Thursday 2:01am
Megan shivered, fighting back the icicles that dripped through her body. Hand resting lightly on her arm, her kidnapper felt the hairs rise on her skin. He sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"
She couldn't resist her answer. "You could let me go," she whispered as loudly as she dared.
He laughed out loud. "Why in the world would I have gone to so much trouble to get you, just to let you go? You're not dumb, Megan; don't act it."
"Why?"
"Why what?" His voice was tolerant, almost amused as if he'd anticipated her question and was toying with her for asking it.
"Why did you choose me? Why are you doing this? Are you ever going to let me go? Are you going to hurt me? Are you going to kill me?" She couldn't help herself. The words tumbled out of her mouth, getting louder and faster with each question she asked.
In an instant she stopped. She shrank back in the chair, petrified of what he would do, what he would say, but at the same time desperate to know what was going to happen to her. She didn't expect his reaction. His fingers gently began to stroke her arm, almost petting her, trying to soothe her.
"Megan, I need you to understand, I am not going to hurt you. I am doing all this because I love you."
"Love me?" she shot back. "I don't even know who you are. You can't love me."
"But I know who you are. And that's enough."
She changed tactics. "If you love me, you'll let me go."
He laughed. "No wonder you got a C in Psych. I thought you were smarter than that, sweetheart," he mocked, then he mimicked her own voice. "'If you love me, you'll let me go,' please. We both know I am not going to do that, so stop asking me. In fact," he threatened, "if you mention it once more, you're going in the trunk. We still have a long ride ahead of us, and I don't feel like listening to you whine. Accept it, just accept it."
She exploded. "Accept this?! No! Never!" Her hands twisted frantically as she longed to punch him in the face. "Who are you anyway?"
"I told you, I'd tell you who I was all in good time. Now just relax and be quiet. You're getting on my nerves."
"Tell me who you are and I'll stop."
"That's it! I warned you your curiosity was going to get you in trouble, but obviously you weren't paying attention." With one twist of his arm, he spun the car off the road. Megan heard her death in his voice. Crouching low in the seat, she tried to make herself as small as possible as she pleaded for her life.
"No, please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
His breath snarled, wet and heavy in the dark. He yanked the sunglasses off her face, breaking the band with a vicious snap.
"You wanted to see what I looked like? Here."
Grabbing the top of her head, he forced her to look up at him. Megan saw iced green eyes staring down at her. Dark brown hair fell across his forehead in waves but did nothing to soften the fury in his face. She'd never seen such anger in someone she knew.
But thank God! She began to cry. It was just Erik. Her ex-boyfriend from this summer. She'd been so scared and now she was safe. He was playing some game. He might even be, she reasoned, still mad about the breakup. But he won't hurt me, not really. I bet he feels guilty about what he's done to me already, and he should too. It hurt, but I can use all that. Oh, I'm not going to die, Thank you God, thank you! She cried inside her head, then a smile broke across her face, raw, pure relief. But Erik wasn't smiling, he wasn't laughing, and he should be laughing now that the joke was over. Megan's smile began to slip off her lips. Erik looked upset, and he still held her hair in his hand. Her smile died.
"Erik? Why?"
"I didn't want it to be this way," he replied. "I wanted you to love me, but you broke up with me." Without warning he let go of her, sending her towards the window. Just barely, she stopped herself before she hit.
"You took my heart, Megan," he continued. "Now, I'm going to take yours."
"Oh God."
"Not literally." No longer trying to disguise his voice, Erik's face shifted into a small grin. "You read too many horror novels. You always did." His tone softened. "I'm just going to take you away to where we can be together and alone, the way we were meant to be." Placing his hand on her leg, he laughed. "By the way, what did you think of my impression of your ex-boyfriend, pretty good huh?" Megan said nothing. Just stared straight ahead, trying to decide the best way to handle the situation. He patted her on the knee. "You don't have to answer that, sweetheart. I could tell you were taken with it. Get it? 'You were taken with it.'"
"This isn't funny!" Her voice slapped back. She wanted to move his hand off her knee, but the handcuffs made that an impossibility. "You're being ridiculous. I don't like this game at all. Now, bring me back to campus before somebody gets hurt. I won't report this. I promise. Just undo these cuffs and let me go!"
Erik's lip curled down. She was actually telling him what to do. Was she that stupid or did she think he was? Time for a dose of reality for his ex. "You really do need to learn about control, Megan," he replied. "And you should start by controlling that mouth of yours. Especially after all I've done for you." Reaching across her body, he opened up the glove compartment. The light inside flashed on and Megan saw the wide silver tape before he took it out. Making sure she was watching him, he began to unroll the tape very slowly, then when the length was right, he ripped a piece off.
"Oh, Erik, no!" she begged.
"You don't seem to believe I'm serious, sweetheart," he replied, holding the piece of tape by two fingers, dangling it just over her mouth. "I think it's time to convince you."
"Please don't do this." Megan tried to reach up, trying to stop him, but the handcuffs held her tight to the door. "Please, I'll do whatever you say."
His eyes glittered in the night, but he paused. "All right, consider that your one warning. I know you've had a hell of a night, but the sooner you accept that I'm in control, not you, the happier we'll both be."
