Midnight Rider

Chapter 20

The rider and I were on our usual path towards the lookout. It was a clear calm night. As I was looking ahead of us I could see a big light coming at us. The closer it got the brighter it got and the more it hurt my head and eyes. Suddenly I could feel sharp pains in my head and arm. Have we crashed?? I felt like I was falling until I hit the hard floor of my room. I could barely open my eyes from the pain in my head.

I screamed as I saw a man standing over me. He tried to hit me again but I kept trying to roll away from him so I could get up. He grabbed my feet and started dragging me towards the stairs. I was kicking and grabbing onto anything I could. He slapped me so hard I was seeing stars. I tried to scream out again and felt duct tape being smashed hard over my mouth. I let out a groan as he sat on top of me. I thought I was going to suffocate from his weight.  He grabbed my arms while I was trying to push him away and wrapped duct tape around those as well. I saw blood on both our hands as he wrapped the tape around my arms. I could then feel my nose bleeding and taste the blood in my mouth. I covered my head expecting another slap to come but he just grabbed my legs again and drug me down the stairs. He didn’t bother to carry me, instead letting my hit every step on the wooden staircase. I tried to hold my breath, thinking it would help with the pain, but I could still hear and feel my ribs cracking with each step. Once I hit the bottom he picked me up and carried me out to a large truck. Another guy got out and opened the back door for him to toss me in. He climbed in after me and slammed the door shut. Hot tears started to stream down my face as we sped way from the house. My head was pounding and my vision was starting to go black. I could hear them laughing as I passed out.

I could hear voices talking but they sounded very faint, like they were far away. I suddenly felt like I was falling again and quickly opened my eyes. I had slumped against the door of the truck when I passed out. We must of reached our destination, wherever that was. When the man came around to open my door I had almost fallen out. He caught me but realizing again what was happening I started to thrash around in his arms trying to get away. Instead of hitting me he threw me down onto the ground. All the air escaped my lungs and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I started to gasp for air. The second man started to laugh at me as he turned to walk away.

“Quit f*****g around,” the first man said and roughly threw me over his shoulder.

I raised my head and tried to look around to see where we are. We must have been driving for some time because the sun is starting to come up. We were in a large field surrounded by trees, it felt like the middle of nowhere. He was carrying me towards what looked like an abandoned barn. I could hear the second man open a heavy metal door and slam it shut as we walked through. When I looked at the inside it seemed like a different building. The inside of the abandoned barn looked like a brand new house. Large kitchen, huge couches, TV and pool table. A couple of other guys jumped up from the couches as we walked in.

“What the hell took so long?”

“Shut the f**k up, we’re here aren’t we?” the man carrying me answered.  I watched a pair of boots walk over to face me and felt someone grab a handful of my hair.

He jerked my head up and exclaimed, “Huh no wonder he’s so particular to her, she’s cute.” He let my head fall back down.

Another guy said, “Just take her to the cell.” He carried me away from them down a hallway. The further we walked the more dungeon like it became. Bare cement walls, freezing and the smell of wet dirt. I heard a door open and he suddenly let me drop down to the floor. All the blood had rushed to my head while I was upside down, making my head pound again and dizzy.

I heard him say, “I’ll be back later.” before slamming the door. It was a metal door with a small window. I laid on the floor and saw that everything was padded. The walls, door and floor were all padded. From what I could see in the dimly lit room the walls looked like they had dried blood on them in certain places. I managed to crawl over to a corner of the room, I sat with my back against the wall and pulled my knees up. I rested my head on my knees to try and stop the pounding.

I have no idea how long I’ve been here. Just when I start to drift off to sleep I get startled awake by different noises. Sometimes I can hear people walk by the door whispering or laughing. Other times its loud laughter from somewhere in the barn.

I kept my eyes closed the next time I heard foot steps. My body tensed when I heard them stop outside the door. I held my breath as a guy opened the door and stepped inside. He had a hoodie on and kept his face hidden underneath. It could be because I’m huddled on the floor but he seemed enormously tall as he stood over me.

“You need to tell us where he is…” he had a deep gravelly voice.

Of course I have a pretty good idea of who they keep referring to, but I have no idea who or where he really is anymore than they do.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about…”

“Yes you do Angel. We’ve been ben watching you and we’ve seen you riding around on his bike. You’re the only person we’ve ever seen on that bike besides him. He even comes to your house alone.”

“I don’t know who he-“

“We saw him bring you back home and we saw your brother and his girlfriend leave. As I understand it they will be gone for a few days. No one knows you are here.”

“He never told me who he is! I know nothing about him, all I have is his phone number.”

He balled his  hands into fists and left the room, slamming the door behind him. A while later I could hear several foot steps coming towards the room and people yelling. Three guys barged in, the same tall guy, the one who called me ‘cute’ when I was brought here, and one who stood by the door that I don’t know.

The tall one grabbed my arm, lifting me up and shoving my back into the wall. If he wasn’t holding me up I would be back on the ground for as weak as I felt. The one who had called me ‘cute’ had my phone. I suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from my phone, “Where the hell is she??!!!” My heart was up in my throat when hearing the riders voice.

He held the phone between us and arrogantly said, “Someone wants to talk to you.”

“Angel?! Angel are you there?!” I can hear the panic in his voice.

“I’m here….I’m here…..” my voice is cracking, my throat is so dry, “They want to know who you are…” My eyes were starting to tear up.

He cut me off, “I know they do. I’m coming after you ok? I’m coming…”

I didn’t get a chance to answer him. The guy holding the phone said, “I think that’s enough for now, goodbye.” He hung up the call.

The tall man holding me up let go and I slumped back down to the floor. As they walked out the guy who had been guarding the door brought in a bucket of water and left it across the room. When the door slammed shut I cried and prayed that the rider would find me quickly.