Twenty-Two
Nancy let out a miserable sigh of frustration as she pulled against the handcuff tethering her to the metal towel rack in Wesley's master bathroom. As soon as he'd allowed her to take a shower and get dressed, he'd brought her back into the bathroom and secured her to the rack, saying that he couldn't trust her to be alone in the house. Which was entirely true, since Nancy undoubtedly knew she would use that time to find a way out of there.
She wished she could have convinced him otherwise, but they both weren't stupid. There would have been no way for her to fully convince him that she would stay put like a good little girl. Nancy prided herself on being a good actress, but she wasn't a great one. It would have been just a hopeless endeavor on her part.
Instead, she was stuck in a steaming bathroom, listening to Wesley hum over the thrum of the pounding water. She couldn't think of a worse place that she could be at the moment, realizing that there was only a wall of glass separating her from his naked body. And of course, it wouldn't be a piece of frosted glass—oh, no. It was crystal clear and sparkling as if it had just been installed only an hour ago, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Wesley had only smiled knowingly at her before she had turned her back to him to stare at the wall. The navy tiles were a whole lot more interesting than staring at the monster in the shower, no matter how well-built and attractive he may be.
Nancy let out a soft moan as her arm protested its forced position above her head. It had grown numb about five minutes ago and the slightest movement caused sharp, tingling pains to shoot up her arm. She figured Wesley knew exactly what he was doing by staying in the shower longer than was necessary—he wanted to cause as much torment as possible by any means possible. No matter how mundane and stupid it was.
Adjusting her position, Nancy laid her head against her arm as Wesley continued to hum in the shower. She couldn't help but wonder what he had in store for her today, hoping against everything that what he said at breakfast wouldn't come to fruition. She knew there was no way she could participate in one of his heinous crimes—she'd rather die herself.
There was only one little problem with that—Wesley had told her that it wasn't going to be an option. He had no plans of killing her, only to keep her prisoner and torture her in every way possible—physically and mentally.
She honestly didn't know how much more she was going to be able to take before she lost herself completely. Everything was stacking up against her and it would only take a slight nudge before she slipped off the thin precipice she was barely clutching on with the tips of her fingers. She wasn't even sure if she would resemble a functioning human being by the time she got back to Frank.
And she would get back to Frank. That was something that she knew with absolute certainty.
Nancy sat up a little straighter as the shower finally turned off, refusing to turn around to face Wesley. He continued to hum even as he stepped out of the shower, the cloying cloud of steam hitting her back, almost making it difficult for her the breathe.
Wesley chuckled. "You don't have to act bashful, Nancy. You've seen me naked before. Why act embarrassed about it now?"
"I didn't exactly have a choice the first time, did I?" Nancy asked through clenched teeth. No way in hell would she give him the pleasure he sought from her.
"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it."
Nancy closed her eyes and remained silent, refusing to acknowledge something so absurd. She shivered slightly as he let out another chuckle, but thankfully he didn't say anything more about it. She kept her back turned to him as he moved around the large bathroom, tuning out all thoughts of the killer.
Instead, she focused on thoughts of Frank. If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost feel his arms around her, holding her safe and secure. She could almost smell him, his scent a mixture of his favorite spicy soap and the outdoors, which was peculiar since Frank had never been an outdoorsy kind of guy. She could almost feel his warm breath against her neck as he held her close as if he would never let her go again.
God, what she wouldn't give to have all of those things again.
"Frank…"
Nancy didn't realize she had uttered his name until Wesley was jerking her up and shoving her against the wall, the towel rack digging painfully into her back as her wrist protested the violent movement. She was unable to mask her fear as she looked up into his crazed blue eyes.
"What did you say?" Wesley asked through clenched teeth, applying pressure to her arm as he gave her another shove against the wall.
Nancy let out a cry of pain as she tried to pull away from him. "I'm sorry," she whispered, hating how pitiful she sounded. "Please, I just miss him…"
Wesley let out a growl as he grabbed her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "There is no more Frank, Nancy. And it's about time that you realized that. There's only you and me now."
Tears formed in her eyes as she stared back at the crazed man before her. She tried her best not to let them fall, but one escaped, burning a slow, agonizing trail down her cheek. Wesley leaned forward as he continued to hold her face, lapping up the tear with a satisfied moan. Nancy let out a whimper as she tried to move out of his painful grip.