She nodded her head, watching with relief as he tucked the tape back inside the glove compartment. Pulling back onto the road, he signaled as his turn approached. As the car curved to the right, Megan was pulled towards the left, but her hands were still attached to the door. She cried out as the metal dug at her skin.
"Erik, please, my hands hurt. Couldn't you maybe?" she began, but stopped at his look.
"If you'd stop trying to escape, your hands wouldn't hurt," he lectured her. "That's your own fault."
"But," she argued back. "If you hadn't handcuffed me in the first place, they wouldn't hurt either, in fact if you hadn't—"
"That's enough, babe," he warned. His fingers trickled down her cheek. "Don't forget, the trunk is still an option."
For a few minutes, Megan said nothing, thinking, then she gave a little cough. She turned her head towards the window, hoping for a crack of fresh air.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I don't feel too well. I'd really appreciate a drink, water, a Coke, something."
He shook his head. "I don't have anything like that, but I have some mint lifesavers in the glove compartment. Will those do?"
"Anything, I'd really appreciate it," she repeated.
"OK, I'll pull over and get them for you."
"Thank you," she whispered, before she was struck by another coughing fit that left her pale against her seat.
If the highway they had been on before had been quiet, this road was a tomb. Erik felt quite safe pulling over since only one other car had passed them in the last twenty minutes. Reaching past Megan, he re-opened the glove compartment. This time, she didn't look inside. Feeling around, he found the pack of lifesavers. After popping one in his own mouth, he pulled down on her lips.
"Open up."
She opened her mouth. He placed the lifesaver inside, but as he did so, she ran her tongue softly over his fingers. A shiver crept through him as he enjoyed the tease of her tongue. She ran her tongue up and down, dancing over their skin, wrapping around the nails, before she began to pull with her lips, sucking on the mint. He left them inside her mouth enjoying the tease of her tongue. Only when the lifesaver was reduced to a sliver did he remove his wet fingers and trace them lightly over her mouth. With a breath of fresh mint, she kissed them, leaning as far forward as she could.
"Oh Megan," he shuddered. "I missed the taste of those lips. You always were an amazing kisser."
"Let me show you more," she whispered, pursing her lips in a wet pout.
"No, sweetheart," Erik backed away from her. "It's too dangerous on the road. Someone might see."
"Let 'em," she replied before she thought.
Fury sped through his eyes. In an instant, Erik was digging his hands into her upper arm. "So, this was just part of your plan, you little tease! I thought for a minute there we had something. I trusted you, Megan. I trusted you, just like before."
"No, Erik, it's alright. I didn't mean that. I just meant—" Megan tried to explain but he had none of it.
"I know what you meant," he interrupted savagely.
"Please," she begged, "you're hurting me."
"So?" But his fingers released some of the pressure. With his free hand, Erik re-started the car, pulling it a few feet deeper from the road and closer to the woods. The forest was a hole of darkness. Megan felt like she would disappear forever if he forced her into it.
"Oh please, no. I didn't mean to," she pleaded. "I promise you, I won't try to get away."
Erik smiled as he switched off the headlights. "You're right, babe, I promise you won't get away either."
Megan was frantic, eyes huge. "Erik, no! Please don't kill me."
Removing her hands from his coat, he looked at her in exasperation. "By now, you should have realized that if I was going to kill you, I would have done it. Though you're tempting me, you are sorely tempting me. I don't want to see your face right now, and I don't want to listen to those lying lips!"
"No, no. I'll be good. I promise I won't say a word."
Erik smiled. "I know you won't, babe."
Held to one spot by the handcuffs, Megan's struggling was pointless. Erik had an easy time sliding the tape over her mouth. He smoothed it down.
"I am going to uncuff your hands. Fight me and you'll regret it."
She nodded. Taking the handcuff key out of his pocket, he slid over until he was almost on top of her. Inserting the key, he opened it just far enough for Megan to snake her hand out. He reached for her other wrist. One eye on her free hand, he uncuffed her wrist then forced both her hands behind her back, recuffing them. Certain she was secure, he began to rummage in the back. For a moment, she sat still in the front seat then it hit her: she wasn't attached to the door anymore. In a flash, she reached up towards the lock, trying to open it. Erik felt her movement against his leg. Whipping around, he slammed the lock shut. His left hand now held a long piece of blue nylon rope.
"Nice try," he dangled it in front of her. "But completely pointless."
Though she tried to keep her feet moving, kick him if she was lucky, he caught her ankles in seconds. With one quick pull, the rope jerked taut around her legs. He tied it tight. When he was finished, he got out on his side of the car, then crossed around to hers and opened the door. In a much better mood now, Erik began to whistle. He picked Megan up and tossed her over his shoulder. Then, juggling her with one hand and his keys in the other, he opened the trunk.
"Alley oop," he cried as he tossed her inside.
"Try not to struggle too much, sweetheart," he advised her. "I don't know how much oxygen is inside, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, not now when we're so close." Blowing a kiss, he started to shut the trunk. Panicked at the thought of being locked in such a small space, Megan arched her body up, flinging her legs towards the top of the car. But Erik just watched her legs as they swung towards him and caught them at the ankles. Pushing her body back down, he held onto her legs with one hand, before he gently shut the trunk with the other.