chapter 5

Groaning, I flipped onto my side, trying desperately to re-escape into the peace of my dreamland. "Embry baby, wake up, we are almost at the house", the sound of his voice was enough to have me wide eyed sitting up.

Studying my surroundings, I felt my chest constrict as I realised I was in the back of a moving car, there was nothing to see but trees surrounding us as the car sped along the road. We were far away from the city, that much was certain.

Rubbing the tiredness from my eyes I became aware of the ropes scratching against my wrists. "I know the rope isn't the most convenient but I didn't want to take any chances" he sheepishly smiled to himself, continuing to study me through the rearview mirror. "Where are we" my voice was low and scratchy, my swallow dry telling me it had been awhile since I last drank anything.

"Far away from your house, we should be there soon" catching his eye in the rear view mirror. I was too groggy and tired to even shy away from his heavy stare. You'd think someone who was so fascinated with me would know how terrible of an idea it is to approach me when I've just woken up as I'm a cranky tired person.

Letting my shoulders drop I grimaced at the small ache in my right upper arm. "You used a needle on me" I spat out venomously before I could even think. "I didn't have a choi-" cutting him off I let my anger take over.

"You knew I was scared of them, how could you?" my voice was raw with pain as tears of frustration built up in my eyes. Shooting daggers at his gaze in the mirror I scowled at him.

"I did miss how cute you were when you were tired" he chuckled as I let my jaw drop. Turning my head away I felt my nerves light up with annoyance towards him.

"Awh don't be mad at me baby" he playfully pouted. "Don't. Call. me. That" I seethed. He quirked his eyebrow up at my response, clearly amused, "call you what?" innocently shrugging he focused back on the road.

"All your disgusting pet names, you douche" tugging at the ropes around my wrist harshly I bit back the whimpers of pain from it cutting into my skin.

"I don't appreciate your attitude, Embry" his voice losing the traces of humour it previously held. "I don't appreciate you kidnapping me, Noah" I retorted already sick of looking at his stupid face.

I yelped as the car swerved to a stop and before I could blink the car door beside me was yanked open. "I dare you to repeat what you just said" he clamped his hand on my jaw, forcing my eyes up to his as he loomed over my shaking frame.

All tiredness disappeared from my body as fear took its place, "that's what I thought, and I didn't kidnap you, I simply took back what was rightfully mine" his jaw ticked in anger as his fingers bruised my pale skin.

"Now, are you going to stop being a brat or do I have to use another needle" he threatened as I whimpered at the mention of a needle.

"No, I-I'm sorry, I was, I was just tired, I'm so-sorry" I sobbed, praying for him to accept the apology and go back to driving.

"You'll be even more sorry if you don't start behaving" studying me face he threw me back against the seat returning to in front of the wheel.

Too petrified to meet his traumatising gaze in the mirror, I heard a sigh of defeat from his direction. "Look, Embry, I don't want to have to be harsh, I don't want to hurt you but you need to do what I say" he frowned.

One of those frowns that almost had me guilty for going against him, the key word being almost. Sulking in the back seat I glued my eyes on the road hoping to see another car come along.

My new formed plan was to jump out of the moving vehicle at the sight of one so they would save me from this monster.

Sitting up I curiously peered over his shoulder as we drove up to a secluded house surrounded by forests. There goes my new plan anyway.

Forests I usually would have been eager to explore, now I cursed their existence because they would make my escape much harder.

"Here we are" he beamed exiting the car. Scooting over to the other side of the car I pushed myself as far away from his reaching arms as I could. Shooting a stern glare my way I froze as his hands finally grabbed a hold of me.

Gazing around the area I couldn't help but admire how beautiful the surrounding garden was, it held large patches of almost every flower one could think of. "I know how much you love nature, so I made sure the garden was nice" he smiled proudly, as if I'd be grateful to him for doing this.

His grip tightened painfully as my breath hitched, "what do we say Embry" he gritted his teeth. "T-thank, thank you" I whimpered, his touch burning my skin.

Pushing open the door, I was taken aback by how beautiful the interior was. In front of me, I could see the sitting room area, it was an open space, consisting of a tv, two couches, an armchair along with shelves and a table. To the right of the sitting room I could peer into the kitchen, the island stools were in the sitting room area and the island allowed me to admire the grey countertops.

Across the room to the left I could see grand wooden stairs, leading up to an upstairs hallway. While the sitting room split into at least two different hallways I couldn't see anything beyond that.

"What do you think?" he smiled down, having picked up on the fact I was gawking at the beauty of the house. "It-it's nice" I mumbled, my legs unconsciously stepping towards the shelves diagonal to me. The Tv was mounted in the center with an electric fireplace just below, on either sides sat the shelves that had encaptured my interest.

