Poison in Your Blood

Chapter 2

Nurses, doctors, and police had told her she was lucky. She managed to get away from her kidnapper when he left her in the basement to use the bathroom. Based on the scuff marks and scratches left on her hand and legs, she managed to free herself from her bindings and dragged herself out the basement to the front door, strengthened by the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She opened the door and threw herself outside where she was found by a jogger who called 911. Her kidnapper, named Kyle Richardson, had escaped out a window before authorities and the ambulance arrived. The man was a known sex offender. A serial rapist who used to be a photographer for modeling agencies ten years ago before it came out that he was abusing lesser known models. He was apparently also under suspicion for the disappearance of a Totowa woman, Lorraine Sanderson. A young black woman.

Dionne had been keeping tabs on this ongoing case for months now. Jotting down information from numerous news channels, articles, and other reputable sources. She didn't personally know the woman, but she was one of many missing persons that Dionne was keeping track of. It was ironic, in a not so funny way, that she would somehow end up taken by a suspect.

She gave the medical staff her mother's number, and her parents came rushing in. Her poor mother was in absolute hysterics, asking her question after question and cursing Joanne's name, while her father tried to calm her mother down despite looking close to hysterics himself. It was odd. Her and her dad's relationship had started off rocky, although emotionally draining, it was nothing abusive, but he always did seem disappointed about his effeminate son. It was noticeable even when he tried to hide it. To understand. Then things got even more complicated between them when she came out as a girl. Seeing him openly worry for her was nice. It meant he, honest to God, cared. Nonetheless, she wished it didn't have to happen under these circumstances.

Her parents were insistent on her staying home with them while they retrieved her things from Joanne and...Joanne's home, including her precious Chihuahua, Spice. She didn't want to be a bother to her parents, and was a bit embarrassed at the prospect of living with them again at her age (especially with her mother's tendency to smother when in mama bear mode), so she managed to convince them to let her stay at Colette's apartment since she already offered for her to stay if she and Joanne had another fight. Colette didn't live too far from her parents' home and they liked and trusted her. As long as Dionne made sure to call every day then they were okay with this arrangement.

In two weeks, Dionne moved out of Joanne's home and blocked her number. It was hard resisting to answer the phone when that blocked number would pop up, but she managed. It helped that Colette would grab the phone before her and hang it up.

A day later, Lorraine's body was discovered. Found in a body bag submerged in a lake. Dental records had to be used since the body was so damaged. An anonymous source had called the authorities in, letting them know about the strange body shaped object. It's still not known who called. And Richardson was still missing, making him a fugitive.

People kept saying she was lucky.

She didn't feel lucky. Should she?

When they nightmares kept her up at night. When stress made her cry and panic at random moments of the day. When even a simple hi from a neighbor made her tense and question their motives. When she thought about...

...them.

How about you do us both a favor by getting some rest and forgetting all about this incident.

Kyle Richardson wasn't on the run.

She hadn't freed herself. The extra marks on her person were made after she fell unconscious to make it seem like she crawled out.