Follow Me

Chapter 30

Noah

I started to come around again as water was being forced into my mouth.

"Come on big man. Wakey, wakey."

A few slaps to the face bring me back to some sort of reality, my vision now being obscured by a blindfold. My mouth free of the tape but I have no energy in me to even attempt to cry out for help, there was no point. Nobody would hear me and the pounding in my head from the wound is almost unbearable. I had run out of fight. I was to weak.

"I'll leave the tape off if you promise not to shout out because that would be a silly thing to do considering I still have the baseball bat in hand."

I shake my head in defeat. "I....I won't."

"You better not, or I'm warning you the next time I knock your lights out, you won't be waking up again. Do you understand?"

I nod my head in acceptance. "Can...can I have another drink?"

"So demanding." The stranger then lifts the bottle back to my lips and tips the water in slowly."

"Thanks." I nod my head when I'm done.

"Okay. Now you're pretty little girlfriend knows where you are and she has around 40 minutes left to get here before I do kill you."

I shake my head. "I don't understand. What have I done?"

Before I get any sort of response, a second voice appears echoing around the cold, damp room we're in.

"Oh good, he's awake. Hasn't been causing any problems, has he?"

I recognise that voice, it's sounds familiar.

"Nope. He's been a well behaved guest. Much better than expected considering."

"Well that's good to hear. Now, we just sit tight and wait for our second guest to get here. How long has she got?"

A slight pause. "38 minutes."

"Times ticking, Noah. Either she turns up or you have just under 38 minutes of life left in you."

Panic begins to set in again, the adrenaline has worn off, my body begins to shake as the sweat on my body now feels cold against my skin. "What have I done?"

I hear footsteps moving towards me, I feel someone beside me, their face moving closer to my ear. "You've been a naughty boy, that's why you're hear. You see we do not condone cheating here."

"I don't understand, what this has to do with anyone but Chelsea and me."

Anger rises in the voice beside me. "Your actions deserve consequences, Noah. You can't go around dipping your little shrimp into anyone who will accept it especially when you have a perfectly good girl sitting at home waiting for you to come back to her. It's not on. Is it?"

"I've apologised to Chelsea for what I've done. I don't see why this concerns you."

"Oh believe me...."

"She's here." A third voice echoes around the room, cutting the conversation short.

"Oh, look. She does care about you. She's come here to save you even after all you've done to her. Another prime example as to why you don't deserve her. You cheating little shit."

I lean my head back in the chair and swallow hard. Still completely oblivious to what was happening and why it was happening.

"Do you want me to bring her in?" The third voice bellows.

"No, let her find her way to him. The longer is takes her to find us, the closer Noah here moves towards his final breath."

"Shall I take his blindfold off?" The man with the baseball bat asks from behind me.

"Yeah, fuck it. Let him see her face as she arrives. Let him see the worry and panic he has caused."

"I've caused?! I think you'll find I didn't come here willingly."

"Ooooh, there we go. The cheating little fucker has finally grown a pair."

Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. I feel the cold wooden bat resting against the other side of my head. "Shut your mouth or I'll cave in the other side of your head. Understand?"

I nod my head again in acknowledgement. "Good."

I feel the tightness of the blindfold begin to ease as the knot becomes loosened from behind me.

I close my eyes as it is removed from my eyes, the natural light burning through my retinas, attempting to open them every few seconds but I'm finding it difficult to focus on anything, so close them again.

"Noah? Noah? Where are you?"

Chelsea's voice is getting closer. "Don't say a word." The baseball bat rests against the side of my head once more.

"Noah?!" Panic clear in her voice.

My eyes now opening gradually with each blink, my vision still blurry struggling to readjust to the light.

Finally, with Chelsea's voice moving closer with each shout. My eyes have adjusted and I begin looking around. It looks as if I'm in an abandoned warehouse of some sort. It's colder than it was before. I looked to my left and right but whoever was just stood in front of me now disappeared.

"We're behind you, dickhead. Don't even attempt to turn around." With that I feel the cold steel against my neck. The sharp point of the end of the knife digging into my skin. I take a big gulp or whatever is left in my mouth, mixed with the familiar taste of iron from my blood.

I look up to see Chelsea at the door ahead of me. She looks scared, her eyes directly on me before shooting her stare behind me. Her next words stun me into complete shock.

"Becky? Alice? What the fuck are you doing?"

***