"Tell me you understand, Nancy," Wesley said softly, moving his head so he could look at her again. When she hesitated, he gave her face a not so gentle squeeze. "Tell me what I want to hear, Nancy."
Nancy wanted to scream in frustration at her situation. How dare this asshole make her feel weak and terrified. Every part of her wanted to argue with him and tell him that it would never be the two of them, that it would always be her and Frank. But she knew it would only take so much to push him to the edge. She wasn't necessarily worried about herself, but what Wesley would do to someone else because of her stubbornness.
What he could do to Frank or Joe or anyone else that she loved.
"I understand," Nancy whispered, feeling sick to her stomach.
"I'm sorry? I'm afraid I couldn't hear you."
Nancy glared at him. She knew very well that he could hear her, considering it was deathly silent in the bathroom and their voices echoed—even whispering—in the cavernous room. "I understand."
"Good," Wesley said with a smile. Keeping his grip tight on her face, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth.
Nancy closed her eyes against the invasion, trying to pull her head away. When Wesley only became more forceful with his tongue, Nancy didn't think as she bit down on it, tasting the coppery tang of his blood in her mouth.
"You bitch!" Wesley roared as he pulled away from her before delivering a powerful backhand across her face that sent her sprawling to the floor. Nancy cried out in pain as her arm was jerked above her head, the handcuff still holding her prisoner to the towel rack.
Wesley sent her a scathing glare before walking over to the sink and rinsing his mouth out with water. Nancy let out a soft moan as she tried to sit up, her face throbbing against the savage blow he'd delivered. She was sure she was going to have a nasty bruise there, if not a black eye. Part of her couldn't help but wonder how he would explain that since he planned to bring her out in public.
In that moment, Nancy knew she needed to get away from him today. He was presenting her with the perfect opportunity by bringing her out in public. It would probably be the only chance that she had to get away. She couldn't be here with him any longer, because even though he assured her that he wasn't going to kill her, Nancy knew that she couldn't trust a damn word that came out of his mouth.
After all, look what happened with Ella.
When Wesley came back to her, he was noticeably calmer, which scared Nancy even more. He flashed her a small smile before unlocking the cuff that held her prisoner. With surprising gentleness, he helped her to stand up before leading her into the bedroom, where he sat her down on the bed.
Nancy couldn't help the momentary panic that shot through her as he reached into the drawer of the bedside table, remembering what had happened the last time he'd gone in that drawer. She subtly began inching away from him, gauging the distance between her and the door. The rational part of her knew that she would never make it, but right now, the irrational part of her brain was front and center and not listening to any arguments. She was beginning to rise to her feet when Wesley turned back to her, holding a perfectly squared velvet box.
He frowned slightly when he noticed she had moved, but it was quickly replaced with a radiant smile as he held the box out to her.
"What is that?" Nancy asked, eyeing it warily.
"It's a present." Wesley chuckled at Nancy's hesitant expression. "You won't know what it is until you open it, my love."
Nancy shivered slightly at the pet name, hating that he was calling her his anything. She was nothing to him and she never would be.
"Take the box, Nancy."
With shaking hands, Nancy took the box from him, but she didn't open it. There was no telling what was in the harmless looking box. For all she knew, it could be another spider or something worse—like a human heart or a child's skull. Nothing would surprise her at this point.
He heaved a sigh as he lifted the lid off of the box for her. Nancy looked inside and was momentarily relieved to see that it held nothing more than a thick, black bracelet. But her relief quickly faded away as she lifted it out of the box, vaguely recognizing the item for what it was.
Wesley took the bracelet from her and put the box on the bed beside her. "I got to thinking…if I was going to allow you to go out in public, I couldn't very well leave you tied up the entire time. That was look highly suspicious on my part. And the last thing I want to do is draw suspicion to myself."
"You're right," Nancy said bitterly, trying her best not to roll her eyes since that's exactly what she wanted. "We wouldn't want that to happen."
Wesley smiled. "Glad you're on the same page as me."
"Unfortunately so."
