Nashville, Tennessee September 25th, 2023 11:30 pm Pov Tiana
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As I stumbled into the alley, gasping for air, I barely had time to see the figure lurking in the shadows before rough hands grabbed me. I opened my mouth to scream, but a cloth was pressed tightly over my face, muffling the sound and flooding my senses with a strong, sickly-sweet smell. My vision blurred, and my limbs felt like lead.
I struggled, kicking and clawing at the person, but it was no use. He was too strong. In my haze, I felt myself being dragged toward a vehicle—black, large, like a truck. The door creaked open, and I was shoved into the backseat. I tried to focus, to fight the dizzying fog overtaking me, but everything was slipping away.
As my eyes fluttered, I caught a glimpse of his face—familiar, yet terrifying. It was Mr. Caldwell, one of my professors. My heart dropped. How could it be him? The man who stood at the front of the classroom, so ordinary, so unassuming. But now, up close, his creepy face was unmistakable. I had heard rumors about him having relations with his students, but this, this is very outrageous I never said a word to this man. He had a wife, kids. It couldn't be true...could it?
The look in his eyes said otherwise. Cold and predatory, his face twisted with a sick satisfaction. "I told them to bring you to me, but I guess you weren't cooperative." His voice was low, a growl that made my stomach turn.
I blinked hard, trying to shake off the fog. "What... what do you want?" I mumbled, the words slurring.
He chuckled darkly, leaning closer as he checked the rearview mirror, making sure Kat and Mia weren't far behind. "You think you're special? You're just like them—like Kat and Mia. They didn't want to play along at first either. But I made sure they understood. And now, they do everything I tell them. Or else..." He let the threat hang in the air.
"Or else what?" I whispered, fear tightening my throat.
"Or else they fail. They lose everything. I've got the power to make sure of that." His hand gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white. "You think they wanted to help me? No. But I gave them no choice. Just like you have no choice now."
The realization hit me hard. He was blackmailing them, using his authority to control them. And now, he had his sights set on me.
My heart pounded in my chest as I looked out the window, the buildings disappearing behind us, replaced by nothing but dense rows of trees. We were getting farther and farther away from civilization, and with each passing second, my panic grew. The isolation of the road made everything worse—the feeling of being trapped, with no escape.
"What do you want from me?" I repeated, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to stay calm. "I just want to go home. You know you can get in a lot of trouble for this, right?"
He glanced at me through the rearview mirror, his eyes dark, and his lip curled into a sneer. "I won't," he said coldly, "because you won't utter a word about it to a soul, or I'll make sure that's the last thing you ever do."
