His eyes were dark, fixed on Starr so there was no question of what he was trying to get across. 

If she screamed, it was Jedia would pay the price, not her.  She wouldn’t be able to sacrifice her friend and Brett knew it.  He knew her that well after all. 

The voices were audible now.  She heard AJ and Kevin, they probably weren’t even fifty feet away. 

“Isn’t that the same shed that Nick and Brian were looking at when Kristine fell behind?” 

Oh God, Howie.  Starr pressed her hand against the wall, willing him to somehow feel her in there.  She imagined a warm light showing on the outside of the wall, a physical embodiment of everything she felt for him that would bring him closer and save her, save them both. 

“Nick said it was locked,” AJ said. 

“Maybe it was but it’s worth a try,” Kevin replied.  The door rattled but didn’t budge.  Brett had the knife so tight against Jedia’s throat that a trickle of blood fell down towards her shirt.  There was the thud of something hitting the door but again there was no movement.  The series of locks that Brett used kept the door pretty much immobile.  “No use guys, this thing hasn’t been used in forever.”

Starr could see the shadow of a dog sniffing around at the door.  Maddy, he knew she was there, he had to.  She heard the sound of him whine slightly but then the jingle of his collar became faint as the small group walked away. 

Time passed, she couldn’t tell how much.  Brett kept his eyes on the door, his posture tense and his knife glued to Jedia’s throat.  The noise faded away into the woods but Brett still kept his grip on Jedia. 

The crack of light under the door had started to fade by the time Brett threw her back down and sheathed his knife again.  He didn’t say anything else to either of them, just left the two of them sitting on the floor watching him leave. 

For a few minutes they stayed silent, listening to him patrolling around the shed before his steps got more and more distant.  “Are you okay?”  Jedia finally asked, certain that he was no longer hanging around near the shed. 

Starr shifted and tried to stand, sitting down quickly with a soft cry of pain.  “That’s a big no,” she gasped. 

“Ribs?”  Jedia asked

“Yeah,” she gasped, “They teach you anything about how to treat this in college?”

“Not really,” Jedia knelt down next to her friend and lifted up her shirt, wincing at the dark red circle on her side.  Trying to make her inspection as painless as possible, Jedia gently probed around the area.  “Not like this is going to make it hurt less but at least they don’t seem like they’re broken.”

“Oh good,” Starr replied through clenched teeth, “Want to go play a round of tennis?”

Jedia sighed, “There’s no first aid kit in here.  I checked before he brought you in.  I wish there was some kind of pain killer I could give you but we just don’t have anything.  You shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I needed to though,” Starr paused, forcing herself to breathe through the pain, “It’s strange how blind he is about some things.  He could believe you had Nick but was completely certain I didn’t have anyone.”

“He didn’t know about you and Howie,” Jedia nodded, “It could have been because you two had only been together for a day.”

“Or that he’s convinced himself that I’m not worth loving and won’t be able to see any evidence to the contrary because then he’d have to admit he was wrong about something.”

“Not entirely useful but it’s an interesting idea,” Jedia mulled it over. 

“Makes you wonder what else he doesn’t know about,” Starr gingerly rolled onto her good side. 

“Get some sleep, you’re going to need it,” Jedia handed over the jacket they covered up with at night, “I’ll wake you up if I hear him coming back.”

“The way I feel right now, I’d almost ask him to finish the job to stop this from hurting so badly,” Starr’s attempt at humor fell flat between them. 

“Don’t even say that,” Jedia stood up and leaned her weight against the door, “We’re going to get out of here somehow.”

“The way you say it, I almost believe you.”

“Trust me for once,” Jedia replied, “We’re going to figure out a way to get away from him.”