CAGED Read online

  Chapter 1

  I’m cold. Shivering, actually. My head is pounding and my body aches. Those are the first things I notice when I come to. Slowly, I begin to open my eyes, and take a look at my surroundings. Everything’s dark. Although my bedroom is dark at night, I know this isn’t my room. So, where am I, and how did I get here? Slowly, I start to ease myself into a sitting position. The dizziness that consumes me is almost overwhelming. It makes me feel sick by even the slightest of movements. I put a hand to my head and take a few deep breaths. After the dizziness subsides, I reopen my eyes and look around again. Why is it so dark? I sit there for a few minutes and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Taking another slow look around the room, I notice there’s a small amount of light. Miniscule really. Looks like it’s coming from another room shining in through cracks from a door. But with how dark it is, it’s light I’m thankful for. The little amount of light provides me with a general idea as to the size of the room. It looks as if there would be room for maybe a queen size bed and a chest of drawers. That’s about it. It’s hard to tell what would all fit in this space since there’s nothing in the room but me.

  Why is it so cold in here? I place my hands on the floor and run them back and forth. Cement? That explains why my butt feels like it’s lounging on ice. Running my hands back until they hit the wall behind me, I feel upwards. What the hell? It’s all cement? The hair raises on the back of my neck and arms. The fear I’ve been feeling since I woke up just tripled.

  I start racking my brain trying to remember how I ended up here, but my memory is so foggy it’s hard to make sense of anything. Closing my eyes, I try and remember something, anything. That’s when it hits me - Alan! He was with me. If I was here, did that mean Alan was here some place? “Alan?” I whisper. My heart is hammering in my chest as I wait for a response. But, silence is all I get for my answer. “Hello? Anyone?” Silence. I’m alone. Come on, think Sophie. Wine! I remember having a glass of wine. At the thought of wine and Alan, bits and pieces of my memory start to emerge. It was late. I’d been watching something on tv with a glass of wine. Alan came home late maybe? Oh no…Layla. What happened to her? I’m obviously alone here, so I know she’s not here. Where the hell is my daughter?!

  Okay, Sophie, breathe. Focus. You can do this.

  I gather my courage and decide to stand. My body has the shakes and my legs feel so weak that I have to use the wall for support. As I stand, I bump into what sounds like chains behind me. Caught off guard by the eerie noise, I jerk backward and go crashing back to the ground. My heart is hammering in my chest as I scramble to get away from the wall with the chains. What the hell are those for? As soon as the question forms in my mind, there’s a terrible grating sound that sets my nerves on end and causes my heart to jump out of my chest. Whipping my head around to the noise, I see it’s some kind of door opening where the light was coming from. So, I was right. It was a door, and from the sounds of it…it’s cement on cement. I can feel my adrenaline pumping in my body as I wait in anticipation as to who is going to walk through the door.

  …8 hours earlier

  “Where’s Alan tonight?” Natalie asks over the phone while I watch my favorite television show, The Golden Girls. I sigh. She always asks questions in the most innocent fashion, but we both know what she’s really asking…who’s he with? Alan and I have been together for a little over 7 years. Let’s just say they haven’t been the best years.

  “Natalie, he said he needed to work late.” It sounds like a lame excuse even to my own ears, but we have a daughter together. A home. A life. Am I just supposed to walk away from that?

  “Soph…just be careful, okay? It’s not fair that you’re always the one that is stuck at home every night. I love Layla just as much as you do, and she is the most adorable little five-year-old I have ever met, but you can still be a good mother to her even if you and Alan aren’t together.” I’m silent as I mull over what she’s saying. Grabbing my wine glass, I tip my head back and finish off my glass. Pausing my show, I get up and head to the kitchen. “Soph?”

  “I’m here, Nat, and I hear you. I just don’t want to give up on my marriage without knowing that I’ve tried everything I can to hold our family together. Can you respect that?” Opening the fridge, I find the half empty bottle of wine and splash more into my glass. These conversations seem to always require much more wine than just one sip.

