Tag: writing prompt

“Quit fighting, I don’t want to hurt you again.”

The words sent anger spearing through Tyler as he and his partner crept down the hallway of the house where Macey was being held.

Four painstakingly long months worth of chasing down every lead and it had finally led him here. In just minutes he would have Macey in his arms again but he was afraid of the woman he would find here. How much had four months in captivity scarred her?

The sound of flesh hitting flesh nudged him out of his thoughts and with a glance at his partner he nodded and prepared to step through the door at the end of the wall, knowing his partner had his back.

When he took that step he came face to face with his own personal nightmare.

Half the room had been partitioned off with metal bars running floor to ceiling, the side of the room was set up with the intention of someone living in there, there was a small bathroom area, a bed, and living room furniture. She was currently being held by the hair by a tall man who had to be at least ten years older than her.

At his arrival both heads snapped in his direction. The man reacted immediately, pressing a button that started water streaming down from the ceiling.

That split second of distraction was all it took for the man to toss Macey across the room and turn and run through a door on the far side of the room.

“Ryder, he went out the door,” Tyler called over his shoulder as he ran to Macey.

His partner took off after Macey’s abductor, while he dropped to his knees at her side and hauled her into his arms. She’d lost weight, her skin was as white as snow, her eyes were round and he could see a red mark in the shape of a hand stand out in stark contrast on her cheek He should check her for injuries, ask her if she was okay, say something to reassure her, but all he could do was clutch her tightly against his chest and rock her from side to side.

“He got away,” Ryder announced stalking back into the room, frustration etched into his features.

Got away?

The man that had held Macey captive for four months was still out there. Still a threat.

He had her back but could he keep her safe?

Macey woke to being watched.

It wasn’t something new. Most days she woke to find her captor sitting on a chair outside her cell watching her with a dreamy smile on his face that never failed to make her shiver in fear and revulsion.

Today was no different.

Keeping the covers clutched tightly around her neck so that her body was completely shielded from his view, it wasn’t much protection but it was all she had and every day she clung to it for as long as she could.

Every day was the same and she’d long since lost count of how long she’d been here, it was too depressing to watch the days tick by and know that she was never leaving this room. After watching her for a while her captor would make conversation with her, or at least attempt to, then he’d bring her a meal he had cooked himself. At first she had refused to eat anything he brought but hunger had eventually worn her down and now she ate what she was given when she was given it. After feeding her he would set up work at the desk on the other side of the metal bars. He’d stop give her lunch, work some more, then dinner, after that he’d make her shower in front of him before he wished her sweet dreams and finally left the room.

The following morning she’d wake to find him watching her again.

Rinse and repeat at least two dozens times until they were on today.

So far he hadn’t made a move to enter her cell but she knew that wouldn’t last and all she could do was give thanks each day that that day hadn’t yet come.

Although it looked like her lucky might be about to run out.

The man stood and curled his hands around the bars, watching her intently. “You’ve been here a month, I think I’ve given you enough time to adjust.” With that he pulled out a key and unlocked the door to her prison.

Macey didn’t think, she just reacted.

Launching herself off the bed she ran for the door, desperately seeking freedom.

Unfortunately she didn’t make it.

As she reached him he held out an arm and a second later fire spread through her body. She dropped to the floor convulsing as wave after wave of pain assaulted her. Her body jerked about but she was powerless to stop it, just like she was powerless to stop him when he knelt beside her, scooped her up, and carried her towards the bed.

She wished he would just kill her.

Anything was better than being held captive.

It all started with seven little words.

I want to sit next to you.

That’s what Macey had said to him the day they’d met. It had been at a mutual friend’s wedding, he’d been watching everyone dance because he wasn’t a dancing kind of guy, and she came and plopped herself down beside him and started chattering away.

The years they’d been together had been the happiest of his life and right about how Tyler couldn’t even remember why it was they had broken up.

It all seemed so unimportant now.

A week.

Seven days.

That was how long it had been since anyone had heard from or seen Macey. The man she’d gone on the blind date with had also disappeared and it turned out no one at his workplace really knew much about him.

Guilt.

