Page 128 of Rescuing Kaye
“Coming? Where?” I turn to Scott, pleading for my life.
But he grits his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut. “I thought we were moving her in the morning?” His voice grinds the words, spitting them out with barely restrained fury.
“Change of plans.” Alder waves the gun. “Get her ready to move.” Eyes narrowing, the man is evil incarnate. When he smiles, it’s not comforting.
It’s terrifying.
Scott makes me afraid, but Dean Alder shows me true evil exists in this world. My world has become a very strange place when I look to Scott to protect me from the dean.
Scott releases me from the chains that bind me. They fitted me with a wide belt and collar. A strap connects them together, and two locks secure them. One at the back of my neck. The other in the small of my back. Which makes it impossible to free myself, even if I knew the combinations.
When I’m in the room, chains secure me to bolts on the floor. Thick leather cuffs circle my wrists and they lock those too.
Scott helps me out of the room, barely touching my arm. He stands outside the bathroom, door open, as I relieve myself, then guides me down the stairs and to the back door. Before we exit, he secures my hands behind my back.
We move swiftly through a dark path in the woods, ultimately emerging at a small field where a Cessna waits in the darkness. We board the Cessna and Dean Alder orders Scott to sit with me in the back seat.
Before I know it, we’re taking off into the night.
If I knew fear before, it’s nothing compared to what I feel now. Not only is there no escape from this living hell, there’s no way Zeb, or his Guardian brothers, can find me now.
We fly for what seems like hours before landing in pitch blackness at a small airfield. There, we refuel, then we’re back in the air again.
More time passes. The droning of the plane’s engine vibrates my teeth and there’s nothing to see outside the windows. No lights. No cities. Just blackness. Then we descend again.
This airport is smaller than the last. I don’t know how the dean knows where to land. Everything is black on black.
But we do land. We land with a bump, then a jarring ride over uneven ground as we brake and come to a stop.
“The truck’s out there,” Dean Alder says. “I have to stow the plane. Pick me up at the hangar.”
Without acknowledging what the dean says, Scott opens the door and hauls me out of the plane like a piece of baggage.
“Where are you taking me?” I stumble out of the plane and turn to Scott, desperation in my voice.
But he remains silent.
Dean Alder stays with the plane, driving it toward something that looks more like an oversized shed than a hangar.
Scott takes my arm and leads me toward a waiting truck. “Everything will be okay.”
It’s the first time he’s spoken to me with kindness.
I cling to those words, hoping desperately that he’s right, but in my heart, I know it’s a lie.
He makes me climb inside the truck where I sit in the middle of the bench seat. Then Scott drives toward a hangar where the dean waits to be picked up after stowing the small Cessna inside.
He climbs into the passenger seat, sandwiching me between himself and Scott.
The truck rumbles along a dirt road, the darkness deepening around us. Stars twinkle above, more than I’ve ever seen in my life, which is bad.
Very bad.
We’re nowhere near civilization. Nowhere near city lights that make the sky glow and hide the stars. The moon is only a sliver in the sky, making the darkness the deepest black.
After a few more hours, we come to a stop at yet another small cabin tucked away in the woods.
Dean Alder steps out of the truck and heads inside without a word. Scott helps me out of the truck and then follows after the dean. My body quivers with fear as I look around. While I can’t see much in the darkness, it feels even more remote than the previous cabin.