Till Dark - Page 52/113

He watched Jordan stirring as she lay on the dirt floor. Checking his watch he noted that she had been unconscious for nearly four hours. Slowly she came to and began to struggle but to no avail. Her ankles and hands were bound together behind her back and a smelly red bandanna was covering her eyes. She shifted trying to get the bandanna off enough to see where she was but a low voice tinkled with death addressed her "Stop struggling." Her dry tongue licked bloody lips." Where am I?" She rasped. Her parched tongue slurred the words. Who are you? What do you want with me?" Too weak to ask anything else her body went limp with pain and exhaustion."You are behind the rocks." She knitted her brows together but winced in pain from the wound on her forehead. She lay silent fighting the nausea. "You have managed to outsmart my counterpart but you will not be so lucky with me." He spat at her with a rough voice that seemed to echo. Jordan could not tell if it was her mind, or where they were that made him sound that way. She fought down panic and pain. Unsure how late in the day it was because it seemed to be dark she slowly began to move her head against the ground trying to make the bandanna shift up enough to let her see out from under it. He was watching her she could tell. Her skin crawled with the feel of his eyes boring into her flesh. Jordan had to be careful with her movements because there was a lot of dirt on the floor and she didn't want to choke. Waves of nausea kept washing over her making it hard not to lose consciousness but she fought it back long enough to get the bandanna where she could see a little without him knowing. She grew very still hoping that he would think that she had passed out again. "Hey are you still awake over there?" He questioned without concern for the answer. When Jordan didn't answer he walked over and tapped her with the toe of his black boots. Jordan didn't flinch even though it hurt, she remained still. When he was convinced that she was out cold again he walked out leaving her there.

His footsteps faded away and with great effort she attempted to sit up. Her battered limbs complained as she pushed herself into a sitting position by sliding her body threw her arms. The bandanna smelled of male sweat as she pulled it from her eyes. Her eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the semi-light. Swift fingers began to work on the knots holding her hands and feet at bay. Luckily he didn't tie the knots very tight and she was able to work them loose in a matter of minutes. He had a fire in the far edge of the place; she soon realized it was a cave. Getting all her courage and strength she rose, fighting the nausea and protests of her abused and battered body, to check out what he had hidden here to eat and drink. Her sugar had dropped to a dangerous level already from the loss of blood and exertion. A bottle of water was sitting next to the fire and she found some beef jerky and, Twinkies in a knapsack next to it. God is this guy pregnant or what? I don't think I ate this crazy when I was pregnant. She thought to herself. In the knapsack there was also a flashlight and a gun with extra bullets. Gently she pulled the knapsack over her left shoulder wincing in pain as she did so. Heading in the direction she had heard her attacker go, she prayed that he was leading her out and not deeper into the cave. Breathing slowly she tried not to make a sound as she slinked her way along the damp musty wall. Blood began seeping from her cuts again making her skin feel chilly. The flashlight would have been nice but, she was afraid that he might see it and know that she was no longer unconscious or tied up for that matter. Stumbling along she almost shouted with relief when she could hear the sound of the ocean after a few minutes. So far so good she thought as she crept silently along the rocky edge of the cave. Sure that she could escape without being spotted she left the hiding spot behind the rocks. The sound of the ocean in the near distance had never sounded so good. Slowly she made her decent to the bottom of the cliff.