The House in the Woods

Sara's Story Continued

Sara's story is not a happy one. If you are not in the mood for a sad tale, then please skip the this chapters.

Sara's POV

I stop and fill the shot glass again. Sang says nothing, but Owen must have told her a little about his father because she has tears in her eyes. I continue my story.

He looked at me and said, "My name is Joshua Blackbourne, welcome Sara."

I had never been so scared in my life. Without saying a word, he grabbed me by the arm and took me into the dining room. He pulled out a chair and pushed me down into it.

The meals on the table sent another shiver down my spine. Normally when you eat in someone's home you have the same meal, but that was not the case here. It was obvious that Joshua was telling me that he knew my preferences because my meal was prepared exactly how I would have ordered it in a restaurant. On my plate was a pre-sliced New York strip steak cooked just a tad over medium, and a seafood medley of shrimp, scallops and lobster. My salad was romaine lettuce had no tomatoes and ranch dressing. There was also a loaded baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon, but no chives. On his plate was a large slice of prime rib, with scalloped potatoes and a vegetable medley. His salad was mixed greens. His chef prepared two meals with totally different preparations. My steak was pre-sliced into bite size portions, so it was not necessary for me to have a steak knife.

There were two doors to the dining room, and he had two armed security guards blocking each door.

When he finally spoke he said, "I know that you are smart and have figured most of this out already, but I want to tell you exactly where you are right now. You have no family, and your three friends are so excited about your new job that will require that you travel all of the time. You got your first assignment, and you have emailed them that you will be working on a top secret acquisition, so you won't be back in town for several months. You are going to be so busy, and with the time zone differences, it will be easier to keep in touch via email. Every email that you receive will be answered with news of the exotic locations you have been traveling to."

He paused for a moment. "Sara James will arrive in Seattle tomorrow morning, gushing over the décor on my private jet. The young lady is your height, has your hair color and is a very competent accountant. She is being paid a lot of money to be Sara James."

"You see the armed guards in the room. If I am not with you, they will be. I need to protect you because I have enemies, and I pay the guards, and the rest of my household staff to be loyal and discreet. They will not help you. Oh, and this is not my house. We will leave after dinner for your new home. So eat up, my sweet. You are mine, and you will need your energy for everything that I have planned for you," he says before he starts to eat his dinner in silence.

"I was taken to an isolated island that was described as our summer home. I will spare you the details of the next three weeks, in part because my mind has blocked away the specifics. All I remember was the constant pain. He kept me hidden away on the island until I got through, what he termed, my fighting stage. I do remember the day that I finally broke, and the grin on his face when he said that now he would teach me how to be the woman that he wanted," I pause and fill the shot glass again.

"We then moved to another house. I still do not know where it was located, but it was near Charleston. When I arrived, I noticed pictures of a woman scattered around the house. He was right, I could have been the woman's twin. I asked the cook one day what happened to her, and her eyes became cloudy, and she simply said that she died."