  I hear Natalie sigh on the other end before she says, “I can do that, Sophie.” I love Natalie. She’s my best friend. My rock. We’ve been through hell and back together. I know she’s just trying to look out for me. It’s what I would do with her if she was in what I thought was a crappy marriage. I open my mouth to answer her back when I hear a thump upstairs startling me. I must have made some noise because Natalie says my name, “Sophie?”

  “I just heard a noise upstairs.” I say into the phone as I stare up at the ceiling waiting to see if there’s going to be another noise or not. “Layla had better be in bed. It’s way past her bedtime.” I hear Natalie giggle at that statement. She knows as well as I do that Layla tries to make her own rules at times. To say she can be a challenge, would be putting it mildly. Leaving my wine glass on the kitchen island, I head out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. As I always do, I look around and take in our home. This was the house that Alan chose. He’s an investment banker, and he’s surrounded by nice things every day at work. So, he wanted a nice house, and considering we live in a small mansion in Denver, CO, he spent a small fortune. It’s without a doubt nice, but where I usually prefer rustic and cozy, Alan is all sleek and modern. The floors in the house are all marble except where the living room and bedrooms are carpeted. The furniture is all very modern and white. Looks more like a museum than a home with a child. Even the kitchen is top of the line., which I’ll admit, I’m appreciative of. Marble countertops, brand new cupboards, and smart appliances. Alan spared no expense. Only the best was ever good enough for Alan, and even then, he still finds flaws in the best. As usual, when I get to the staircase, I shake my head a little at the absurdity of it. The staircase is more a work of art than anything. Sleek marble stairs with black iron rails. The way the rails twist together makes it look all the more elaborate.

  At the top of the stairs, I turn left and head straight to Layla’s bedroom, the first of the four bedrooms upstairs. Layla’s room is an absolute masterpiece. He hired a painter to make the perfect outdoor scenes in Layla’s room. I was surprised he allowed it considering it doesn’t match his sleek modern theme, but he did. Not only were her walls painted beautiful outdoor scenes with happy little animals, but her bed was a luxurious princess bed with a canopy. She has a walk-in closet, her own bathroom, and toys for days.

  Peeking in, I notice she’s sound asleep. “Is she asleep?” Natalie asks through the phone. I had almost forgot I was even still on the phone; I was so lost in my thoughts.

  “Yeah, she is. So, where the heck did that noise come from then?” As I’m closing the door, I glance around toward the rest of the upstairs.

  “Maybe it was just the house settling, Sophie.” I smile at that comment. As kids when we had sleep overs at her house, her mom would always tell us that same thing when we came running to her that we heard a noise.

  “Yeah, maybe. Nat…” I trail off when I hear the front door opening. I walk over to the rail and see Alan walk through. He’s on the phone with someone. He’s whispering. One of my unfortunate habits is eavesdropping, but with excellent hearing, who could blame me? I go still, so I can focus on what he’s saying.

  “Look I know. I’m sorry I had to leave, but I couldn’t stay tonight. I didn’t have an excuse. I had to go, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow, babe.” He whispers something else into the phone that I don’t catch, but it doesn’t matter because it
’s obvious Natalie was right…again. I feel numb as I quietly move backwards toward the bathroom. Closing the door, I sit down on the gray tiled jet tub and just look at the ground. Why does he do this? I literally give him everything. I’ve never asked for anything except for him to be loyal to me. Is that so damn hard?

  “HELLLOOOO!” Natalie blasts at me through the phone.

  “Sorry, Nat. Alan just came home.” I say quietly.

  “Okay…why do you sound defeated?” I look up into the mirror and just really look at myself. My brunette hair is tied back in a pony tail, my slightly tan skin looks pale, and my blue eyes are filled with tears. I not only sound defeated, but I look defeated too.

  “He was whispering on the phone to another woman.” I hear her gasp.

  “How do you know it was another woman?” She asks. I do a self-depreciating laugh.

  “Because he called her babe, and said he didn’t have an excuse to stay with her tonight. So, unless my husband suddenly turned gay, it was a woman on the other end of that phone call.” Finishing that statement, I realize how much energy it took to say it. I’m just exhausted, tired of all the same games he has played for years.

