She had been there two whole weeks now, stuck alone with him.
The time had passed so slowly, yet she could not believe she had been away from her life for two weeks already. The fear was still there all the time, clutching in her stomach like sharp blades, but every now and again her fear would turn into fierce anger and desperation, and she would spit out screams and mean words at Derek, only to regret it moments later when he got violent with her. He had a scary temper. She never knew what to expect from him. She remembered the time when Derek used to be a nice guy… before she saw his true colors. She wondered if there had been some signs of his madness, signs she could have noticed if she had paid closer attention at the time. Now that she thought about it, there had been something about his eyes, even back then. There was something cold, yet longing about them, unlike Lucas' warm and welcoming gaze… She just hadn't realized it at the time.
If she had only seen something, noticed the signs before, she might not be in this situation right now, Peyton thought to herself sadly. She could have stopped it.
They were sitting by the dining table, having a nice dinner, but Peyton barely touched it. She never managed to eat much anymore; her appetite had vanished completely since she was taken. She always felt sick and disgusted down to her stomach these days. At least he had started to take her to other places of the tiny house now, so she wasn't stuck in that windowless room all day. But he still made sure she was completely under his control at all times. At the moment, she was tied to a chair around her midsection, so she would have no chance of trying to escape. Not that she had any hopes of escaping anyway. With every day that passed, the little hope she had left disappeared more and more. There was no chance of getting away from him, not with him watching her so closely all the time. She had hoped to get a possibility to find something that could be used as a weapon, but no such luck so far. The hope of someone coming to rescue her was something she could not even allow herself to think anymore. There wasn't a chance, and the thought only brought her more sorrow.
"Why haven't you touched your food? Didn't you like it?" Derek looked at her with care.
She tried to pretend she didn't hear him, staring down at her lap.
"I'd like it if you answered me, sweetheart. Not answering isn't very polite, don't you agree?" he said in a calm, but threatening tone.
Peyton looked up at him for a moment, trying to suppress the strong hatred she felt boiling in her gut, and answered shortly "I'm not hungry."
"Well, I worked hard on making you a nice dinner, and it's very disrespectful to just leave it there. So why don't you try and eat it anyway? Hm?"
Peyton felt the hate building up inside her, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to eat his fucking food. She didn't care if she was being "rude". What she cared about, was to make him understand how much she really hated him. He just never seemed to get it.
"Why can't you just answer a simple question, Peyton?" he said irritably. She was always so hard on him, no matter what he did for her, and it was starting to piss him off. "Why can't you be happy about all the things I do for you? Is it really so hard to show some appreciation? Do you have any idea about all the effort I put into making you happy? Yet you keep acting like this. We could have such a wonderful time together, if you just stopped being so damn stubborn!"
"And how were you expecting me to act exactly, when you decided to brutally kidnap me from my own home?" Peyton snapped at him before she could stop herself.
He stood up in a fast movement, making the chair fall over. Peyton bit her lip and looked at him, scared of what he was going to do next. He saw her scared expression and gained some control over himself. He'd made angry fists without noticing, so he loosened them up. "So I guess we're done eating then," he said irritably and walked over to her. He started untying her, and then grabbed her arm powerfully, pulling her to her feet. He took a grip around her and led her to the couch by the TV. Derek forced her into the couch, as he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.
As she was lying there, he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "God, you're so beautiful. Isn't this romantic?" She cringed, wanting nothing more than to get out of his grip. His eyes teared up, to Peyton's surprise.
"You used to trust me…" he mumbled. "You used to talk to me. You opened up to me and told me secrets. It made me feel special. Why don't you trust me anymore?" He sounded so sensitive, with huge contrast to his terrifying anger. "I'm still the same person as before. We were so good together…"
Peyton said nothing. She didn't want to say anything that would make him angry again.
"The way you used to look at me, like you cared about me… like you loved me… I wish you would look at me like that again…"
"But you're not the same anymore, are you?" she said, her voice trembling. "I thought you were my brother, and you… you took advantage of my trust. I didn't want this, Derek. I- I just want to go home," she said pleadingly, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity when he seemed vulnerable. Maybe he would be able to listen to reason. Wrong move.
"You are home, Peyton!" he said, his anger building up, and he stood up. Peyton didn't want this, not now.
"Yes, of course I am, Derek! I didn't mean that… Please don't get angry again, please sit down," she said hastily. "I'm sorry… It- it just takes some time getting used to this new life." Derek's eyes softened.
"Right… I'm sorry, Peyton. I didn't mean to get upset." He sat down and pulled her back into his arms. "This isn't easy for you either, I understand that. Don't worry, you'll adjust to this life, baby. And we'll live happily ever after, without anyone else bothering us. Yeah… just the two of us."
This definitely wasn't Peyton's idea of happily ever after, but she kept her mouth shut. That's how most of her days were like, these days. She kept quiet, so she wouldn't snap some angry comment at him and piss him off. She wasn't usually the type of girl who just let someone step on her, but in this situation there was no better choice.
"Shall we watch a movie, babe? Let's see what's on, shall we?" he said and turned on the television.
