"Mark," she cried out with a pain filled voice. There was no answer. "Mark," she yelled again louder.
She heard a noise and at first felt relief, thinking Mark had found her. The door opened and a strange man walked through it. She'd never seen him before but he scared her to her very core.
"You finally woke up, I was beginning to worry," he said to her, as he leered from across the room.
"Where am I and why am I tied up?" she asked the man, with a trembling lip.
"You're home," the deranged man said. Emily didn't know how to respond to what he'd said. She didn't want to provoke his anger but she didn't want him to think she wanted to stay.
"I don't understand."
"It's really simple to understand," the man sneered, as he moved closer to her. A shiver of disgust moved down her spine as the man leered over her.
"We had a connection and then you chose that stupid rich man instead of me. You accepted my flowers, you read my love letters and you still married him. Well, you're mine now and you won't be leaving here," the man said.
Emily looked at him in horror. This was the person who'd been stalking her. She didn't understand how that was possible. They'd found the pictures of her in Chris's stuff and he'd been a convicted felon. She stared at the guy in confusion, as the reality was trying to sink in to her befuddled brain.
"I really don't understand, because I've never met you before," she said to him.
"We did meet. You helped me pick out some fruit at the supermarket when you were new in town and I told you I'd repay the favor," he said. For the life of her she couldn't remember the event.
"You said that would be nice and you would see me next time. I kept coming back to the store at the same time but you never showed up, so I sent you the flowers. I watched your face as you accepted them and you were smiling. I then sent you the notes and letters. I knew you wanted to be with me but Mark wasn't letting you leave. Then you went and married him and cheated on me so I've been waiting until I could get you alone," the creepy man said.
He was now sitting on the edge of the bed and Emily was beyond terrified. She was at his complete mercy, with no way to get away. Mark would never be able to find her; she didn't even know where she was. She was so scared she was going to lose her baby due to this cruel man. She wanted to place her hand protectively over her womb but couldn't move her arms.
"I'm really bad with names, can you tell me yours again?" she asked him, hoping to stall the man until she could figure something out.
"It's Joshua remember?"
"Oh yes, now I remember," she lied to him. She still couldn't recall him.
"See we did have a connection, I knew if I got you away from that place you'd remember me," he said as he ran his dirty hand down the side of her face.
"I'm really uncomfortable Joshua, can you untie me?" she asked him, in what she hoped was a friendly voice.
"Not yet," he said and started to pace. "You could be trying to fool me. My daddy taught me women lie all the time to get what they want," he spat at her.
"Joshua I wouldn't lie to you," she said, hoping to gain his trust.
"Just shut up," he yelled at her and lifted his hand in the air, like he was going to hit her. Emily cringed away but luckily he never threw the punch. She lay there silently and cried. She prayed somehow Mark would find her.
"I'm going to make us some dinner, like a real family and then I will take you outside to use the bathroom because tonight you'll finally be mine," he said, before stepping out of the room.
Emily immediately began twisting against her restraints, trying to get at least one limb free. If she could get one hand out, she could undo the rest and perhaps run away. When the struggle was doing nothing but wearing her out, she finally gave up and decided to save her strength. It looked like her only shot would be when he released her to go outside. She'd been a pretty good runner when in high school, so if she could just get lose from him, she may have a shot at getting away.
The biggest problem was it was already getting dark out and she had no idea what direction to run in. She didn't care. She would run until she just couldn't go any further and then find somewhere to hide. The darkness would at least conceal her from him too. She would wait it out until dawn if that's what she needed to do. She wouldn't stay there and let the man violate her.
She laid there until finally the pain and exhaustion she was feeling overtook her and she drifted off into a restless sleep.
Emily was awakened by dogs barking and men shouting. She felt her hopes start to grow. Maybe Mark had found her and this whole nightmare would be over with. She waited and then heard the sound of her name being called.