Pierce

Chapter Thirty Four

Natalie~

Natalie was thrown violently into the floorboard of a car by Damion and was held down by one of the other men named Ivan. The putrid smell of the carpet beneath her face was revolting and turned her stomach, so she breathed through her mouth trying to evade the repulsive scent.

How could you be so stupid Natalie? Why didn't you trust your gut tonight when it screamed at you to stay inside?

Damion had been too attentive to her that night, his eyes had followed her everywhere she went and gave her the same uneasy feeling he had given her the night she had first encountered him - the night he said Pierce's name without being told.

All the signs were right there in front of you, but you were so distracted you ignored every single one of them.

She was suddenly flipped onto her back and felt cool metal jab into her neck, right beneath her jaw. Damion was towering over her with a gun jammed against her skin.

"If you make a fucking sound, I'll empty this magazine into your skull."

Natalie knew she should feel scared and maybe she would in a few minutes when her mind could fully comprehend what was happening to her, but at the moment her adrenaline had surged enough to fill her with enough rage to overpower her fear. She wasn't scared, she was pissed.

"Pierce is gonna kill you, you know that right?" she hissed up at him, unfazed by this threat or the gun pressed against her.

Damion cackled with sadistic laughter that made her skin crawl before he addressed her threat.

"Oh I've got big plans for Lockland, don't you worry about that. Why do you think you're here?"

He leaned down close to her ear as he spoke his next words.

"You're the bait sweetheart, the opening act for the big show."

His words chilled Natalie to the bone and her fiery confidence dissolved.

Seeing his words extinguish some of the fire in her eyes, put an unnerving smile across Damion's face, before he turned around to grab something. He reappeared holding a large flat board that was upholstered in the same disgusting fabric as the car's floorboard and placed it over her, enclosing her in suffocating darkness. A loud thud sounded against the board and she heard car doors slam shut, realizing that she was in some kind of false bottom in the floorboard of the car with Damion and Ivan's heavy feet trapping her inside.

Claustrophobia had never been an issue for Natalie until that very second and her body panicked and pushed against the board that remained sealed and unmoved. The upholstered box they had placed her in touched her on all sides, leaving very little room to move or breathe with the board on top of her so tight that it touched the tip of her nose. Her only saving grace was that the board didn't sit flush with the edge. There was a one inch gap that allowed some airflow and she thanked her lucky stars for that tiny bit of cool air, which kept her from a full blown panic attack.

Choking back panicked tears she retreated to the most calm and peaceful part of her mind, the part that housed every precious memory she had of Pierce.

I know Pierce isn't here, but you need him, so go find him.

Closing her eyes she searched for his voice, for the feel of his muscular arms that always made her feel so safe and cared for, and once she found it, she stayed there, letting him comfort her even in his absence.

Tell me what to do Pierce.

She quieted her thoughts and listened to his deep voice that resounded with perfect clarity in her mind.