Fill My Lungs | J. Todd ✔

[19] A Deadly Dinner

TW: This chapter contains content that might be upsetting, including mentions of abduction, death, mental instability, profanity, and abuse. Read at your own discretion.

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Valerie had had a very long exhausting day at the supermarket. All she wanted to do after her shift ended was to go home and sleep till morning.

There had been no texts from Jason either and she thought he would be busy with his work again. So that night she was looking forward to just relaxing in her own bedroom, resting fully after an exhausting day.

She checked the toilets twice before stepping in, an aftermath of the previous incident that had happened there due to Garrett. After changing out of her uniform and taking her bag from the lockers, she exited through the back door to go to her apartment.

There was a separation between the back door of the supermarket and the back entrance to the residential units so she would walk to the other door, ring the bell for the guard in there to let her in, and then climb up the stairs to the floor where her apartment was located.

The back alley was empty as she walked but before she could reach out to ring the bell, a hand clasped her mouth shut in a tight grip, pulling her away.

A thick and heavy scent hit her as a piece of cloth drenched in some chemical was held tight over her face and before she could react, those white fumes made her feel dizzy, making her realize that it was soaked in chloroform.

She didn't get any time to react and in a few seconds, she had fallen limp against the person who had approached her from behind. He lifted her up and very easily carried her away as there was no other person there to witness the act and stop him.

On the way, he dropped her bag in a dumpster, avoiding the phone that had started to ring in there. The sound of the ringtone got muffled into silence as he closed the lid and took Valerie with him.

Hours later, Valerie's senses began to reawaken as the effects of chloroform were wearing off. Her vision was hazy so she blinked a few times, trying to make sense of where she was. 

Dim yellow lights danced in front of her and she felt too exhausted to move. Slowly, the haze started to clear and she recognized that room to be the living room of the house she lived in years ago with her Uncle Harold and his son Garrett.

That realization chilled her to the bone and she sat up, finding that she wasn't tied up or strapped to the couch. An awful smell hung about the place and she couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was and where it was coming from.

All she knew was that only Garrett could have brought her there and the sooner she escaped, the better it would be for her.

She stood up shakily and tried to make her way to the door but a voice stopped her in her tracks. 

"Oh good, you're finally awake. Since you're here now, why don't you meet Dad before you leave?"

She turned slowly to see Garrett standing by the kitchen door and it seemed as if he was cooking something. She felt it was outrageous that he was still acting as if he had done nothing wrong even though he had abducted her and brought her there without her consent.

"Do you hear yourself?" She spoke up clenching her fists tightly, "you abducted me and now you're behaving as if it's not a big deal? And why do you even want me to meet Uncle?"

"I just want to have one last family dinner together," he replied, the ladle in his hand coming threateningly close to her face as he stepped toward her, "you, me, and Dad. Just like the old days."