A/N: You guys are so great! I love the comments and everyone trying to pin down the "Bossman". I think most of you believe Bill is involved somehow (looks away grinning). Guess you'll have to read and find out.
Chapter 4: Love Me Tender
SPOV
When I came to, my first thoughts were of Pamela. I panicked for a moment and then recognized that she was curled around my body, holding on to me as if I was her life raft and in a sense I was. My head was pounding and my arms and hands felt like they were three sizes larger than they actually were.
I had absolutely no recollection of the events that had occurred. My last memory was of that SUV and being injected with a needle. I had no idea of how much time had passed, but I did know that it was nighttime and Pam and I had been taken during the day, so if it were the still the same day, only about 4 hours would've passed.
My stomach was rumbling, and I heard Pamela's mimic mine as well. She was asleep, or at least I hoped that it was just sleep and not drugs.
Taking in my surroundings, which was difficult since it was very dark; however I noticed that we were in a small room. It had an attached bathroom. The room was very modest and contained only one twin bed that looked like it had seen better days.
The walls were thin, I knew that because I could hear moaning coming from the other room. Granted, I was a virgin, but I wasn't completely naïve. Those were definitely sex sounds.
I had no idea what the relationship was between Lochlan and the woman driver, but I had to assume that they were lovers and were the ones having sex in the next room.
I prayed to God that Pamela didn't wake up. She was already going to be traumatized enough; I didn't want to have to explain the sounds coming from the other room too. Thinking of little Pamela, I held her closer to my body as if I could somehow protect her from the evil that she had already been exposed to.
After a few minutes, the moaning and thumping stopped and I presumed that they were finished fucking each other's' brains out. A bit later, the door to our little room flung open and Lochlan filled the doorway. The light from the other room illuminated his frame and I could clearly see that he wasn't wearing a shirt and his hair was ratted in a wild mess.
My breathing increased as did my heart rate. I was scared that he was going to do something to me or worse Pamela.
He raked his eyes carefully over my body which gave me goose bumps. He didn't say anything, though; instead he turned and left the room. I couldn't stop the cold chills as they made their way down my body. I prayed that he would just leave us be, because if he tried to do anything to Pamela, I would kill him – or I would try, and if I failed then he would kill me which in turn would leave little Pamela to fend for herself. She wouldn't survive that.
I felt Pamela begin to stir in my arms and I knew that she was waking up. I released my death grip on her, so that she could move around if she wanted to. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to get them to focus in the dim light.
As she looked up into my eyes, I saw the absolute sorrow and overwhelming fear that no child should ever have to feel. It broke what was left of my heart.
"Are you okay?" was the first thing that she said. I had to swallow the lump in my throat, but I couldn't suppress the tear that ran down my cheek. This precious little girl had been violently taken and exposed to pure evil, yet she was concerned for me.
"I'm ok, but I'm more worried about you." I replied as I brushed some stray hair away from her face.
"I'm scared." She replied, biting her quivering lip.
"I know baby, but you have to be brave." I said, not knowing if that was the right thing to say. "We'll get out of here." I said as an afterthought.
"You promise?" she asked in a small voice.
I hated to promise her something that I wasn't sure was true or not, but I had to give her hope. It was all we had, really.
"I promise sweetheart." I replied with not as much conviction as I would've liked.
"My dad is gonna miss me." She said. Kids were so simplistic in their thoughts. Pamela, though, was extraordinary. She worried for her father, for me and for herself. I probably didn't even have to tell her to be brave, because she already was.
"That's why we need to get back to him." I said.
I don't know how much longer Pamela and I huddled together on the small bed before the woman, the driver from the SUV, came into the room and tossed two sandwiches that were wrapped in plastic wrap onto the bed. She left the room just as suddenly as she came and without saying a single word.
I noticed a small bedside lamp, so I reached across Pamela and turned it on. I grabbed the two sandwiches and opened them, giving Pamela the first one. I thought about it, and then grabbed it back from her.
"Hey!" she whined. "I'm hungry." She said. I knew that, so was I, but I wasn't sure that we should eat the food. What if it was poisoned or something? I didn't want to voice my fears, because she didn't need to be burdened with those ideas.
I took the sandwich apart inspecting and smelling each facet of the sandwich. It was a simple bologna sandwich: bread, cheese, mustard and bologna. After a very thorough inspection, I was fairly confident that the sandwich hadn't been tampered with and gave it to her to eat. She was a smart girl, and could probably figure out why I snatched it back from her anyway.
We ate in silence, though I was a bit slower to eat my sandwich than Pamela was. My mind was just too occupied thinking of various ways to get out of this abysmal situation. I mostly worried about Pamela, and how her poor father must be completely distraught. I wished that I could tell him that I would protect his daughter with all that I had. I wondered if he would be angry with me for basically being the reason that she was taken in the first place. Had I not decided to approach her, would she have been taken? I ran that scenario through my mind and the various ways that it could've played out, but ultimately, I decided that I had done the right thing. Besides, I wasn't sure that Pamela wasn't the main target anyhow.