They were massive, one side held books upon books, while the other side held DVDs, CDs and vinyl records. Gently brushing my fingers against the pocket of the vinyl records I quietly cursed him for knowing I had always wanted a vinyl player and records.

Turning from my place I noticed the small side table against the wall that held the vinyl player, it was beautiful. A shiny black record player standing proudly, not a speck of dust daring to come in contact with it.

"I knew you'd love it", feeling his breath caress the back of my neck and hearing his voice so close I jumped in fright. How did he make it across the room so silently, reprimanding myself for dropping my guard to gaze over some silly thing I balled my fists. I didn't want to anger him, not when he seemed calm but I still couldn't help but feel agitated at his constant civility with me.

He had to have known this was wrong, right? "N-noah, it's, this, it's r-really nice but I-I can't stay here" I bit the inside of my cheek, a bad habit I had developed when I was anxious.

My body was forcefully spun to face his as I sucked in a sharp breath at the sudden movement. "And why not princess, huh?" he taunted, his lip curling upwards with menace.

Trying to even look into his eyes made me want to pee myself, I couldn't recall him being this terrifying before. "I-I, well, I-I" my throat felt like it was closing in, his stare was too heavy and I felt too bare underneath such a watchful eye.

"What was that, I didn't quite catch it" he jeered, it was clear he enjoyed mocking and scaring me by the amusement that swirled within his brown eyes. I felt the tears stinging at my own eyes as my mind rampaged around to find something to say.

"I want to go home" I sobbed, unable to hold myself together. My uneven breathing hitched as he gripped my hair, forcing my head against his while also tugging painfully at my scalp. "This is your home now, you aren't allowed to leave EVER" I flinched at the raise of his voice at the end.

"O-okay" I breathed out trying to get my cries under control, while balancing on my tippy toes trying to release some of the pressure from my scalp. "Now, would you like to see your room" he slowly released his grip from my hair as I rubbed the throbbing area.

Nodding, I winced at his fiery glare and quickly fixed my mistake by murmuring out a vocal answer. Seeming satisfied enough, I followed him up the stairs, my sobs having turned into sniffles now that I wasn't under immediate threat from him.

The stairs creaked every couple of steps, that would make it harder for me to escape without drawing attention to myself. The hallways were mostly bland with a few framed pieces of landscape art every now and then.

The room was simple enough to navigate to, walk up the stairs, take the hallway down till the end, and then go left, it's the second door on the left.

Trailing behind him I admired the simplicity of the room. I knew I'd need to appreciate it because I would be hiding myself in here as often as I could. The room held a double bed on the left, to one side of the bed was a nightstand and the other was an oak chest of drawers. Adjacent to the door, where I was standing was a window seat, the only thing in view was the never ending forest.

To my right stood a door, and beside that an oak wardrobe that matched the chest of drawers. Hidden between the wardrobe and wall sat a small desk with shelves towering above it.

Hesitant to follow Noah as he opened the mystery door, my curiosity got the best of me and I was led into a bathroom. It held a shower, sink, and toilet. It was spacious enough, giving it a comfortable atmosphere. Sneaking a look at the door I silently thanked the heavens there was a lock on the door.

My skin burned with the feeling of helplessness as I followed him back to the center of the room. I could attack him and run but I knew the ropes would restrict my movement, along with the fact he was physically stronger than me by a lot. I also had no clue where we were and I wouldn't be able to navigate very well through the trees.

I could steal his car keys but I would have to be in close proximity to him for more than two seconds and that was too risky for me. I wasn't a very fast runner and my stamina was next to zero. I also knew I couldn't risk upsetting him because he was capable of horrifying things that I didn't want to think about.

So for now I'd just go along with his plan and try not pee him off too much and then when the right time comes, I'll strike and get him sent back to prison. Very, very, far away from me.

"Why don't you shower, and then I'll come get you for dinner in a bit and Embry, for your own benefit, don't try to escape you won't get very far and I can make things so much worse for you" he warned, heading towards the door.

Having an internal debate on whether to ask him or not I finally spoke, "Wait, c-could you take the ro-ropes off p-please" I kept my head down, too fearful of what his next move might be. Taking your eyes off of the opponent may not be the brightest idea but it was a lot less scary than holding his stare.

"Of course baby, as I said I want you to be comfortable, it's your home now too" he explained, grabbing a pocket knife from his pant's pocket and tearing through the rope.

Letting out a sigh of relief I rubbed the raw skin on my wrists. I grimaced as his lips gently pecked my forehead, and surprisingly it gave me the confidence to speak up again. Something I would soon regret.

"They are g-going to be look-looking for me" I stated, regrettably meeting his eyes. They had a dark eerie tone to them as his face remained stoic.

"No they aren't" his voice wasn't boastful or full of pride like I expected, instead it was closer to monotonous, "why not?" I whispered confused, I didn't expect him to hear and reply but he did.

"They think you killed yourself" and with that he left.