Stolen Innocence (Becoming Elena #1) Read online

  It wasn’t that Dave was horrible or anything. He was mostly indifferent to her. She would rather have that, than have him come in and try to act like her father. No one could replace her dad; she wouldn’t allow it.

  He’d died when she was only eight, but she still remembered how he would rush in the door after work and pick her up, giving her a kiss on the forehead before spinning her in a circle. He’d always told her she was the most important person in the world to him. She was his princess.

  His death had left her empty. But she and her mother had eventually begun to heal. And then Dave had come into the picture. Mary was glad that Dave made her mom happy, but he drank a lot, and he was lazy, in Mary’s humble opinion.

  Her mother did everything. Worked full-time, cleaned the house, cooked, came to all of Mary’s school functions. When her mother had gotten pregnant with Tommy, Mary had been worried. Because that meant even more changes.

  But from the moment her little brother was born, she’d cherished him. And he’d bonded with Mary. She really did adore the kid.

  “You have to come home and see me a lot,” Tommy insisted. “Promise me!”

  She held up her hand, her pinky sticking out. “I promise.”

  They locked their pinkies together, and then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

  A pinkie swear could never be broken. It was the most sacred of oaths in her opinion.

  But sometimes, the promise was taken out of a person’s hands. Sometimes their feet were swept out from beneath them. And sometimes promises were broken . . .

  Chapter Two

  The noise was driving her insane! Mary loved her little brother — his friends she could do without. And her stepfather insisting she play all the little kid games was making it even worse. She needed freedom, and she needed it now.

  Grabbing a rose from the vase of flowers sitting on the dining room table, Mary plucked a petal off and grumbled.

  “What’s the matter?” her mother asked with an indulgent smile.

  “I need to get out of here,” Mary grumbled.

  “I told you I don’t like you walking when it’s late, especially now with snow on the ground,” her mother said, a hand on her hip.

  “You also know I have to take a walk each night — rain or shine — or I feel like the walls are closing in on me,” Mary countered, gripping the long stem tightly in her fingers.

  Her mom sighed as she gave Mary a once-over. Before she said anything, Mary knew the battle was over.

  “Don’t be out late.”

  “I won’t.”

  With a roll of her eyes, Mary walked from her front door with a huge sigh of relief. Sometimes she wondered if her mother and stepfather realized she was nearly seventeen. Probably not, since they treated her like she was Tommy’s age.

  She’d been trapped in the house all day with her little brother’s friends who were spending the night for his birthday. Her mother had insisted she celebrate with the family. She’d already had her moment with Tommy that morning. She didn’t need to stick around and play with first graders.

  Alone time was most certainly a necessity at the moment. Besides, Mary had always loved to walk. She lived in a very small town in Iowa. Nothing much ever happened, so she didn’t see why her parents, especially her mother’s husband, had to be so dang strict all the time.

  When that man laid down the law, her mother tended to fall in line. She’d been walking this road for years. He could get over trying to instill more rules. She had a little over a year to go and then she was out of there. If it weren’t for Tommy, she would be so relieved to get away that she probably wouldn’t even come back home at Christmas.

  Already feeling calmer the farther she got from the house, Mary smiled as she noticed a couple birds chirping on the ice covered power line.

  As she moved through the packed down snow, she dropped petals from the red rose on the ground, leaving a trail behind her. When she turned and saw the beauty of red against the crisp white powder, it made her smile. Home could be boring at times, but it also could be peaceful and filled with so much beauty there weren’t adequate words to explain it.

  She continued walking as the sun lowered in the sky. She’d have to turn soon, but not yet. She wanted to reach the old power plant first. That would be a solid three-mile round-trip walk. She tugged her jacket a little bit tighter against her chest and kept on plugging forward.

  When she heard tires on the crunchy snow behind her, Mary jumped, quickly spinning her head around and nearly slipping on the slippery ground. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on this backcountry road, but there was plenty of room for any vehicle to get around her.

  She spotted a large black SUV pulling up behind her and felt her first stirrings of unease. She quickened her pace.

  “Hey!” someone yelled. She ignored them.

  “Stop please. I need directions,” the person continued. She slowed her pace and then turned around.

  The person speaking looked to be only a few years older than she was. Not threatening at all. She weighed her options. She didn’t trust strangers. But she also lived in a small town where you helped your neighbors.

  “Where are you trying to get to?” she asked, not moving back toward the guy.

  “It’s up on Territorial I think. The address is smudged, but I have this map here,” he said with a sheepish laugh.

  Mary smiled. Yep, it was most likely some city slicker who didn’t have a clue how to navigate country roads. Of course it was. No one in her small town as young as him would be driving an Escalade. That was a rich man’s car. The teenagers lucky enough to get a car in her town drove old beat-up Ford pickups, and they liked them.

  Rust added character, and if the vehicle had four different rims, that gave the person bonus points. Mary wondered how she was going to fare at a college in a city. She was a country girl, and she was a little bit afraid she wouldn’t fit in with a crowd of people who drove vehicles like the one this guy was leaning on.