"Sookie, I'm still hungry." Pamela said, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked into my lap and noticed that I still had half of my sandwich left.
"Here take mine." I offered. She took it without question and finished it quickly.
The house had been very quiet since the woman had last come into the room. Though the walls were very thin, I had been able to hear them at least stirring in the other part of the house. I wasn't sure how big or small the house was, I knew that we had been put into a small room with an adjoining bathroom, but I was out cold when we were brought here, so I had no clue what the rest of the house looked like.
The house appeared to be old, and I ventured that it had been abandoned as there were old photos of an African American family hanging on the wall. The photo looked to be turn of the century, but I wasn't a very good judge of those things so I could've been completely wrong.
"I need to go to the bathroom." Pamela said, and I told her that she could go and pointed to the tiny adjoining room.
"Can you come with me?" she asked. I internally chided myself for being so daft. Of course she wouldn't want to go into an unfamiliar room all by herself.
"Sure thing sweetie." I said in a forced cheerful tone. I needed to start making a better effort to reassure her that everything was alright and that we weren't in danger, even though that was far from what was actually happening.
After I helped Pamela use the bathroom and wash up, there wasn't much that we could do, so we sat on the bed and just talked for a bit. She told me all about her daddy. I thought it was cute that she called him daddy instead of dad or father or, god forbid, his actual name. I could picture her sitting on his lap barely awake as he read a cute children's book to her. I ventured to guess that she had him wrapped around her little finger the same way that I had with my father before he died.
Pam told me about how strong she thought her daddy was and how much she loved it when he would pick her up and hoist her on top of his shoulder telling her that he was Cinderella's magical carriage and would walk around in public places that way. She talked of him as if he were a super hero, but in reality he was definitely her hero.
She told me how she didn't have a mommy, but that she really wanted one, because someone name Leesha had one and so did all the other kids in her class. I could relate to that feeling.
"Will you be my mommy?" She asked me in the sweetest, most vulnerable voice. I didn't know how to respond to that, I mean, we were definitely in a messed up situation and she surely needed someone to rely on, but could I actually agree to that?
"Yes Pamela. I can be your mommy while we're here." I replied and kissed the top of her head. I felt an overwhelming need to protect her.
"You can call me Pam and I want you to be my mommy forever." She replied back and hugged me. I cried, like a baby because I realized that I was to her what my Grandmother was to me.
"Can you sing me a song?" she asked as her eye lids began to fall slowly.
"Sure thing, sweetie." I said automatically. I thought about it for a minute, and then decided to quietly sing her the song that my gran had sung to me when I sought her comfort.
Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so.
She had fallen asleep sometime during the second chorus, and after I finished singing, I pulled her against my chest and fell asleep.
It was a loud argument that awoke me the following morning. I could hear the spat as clearly as if I were in the same room with Lochlan and the woman.
"He didn't send the ransom." Lochlan yelled and he sounded panicked. I checked Pam and made sure that she was still sleeping. I hoped that she didn't wake up.
"I fucking told you that your plan was not going to fucking work!" The woman retorted sounding haughty.
"It will work, Neave, I just need some more time. The fucking old man is loaded and Breandan said he would happily pay for the lousy cunt!" He screamed back.
I didn't know who the "lousy cunt" was, but I had the sneaking suspicion that it was me. Though I had no inkling who the "old man" was that they were referring to. I kept listening, careful to pick up and clues that I could.
"What if he doesn't, huh?, then what? We can't just keep her here. Just give them to Madden and make a deal with him. He'll protect you from Breandan." Neave pleaded.
"I won't abandon him." He said in a desperate way.
"I know." She said in a resigned way, and then added, "I love you."
I waited to hear his response, but all I heard was the unmistakable sound of sex and by the sounds of it, it was animalistic.
I tried to block out everything that was going on in that room and focus on making a plan. My stomach was grumbling again, a feeling that I was starting to get used to, and I figured Pam could probably use some food too. I hated that we were dependent on Thing One and Thing Two for basic sustenance, but I had no choice.
I heard the sound of a cell phone ringing loudly, which interrupted the grunting and slapping. At the sound of the ring, Pam began to rouse. She began peppering me with questions which obstructed my hearing. I was about to tell her to shush when the door flung open and the woman, Neave, entered holding a knife. It wasn't just a plain old kitchen knife either, this one was long and sharp and it made my blood run cold.
"Get up bitch." She demanded. I held Pam closer to me and refused to get up.
"It's you or her… You decide." She said menacingly. My prospects of fighting her off were nil, so I calmed Pam and told her that I'd be right back and that it was going to be fine. All the while the woman just laughed at my words and sneered at the sentiments.
"I'll be right back, Pam, I promise." I told her and kissed her forehead. She was crying and shaking with fear.
What I didn't know when I left that room was that I would keep my promise to her, but that the sight of my return would only cause her to be even more terrified.
A/N: Next chapter we will switch back to EPOV and find out what happens at Bill's house. I don't always switch POV's back and forth between E and S, but most of the story is structured that way. Thanks for reading!