Curse the Dark (The Harstone Legacy Book 1)

Chapter 1

"Son of a..." I gripped my pounding head and curled into the fetal position, trying to breathe through the pain while cursing my decision to sit up in what I could now see was an enclosed space.

It took several moments for my brain to dislodge the fogginess of sleep and the reality of my position became evident to me. As I processed my surroundings, several things hit me at once. Despite my first impressions, the darkness around me was broken by extremely thin slivers of light, and I could hear and feel the rumbling of an engine. I was also being thrown around within the small space I had found myself in. I was in the trunk of a car and, even though I had no memory of how I had ended up here, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I hadn't got in here willingly. My stomach churned as a number of chilling scenarios careened through my head, but I kept coming back to the most obvious. I had been kidnapped. I didn't know who and I didn't know why, but there was one thing I knew with absolute certainty. They had the wrong person, and when they realized their mistake, I was going to be in a lot of trouble. Or at least, a lot more trouble than I was in right at this moment.

There was nothing in my life that justified me being kidnapped. I was a librarian, not usually considered a high-risk occupation. I wasn't walking down a dark alleyway. I hadn't accidentally witnessed a mob boss killing one of his underlings. I didn't have an ex-boyfriend who would give me a passing thought, let alone feel the need to stalk me. In essence, I was the last person in the world who should be kidnapped. And yet, it seemed I had been. I tried to concentrate in an effort to work out what had happened. The last thing I remember was opening my front door to what I assumed was my regular pizza guy, Chet, who constituted the closest relationship I had these days. Instead, I found a woman old enough to be my grandmother who, without a word, threw dust in my face. After that I knew nothing until my unfortunate decision to try to sit up while stuffed in the trunk of a car.

My heart clenched as I realized that the car had stopped. I needed to get out of here. My head hurt from where I had cracked it on the lid of the trunk, my limbs were cramping from being curled up for I didn't know how long, I needed to pee in the worst way, and there was a weird smell in this trunk that I did not want to think too closely about. As I scrubbed my hand over my face, I tried to pull my scattered thoughts together. There had to be a way out of here. I started feeling around to see if there was some kind of latch or lever I could use to open the trunk. I snatched my hand back suddenly when I felt something tear into my palm. Tears of pain and frustration sprang into my eyes. Why was this happening to me? As far as I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. I tried to live my life as quietly as possible. Things had been tough for me when my mother died, but I'd got through it. I was used to knowing I was all alone in the world, and I did the best I could. I blinked back the tears. I needed to get out of here. I started checking again, carefully using the one hand that wasn't injured. I stopped when I heard voices that seemed to be getting louder as people came closer to the car.

"Have you lost what is left of your mind? I am going to put you in a home, Grandma. That way at least the rest of the world can be protected from your particular brand of lunacy."

That didn't sound like something a kidnapper should be saying.

"You were supposed to be a moderating influence on Margot. This is one of the stupidest things you have ever done."

I heard a snort of laughter. "Sweetheart, you know that isn't even close to being true."

There was a pause in the conversation, and I tapped tentatively on the trunk lid.

"Uh, excuse me. I need some help. I think someone's made a mistake, but that's okay. I'm a very forgiving person." I thought hard for a second. "And forgetful. If you let me out, I'll forget this ever happened."