Blue

Losing control

That was the last time I remember my life being remotely in my control. I woke up in a small room. The light from the rising sun gave a red glow to the hard wood floor I was laying on. It looked warm. I wish it was.

Whoever brought me here gave me an old flat pillow and a quilt. But how I got here and where I was… that was a mystery.

“Good morning.” A deep voice called to me from the doorway.

My head was splitting, and although I was relieved to be fully dressed, my skinny jeans, were digging into me, my favorite blue sweater wasn’t warm enough, and my old converse shoes did nothing to trap heat. Ignoring my discomfort I strained my neck to see who was looming in the doorway.

As much as I expected the mystery man from the market to be looking down at me, I was wrong. This boy looked to be closer to my age. Short brown hair, weak jaw line, dull brown eyes, medium build. He looked relatively handsome and harmless, but I know all too well that monsters tend to blend in.

The more I looked, the more he looked familiar…

“I’m Jordan. We go to the same school.” He answered my questioning gaze.

I tried to muster as much bravado as I had to answer, but instead squeaked out “Why am I here?!” My voice sounded small, weak, and scared. My tough girl act wouldn’t work.

“You don’t remember? I caught you in the parking lot. You’re just too pretty to be out alone.”

He was right. I don’t consider myself particularly pretty, but I shouldn’t have been alone. I’m 5”1, curvy, but small. I try to keep a sharp eye out, but spending those few moments alone in the parking lot was a bad idea. I knew better. It’s the exact thing I preach to Lela not to do. If you need air you at least phone a friend. My own words had come back to haunt me.

He rubbed his rough hand down my cheek and I realized I was crying. This was bad. I had to get myself together if I wanted out.

Jordan watched every emotion I couldn’t hide flit across my face. Deep breathe in… I could do this. I put my tongue to the roof of my mouth and sucked, like I’d practiced in the mirror every night since I was 8. I knew my face looked calm now, unreadable. I fixed my eyes to his and locked in.

“Thank you for the compliment.” I cooed. “I’ll just be leaving now.”

As I spoke I slowly raised from my position on the floor and smoothed out my sweater. With any luck he’d have been counting on me being afraid. Men like this tend to rely on their victims fear, and I wouldn’t be a scared victim again.

It seemed to work at first, his eyes grew larger, lips parted slightly, but as I stepped closer he regained his focus. Jordan shoved me to the ground, and my head hit the floor hard. I saw spots all around me like stars and heard his footsteps close to my face. I felt his hot breathe on my face as he leaned over me. Then I heard the tell tale zip of the zip ties on my wrists. I regained enough sight to bring my knee up and kick down on his shin. The trick was to kick hard enough the his knee would buckle and he’d fall, but I didn’t have enough leverage or strength. I’d pay for that if not for the crash of glass that drew my captors attention from me just long enough for me to get another shot in. This time I hit his knee cap and he went down next to me like a tree.

As I scrambled to get up from my spot on the floor, I saw him. The mystery man. His sparkling blue eyes were unmistakable, but this time there was no smug humor in them, he was angry. He drew back and kicked my captor in his side before pulling him up my his hair and swiftly kneeing him in the face. I had to stop watching! Mentally I screamed at myself to run, but I was vaguely aware of the warm blood dripping slowly out of my hair to be absorbed on the shoulder of my sweater.

On shaky legs I made it to a living room area, and unlocked the deadbolt. The sunlight blinded me as I yanked the door open. It looked like we were in a clearing in the woods and I hoped we weren’t too far from the main road. I ran down the gravel driveway as fast as I could and as I could see the road I heard the mystery man calling after me. A tree root that had grown up just a bit higher than the rest of the driveway seemed to jump up in an effort to trip me and I went sprawling to the ground. And for the second time in a 24 hour period, I blacked out and was completely out of control.