  “What a PIG!! I’m going to kill him. He’s dead. Tomorrow…I’m getting a shower curtain…gloves…” I smile at her ranting even as silent tears are running down my cheeks. She and I have always been die hard protectors of each other. She’s the sister I never had, and she is fiercely loyal.

  “Nat…it’s okay. I think I’m just going to go to bed okay?” I finish that statement with a little sniffle. I’m too tired and numb to decide anything tonight, so if I sit up and try to figure out my next step in life, chances are it won’t be a super solid plan.

  I hear her sigh. “Okay, Soph. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” We run every morning together at 6:00 a.m. She always gets here around 5:30 a.m. I’m usually still getting ready at that time, so I just gave her a key to let herself in so I didn’t have to go down and let her in when I’m still in my pajamas. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was even earlier tomorrow in hopes that I will be up to talk about tonight or so she can kill Alan in his sleep.

  “Yeah, okay. Love you, Nat.” I hear myself say.

  “Love you, Soph.” Then she hangs up. After she hangs up, I stare at my phone for a minute, and then get up and grab a Kleenex. When I’m done wiping my eyes, I throw the tissue in the trash and decide to head downstairs. Everything is better with more wine, right? On my way down the stairs, I don’t see Alan anywhere, so I head into the kitchen to grab my wine glass. I stand there and tip my head back to drink the whole glass in hopes that I can forget tonight’s conversation that I overheard. I turn back toward the fridge to get more wine and gasp. Alan is right behind me.

  “Hey hunny. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He does a slight chuckle. I just look at him and then move around him to the fridge. “Sorry I’m late, Sophie. How was your night?” Without answering, I grab the wine bottle and head back to my wine glass. “Sophie?” He comes over and slides his arms around me and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

  Instead of answering, I ask, “How was work?” I don’t’ look at him because if I do, I know I’ll start crying again. It’s times like these, when he holds me like this, that I’ve always felt that he loves me. I’m so confused right now. How can he be like this with me, but have someone else too? I get why women are attracted to him. Alan is tall, handsome and he is incredibly capable. Not to mention, he has money, and gold diggers just love the money.

  He sighs, “It was a long day. It’s good to be home.” I snort. I’ll bet it was a long day. I’m sure having women on the side can be taxing, I think to myself. I grab my glass and start to head toward the living room to finish up my show, and stumble. Alan catches me. “Whoa, Sophie. How much wine have you had?” His brows furrow as if he’s actually concerned. I shake my head to try and clear it. I feel so dizzy and tired.

  “I guess I drank a little much.” I say while I’m rubbing my eyes. “I’m just going to head to bed.” He lets go of me as I start to walk away. I set my glass down as I make my way by the kitchen island toward the stairs. The glass itself was starting to feel like it weighed about a hundred pounds.

  “Night Sophie.” I hear Alan say. His voice sounds so far away. Why do I feel so tired and dazed? I’ve just reached the stairs when I hear a muffled grunt come from the kitchen. I grab onto the rails for support and turn back toward the kitchen.

  “Alan?” I ask weekly. No answer. “Alan, are you alright?” I take a deep breath and let go of the railings in an attempt to head back toward the kitchen. As I move from the stair case, a shadow falls over me. I gasp and whirl around. The quick motion causes me to stumble. All I see is a blurry image of a large black shadow reaching for me as I fall. Just as I’m about to hit the cold hard marble, strong arms catch me and haul me up into an equally strong chest. “Alan?” I whisper just before my world goes black.