  “Okay, let me look at the map,” she said, finally moving toward him. He was out of the SUV, after all, and he had the map laid out on the hood.

  “I really appreciate this. Are you from here?” he asked, his teeth chattering just a bit, making him appear even more charming.

  As she got closer, she saw he couldn’t be more than twenty at most. Not terrifying in the least. He was actually kind of cute. She brushed back her hair and wished she weren’t wearing sweats and a hoodie. The last of her worries fell away. She was a track star. It wouldn’t be difficult to run away if she felt she were in danger. But cute guys weren’t dangerous, she assured herself.

  “Yes, born and raised,” she said with a depreciating laugh. As much as she mocked the city slickers, she wouldn’t mind living in a big metropolitan area herself. It sure would be better than cow tipping as a Saturday night activity.

  “Very cool. I’ve never been here before,” he said with a laugh. “Obviously.”

  She laughed with him as she leaned over the top of the SUV and looked at the map.

  “How old is this thing?” she asked, trying to focus past the faded lines. She leaned in closer to get a better view.

  “Just old enough,” he said.

  She picked up on the shift in his tone a moment too late. Suddenly there was intense pain in her head as something struck her on the back of the head. She didn’t even have time to scream before the world went dark.

  Chapter Three

  Mary came to with a start. Immediately she sat up and swung around, trying to get her bearings. What was going on? Where was she? What had happened?

  It was dark, too dark for her eyes to adjust, but as she squinted, trying to focus, she noticed a tiny bit of light coming in through a small window. She tried calming herself — not easy to do when she was petrified.

  Slowly, her confined space came into focus. She was on a musty cot in a room where she could reach across and touch the other wall. The stench of urine, sweat, and other odors s
he was afraid to put a name to drifted easily up her nostrils, making her gag.

  To top off all of that, her head was throbbing, and she desperately needed to use the bathroom.

  But Mary was afraid to make a sound. She closed her eyes and tried thinking back. She’d been talking to the guy on the side of the road, then there had been extreme pain in her head before everything went black.

  He had to have hit her, or he’d had someone else there; she hadn’t seen who had hit her. But why? She couldn’t figure that part out. If they had wanted to kill her, what was she doing in this musty room? She lay there for several moments as every bad scenario flashed through her mind.

  She didn’t want to contemplate what the man — or men — had in store for her. She was almost seventeen. She wasn’t a fool. And right now, she thought death would be a better option than what might be coming her way.

  Tears began falling from her closed eyelids, leaving wet trails on her dirty cheeks. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed with her unconscious, but she knew it was enough that her mother was surely panicked, wondering where she was. And Tommy would be so upset. She’d promised to play a game of tag with him later that night.

  “Mama . . .” she quietly sobbed, wondering why she’d been so mean the entire day. At this moment she’d give anything to hang out with Tommy and his friends.

  Suddenly the door was wrenched open and light flooded into the tiny room, a man standing there in the opening.

  “Good. You’re awake.”

  Mary whimpered as he quickly approached, reaching out with gnarled fingers, harshly pulling her to her feet before she had even the smallest chance of slinking away from him.

  “Please, I don’t want to be here,” she cried, his fingers bruising her skin.

  “Yeah, well, life sucks,” he answered with a chuckle before jerking her forward.

  She lost her footing and fell to her knees, but he just yanked her back up, nearly pulling her shoulder from its socket. Pain shot through her body as he dragged her down a narrow hallway and up a set of squeaky stairs.

  When they came out at the top, bright light invaded her eyes and several men were sitting around a table, two of them smoking, all of them holding a beer as they leered at her. She looked around, but the one who’d grabbed her was nowhere to be seen.

  She didn’t expect someone who drove such a nice vehicle to hang out in a filthy place like this, but where had he gone? She was trying to keep it together as she looked around for a weapon or a way to escape.

  If they thought she was going down without a fight, they’d picked the wrong girl. But the odds of five to one didn’t stack up in her favor.

  “Are you sure we have to give this one up? I wouldn’t mind keeping her for myself,” one of the men said, his front tooth missing, his face unshaven.

  “The boss already knows about her. So if you value your life, you’ll keep your hands off,” the man holding her snapped.

  “I just want a little taste,” the first man said as he stood and circled her, lifting his yellowed fingers and rubbing her cheek. She jerked away and gagged, which made the men laugh.

  His tobacco and whiskey flavored breath rushed up her nostrils as he grabbed the back of her neck and pressed his disgusting lips against hers, his hand slapping her backside in a harsh crack.

  She cried out, but that just made it possible for him to cram his tongue inside her cheek. She gagged again as bile rose in her throat, and he finally pulled back.

  “Oh, yeah, I really want to keep this one,” he said as he undid the top button of his pants and slid his fingers inside, looking like he was stroking himself in front of all of them. No one even blinked at his horrific behavior.

  “I said she’s spoken for. You do anything other than what you just did and you know the boss will kill us,” he said. But he looked down at her with a similar look as he lifted a hand. “It really is too bad, though. She’s real pretty.”

