Chapter 28

When she woke up, Elizabeth couldn't remember where she was. She tried to sit up but her body felt too heavy for her to move. She looked around, trying to make out where she was.

"Heath?" she called, her voice was raspy and her mouth was unbelievably dry.

"Heath isn't here. Once again, he couldn't protect you," a voice said. She couldn't tell where it was coming from and she couldn't see whom it was, but the accent was unmistakable. He chuckled when he heard her gasp in fear.

"Where am I?" she tried to ask. Her mouth was so dry it hurt her throat to talk.

"Well, that's the thing, I can't tell you. If I did then you would call lover boy and big brother and tell them. We can't have that happening, now can we?" he told her.

"What do you want?" she asked, slightly afraid to hear the answer.

"You," he said simply, "You are going to marry me, tomorrow. I've figured everything out and you're already wearing your engagement ring. It's quite a bit larger than the one I proposed with last time, so I'm sure you'll like it better this time.

"I am not going to marry you Stu. I will never marry you," she told him.

"Oh, I think you will once you see who is in danger if you don't. But before we get to that part, I'm sure you must be hungry. I can't let me fiancé starving and passing out before our big day. So get up and get downstairs so that we can eat breakfast like a family," he replied.

"Someone is in danger? Stu please don't hurt anyone, please," she begged.

"Don't make me and I wont have to. Now get up," he demanded.

Elizabeth sat herself up, finally getting a chance to look around the room she was in. She could tell that it wasn't his condo because none of the rooms in his condo looked like this. She stood up and walked over to where Stu was standing and he pulled her into a hug that she didn't return.

"See, this is what we should have already had, you waking up in the morning to me. Now we will have that until I decide I don't want you around anymore," he chuckled again as she tried to pull away.

He grabbed her arm tightly and led her downstairs to the kitchen and sat her down at the countertop in the middle of the big room. There were two plates on it filled with food. Elizabeth looked down at the plate in front of her and immediately her stomach started turning.

"I don't think I can eat right now," she told him quietly.

"Why not? Is my food not good enough for you?" he asked loudly.

She shook her head quickly and grabbed her fork. Picking at the scrambled eggs, she slowly ate. There was bacon and sausage and potatoes, but nothing looked good and she was afraid that if she ate it she wouldn't be able to keep it down. She ate as much as she could before putting her fork down and noticing the glass of water sitting in front of her. She grabbed it and chugged it as fast as she could, finally giving her mouth and throat some relief.

"Thirsty much," Stu said.

"Yeah, I feel like I haven't had anything to drink I forever," Elizabeth replied.

"If you're done eating, I'll show you the reason you are going to marry me," he told her, "and trust me, once you see who it is, you'll want to marry me right now."

He laughed as he pulled her to another room in the big house. He unlocked the door and pushed her inside.

"Stu, please don't hurt me," Elizabeth heard a voice say.

"It's not up to me anymore, dolly. You're fate is in her hands," Stu replied.

"Barbie?" Elizabeth asked in a panicked voice as her eyes adjusted to the bright room. She ran over to her friend and grabbed her in a hug. "What did you do to her?" Elizabeth demanded, looking at Stu.

"She should know better than to fight back. She bit me," he replied with a shrug, "But if you don't marry me tomorrow then I will hurt her even more. She is going to be one of the witnesses that sign out marriage license. And if she doesn't sign it then I will hurt you."

"PJ and Heath are going to be looking for us. They aren't going to just sit there and do nothing," Elizabeth told him.

"That might be true, but you are going to change that. You are going to call them and tell them that you are fine, that both of you are fine. Then you are going to tell Heath that you don't want to be with him anymore and that you are going to marry me," he said with a laugh.

"And if I don't?" she countered.

"Then she suffers the consequences."

Elizabeth couldn't take time to think. She looked at Barbie with apologetic eyes and stood up.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll call them," she said, giving in to him.

"I knew you'd do the right thing," Stu told her with a smirk on his face and handed her his phone. He watched as she searched through his contacts for her brother's number and pushed send. His smirk deepened when she put the phone to her ears and tears came to her eyes.

"PJ?" she said when he answered.

Bee? Where are you?

"I don't know, but I'm with Barbie. And, uh, we're fine," she told him with a shaky voice.

Don't lie to me, I can hear it in your voice that you aren't. Are you safe?

"Probably not but we're alive, so I guess that counts for something, right?" she said, trying to joke.

This isn't the time to be funny Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry, P. I have to go though. I'll see you soon, I promise."

How soon?

"I don't know. But I really do have to go," she said and hung up the phone. Stu looked annoyed as she looked for Heath's number next.

"Make it fast this time. That was too long," Stu told her and she nodded.

"Heath, I can't talk long. I just wanted you to know that I'm alright," she told him as soon as he answered.

Bee, I'm with PJ. I heard everything you just told him.

"Okay, but you didn't hear this," she said crying, "I, uh, I don't want to be with you anymore. I'm marrying Stu tomorrow."

No you are not. There is no way in hell I'm letting you marry that bastard.

"I have to. I'm sorry, Heath," she hung up the phone, not wanting to hurt him anymore, and sank to the floor holding her head in her hands.

"Bee, you didn't have to do that for me," Barbie whispered to her.

"Yes, I did. PJ would never have forgiven me if anything happened to you," Elizabeth whispered back.

Stu yanked Elizabeth up by her wrist, making her yelp in pain.

"It's time to go. We have things to do before our wedding tomorrow," he told her.