Treacherous (Andy Barber)

Chapter 23

"Have they found her, dad?" Jake asked me as he walked into the house after being at school all day. "No." I mumbled, looking down at the glass of whiskey in my hand. "Any update at all?"

"They found his truck abandoned at a motel in Missouri." I said, taking a sip of the amber liquid, letting it burn on the way down my throat.

It had been 3 days. She'd been missing for 3 whole days. We didn't know where she was or even if she was still alive. I hoped so. Detective Blake as well as Cody and Brian didn't think Nate would go that far. Speaking of them, they were very helpful. They told the police everything they knew about Nate and hopefully that information helped them. So far, nothing.

"They'll find her dad." He said, throwing his arm around my shoulder. "She wouldn't want you drinking this alone." I huffed a laugh slightly. He was right. Aurora wouldn't want me drinking my problems away... but I just felt so helpless. I should have met her at work. Or told her I was meeting her at home. Or even invited her over. There were so many things I could have done that might have prevented this... or would Nate still have found a way.

Aurora's POV

My head hurt. Really hurt. I must have had a nightmare. I slowly opened my eyes and felt blinded by a bright light. I shut them abruptly and it took me a moment to fully adjust before I could look around me. Where the hell was I? Why couldn't I move my arms? And what was in my mouth? Is this a dog toy?

That's when I realized, I didn't have a nightmare... I'm IN a nightmare. I tried to scream but it came out muffled. "Don't bother, Aurora. No one will hear you." My eyes widened as I looked over at Nate who was sitting calmly in an armchair, with a gun in his hand. He leaned forwards and pulled the dog toy out of my mouth and the first thing I did was scream at the top of my lungs. He raised his eyebrows at me and waited until I ran out of breath.

"Are you finished?"

"Nate...let me go." I mumbled, trying to somehow wiggle out of the ties around my wrists. It was useless but I tried. "Guess where we are?" He said, a smirk on his face. "I'll give you a hint...we grew up here."

Virginia. We were in Virginia...My eyes widened as I looked at him. We were over 1000 miles away from Andy. I frantically looked around. I knew this place. "See, you know where we are...don't you. We had some good times here."

We were at his father's cabin. In the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We were in the middle of nowhere. Nate and I used to come here to get away from our parents for the weekend. Total seclusion, no cell service. I was fucked. No one would find us here. "Do you remember my favorite moment here?" Nate asked me. "What?" I said, glaring at him. "The day I told you that I loved you. Remember that?"

I did remember that day. It was after our senior prom. Nate and I had come out to the cabin and had one of the most romantic weekends of our lives. We drank champagne, relaxed in the hot tub, probably had sex on every surface in this cabin...It was one of the best moments in our relationship. It was also the last time we came here. Until now.

"I still love you, you know." He continued. "I never stopped loving you. That murderer put poisonous thoughts in your head about me." He said, coming closer to me on the couch and pushing some hair out of my face. I jerked my head away from him and he scoffed. "He's completely turned you against me, hasn't he?"

"Nate...let me go." I said, my voice shaking. "Why would I do that? We can get back to what we were Aurora. Live out our lives here." He motioned around the cabin. "We could have been happy in Colorado if you and that lawyer didn't ruin everything." He said, his face shifting towards anger. He started waving the gun around in his hand and I started crying. "I mean you completely rid me from your life!" He shouted. "I looked around your apartment...not a single photo of us Rora?! We've been together for over 7 years!!!"

I only started crying more as he yelled at me. "Nate, please..." I whispered. That only seemed to make him angrier. "Oh shut the fuck up. God, when did you become such a whiny bitch Aurora? Can't you see I'm trying to fix us!" I shook my head back and forth until his hand gripped my cheeks. "We were perfect together. You did this to us." "I didn't do anything, Nate! You became an abusive drunk!" I yelled, finding the confidence somewhere. I knew it was a mistake the minute words started leaving my lips. The second I finished my sentence, I felt his hand connect with my cheek. I fell sideways at the force and laid on my side. "You fucking bitch! I gave you everything!"

I squeezed my eyes shut as he pointed the gun at me. I thought about Andy. How he must be so worried about me. It had to have been at least a day since Virginia is so far away...and it was daylight outside now... it could have even been multiple days. I had no idea.

"What do you want from me?" I asked softly, my voice shaking. I heard Nate let out a large sigh, "I want us, Rora." I felt his hand stroke my cheek and I flinched at his touch. "Look at me." He demanded, but I kept my eyes shut. "LOOK AT ME!" He yelled, gripping my face again. I whimpered and opened my eyes. "See, was that so hard?" He said, his voice softer. He was so hot and cold, I couldn't keep up. He pushed some more hair out of my face and pulled me back up into a sitting position on the couch. "You're so beautiful." He whispered and pulled my face towards his own, smushing his lips against mine. I attempted to pull away but his grip on my face was tight. He forced his tongue into my mouth and I resisted the urge to bite down on it. I couldn't predict how he would react.

He pulled away and stood up. "Just accept us Aurora. I promise I won't let that asshole ruin what we have ever again. I'll make sure of it." He smirked slightly and picked up his phone. "Nate. What did you do?!"

He ignored me and shoved the dog toy back in my mouth before taping on his phone and putting it up to his ear. I screamed again, although muffled, as he walked away towards the front door.

"Is it done?" I heard him ask. I screamed again and only started crying more. No, no, no, no...

"Perfect. I'll send you the money." I screamed again and shook my head back and forth as he walked towards me. "Don't cry Rora..." He brushed tears off of my cheeks and smiled, "we can finally be happy together... That lawyer... Andy was it? He'll never be a problem again."

A/N: Nate is living in his psycho ex boyfriend era