AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His terse tone set her nerves even further on edge. “Kyle, I think we should–”
He tightened his grasp around her as he opened the passenger door and shoved her toward the seat. “Get in. We don’t have time to waste. Just trust me.”
Without much other choice, she climbed into the seat, trying to push all her fears aside. He slammed her door closed and hurried around the car to climb behind the wheel.
“Kyle, I’m not comfortable with this,” she said as he locked the doors and fired the engine.
He tore out of the parking space as though he didn’t even hear her. She slouched in her seat, her heart still pounding a hard drumbeat.
As they pulled onto the city’s streets and headed north, she shot a glance toward him. “Can you at least tell me where we’re going?”
“You’ll see,” he answered as he reached for his phone. He tapped on it twice before he pressed it to his ear.
Julia swallowed hard, waiting to hear who he was calling.
“It’s done,” he said, his voice a low growl, before he ended the call and tossed his phone in the cupholder.
Julia eyed it, the sudden urge to grab it and call for help coursing through her. “What’s done? Kyle, what’s going on?”
He ignored her, his eyes trained on the road and his grip on the wheel unnaturally tight. He shot her a sidelong glance, his eyes flickering with a complexity of emotions she couldn’t decipher. She struggled to stop herself from trembling as the city faded away behind them.
“Kyle, you’re really starting to scare me. I want to go back.”
“Sorry, Julia, this is too important.”
The journey seemed to stretch endlessly, each minute amplifying Julia’s unease. The world outside the window blurred into a monochromatic landscape, heightening the sense of isolation.
Julia’s thoughts raced as they drove in silence, a sinking feeling growing in her chest as a whispering voice warned her of impending danger.
Panic set in as civilization faded away, and they found themselves surrounded by forest on either side of the road. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she waited to see what this would lead to. She hoped it wasn’t a mistake.
She side-eyed the phone in the cupholder again, wondering if she could snag it without him knowing. With her breathing now shaky, she slid a trembling hand toward it. Before she could close her fingers around it, Kyle snatched it and shoved it into his pocket.
“We’re almost there,” he said.
The action made her stomach roll. Why was he being so secretive?
He slowed the car and pulled off the road onto a gravel drive surrounded by trees. His lights failed to cut far into the darkness ahead of them as they drove further and further from the main road.
The car’s headlights sliced through the thick veil of darkness, casting long, eerie shadows between the trees. The gravel crunched ominously under the tires, each turn taking them deeper into a secluded world that felt disconnected from reality.
A cabin came into view as the trees gave way around them. Kyle eased the car to a stop and opened his door.
Julia did the same, gulping in the fresh air and glad to be out of the car. She glanced at the woods, wondering if she should run.
Before she could, Kyle appeared in front of her, sliding an arm around her shoulders and guiding her toward the cabin. “Come on.”
She swallowed hard as they climbed the stairs and pushed into the unlocked space. “Why are we here? What does this have to do with Lydia?”
A chill shook her as she studied the space. She shook her head as she spun to face him. “I don’t like this. I want to go back.”
Prickly heat washed over her as he slid a padlock onto a plate securing the door. The metallic click of the padlock echoed in the cabin and a chilling realization dawned on her. Trapped and isolated, her heart pounded in her chest like a frantic drum as he turned to face her. “I’m sorry, Julia. I can’t let you leave.”
A tremble shook her as her lips parted at his words. Blood rushed into her ears and her heart pounded loud enough to drown out most other sounds. The truth hit her with the force of a thunderbolt. She was a prisoner.
CHAPTER 11
GRANT