Guilt was all he’d felt for seven long days. He hadn’t believed her when Mollie had called to say that something had happened to Macey and that had been eating away at him. He was barely sleeping, only eating when one of his colleagues forced him too, and spending every second he had on trying to find where she was.

Seven days was such a long time and with every passing hour it got less and less likely that they would find her alive.

If she was still alive.

As much as Tyler didn’t want to admit it there was a very real possibility that she was already dead, her body disposed of.

Tyler pulled the engagement ring from his pocket. He’d been intending to propose until the argument that ended everything, and he decided then and there that if he got her back alive he was going to do whatever it took to fix things between them.

“Don’t you die on me, Macey,” he muttered. “I’m going to find you, baby.”

Nothing would stop him.

If it was the last thing he ever did he would find Macey and bring her home.

Helplessness.

Hopelessness.

How many days had she been here?

By Macey’s calculations, and all she had to go on was the number of meals she’d been brought, she’d been here for at least four days now.

The here was half of a room, operated from the other half, including the door, by metal bars that ran from the floor to the ceiling. Her part of the room had a bed, a table and two chairs, a toilet, a shower head fixed to the wall, a bookcase crammed with books, and a TV.

He planned to keep her here indefinitely.

He was still a he to her she still hadn’t got the guy’s name. Not his real one anyway, she knew it wasn’t George, he wasn’t who he was pretending to be.

How was anyone going to find her if they were looking for a George who worked with her sister?

This man terrified her.

Not because he’d laid a hand on her, he hadn’t yet but she knew it was only a matter of time, but because of what covered the walls on the other part of the room.

Photos.

Of her.

Hundreds of them.

They went back several years.

Years.

This man had been stalking her for years.

And now he had her.

He’d been up since midnight the day before, going on twenty-seven hours now, and he’d only gotten three hours sleep before that.

Middle of the night phone calls went with the job, in his going on nine years as a homicide detective it wasn’t the first time he’d worked more than twenty-four hours straight and it wouldn’t be the last.

Throwing back the covers he climbed into bed, but no sooner had he turned off the lights, put his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes than his phone rang.

With a groan Tyler sat back up, switched on the lamp on his nightstand and picked up his cell phone. Expecting to see his boss or his partner’s name on the screen instead he was surprised at the name that flashed up.

“Mollie, what’s up?” he asked as he answered.

“Its Macey,” Mollie sobbed, she was obviously upset and that got a ball of panic rolling in his stomach.

“What about her?” It had been six months since he and Macey had broken up, and while he had thought about her every single day he wasn’t a part of her life anymore, and he had no idea why her sister was calling him at one in the morning.

“She’s missing.”

“Missing?”

“She went on a blind date tonight and she was supposed to call me when she got home but i haven’t heard from her,” Mollie explained.

A date.

The idea of Macey on a date made his stomach churn.

“Look, Mollie, its nothing to worry about I’m sure, they probably just hit it off and went back to his place.” Tyler had to force those words out, Macey having sex with another man was a repulsive notion but it was the more likely scenario.

“She wouldn’t, you know that, Ty. Macey doesn’t have sex with men on the first date, especially not a blind date. She was going to be home by midnight and call me immediately so I knew she was okay, she wouldn’t make me worry, if she were going to spend the night with him she would have at least sent me a text. Something is wrong, I can feel it, please can you just look into it? I know the guy, he works with me, I don’t know him well but he saw a photo of Macey and he wouldn’t stop talking about her. I thought it would be good for her to start dating again but what if I set her up with some crazy serial killer?”

“Calm down, Mollie, I think thats unlikely. I’m sure you’ll hear from her in the morning. I have to go. Really, I’m sure everything will be fine,” he added because he felt bad that he was cutting her off when she was obviously worried, but he just couldn’t deal with the idea of Macey with another man. He still loved her and the more time they were apart the less he could remember why it was they had broken up in the first place.

“If anything happens to her, Tyler, I won’t ever forget that you weren’t there for her when she needed you,” Mollie screamed before hanging up.

Guilt speared him.

Not being there for her was what had broken them up last time, Mollie was scared endnote pulling her punches.

But what were the chances that she’d gone on a date with someone who had hurt her?