He found some random cliché romantic movie, and it was a painful hour and a half. Peyton was lying in his arms, completely frozen the whole time, feeling terrified that he would get aroused or excited. He kept dragging his fingers through her curly hair, and at certain romantic scenes, he would look down at her and smile with adoration. It repulsed her beyond belief. When the movie was finally over, her relief didn't last for long. She could feel his hands again, starting to touch her everywhere, and his lips starting to kiss her neck softly. Peyton closed her eyes. No… not now…
She tried not to cry. She didn't think she could handle it another time.
But in the middle of his touches, something interrupted them. The end credits of the movie was over, and the news had come on. Peyton's own name caught their attention, and they looked at the television.
Shockingly, Peyton saw her own face filling the TV screen.
"It has now been two weeks since Peyton Sawyer, 18, was abducted from her home in Tree Hill. The police has an ongoing investigation, but so far they've been out of luck." Peyton was frozen, petrified. All she could do was watch; this was her first glimpse of what was happening in the outside world in two weeks.
"Huh, this will be amusing. Those idiots haven't got a clue!" Derek said with a pleased smirk.
Suddenly, Larry Sawyer's face appeared on screen, and Peyton's heart jumped. She let out a whimper.
"I just hope, more than anything, that my baby girl is safe, wherever she is." Larry's voice was shaking, but he had determination in his expression. "I won't sleep until she's back here with me… I will get her back. And the bastard who did this will pay his price…" Larry had tears in his eyes, and they threatened to start falling any second.
Derek laughed cruelly. "What a coward!" he said, staring at the screen, completely emotionless. "That idiot doesn't even care about you, he's never even home. And now he suddenly comes along, pretending he gives a shit."
Peyton tried her best not to listen to him. Derek couldn't take this away from her, he just couldn't.
"Peyton is a strong girl, and I believe she will make it through this. Ever since her mother died, she has learnt how to… take care of herself-" Larry's voice broke.
Peyton could not believe what she was seeing. Her heart was racing, and she longed more than ever to be home with her dad. She wanted him to hold her and protect her the way only a father could. She wanted to tell him that she was okay, so he wouldn't have to worry.
The news reporter spoke again. "People from all over town have come together outside the Sawyer residence this evening to show support and love for their missing friend." As the reporter spoke, the camera showed many people standing together outside Peyton's own house, and she recognized so many faces; Skills. Mouth. Nathan. Haley. Bevin. Rachel. Whitey. Karen. Brooke… They were all holding candles or flowers, and they looked sad and worried.
Peyton's eyes filled with tears. This was more than she ever could have wished for. So many people… all of them gathered there for her. It made her ache from the inside, and she just wanted to scream at them, telling them where she was and what she was going through. Still, it felt like her heart filled with this spark, and hope started to reassemble inside her.
Then the face she had been hoping and waiting for most, appeared on the screen. Lucas was staring right into the camera, with that broody, attractive look on his face, and those gentle eyes. Peyton got goosebumps, and was filled with true hope for the first time. She ripped herself out of Derek's grip without thinking, longingly staring at the screen.
"Peyton, if you're somehow watching this, I want you to know that I will find you and save you. I won't give up until you're back here with us… with me… please hold on. I will never give up on you, I promise." He spoke these words with such honesty and assurance that she truly believed him. Peyton could feel warm tears fall down her face. "If there is any way for you to make contact-"
The screen suddenly turned black, and Peyton jumped in confusion. What happened? Where did he go? She wanted to see more of this beautiful miracle, this piece of hope. She wanted to see more of her dad, Lucas, and all the others… She couldn't understand what had happened, as tears continued to stream down her face. Then she got her answer. She felt his hard hand touching his way up her back, and then his nails digged into her neck. She whimpered and her body froze. She had completely forgotten about Derek. Terrified, she slowly turned her head to look at him. He was sitting there, completely red with anger and shaking from jealousy. His face was harsh and merciless. Peyton could feel the hairs down her spine stand up in terror, and the joy that had filled her moments earlier, disappeared instantly.
"You think you love him, don't you?" he said coolly, his icy eyes stabbing her.
"Derek," Peyton whispered, frightened to the bone.
He wasn't listening. Why was she acting like this? Why did she have to provoke him this way? Why didn't she realize that his love for her was real, unlike that fraud Lucas'?
"You need to forget about him, Peyton. Otherwise, we will never be able to start our life together. You need to forget about them all. From now on, I don't want to hear any mention of Tree Hill or the people there again, ever. It's the only way."
He looked at her with enraged eyes, and she let the tears fall quietly in dismay.
His feeling of jealousy only got stronger as he stared at her heartbroken expression, and he made his decision. He needed to make her his, so that she would be his forever. She belonged to him, and he needed to make sure that everyone would know that.
Derek grabbed her arm, ignoring her scream as he dragged her across the floor and into the bedroom. Without a word, he threw her to the bed and put the chain around her ankle again, before she was even able to react. Peyton expected the worst to happen, and got ready to fight, but to her surprise, he left the room, closing the door with a loud bang.