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“Oh god,” hallucination Maddie gasps. Her sad brown eyes blink back tears at the sight of me.
Shit. It’s her. It’s really her.
And while I’m glad to see her, relieved, a small part of me is…filled with dread because I know that nothing is going to be the same as it was before. For now, I’ll try my best to pretend.
“Hey, baby. Miss me?” I joke.
“Jordan...I’m-I’m so sorry,” she says as her palm covers her nose and mouth and then begins to break down and sob.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. Really. Just, do you want to try and pick these locks?” I lift up my wrists and ankles as high as I can to show her. First thing first, I want to get off this hard, uncomfortable table. “I don’t know where he keeps the keys.”
“Here.” She holds up a small key between her fingers. “I-I have the key.”
“Great.” How the fuck did she get the keys from Eli? “Let’s get the fuck out of here before he comes back.”
“I don’t think we have to worry too much about hurrying.” Maddie rushes over and then squats down to work on my cuffed ankles first, hopefully avoiding any puddles of my piss. Her hands are shaking like leaves as they work the keyhole. The clank of the cuffs falling off is a relief and a terror all at the same time.
God, how will I explain to Maddie what happened, what Eli did to me for hours? Days?
I can’t. I won’t.
She doesn’t have to know.
If she asks why I’m naked, I can make something up like Eli was trying to decide where to cut me open first or something.
I lay my head down on the table as she slips into the booth to free one wrist then leans over to unlock the last one. As soon they fall away, I sit up on the table and Maddie throws her arms around my neck.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she repeats in a whisper.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s not your fault.”
“But it is my fault,” she says, lifting her head. It breaks my heart to see the tears running down her cheeks. It takes me a moment to remember I can actually lift my arms high enough to wipe them away now that they’re free, so I do, even if my limbs tremble from days of non-use.
“Eli...he came here for me.”
“He’s a sick fuck,” I tell her. “This is on him, and only him. Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Can-can you walk?” Maddie asks. Her eyes dip down to my naked lap and quickly lift back up to my face.
“My legs and arms are pretty numb, but I think I can manage to get them working after a few minutes.”
She nods and says, “And your clothes? Where-where are your clothes?”
“Over there.” I point to the pile on the counter, a foot or so away from the remaining jar of Maddie’s cupcakes. She sees it and pauses a moment before grabbing up the bundle to bring it over to me.
Then, one garment at a time, starting with my boxer briefs, she helps me get dressed.
I feel ridiculous that I need her assistance to put on clothes, something I do every day.
Or something I did every day before I was held hostage by Eli. Thankfully my phone is turned off but still in my jeans. There’s even battery left when I turn it on.
Finally, I slide my foot into the second un-tied left boot and then we’re ready to go. I stagger a little when I stand on the black plastic covering the floor, so Maddie slips her arm around my waist to steady me as we walk to the door.
I just want to get outside as fast as possible. Being freed only to have Eli come in and hurt Maddie or chain me back up to make her watch him hurt me would be way too cruel. Because I don’t really think Eli would hurt Maddie.
There’s no one around us in the surrounding woods, not even a nearby road.
“It’s a bit of a walk to get to the car,” she says. “If I hadn’t noticed the worn path in the grass, I would’ve been looking for hours.”
