Secrets In The Shadows

Chapter 30: The Beginning Of An End

When I come to, I'm staring up at a ceiling. I blink once, twice, before remembering what happened. The doorbell  ringing....Seth Hammond entering inside my house....and then knocking me out..

I jerk. Holy shit I've been kidnapped. I look around the room I'm in. There's a window next to the bed, a bookshelf, carpet floors, and a bathroom.

I get up to take a look out the window and I hear a clinging noise. I look down at my hands. I'm hand cuffed, with police standard issue cuffs.

"Shit!" I whisper-shout. Arriving at the window, I move away the curtain and peer outside to see a gravel driveway and beyond that a forest. Great....I'm in the woods...question is which woods....

Suddenly I hear footsteps making their way to my room and I quickly dive into the bed and sit cross-legged and stare at the door as it's opening.

Seth Hammond stands in the entrance bouncing on the soles of his feet with a smile practically splitting his face in two.

He sighs and runs a hand through his dark brown hair. "God, finally. You're here, you're actually here with me. Are you hungry? You must be hungry. Come on". He comes over to the bed and grabs me by the upper arm and leads me down the hallways and into a the kitchen.

He pulls out a chair and sits me down in it before going to a refrigerator and pulling out a plate of brownies before ripping the plastic off and pushing them towards me. "Don't worry, these are the non poisonous ones. Those went to Soph". He says casually.

I freeze in my seat before replying. "Sophie Masters?". He nods, " Yeah her, don't worry cyanide kills quickly. Compared to the rest of the sacrifices her passing was....almost peaceful. But anyway, eat up. They should be good". He them proceeds to take one himself and eat it.

I look at the tray of brownies then at him. He did just eat one....
Hesitantly I reach out for one and grab it. I eat it all in minutes. Along with three more. Might as well regain my strength......

Finished eating I watch him. He's sitting there smiling with this look of utter devotion etched onto his face. "Good right? I baked them myself. I wanted to give them to you last year but....nevermind" he shakes his head and puts the plate back in the refrigerator.

"I have something to show you actually. Come on". He walks over to me and gently grips my upper arm and leads me back down the same hallway and in front of another door. He opens it and leads me inside, closing the door behind him.

Inside is a four poster bed with purple covers and pillows, wallpaper with moons and bows and all sorts of hunting gear pictures covering the walls. Adjacent to the bed is a bookshelf and a mirror. On the mirror....

I walk closer towards the mirror. On the mirror is a shrine to me, like the one in his closet. Pictures of me sleeping, getting dressed. Walking to school, to the store. Pictures of me eating and doing homework. God, some are even taken at the school.

But in the middle, in the center of all the photos....is a picture of me in a lavish blue and white wedding gown with crescent moons and stars etched onto the dress, standing next to Seth whose dressed in a silver suit with tiny etchings of Orion's constellation all over him.

It looks terrifyingly real. I look down on the table attached to the mirror to see....to see a ring box. Seth follows my gaze. " Oh you noticed huh?" he asks brightly before heading over to the stand and picking up the box.

He opens it to show me that inside is a silver wedding band decorated with tiny stars on the outside. He walks back over to me and shows me the inside. Shows me the words written on it.