Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Eight
As I start to wake up I feel a horrible and familiar throbbing ache in my head and the skin on the side of my face feels tight and crusty, like something has begun to set there. I try to open my eyes, but my vision is blurry. I blink a few times and with each action, my vision starts to clear a little more. I immediately realise I’m in my apartment but I don’t remember coming inside. The courtyard lights shine through my window allowing me to see my room. I go to move but feel a sharp tug that makes me wince.

Confusion and panic flood my system when I glance down and see that I’m sitting in one of my kitchen chairs with duct tape binding my wrists and ankles to the arms and legs of the chair. My breath starts coming in fast bursts as I try to yank and pull my arms and legs free, groaning as I feel the tape cut into my wrists.

“Sh, sh, hey. You’re going to hurt yourself,” frets a vaguely familiar voice making my panic spike to the point I feel everything inside me shake.

I look up as a large figure rushes over to me and cups my face in their hands. I try to focus my eyes only for them to widen in shock when I see Carter Chapman crouched in front of me, his brows dipped in concern. My mind is a mess with thoughts I can’t make heads or tails of, my mouth has become dry as a bone and my throat suddenly feels like I’ve swallowed sand. I try to speak or move but I can’t seem to. I feel paralysed.

Why the fuck is Carter in my apartment? What the hell is happening?!

“It’s going to be okay, baby. I’m going to take good care of you,” he coos, his thumb brushing against my temple. The action has me wincing and sucking air through my teeth as sharp pain shoots through my head. “I’m sorry baby,” he coos apologetically, reaching up and gently blowing on the sensitive part of my head.

The pain seems to shock some clarity into my brain and now I realise just what is happening and how much danger I am in. I look at him carefully and almost don’t recognise him. His usual bright blonde hair looks dark and greasy, his eyes look bloodshot with dark circles around them and he’s in jeans and a hoodie which from the smell of them haven’t been washed in days.

“Carter…what is going on?” I croak, my voice shaking in fear.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he says apologetically. “I just…I had to get you to listen to me, okay?” He acts jittery, kneeling in front of me and running his fingers through his hair. “I thought things were going great between us and then you just suddenly cut me out of your life,” he says in despair.

I stare at him in confusion, his words making no sense. “What are you talking about? Carter, please, just let me go, okay? If you just untie me then maybe we can talk?” I manage to say in a soft but trembling voice.

“I can’t!” he shouts, making me jump in fear. “I can’t because you’ll run again, and I can’t have you doing that!” he continues to shout, fisting his hair and tugging it at the roots to the point I think it’s going to come out in clumps in his hands.

“Okay, okay,” I quickly respond, trying to placate him. “Um, how about you explain to me what’s going on, huh?” I prompt him, trying to force a gentle smile on my face.

“We could have been really happy, Lani,” he says, tears filling his murky green eyes. “I thought you’d finally seen sense and knew to stay away from Julian, but you ended up moving in with him? Did you even think about how I’d feel?!” he grips my chin in his hand firmly, forcing tears to fill my eyes, his fingers feeling like they’re going to rip through the skin. “How could you go to him after everything he did to you?! I tried, Lani. I tried to protect you, and what did you do? You just cut me out. You stop taking my calls, you quit your job. Do you know how long it took for me to realise you moved back home?! DO YOU?!” he screams in my face, making me whimper in fear as his words confirm the terrifying thought that has been circling in my mind.

“It was you all this time?” I sob. “You were the one breaking in…”

“Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare twist it. We both know you wanted me here; you made it pretty fucking clear,” he spits, getting more agitated.

“Did I want you to break in and attack me too?!” I shout at him, tears trickling down my cheeks as months of fear and frustration rise to the surface.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you! You shouldn’t have surprised me,” he exclaims, jumping to his feet and slamming his palms against the sides of his head.

“YOU BUTCHERED ILY YOU SICK HIJO DE LA SEMILLA!” I scream hysterically, fighting against my restraints and rocking the chair.

“THAT WAS YOUR FAULT!” he screams back, pulling something from behind his back.

I see a large knife in his hands, the blade glinting in the light from the window as he rushes towards me and presses the knife to my throat. I choke on my sobs, freezing in place when I feel the tip of the knife break the skin and warm blood slowly travel down my neck.

“That was your fucking fault,” he spits at me as white builds in the corners of his mouth. “How do you think I felt? After everything I had done for you; the way I tried to save you from Julian and there you were, standing in front of the diner, chatting with him like I didn’t matter to you. I had to make you understand that wasn’t okay. You needed to know that actions have consequences. I didn’t want to do it, but you forced my hand, Lani,” he says breathlessly, pressing his forehead against mine as the tears stream from my eyes.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I quietly sob, my heart beating like a jackhammer inside my chest.

“To you?” he asks, once again cupping my face, the hilt of the knife now pressed against my cheek as he refuses to let go. “I’m doing this for you baby. I’m doing this for us.” He presses his lips against mine and I force mine tight together as I try to pull my face away, whimpering in disgust, but he tightens his grip on my face.

“Please, stop,” I beg.

“It’s okay baby,” he says softly, peppering kisses all over my face and making my stomach twist in revulsion. “It’s okay because I understand what you’ve been doing now. All the changes. It’s so we can start a new life together,” he says smiling, his eyes wide and terrifying. Nothing in them looks human.

I open my mouth and start to scream, hoping one of my neighbours will hear me. Carter’s expression changes and before I can register what’s happening I feel my head whip to the side and sharp pain radiating through the side of my face that makes me cry out.

“Now why the fuck did you go and do that?!”

Sobs of pain and fear wrack my body as I watch Carter walk over and grab something off the bed. He comes back and I see him unroll a strip of duct tape.

I shake my head furiously, once again fighting my restraints, “No. Carter, please, don’t,” I beg.

He rips the strip from the roll, discarding it and presses it firmly over my mouth. My vision becomes blurred by my tears and a thousand terrifying scenarios play in my mind. He’s crazy and unhinged and I don’t know what he’s going to do to me. I’ve never felt so weak and helpless in my life.

Carter kneels in front of me, sweat forming on his brow as he tucks the knife back into his pants and places his hands on my thighs. He takes a slow breath to calm himself down, then looks up at me.

“I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t hit you and I know that, but you can’t keep screaming and treating me like I don’t fucking matter to you,” he snivels, tears filling his eyes.

He slowly begins to stroke and massage my thighs, and I try to squirm out of his touch, but he doesn’t seem to notice, or he just doesn’t care. His hands move further up my thighs until I feel his thumbs graze against my vagina through my jeans, making me recoil and try to shift away from him.

“I promise our first night together is going to be magical, Lani,” he says with a gentle smile that looks unnatural on his face. “I promise to touch you like no other man has.”

He glides his hands up my body, cupping my breasts in his hands and squeezing them harshly making me whimper in despair and disgust as the tears fall harder. I try to jostle out of the chair, moving it every way I can but the duct tape only continues to bunch up and cut into me.

I groan in disgust, turning my face away when he leans in and begins to kiss the tops of my breasts while kneading them in his hands. My entire body runs cold, and I want more than anything to wake up from this nightmare.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” he groans.

I shut my eyes tight, my body trembling as I feel his wet tongue move across my chest. I hear the sound of tearing and feel a cold breeze against my skin. My eyes fly open, and I look down to see Carter rip my shirt open. I shake my head furiously, beginning to feel lightheaded as the duct tape makes it harder to breathe. I sob in anguish as I feel his lips on my skin. Every graze of his lips on my body making my skin crawl as if a thousand bugs are under my skin. The sensation makes me sick to my stomach and I find myself dry heaving.