Chapter Three

"You know, you're a tough little bitch. No matter what I do to you, you just won't give up." the man in front of me says. He grabs me by my hair and yanks my head up so I'm looking directly in his eyes. Meanwhile, I'm trying to loosen the ropes that have been holding my wrists for the past four days. I move the razorblade slowly over the rope, trying so hard not to make any sort of movement. I don't want him to notice what I'm doing and I also don't want to end up slashing my wrists. Although in the end, that might be a better alternative to what he's going to do to me.

"The others never lasted this long." he whispers close to my face.

I can't stand the feel of his breath on my face. It makes me want to heave.

Finally I feel the ropes fall away from my wrists but I catch them before they fall to the ground. I keep the razorblade tucked between my fingers. If I'm going to try and pull this off, the time is now.

Four days. Four days since I've seen her. God, she could be anywhere. Anything could happen in four days. Anything could happen in one instant, for God's sake. What if they were too late? What if they couldn't find her? Lucas tries to shake the thoughts from his head.

He hasn't eaten, slept, or done much of anything since I've been gone. All he's done is look at his cell phone praying for some sort of news that I'm okay.

Keith appears in the doorway. "Can I come in?" he asks. Lucas only nods.

"They'll find her Luke. You have to have faith."

"She doesn't deserve this. She could be dead for all we know..." his voice trails off as he chokes back a sob.

Keith puts his hand on Lucas' shoulder to comfort him but instead Lucas just hugs Keith and sobs. Karen watches the scene from the doorway and can't help but feel her heart breaking. "Peyton, please make it through this." she whispers to the ceiling.

I have to hold on. I have to do this. Even if I don't make it, I have to try. This can't happen to them. I have to be there for them. All of them. Especially Lucas.

My bones ache like nothing I have ever felt before, and I'm not even sure I have the strength to move. I pray to God and my mom and whoever else is up there to just let me make it through this alive. To give me the strength to get out of here.

His back is turned. I slowly bring my hands from behind my back. My wrists are bruised black and blue from the ropes. I slowly stand up, not making a sound. I make my way towards him and he turns around.

"What the fu-" he starts

He brings his hand back to strike me but instead I slice the razorblade as hard as I can over whatever part of his body I can. And then I run.

I have no idea where I'm going, I'm just goig on pure adrenaline. I bolt through a door and suddenly I'm blinded by sunlight. I recoil for a second before running as fast as my legs will allow me to. I make my way through the trees not even feeling the branches smack against my face as I run.

I hear him behind me and start running faster. I see the edge of the cliff ahead and I hear the water rushing below it. It's now or never. I close my eyes and run full speed ahead, and suddenly I'm in the air. I feel the water rush over me like it's about to swallow me whole...and then, I don't feel anything at all.

Lucas is jarred awake by the phone. He looks out the window and realizes he's slept for at least a couple of hours. The sky is completely dark. He answers the phone.

"Lucas, we found her. You need to get to the hospital." the detective tells him.

"How? Where? Is she okay?" he asks in a rush.

"I'll fill you in when you get here." he replies.

He rushes downstairs and out the door like a bat out of hell, leaving everyone to wonder what the hell is going on.

Lucas gets to the hospital in record time, breaking about 20 traffic laws on his way. He runs into the emergency room, and almost slams right into the detective. "Where is she?" Lucas asks, out of breath.

"She's in surgery right now. She was really banged up. A couple of kids fishing on the river found her. They pulled her into the boat and called the police." he tells him. "We're searching all the properties around the area where she was found. We'll find him, don't worry."

Lucas takes the elevator up to the appropriate floor and slumps into one of the chairs. He takes out his phone and calls his mom and fills her in on everything that he knows. Within half an hour, everyone is assembled in the waiting room, right along Lucas.

"Lucas Scott?"

Lucas looks up and sees a surgeon standing there holding a clipboard.

Yeah, I'm Lucas" he says.

"I'm Dr. Brady. Peyton was in pretty bad shape when she was brought in. Most of it was due to the fall into the river. She had massive head trauma, two collapsed lungs, and several broken bones. We went in and repaired all of the damage. Right now we have her on machines that are breathing for her. She's not out of the woods yet. The next 48 hours are crucial." the doctor explains.

He leads Lucas to the room in ICU that I'm in.

"Whoever did this to her had been slowly torturing her. She had multiple bruises and cuts on her arms, legs, chest, and neck. I'm shocked that she made it through all of that."

Lucas enters my room and sits by my bed. He looks around at all the machines that are hooked up to me. My face and arms are covered with bruises and cuts.

"Peyton...I don't know if you can hear me or not. You're okay now. You're safe. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you ever again. I'm gonna be here right by your side." Lucas whispers.

For the first time in almost five days, he falls asleep in the chair by my bed, holding my hand.