(Kidnapped)
••••••••
Melanie pov
Derek watches me as I sniffle, wiping a tear from my eye. I take a deep breath, still trying to calm myself down after what happened at Vaughn's apartment.
"I'm sorry," I say. "I shouldn't be doing this." But the tears just won't stop flowing.
Vaughn's words cut deep through my heart. I've never thought that he was only using me for revenge. It's like the person whom I used to know never exists. The one whom I love and loves me back. The one who always makes me feel contented and safe in his arms.
I've never thought either that Jake would have done something so horrible to his best friend. I guess that I just have nowhere else to go now. I don't think that I can face either of them.
Derek seems to worry about me. He has stopped the car in a secluded area of the street. "It's okay, Melanie," he says. "I don't know what your problem is but you can just let it out. I'm here, if you need someone to talk to."
I just look down, feeling ashamed of myself. This is the second time that other guys have seen me crying. The first one was when I was with Austin.
"It's about Vaughn, isn't it?"
Derek's question makes me snap my head toward him, and I see him scoff.
"I always knew that the guy's a jèrk," he speaks through gritted teeth, surprising me. "He's the reason why you're crying now, isn't he?"
I'm quite taken aback by his on-point accusation. Is it that obvious? Vaughn and me? I guess so, because the rumors have started to spread since the incident back then in the club.
Derek looks angry. Who would have thought that he had this hatred toward Vaughn?
"Derek—"
"He's the reason why you're even here on the street, alone, at this hour," Derek says. "I know that this isn't the first time it happens, but..." he falters, and I notice that his eyes fell on my lips. "You should be more careful." The last sentence is said so softly that I almost can't hear it.
Something about the atmosphere creates goosebumps on my skin, and suddenly, I feel like the air inside the car is getting colder.
His sentence makes me wonder. "I know that this isn't the first time it happens, but..."
How does he know that this isn't the first time I walk on the street alone at night? The last time I did that was when my car was broken, when I was almost ràped. But no one knows about that, except Vaughn. Unless...
The hair on the back of my neck stands, and my breathe hitches as I realize the truth that's about to come.
Derek notices the sudden change of my expression and that I'm now shuddering. "Are you feeling cold?" he asks before adjusting the air conditioner in the car to make me feel warmer. And that's when I notice something else.
Under the sleeve of his shirt, his wrist is wrapped by a bandage.
Noticing that I'm staring at it, Derek says, "Ah, about this." He gestures his arm. "It happened when I fell off my bike. I broke my hand," he says, sending more chills through my body.
Vaughn's words echo back in my ear. "...i'm pretty sure that I broke his hand."
I tear my gaze away from him, looking away to the window as I cover my mouth with my hand to prevent myself from screaming. Blood rushes to every vein in my body, and my heart leaps like a wild stag in my throat.
The guy who tried to rape me once said, "I've been watching you for a long time..."
Watching me? For a long time?
Derek is my friend from high school.
All the puzzles are now connected and show the obvious picture. Derek is the guy who tried to rape me and broke into my house. He's the one.
He'd been in my house before the incident happened. He'd passed the gate. He was there when I felt someone watching me as I changed my clothes.
And he always seemed to shut off whenever Jake and Vaughn were around.
How could I not realize it before? I was blind because I thought that he was a good friend. We'd been doing college stuff together with Stacey.
My hand is shaking when I try to open the car door, but then Derek's voice startles me.
"Melanie?" he asks, his voice low and cold. "What's wrong?"
I let out a shaky breath. I need to get out of his car. I need to get away from him.
But just as I'm about to push through the door, I feel a handkerchief wrapped around my mouth, muffling my scream.
And seconds after that, everything goes black.
*********
My head hurts like crazy. Slowly, I open my eyes, but everything is blur.
Why do I feel so weak? Why does my whole body feel numb?
My vision starts to make out a ceiling of a room. But it's grey, different from the one at my house. And suddenly, a cold shiver runs down my spine.
Abruptly, I sat up on the bed, knocking the headboard behind. And my heart stops when I look down at my self.
I'm only covered in my bra and pànties, almost bare nàked.
I felt tears pooling in my eyes as I choke in disbelief. No. What happened to me? My brain refuses to accept the painful truth.
"Woke up already?" A deep husky voice startles me, and I look up, only to find Derek leaning back against the wall, watching me with a smile on his face.
And now, I can see clearly where I am. In this small and dim-lit room that only consists of a closet, a desk and a bed. His bed.
"Derek" I stutter, a tear rolling down my cheek. "What have you done?" I whisper, my voice shaking, and I find it difficult to speak with this big lump in my throat. "What have you done to me?" I scream.
"Hey hey baby, it's okay." His voice is so soft and slightly shaking when he rushes to me. Quickly, he grabs my hand in his, which makes me immediately struggle to break free from his hold, but he doesn't let me go. "It's okay. You're with me."
"No! Get off me!" I scream again, tears now streaming down my face, hard and unforgiving.
"No!" he shouts, now gripping my chin with his both hand, so hard that it hurts. Looking me in the eyes, he hisses, "Not after you're finally here, Mel. In my arms."
I stare in disbelief at the lunatic in front of me, my lips trembling in fear. This is another side of him that I've figured out. When he speaks to me in his old self, he's insecure and nervous. But every time I pull away from him, he becomes this violent guy who wouldn't think twice to hurt me.
His eyes shake with rage as he sees an indication that I'll run away from him. "It's been so long, Melanie. So so long," he says. "I never had the chance to get to you when we were in high school, because of your brother, your parents and their fucking guarded mansion, not to mention that stupid driver of yours with his stupid car." He brushes his fingers across my cheek, and his eyes soften, but it doesn't make me fear him less.
"But then, you came to Boston, just like I did. I couldn't help but think that fate had brought us together, my dear Melanie," he whispers, lust laced in his voice. "I was so mad that your brother was here as well, but God answered my prayers when he was sent to Texas. I thought that I could finally have you. You don't know how thrilled I was every time I thought about that."
His words makes me sick in the stomach. Had he not gripped my chin so harshly, I would have spit on his face.
"But then, that stupid Vaughn came into the picture." His jaw tightens. "Just when I thought that I could finally make you mine," he whispers, pushing me onto the bed, with him on top of me. "Fortunately, he's now gone as well."
I feel like my heart is being shattered all over again. He's right. Vaughn is no longer here. He has abandoned me. He doesn't want anything to do with me anymore.
"You're sick," I cry, my voice shaking with anger. "What makes you think that I want to be here with you?"
To my horror, a sly smirk creeps on his lips. "You don't have any other choice, Mel. Besides the fact that you won't be able to leave this place, I'm gonna make sure that you don't want to go back into your so-called comfortable life."
I stare at him with mouth opened. He's crazy. What the hell is he talking about?
He takes his phone from his pocket, looks through it and shows the screen to me. My eyes widen in shock, and I feel like the world stops.
There are a lot of nude pictures of me lying on the bed. They've been taken in many different angles, and all of them make the photos even more sèxually explicit.
I feel the world around me crumbling into pieces. "No," I choke in tears before my sobs break.
"What do you think if I anonymously send these pictures to every single soul in our university?" he asks me a rhetorical question, and I shake my head in disbelief. "Do you think you still have a future outside my world? Say goodbye to the college of your dream, Melanie. Say goodbye to your so-called barbie life. Say goodbye to your promising future. And just accept the fate that you belong with me. In here, our little space."
More tears fell to my cheeks as I listen to his every word. The more he speaks, the more he kìlls me.
I wish this were all just a dream and that I would wake up soon.
But the pain I'm feeling inside my chest tells me that this is no less than the reality.