“Straight to the bathroom, and back here,” she finally said.

I sighed in relief as she untied my legs from the chair. She was in the perfect position for me to kick her, but I needed my arms free first. It would be useless to kick her and still be stuck to this damn chair.

She moved out of the way of my legs as she untied my arms. “If you try anything, I will kill you. Stand up.”

I stood up slowly and stretched my arms and legs. They had gone practically numb from sitting in the exact same spot for so long. I yelped more from surprise than actual pain as I felt the end of her knife poke into my back.

“Start walking toward the door. If you try anything, I will put this knife in your back. I don’t want to kill you like this, but I will if you force me to.”

I don’t want to kill you like this…like this. There it was. There was no doubt in my mind now that she planned to kill me. I needed to get out of here and fast. I walked slowly toward the door. I needed a plan.

“Open it,” Ally instructed once we reached the door.

I opened it slowly and looked around. The door led into a dimly lit hallway. Another door was a few feet away to the left. On the right was a door near the top of a staircase.

“Which way?” I asked.

“Walk to the one on the right.”

I walked slowly, debating on whether or not to run for it. I had no idea how close the front door was to the stairs. If I could get outside, there was a good chance that I could escape or at least scream for help. If she had been telling the truth about still being in Morgantown, I knew that other houses had to be nearby.

“Walk!” she barked.

I had started to slow down since I still wasn’t sure what to do. I picked up my pace and walked to the door next to the stairs. I glanced down the stairs to see that the front door was right in front of them. I just had to make it there.

“Don’t just stand there. Open the door.” She poked the knife into my back a bit.

I opened the door and stepped inside. The bathroom was tiny. Dread filled me when I saw the small window. It was just a little bit too small for me to escape through if she left me alone.

“I’ll wait right outside. Hurry up.”

I waited until she closed the door. I glanced down at the doorknob, praying that there was a way to lock it. If I couldn’t escape, maybe I could at least hide in here for a while. My prayers weren’t answered. There was no lock. I glanced around the bathroom, searching for anything that I might be able to use as a weapon.

There was nothing in here, not even a damn plunger. I pushed the shower curtain back to see if maybe she’d left a razor in there, and I found nothing. I tried the cabinet above the sink next, but it was completely empty. I found the same thing under the sink. Does she even actually live here? There wasn’t even a bar of soap on the sink. I looked into the mirror to see the cuts on my face. They looked horrible, but they were nothing compared to how bad the blood looked. It had dried in streams down my face.

I flushed the toilet and turned on the water, so she wouldn’t become suspicious. Nothing in here would help me unless I planned to wrap her in toilet paper, and there wasn’t even much of that. I opened the bathroom door to see her leaning against the wall across from it.

“It took you long enough. Did you find my cabinetry interesting?” she asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I stared at her.

She was so close to the top of the stairs. If I caught her off guard and shoved her, I might be able to knock her down them.

“Sure you don’t. Go back to your room.”

She pushed her weight from the wall as I turned back toward the room. I took a deep breath as I prepared myself. It was now or never. I spun around suddenly and shoved her as hard as I could. She screamed as she fell backward. Everything happened in slow motion, and I watched her eyes widen. Her back hit the top step, and then she went rolling down the stairs. I couldn’t move as I watched her roll over and over again. When she hit the first floor, she didn’t move.

I forced my legs to move as I ran down the steps. I hoped that she wasn’t dead, but I couldn’t afford to stop and check. I would find help and call the police. They could check on her. As for me, my ass was going out that door one way or another. I reached the bottom of the steps and ran for the door. My hand was on the knob when her hand wrapped around my ankle. She jerked, and I went down. I scrambled to get up, but she was on me.

She dropped her knees onto my stomach, knocking the breath from me. I was pinned under her weight as I tried to break free. Instead of slapping me first like last time, she wasted no time in landing a punch right in my temple. I raised my hands to shield my face, but it was no use. She punched any part of me that she could reach. Most of her hits landed on my face. I tasted blood in my mouth as I struggled under her.

“You little bitch! You’re going to pay for that.” She slammed her fist into the side of my head.

For the second time in a matter of hours, I was knocked unconscious.

I hummed to a song on the radio as I drove home. I was in an unusually good mood today, and I couldn’t wait to get home to Emma. I’d stopped by the local flower shop on the way home to pick up a dozen roses. I wanted to surprise her, and I knew she’d never expect flowers from me.

I pulled into the driveway and grabbed the roses from the passenger seat. I stepped out and walked up to the house. Afraid that she would see them before I had the chance to surprise her, I hid the flowers behind my back as I opened the door and strolled inside.

“Emma? Where are you?” I called from the doorway.

When she didn’t answer, I headed back to our bedroom. I expected her to be asleep in there, but she wasn’t. I tried the bathroom next, but she wasn’t there either. I looked in Ally’s old room last. Emma had never so much as stepped foot in there, so I knew she wouldn’t be in there before I even looked.

“Where the hell did she run off to?” I asked out loud as I walked back to the kitchen.

I found a glass big enough to hold the roses, and I filled it with water. I put it in the center of the table and stuck the roses inside, so she would see them as soon as she came home.

She’d said that she was going to come straight home to study. Emma always let me know where she was, so I was a little bit concerned. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. I looked around in confusion as I heard it ringing nearby. It stopped ringing before I could find it, so I dialed again.

I finally spotted it on the opposite side of the kitchen on the floor. What the hell is it doing there? I reached down and picked it up.

Something felt off. It wasn’t just because her phone had been on the floor. It was just a feeling I had. My good mood from earlier all but vanished.

I turned and walked back to the front door. My stomach dropped when I saw her car keys hanging by the door.

Maybe she decided to go for a walk? I stepped outside and made my way down to the sidewalk. I circled the block, looking for Emma as I went, but there was no sign of her.

I called Andy to see if maybe he’d stopped by and picked her up.

“Hello?”

“Andy, it’s Jesse.”

“I figured that out when your name came up on my screen. What’s up?”

“Is Emma with you?” I asked.

“No. I haven’t talked to her today.”

“Shit.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I just got home, and she’s not here.”

“Just call her.” He made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I already did, genius. Her phone was on the kitchen floor.”

“Maybe it fell out of her pocket?” he asked, sounding unsure.