"Thankfully for me, I still have some connections in law enforcement," Wesley continued, ignoring her. "This is a tracking bracelet and it works pretty much the same way that the ankle monitors work for people who are on house arrest." Grabbing her leg, he fastened the contraption around her left leg, the resounding click sounding almost like a death sentence to Nancy.
Nancy pulled her leg away from Wesley and tried to pry the device off, but she could barely get her fingers in between it and her ankle. She couldn't even see a locking mechanism on the damn thing, which meant that she wouldn't even be able to pick it open.
Wesley seemed to realize what her intent was as he gave her a chilling smile, holding up a small remote in his hand. It was black with a series of numbered buttons and fit discreetly in the palm of his hand. Nancy had seen a few monitoring devices in her line of work, but never one quite as sophisticated as this one.
"The only way that thing is coming off of you is if I choose for it to." Rising up, Wesley put his hands on either side of Nancy on the bed, leaning into her until she had no choice but to lie down. "You can certainly try to escape, Nancy, but know this—I will find you. There will be nowhere you can hide without me knowing."
Nancy swallowed hard as he pressed into her further, running his hand along her thigh before trailing it up her body to cup her left breast. She couldn't stop the whimper from escaping her as he gave it a hard squeeze. Her reflexes automatically kicked in as she pushed him away from her, scurrying to get away from him as he stumbled back.
"Don't touch me!"
Wesley chuckled darkly as he stalked back over to her and jerked her off the bed. "There will plenty of time for touching you later, my love. Right now, we have other things to do."
Nancy could think of a million things she would rather be doing than sitting in a car beside Wesley—reorganizing her book collection in alphabetical order and watching paint dry were at the top of her list. Hell, even cleaning up after Joe was a viable option. Anything would be better than sitting in the passenger seat with a matter of inches separating them.
Every part of her was itching to reach for the door handle and throw herself out of the car, whether it was moving or not. There were only a couple of problems with that option: one, Nancy was sure, even without checking them, that the doors would be locked—child-locked in fact. And two, the damn tracking device was strapped to her ankle, so even if she managed to get away from him, she wouldn't get very far.
Once again, she was royally screwed.
And now to top it off, she was now being forced to participate in one of Wesley's murders. She couldn't even begin to describe how much the idea sickened her. Well, he had another thing coming if he thought she was going to have anything to do with it. Nancy would not allow that to be on her conscience. Even if Wesley managed to find another innocent victim, she would do everything in her power to thwart his plans.
She couldn't watch another person die.
Nancy barely paid attention to the passing scenery, realizing that it probably wouldn't help her anyway. All she knew for sure was that they had been driving around for at least a couple of hours in uncomfortable silence. They'd passed the city limits about thirty minutes ago, and the further Wesley drove, the more secluded the area around them became.
"Nervous?" Wesley asked after a few more minutes of silence.
"Disgusted."
Wesley chuckled softly. "It gets easier after the first one, Nancy."
"Easy for you to say—you're not a normal human being," Nancy said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You have no heart or conscience."
"Of course I do," Wesley argued. "I've just learned how to push them both away. Both of those things will only hurt you in the end and get you caught."
Nancy closed her eyes, trying to push back the nausea creeping up her throat. "You don't have to do this, Wesley." When he said nothing, she pressed on. "You have me, Wesley. You've made it abundantly clear that I'm not going anywhere. Why do you have to keep doing this?"
"You act as if I can turn it off," Wesley said after remaining silent for a couple of minutes. "It's like a drug, Nancy. For the past seven years, killing is all I've known. I can't just turn it off. I can control the urges, but I can't just walk away from it."
"Have you ever tried?"
Wesley said nothing as he continued to stare ahead at the road.
"I know you can do it, Wesley. It's not too late to stop. You can turn yourself around and live a better life that doesn't involve you killing innocent people." Nancy swallowed hard as she turned her head to look at him. "I can help you."
"You would really do that?" Wesley asked, glancing at her.
Nancy nodded, knowing that she needed to tell him what he wanted to hear. She was hoping he would let his guard down long enough so she could convince him to let her go. "I would."
Wesley shook his head as he turned his attention back to the road. "I wouldn't even know where to start."
"Start by turning the car around. We can go back to your house."
"It's not that easy," Wesley said softly before shaking his head again. "I'm sorry, Nancy. But it's already too late for me. There's no turning back now."
