I had never believedin God. Religion just wasn't something I cared to invest any energy in. But right now, you sure as fuck better believe I would pray to anyone who was listening. Struggling against my ties again, I tried to see if I could make them budge even a little.
"Fuck!" I screamed, though I knew no one would listen or care. There was no escape. I was defenseless and in the hands of a deranged woman and her crazyson.
I needed my survival skills to kick in. I had watched movies and had read books. The women who survived situations like this were strong and resourceful. They didn't cry and babble like a baby. They remained focused and always outsmarted the captor. But as tears ran down my face, and every single breath heaved from my chest, I knew that was all fiction. Fucking fiction!
No.
I needed to be strong. Strong.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to think about everything Vivian had said. There was another man helping them named Richard. He was on order to watch over Maria and Luis and hurt them if I did anything wrong, so I had to be extra careful. Two other lives were at stake beside my own. Vivian was smart-a complete whack job-but smart. She had been staking me out for months. She had to have known I had no one in my life besides Maria and Luis. My only weakness was those two innocent people who wouldn't hurt a fly. They didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve this! Vivian had to know how sweet Maria was if she had truly been planning this for months. But where did Pope fall in this plan? Why was he new to the stake out? How had I missed him this entire time? Had he truly been in jail up until now? Could they have masterminded this plan while he was behind bars so that he would have a woman at his mercy when he wasfree?
My body trembled out of fear but also from the cold. Being completely naked in the bitterly cold cellar chilled me to the bone. My teeth began to chatter, and there was nothing I could do to warm my body. But I needed to focus. Focus.
Remembering Vivian's words, I continued to put together that I was in a home out in the middle of nowhere. I had been drugged, stuffed in a moving crate, transported by U-Haul to a plane, and then flown to this vacation home. So now what? She said she wanted to train me. I wondered if she was planning to keep me tied to a chair the entire time. Would this cellar be my permanent prison? Looking around again, I didn't see any windows or a way to escape. And even if I did, if this house was truly out in the middle of the woods only reachable by plane, where would I go? Vivian and Pope had clearly planned everything out perfectly. They even had an accomplice. This was not a rushed job done on impulse. This was executed exactly as they had planned. I was their victim, and it was clear this mother and son duo had preyed on me for a very longtime.
"Demi?"
I looked toward the stairs, preparing for the worst. It was Vivian, but she sounded different.
"Demi? Are you down there?" The voice had no accent. It was the same voice I had grown to care for over the past several months. It was the voice that belonged to the little old lady I had considered a friend.
"Viv?" I squeaked, not knowing what to say or what to think. I was scared I was imagining the nicer version of Vivian in a desperate need forhope.The woman descended the stairs and rushed toward me. Her eyes were wide, and her entire body trembled. Her lips quivered so much that her speech came out stuttered. "Are you all right? Oh lord. Oh lord." There wasn't the slightest hint of southern accent in her panicked voice. This woman was completely different to the one who just cut all my clothing off of me and revealed her maniacal plan as if it were something completely normal.
"Help me! Untie me!" I wiggled against the restraints, hoping to God that Viv would finally come to her senses. I didn't have time to figure out what the hell was going on. I just needed to get her to free me before her mind flipped back to the southern belle fromhell.
