Chapter 47- The Abduction
Annie tried to open her eyes, but even when she did, she found she was wearing a blindfold. She tried to move, but found she was tied to a rather uncomfortable chair.
The air smelled of damp, and rotting cement. Every breath was labor, not just because she was wearing a corset, but because the air was so dusty and humid that it felt like Annie was breathing in tar.
Annie tried to feel something around her, but there was nothing. She tried to see even a light through her blindfold but there was nothing. The blindfold was made of a scratchy and very thick fabric, which made it impossible for her to see anything through it.
She heard someone move in front of her. "Jayden?" She squeaked.
"No." A broken voice said. She knew immediately who it was.
"Josh…" She said, a smile covering her face. "Where are you?" She asked, moving her head from side to side, as if looking for him. "Why am I here? Who did this to us."
"I did." Josh's deep voice came, but it didn't sound quite natural. It was a little higher than normal, and much more broken than usual.
"What?" Annie choked. "But Josh…" She didn't finished but she began to cry. Through her sobs came the only thing on her mind. She cried, "Why?"
"Because…" Josh said, still not quite genuinely. "I saw you with Jayden. I know now that you love him more than you love me." He almost sounded like he was crying, but if he was, Annie could only just barely tell.
"No, Josh, that's not true!" She said, the tears flowing and soaking the piece of cloth around her eyes.
"Its just that…" Josh began, and then he started moving strangely, from what Annie could hear. "No…" He sounded as if he was arguing with someone.
"Josh?" She said. She thought about asking if someone else was there, but decided it was better, if there was someone there that they didn't know she suspected.
"I can't…" Josh said, his voice breaking. He was crying, and softly between sobs Annie heard his small reply, "I don't love you, Annie."
That was all Annie could take. She broke into great heaving sobs. "Josh…" She pleaded. "Please don't say that…" She sobbed and then breathing in she stuttered. "Tell me you love me Josh. Tell me, because I still love you…" She tried to bend, to let her tears fall into her lap, but the rope around her wrists behind her, prohibited that movement.
"I can't, Annie." Josh said, crying still. She heard him fall on the floor. Probably to his knees. "I can't, because I don't love you anymore."
This wasn't Josh. It couldn't be, but still even if it weren't true, it still killed her to hear it. "Josh why couldn't we talk about this after the performance?" She said, trying to collect herself.
"Because, I needed to tell you." He said, and then he paused. "I needed to let you know that I am leaving town and that you will be able to live in happiness with your precious Jayden."
Annie acted as if she were truly hurt, but she knew that Josh would never just leave town only a day after asking her to marry him. "Josh, can't we talk this out?"
"NO!" Josh yelled, and at first Annie thought that he was yelling at her, but then she heard a groan and a loud boom. Annie had heard that sound a few times before, and recognized it as a gunshot. Then there was a piercing pain in her left calve. She panicked, knowing that she had been shot.