Page 6 of Summer's Cage
I miss my mom in a way that is unfathomable. We call each other every day, sometimes multiple times a day. After I moved, we even began to video chat while we did shopping or chores, just to make it seem like we still lived close. She would always surprise me with my favorite snacks and homemade cookies in care packages.
I miss my brother, Sam, even if he always annoys the shit out of me. At eighteen months apart, we were unwillingly inseparable, our group of friends overlapping more often than not. He’s even further away, on the East Coast for an internship, but he’d often text or call to nag me about being safe online, just like my friends did.
I wish with every fiber of my being that I had listened.
A span of time passes where I slip into a light sleep, the scent of his clothes lulling me into a false sense of comfort and security. He can’t be intending to kill me if he smells this good, right? Like fresh air and cedar and something warm. The scent grows so strong in my nose that my brain sends an alarm signal to my nervous system, and I jerk awake, blinking quickly and choking on my shock.
Kage is crouched by the mattress, dressed in a dark gray hoodie and a new pair of jeans. His thick thighs stretch the navy fabric taut, and a deep brown leather belt keeps them cinched to his waist. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth when I remember how those wide hip bones with the muscled V drove themselves into me like some sort of porn star. I never imagined men in real life could move with such controlled, hedonistic precision, but my captor is living proof.
His new mask is still tied to the lower half of his face, his dark brown hair damp from a recent shower. Maybe he’s going to work? I feel like all of the shows I watched on kidnappingstalked about how the perpetrator lived boring, average lives on the outside. I’m just the lucky one that enticed a monster.
His arm is outstretched as we eye one another, his fingers still gripping a frizzy, curly strand of my hair. My stomach sinks in disgust; he was touching me while I slept. Furious, my lips screw up in a scowl, and I swat his hand away, sitting up and scooting myself into the corner.
“Haven’t you psychologically tortured me enough for one day?” I growl. Arms resting on his knees, his hands dangle between his legs. His right knuckles are bruised and bloodied. After that little stunt he pulled in the shower, he’d stormed up those stairs and took out his sexual frustration on the poor wall.
Better it than me.
His eyes dance, and I could swear the skeletal jaw on the mask rises in a small smile.
He shakes his headno.
“Why the fuck am I here?” I hiss, hugging my knees. “You kidnap me, lock me in your basement, and…and…”
My voice dies in my throat, and my chin wobbles despite my brief flirtation with bravado. His brows lower, not in anger, but in thought. Some instinct prods me to keep speaking, to continue making him see me as a human and not a conquest or trophy.
“You…your name is…is Kage…right?” I whisper, choking on his name in disgust. But the second I speak it, his eyes light up like a little boy who was just gifted his first puppy. It pierces me, that look, because I don’t understand it, but I know it’s powerful and innocent. Maybe he’s kind of a loner.
Maybe that’s why he kidnapped me.
He nods once, eyes alight in a way far more devastating than I want it to be. I think I’m on the right track. Steeling my nerves, I gently prod a little further. “Do you…umm…have a family?”
That fire in his gaze turns from something happy to sinister in a flash, and I recoil at the fury rolling off of him. He gives one, tense shake of his head, and I nod quickly, changing topics as fast as I can formulate the next question. “Okay…got it. Erm…can you speak to me? I…I’d like to hear you.”
Seems that today I am doing nothing but opening my mouth and unhinging my jaw to fit both feet inside. He tears his eyes away from me, that roiling anger doubling, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles pop and the flimsy scabs over his right hand crack and bleed anew.
“I’m so-sorry, I’m sorry,” I whisper quickly, throat clogging in fear. Glancing back at me, he’s simmered down some, but a hurt I never knew existed swirls in that strange gaze. There’s something so odd about him, aside from the whole kidnapping thing. As though he’s a child trying to navigate this world with no guidance. I don’t know how he ended up here, and I know I shouldn’t sympathize with him, but I can’t help it. My big, stupid heart will be the death of me.
Sighing through his nose, he runs his hand over his head, ruffling his hair in thought. It sticks up in some places, making him appear all the more youthful. He shifts after a moment, reaching for the chains he left discarded on the floor yesterday. Tensing as they clank and he brings them to the mattress, I scoot my ass until it’s planted firmly in the cold corner. Holding my palms up, I try to reason with him, but the panic is clear in my shaky voice.
“Wait…wait, please! Look, I didn’t try to get away…you…you lock the door, isn’t that enough?”
His eyes dance for a second before he drops his gaze and shakes his head, as though chuckling. I’m glad he finds my terror so amusing. At least one of us is happy.
Reaching for my hand, I yank it away from him, and his cheeks lift beneath the mask, crinkling his playful eyes. With asinking feeling, I realize that if he wanted to hurry this process up, I’d be cuffed already. He’s toying with me like a teenage boy, and I want to throat punch him.
Lips screwing up in rage, I smack his hand away when he sloppily reaches for me again. Cocking his head to the side slightly, he raises his brow, his warning clear.Think, Summer, for fuck’s sake, think!
He’s leaving, that’s why he wants the extra security. But if I can avoid it, then I stand a chance at escaping, or at the very least, learning more about my captor and the best way out of this house. I can worry about what city we’re in later. Knowing my online presence, my followers are probably sleuthing away. Hopefully that means word has gotten out, and whoever I run acrosswhenI escape will know I truly do need help.
Shivering, I hug myself and discreetly cover my stiff nipples, but judging by the flush to what I can see of his face, the horny pervert has noticed. He notices everything about me. He’s…obsessedwith me.That’s it, I think with a rush of glee. Keeping my features schooled, I say, “They hurt. And they’re fucking freezing. You weren’t generous enough for a damn blanket, so the least you could do is leave those off.”
His brows furrow gently, a serious and oddly concerned look to him. The tops of his cheeks bleed a deeper crimson, and he raises his fist to his chest before making a circular motion a few times. Having been a nanny in the past to children who were learning ASL, his gesture makes guilt cover me in a blanket of fiery needles.
Sorry.
CHAPTER FIVE
KAGE