  Shaking where she stood, Mary refused to shed more tears as she glared at the man.

  “Where are we? I demand to know where you’re planning on taking me.”

  “Keep your damn mouth shut,” the man snarled before raising his other hand and backhanding her, making her vision blur for a moment as she tasted blood in her mouth. She’d rather taste blood than his vile spit.

  “No! I want to know where I am,” she shouted back, struggling with the man still holding tightly to her arms. He wasn’t releasing her, but as soon as the man who’d kissed her leaned forward again, she spit in his face, not caring about the consequences.

  Fury rushed into his dark eyes as he glared at her with such hatred, she would have taken a step backward if she had been able.

  His hand flew out and sharp pain slammed through her as he punched her hard in the chest, taking her breath away as she slumped down. Though she tried to hold herself together, the slight whimper escaping showed the group she was hurt and that made the ones sitting around the table laugh boisterously.

  “I’ve got to get her ready,” the man holding her said as he began marching her forward once again.

  “I’ll take over,” another man from the table offered with a hopeful expression.

  “Not going to happen,” the obvious leader said.

  She stumbled in front of him as he exited the kitchen and entered a dirty bathroom. The commode was covered in grime, the toilet paper wet, and the counter full of dirt. The sink and tub looked as if both hadn’t ever been scrubbed. She recoiled from the smell alone — which unbelievably was worse than the bedroom she’d been pulled out of.

  “Are the accommodations not to your liking, Princess?” the man asked with a harsh laugh. “You have two minutes. I’d use them wisely, because they will be your last. We’re traveling for a very long time tonight.”

  He walked away from the door but didn’t shut it. She saw his shadow in the hallway and knew he was standing right there. She’d either wet her pants or attempt to use the facility.

  As quickly as possible, and pulling her pants down only minimally, she hovered over the toilet and quickly did her business before she refastened her clothes.

  The man was standing in the doorway when she looked up, an evil leer on his lips.

  “It sure is a bummer to let you get away,” he said as his eyes traveled across her young body.

  She fought the tears wanting to fall. She wasn’t going to give this man or any of the others anything else to laugh at. She would find a means to get away even if it was the last thing she ever did.

  It wasn’t just herself she was thinking about, either. It might be easier to give up if that were the case. But no. She had a promise to keep for her brother and one way or the other she was determined to do just that.

  Chapter Four

  Mary was blindfolded and tied up before being forced from the house and down a set of stairs. She was trying to remember everything she could, trying to hear the sounds around her, listening for anything that might give her a clue as to where she was.

  She heard the rustling of trees, and the crunching of leaves. But not being able to see made it impossible for her to take in any clues to where she was. It truly seemed hopeless, not that she was going to give up so easily.

  Before she could get her bearings, she heard a creaky door open and then she was pushed forward. She was lifted, and then the man was laying her down. She began to fight against him, but his fist connected with her jaw, nearly making her lose consciousness again as pain shot through her, and more blood oozed into her mouth.

  She heard something above her snap shut, causing more fear to rush through her. Reaching her tied hands up, she discovered a solid wall above her. She reached to each side and found the same. She kicked out and there was nothing but walls.

  Beginning to panic, she twisted from side to side as she tried to free herself. She was closed in completely. They must have placed her in a box — or possibly her own grave.

  Her breathing came in pants as she struggled to f
ree herself, but it was no use. Desperately she wiggled around until she didn’t have the energy to struggle any further. She couldn’t hear a sound. Whatever they’d put her in seemed to be soundproof.

  But then she felt the vibration of movement. She stopped struggling and tried to pay attention. There was a bump of some sort and then just vibrating movement. She realized she must be in a box inside a vehicle.

  Okay, this wasn’t good, but it didn’t appear as if she were being buried alive — at least not yet. And thinking back, the man had said she was for someone. If that were the case, then surely they weren’t going to be dropping her into the ground.

  Although she might actually welcome death right now, she didn’t want to die slowly, painfully, as she lost all oxygen or her body starved. She’d rather it went quickly so she could just sink into oblivion.

  Mary slipped in and out of sleep as the hours slowly passed. She had no idea how much time had gone by, but when the lid to her box opened and a dim light shone above her, she took her first deep breath since she’d been placed in the soundless contraption.

  “Welcome to your new home,” the man said, an evil grin accompanying his words.

  “Where’s home?” she tentatively asked.

  “Haven’t you learned your lesson about asking questions?” he answered, reaching in and grabbing her hair, yanking her up to her feet.

  It felt as if thick strands were being pulled from her head, but this time she didn’t give him the satisfaction of tears. He seemed disappointed. He pulled her from the box, and she had only a moment to look at the tiny contraption her body had been crammed into before she was being yanked to the ground.

  “Move it.”

  She fell to her knees when she tried to take a step. She’d been constricted in the tiny box for hours, and she couldn’t walk. She tried standing and once again couldn’t get back up. She didn’t know what they expected from her. They were the ones who had entrapped her.