At Home

Chapter Twenty

I walk over to the bed and see an assortment of snacks covering the surface. I grab the Cheese Its and Snickers. I probably shouldn't eat food from a stranger. At that moment, my stomach rumbles. I let out a defeated sigh, before opening the Cheese Its. I eat them, and then the Snickers. After I finish eating, I lay down, and pass the time by cuddling with Blue. It's almost like being in prison, except at least I have Blue. There's no window so I have no way of knowing how light or dark it is outside. I'm not sure how much time has passed when I see the door open. A masked Ryan walks in and drops a styrofoam container, and plastic grocery bag on the bed. I wonder why he still bothers wearing the mask. He doesn't know that you know who he is. Right. He bends down and places a bowl of dog food on the ground. "Gotta keep that strength up. There's water in the there." Ryan gestures his hand toward the bag. Then, as quickly as he came in, he's walking out.

This becomes the routine. I lay in bed cuddling Blue and then Ryan shows up after some time with food and water and rushes out. I get used to the sound of the lock on my prison door clicking into place, and the sound of a car driving away. Where is he going? I pet blue while trying to figure out how long I have been in here. Based on the amount of times he has brought me a meal, and the standard number of meals a day being 3...It's been at least two days. I feel a moment of panic before it's quickly replaced with acceptance. It could be worse. If he looks anything like his license picture, he's hot AF. Plus he smells good AND besides like, kind of kidnapping me, he's actually been taking really good care of me. I really need to see a therapist.

He enters the room again and puts the food down for Blue and me. "Hey, I'm gonna be gone longer than normal this time. I brought extra food and water, make it last." Moments later he's walking out the door and... wait. No click. I don't move and try to listen closer. I hear the front door close and feel like slight shake of the house. There's no way he forgot. He'll come back any second. I hear the sound of a car driving away and freeze, hope filling my mind. I try not to let myself get too excited, and wait at little longer to make sure he doesn't come back. After what feels like an hour, but was realistically only a couple minutes, I crawl out of the bed. I walk towards the door and grab the handle. I pause for a moment and take a deep breath. Please be unlocked. Please be unlocked.

I burst out the door of my prison and run through the house. I look for a phone and am shocked when I actually see one! It's an old fashion land line. Who the fuck still has a land line in 2024? And CORDED at that? I pick up the phone and go to call AJ but freeze again. Fuck. I don't know his phone number, it's just saved in my cell phone. Modern technology ruins everything, we should remember people's numbers. I think for moment, before realizing there IS one phone number I do know. I left my phone at the house. They should have my phone.

I dial my number as fast as I can. I wait anxiously as I hear the ring, and then hear the ring again. Come on, come on. Finally after the third ring, a deep voice answers. "Hello?" "AJ! AJ its me!" I burst out, tears welling in my eyes. "Carter?? Carter where are you?? It's been almost 3 days!" AJ frantically says back. "I- I don't know where I am. I'm at some old ranch style farm house." I say. I go to continue, but AJ cuts me off "We're gonna find you gorgeous. I promise" I hear Maya's voice in the background, "Is that Carter?" I smile at the thought of my best friend. My smile quickly fades when I hear the sound of a car pulling in. FUCK FUCK FUCK. "He's back" is all I say before I hang up the phone and sprint back to my prison cell, Blue right behind me. I close the door quickly.

I scramble back onto the bed. Blue stops to eat his food and I decide to pretend to eat mine as well. I hear the front door open, a few footsteps, and then the front door closes again. I'm surprised when I hear a car drive away again shortly after. He doesn't know it's unlocked. Just like before, I wait a little bit. After several minutes, I hop off the bed and run to the open the door. I make it to the phone and dial my phone number. It goes straight to voicemail. I hang up and try again, straight to voicemail. I hang up in frustration. My phone must have fucking died. I decide to call again anyway. You can leave a message. They'll charge it and get the message. It gets to the end of my voicemail message and I expect to hear a beep to leave my message after. "Sorry, the voice mailbox full. Please try again later." My stomach drops. "Fuck!! Fucking fuck fuck!!"

I think about calling 911, but Ryan is a cop. He may hear the call over dispatch or something and come to kill me. Or kill Blue! Or he could kidnap me and take me somewhere else. You watch too much TV. I realize, he is also apparently AJ's friend. I don't know how deep their friendship is. I've never heard of Ryan before now, but then again, AJ and I didn't do much talking when we were together before. I decide to wait it out in hopes AJ will find me. They can trace calls and stuff right? He'll find you in no time.

I decide to walk back into my prison cell and close the door and wait. AJ and Maya will find me. I'm sure of it, they will. Blue joins me on the bed and we cuddle up. I hold him close and sob into his fur. We lay like that for a while, and Blue falls asleep. I listen to his snoring for a while, happy that I at least have him with me. The last thing I hear is the sound of AJ's voice in my head. "We're gonna find you gorgeous. I promise!" Then I fall asleep.