I'll Always Be His

Chapter 13

Tessa

I woke up groggy and disoriented. My head was pounding. Dry blood was stuck in my hair from the gash on my forehead. I didn't know what time it was or how long i'd been here. It was cold and the room smelled of fresh earth. There was a tray of food in front of me. Like hell was I eating that. I don't know that this crazy lady isn't trying to poison me. Why me? Is this some type of random snatch and grab? What was she planning on doing to me? I was shaking now. I don't know whether it's from the cold or the pure terror coursing through me. Every instinct I have is on high alert telling me to try to escape or something bad is going to happen.

I listened for any noise but all I could hear was a random dripping of water somewhere off in the distance. I worked at the chain binding me in place. It wouldn't budge. So I tried to work it where it met the wall and it wouldn't budge either. Hopelessness began to creep back in. Just when I began to wallow a thought came to me and I began to formulate a plan.

I took the hair tie out of my hair and began to work at the metal clip on it. I pulled at the fabric and rubber until only the metal piece remained. I worked it over trying to mold it. I had no idea if this would work but it was worth a try. I watched Hardin pick his dad's liquor cabinet lock once. He was successful but I had no idea what I was doing. It was a shot in the dark but I had to try all options. Once I twisted and shaped the metal piece I began to work the lock. I tried over and over again. This was no use. I felt defeated. I leaned back against the cold stone wall releasing a deep breath.

Damn it, I would not die here! Not in some dark disgusting dungeon! Not in a cell! Not chained to a wall! I would not! I sat forward again. I kept maneuvering the metal piece in my hand adjusting it different ways in the lock. There was a loud click. Was I really free?

Hardin

Tessa has been missing for two days. I've looked at every abandoned place in a twenty five mile radius with the help of Sylas and my brother. I felt like I was going mad. I sat on the edge of my bed, fingers twisted in my hair, tears of frustration flowing freely down my face. I tried to come up with other options. The cops weren't making any progress. An amber alert was issued but so far nothing but false leads. Nick had an aliby for the time she went missing so he's not a direct person of interest but they have officially ruled it a missing person with foul play suspected. We've put together search parties to search the woods in case she's out there somewhere, hurt, unable to reach help. No sign of her though. Kendra even helped search but I have a feeling that was just to get close to me. I basically ignored her.

Kendra showed up two nights ago dressed in nothing but a black coat that stopped above her knees. I mean she literally had nothing underneath the coat. She had called from a private number so I wouldn't know it was her to get me to open the outside door the led into my room. As soon as I opened the door, the coat flew open and fell off her shoulders, leaving her in nothing but a pair of heels on my door step. She was furious when I turned her down. Even more furious when I slammed the door in her face. She was not and never would be Tessa. My heart ached and felt like it was breaking.

I couldn't sit in this room anymore. I began to pull out some local maps that I had borrowed from the historical society. One showed what looked to be old mines and mine shafts. There were other markings on this map that spanned out through the town and beyond. They were brown lines but they were so light and faded they could have just been from where the map had been folded at one point for all I knew. They were old maps. They weren't labeled and I had no idea what they were. I rolled the map up and headed to the historical society to see if they could tell me what these faint brown lines were.

I pulled up outside the white pristine building. It was after hours of course and no one was here. I called the number on the door and the voice on the other end has me driving across town to get answers. I knock on the door of the address I was given and a young red haired man with brown tortoise shell glasses answers the door. He was dressed in khaki dress pants and what I think is referred to as a sweater vest with a pair of penny loafers. He dressed like he was eighty but looked maybe twenty. I looked at him sceptically doubting he could give me the answers I was looking for. He looked like he was still in high school for crying out loud.

He ushered me in and took the map out of my hand spreading it out on a drawing table in the center of the room. He was studying the map and I was taking in his living room. There were books and maps everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere, there was no surface uncluttered. He caught my attention by clearing his throat and gestured me over to him. He started pointing at the lines on the map and said, "These lines right here are under ground tunnels that were used in the under ground railroad to free slaves. Most are probably caved in or collapsed. I wouldn't advise entering them, you could become trapped." I would heed his warning but I wasn't going to leave any stone unturned. I will search heaven and earth until I find Tessa.