  …Present Time

  As soon as the door is all the way open, a light is flicked on. I slam my eyes shut with the immediate pain that reaches my eyes due to being surrounded by darkness. I take a deep breath and slowly open my eyes. As soon as my vision clears, I see there are three men that are standing in front of me. One has his head covered with, what appears to be, a potato bag, and the other two are obviously the captors. The first man is middle eastern by the looks of him. He’s a smidge taller than me, and that isn’t saying much considering I’m only 5’5. But, it’s his eyes that catch me off guard. His gaze is calculating as it falls on me. Calculating and cold. We make eye contact and he smirks. I just stare back at him, too caught off guard to really say anything. Just as I’m about to ask what they want, the hood is ripped off of the other man. Not just any man, but my husband. “Alan.” I gasp. He’s shoved forward so roughly that he falls. With his hands behind his back, he isn’t able to do much of anything to break his fall. I let out another little gasp and lurch forward to catch him before he hits the cement face first. As my hands reach out to catch him, he makes eye contact with me. He looks unsurprised to see me, and it’s almost as if his gaze is cold towards me. I’m so confused by those two seconds that my mind spins. What is going on? Was he hurt? Who are these people?

  As soon as he has his balance, he scoots about a foot away. Okay…I get that we fight a lot, but really? Our lives are clearly in danger, and instead of producing a united front, he’s decided to look as if we are enemies. Or worse, that he’s indifferent as to what happens to me from this moment on. At this thought, I deflate a little inside.

  “Get up!” grunts a deep voice. The command startles me, and I swing my gaze over to the third man that had held my husband captive. He’s tall. Taller than my husband even. My husband isn’t a little man, he’s at least a good six feet tall. This guy has to be at least a handful of inches taller. Not only is he tall, but he’s muscular. Not bulky, but sleek and powerful. The shirt he’s wearing leaves little to the imagination, and he certainly fills it out. Making my way to his face, handsome doesn’t even begin to describe him. His type of handsome isn’t in the classical sense, nor is he handsome in a pretty way. His face is too carved for that. No, he’s more ruggedly handsome then anything.

  Above all else, it’s his presence that catches me off guard. His presence is commanding. He owns this room even though there are two other men present. Intimidating. Confident. Through my assessment, I hadn’t noticed that he was staring at me the entire time. At his piercing stare, I remember he commanded me to do something. Something ugly comes over me at this realization. In this moment, I don’t care if he has the face of Adonis, I hate him. I’m being held captive, my husband has withdrawn into himself, and it’s clear this guy thinks he can intimidate me. A spark of defiance lights in me.

  “No.” I say barely above a whisper.

  “Excuse me?” He says in his deep voice. I just stare at him with what I hope is an impassive expression. Truth is I’m terrified, but I’m also furious. “Do you th
ink that’s wise in your position?” I look over at my husband who casts me a guilt-ridden look.

  “And what position is that?” I steel myself for the answer and make eye contact with him. His gaze is cold, but it’s then that I notice he has startling blue eyes. I don’t know why I’m noticing anything about him, and it really doesn’t matter how nice his eyes are, because his gaze is hard. Unrelenting. You can tell he isn’t used to people questioning his orders. This is a man that gives orders, and is used to people following them without any questions asked.

  “You will do as we say…when we say it. Or you die.” I just stare at him. Not quite sure that he just said that. I look over at Alan to see what his reaction is, and what I see causes my heart to plummet further. He’s not even observing this interaction. He’s staring at his shoes.

  “Alan…what’s going on?” I ask him in a small voice. He just shakes his head. “Will you look at me?” I plead.

  I’m feeling even more self-conscious considering our audience. I feel like everyone in this room knows something that I don’t. Just when I think that he isn’t going to answer he says, “Sophie, just do what they want. If you listen, they’ll let me go.” It takes a second for his words to sink in. Let HIM go? I can feel my face get hot. I look up at the tall man, and he’s sneering at my husband in disgust. That face is only visible for a couple seconds and then it’s gone. Leaving me with wondering whether or not I imagined seeing any type of emotion on his face at all.

  When I was a little girl my brother had sworn riding on the seat of his bike while he was standing up doing the pedaling was completely safe. Well, he lied. We crashed and burned which resulted in me getting the wind knocked out of me. That feeling of total lack of oxygen with a giant pain in your stomach…that’s exactly how I’m feeling in this moment. It takes me a minute to find my voice. “If I do what you want, he goes free? What does that even mean?” I ask in a tiny voice. I hadn’t meant to sound so small, but something tells me I’m not getting out of this. The tall man grunts. Before I even make a move, the Middle Eastern man steps forward.