Nancy opened her mouth to argue further, but Wesley was already turning down a long driveway that was surrounded by forest. Her heart was practically wedged in her throat as pulled in front of a white farmhouse that had green shutters and a shingled roof. Snow covered the ground, glistening in the midmorning sunlight. Wesley put the car into park, but left the engine running.
"I want you to go knock on the door and get the girl out here."
"Who is she?"
Wesley smiled. "Does it really matter?"
"I know you've done your homework. There's a reason why we're here, Wesley. What's her name?"
"If you must know, her name is Becca Arnold. And that's all I'm going to tell you for now." He nodded towards the house. "Just go up and tell her that you're lost and need directions. All I need is for you to get her outside."
Nancy shook her head. "No."
Amusement gleamed in his eyes. "No?"
"I'm not going to let you do this, Wesley. I won't be a willing participant in your sick game."
"How about an unwilling participant instead?" Before Nancy could react, Wesley had his seatbelt off and a knife pressed against her throat. "You're going to do this, Nancy, and do you know why?" He pressed the knife in further when she refused to answer. "Answer me!"
"Why?" Nancy whispered, cringing against the sharp bite of the blade.
"Because I have taken it easy on you so far. I have stayed away from everyone you love for the most part, excluding that little run-in with Frank." His eyes turned cold as he stared at her. "But if you continue to defy me, I will go after every single person you love or have ever made an acquaintance with. And you know I can do it."
Nancy stared back at him, a cold knot forming in her stomach. She wanted to scream, she was so frustrated and scared that he would keep his word. "Unlock the door."
"Good girl." Pulling away from her, he exited the car before walking over to her side and opening her door. Nancy instantly began shivering as she stepped out onto the frozen ground, her breath expelling in frosty puffs. "Remember what I said, Nancy."
She didn't even watch to see where Wesley went as she slowly and carefully made her way up the stairs. Maybe she would be able to warn the girl inside before Wesley could grab her. Maybe she could even get her to call the police. Maybe there was finally a way out of this never-ending nightmare.
Nancy pressed the doorbell and stood there as she waiting for the door to be opened. After only a few seconds, a petite girl with short, spiky blonde hair opened the door, a kind smile forming on her face when she saw Nancy.
"Hi. Can I help you?"
"Yes, I was—" Nancy let out a painful cry as electricity shot through her body, starting at her feet and working its way up. She collapsed to the ground in a heap as wave after wave of electricity shot through her.
"Oh, my God! Are you okay?" Becca asked, worry crawling over her features as she rushed to Nancy's side.
Nancy moaned as she tried to curl up on herself. She couldn't remember a time she had felt such intense pain—not even when she'd been tased before. Wesley had to be behind her, there was no doubt in her jumbled mind. He didn't trust her to go through with his orders so he'd had a backup plan. "R…un…"
"What?" Becca started to rise to her feet. "I'm going to call an ambulance."
Nancy's eyes widened as Wesley appeared behind the oblivious girl. "Run!"
Before Becca could realize the threat behind her, Wesley seized her and pressed a rag against her face. Becca let out a muffled scream as she tried to struggle, but Nancy knew it was futile. After a few agonizing moments, she finally went limp in Wesley's arms. Though she tried, Nancy couldn't stop the sob that escaped her as Wesley put the girl down on the porch.
"Son…of a…bitch," Nancy said through clenched teeth, spasms still wracking her body.
Wesley reached into his pocket and pulled out the remote that went to the ankle bracelet she was wearing. Leaning down, he waved it in front of her face. "I may have forgotten to mention that I added a little something extra to your ankle monitor."
Nancy opened her mouth to retort, but before she could get a word out, another bolt of electricity shot through her body.
Wesley's leering smile was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.
Sorry about the delay…Homecoming Week was CRAZY! On the plus side, my little sister did win Homecoming Queen, so all the hard work paid off!
Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Caranath, misslady92, VerityD, dolphingirl7, max2013, Cupcake, Jabba1, Alicia Hardy, Michelle Gallichio, Angelvie S, bhar, SC15, and Guest. I appreciate all of you and I love you guys so much!
There won't be such a long delay for the next chapter now that things are calming down.
By the way, I do already know how this story is going to end and I will leave it at that!
I apologize for any mistakes and let me know what you think!
