Eternal Love: Stories for You

1.

February 6, 2023

My eyes open slightly, looking over to the clock—10:38 pm. The moonlight lightly illuminates my room. I pick up my phone seeing an empty screen. I let out a sigh as I looked over the delivered message. This is it. I promised myself. I lay my phone back on my nightstand and turn towards the window. A lovely Crabapple tree shakes lightly as the wind moves through the winter night. I wonder if he was back home or if he was with her. I shuddered at the thought, self-sabotage at its finest. Wherever he was, I wasn't on his mind.

I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Perhaps, ice cream and a rom-com would knock me out. I open the fridge seeing a jar of pickles. Maybe he would want that back? For once, I laugh at my desperate attempt at justifying this endless cycle. I grab the whipped cream and pour it over my ice cream. No one was here to stop me, so I used more than usual.

I open up Instagram as I head into my bed, immediately feeling taken by the warmth. After a few endless scrolls, I began dozing off.

--

"Where?"My eyes jot open seeing the barrel of a gun. I jump up in panic screaming before a hand covers my mouth. "Desk."A voice answers waving the gun in my line of view. A dark figure moves over to my desk and grabs the roll of duct tape near my computer.

"Diana, let's be wise."The voice attempts to reason. I shake my head violently as I try to speak. The man comes over with tape in hand. "She seems geniuely confused."The man says as he presses the tape onto my mouth.

"Doesn't matter. She knows why he summoned her. Let's go."I shake my head and struggle to scream as he places a cloth over my mouth forcing my eyes to shut.

--

I groan as I hear a door open before me. "Here, as requested."The voice from earlier announces. The men force me onto my knees and remove a sack from my head. I look up at the two men from earlier with a tear falling down my eye. The talkative one gives me a light smirk as he peels the tape from my lips.

"Who is this?"I hear a deep raspy voice call out. My eyes follow the dark corner of the room. A man stands before me in a white dress shirt and black leather jeans. "I'm not Diana!"I spit out, my first words tonight.

The room fell silent; yet, I can feel all of their eyes on me. "Boss-."The voice from before begins. "W-We went to the address. 1106 Cedar Way, Apartment-"The other interrupted. I could feel their entire demeanor change. Almost as if they were frightened. "Apartment 202."The other finished.

"So, not apartment 502?"The deep voice responds. The air is thick and silent. "Boss, we're-"The man raises his hand dismissing them entirely. They nod leaving rather quickly.

I sit there on my knees as I look over at the man's faceless expression. "Why shouldn't I kill you?"He asks breaking the silence. I stare at him in shock. "What sick game is this?"He chuckles. "I can assure you this is no game, love. You've seen my face, you've also seen the two idiots I have working under me. I let you go free now and the cops are at my door."He responds.

I try to pry my hands free from the cuffs that were buried deeply into my skin. "Please, just let me go. You have my address. I promise if you let me go, you will never see me again."I pleaded. "What's your name?"He asks walking over to me until he was only a few feet from me. "It's not Diana."I repeat. He smiles darkly almost chuckling. His hand grabs ahold of my messy bun while the other grabs ahold of my throat.