Chapter 1

Walking home. It’s a simple thing to do really. One foot in front of the other while you head to a destination you’ve seen almost every day of your life. The path is memorized. Every corner of the street has been seen, every stop sign the same. Maybe one or two things are out of place but there’s never anything too big to notice. It’s leisurely and yet you hurry too. You want to be there as quick as possible but not for anything in particular. You are going to find comfort but comfort is already on the streets all around you. You know this neighborhood like the back of your hand so nothing here can touch you.

But how many people actually study their hand?

Gabrielle clicked her heels down the street. The sun was dipping on the horizon and pinks and purples colored the sky. Another two blocks and she would be back with her mom’s cooking and her dad’s nonstop babble about which college she should go to next year. But home was where she keeps her clothing and that’s where she must stay.

Next year, she reminded herself. Next year I will be out of the house. I’ll be eighteen and at college far, far away. Next year I’ll be okay.

Gabrielle had already plugged her ears with her headphones. Songs with heavy guitars and screaming singers raged into her skull. It was soothing to her in a way that not many adults understood. While they could fall asleep to pianos and the noise of the rainfall in a jungle, she felt most relaxed with the sound of bands playing their hearts out. She checked the time quickly on the side of her screen and quickened her pace. Her band’s practice ran late and her mother’s call five minutes ago was rushing her home.

A car passed her on Linden Road beside her. The blaring lights made her shut her deep brown eyes but she kept walking. With the music too loud in her ears, she didn’t hear it screech to a stop. The man in the driver’s seat turned around with malice in his eyes. He thought Gabrielle was perfect; just the kind of woman he was looking for.

He didn't care of her age or that she would definitely be someone the police would search after. All he saw was her perfectly straight black hair and her long legs hidden by her grungy jeans. It provoked him. There was just enough clothing to tease him but he wanted more. More would give him satisfaction. Maybe it’ll be the satisfaction the last girl didn’t provide.

Ripping his car into reverse, the man passed Gabrielle and parked roughly in the empty spot outside of one of her neighbor’s homes. Caught by the suddenness of the car, Gabrielle almost tripped in her heeled boots. The headphones were removed from her ears as he got out of the car. His broad shoulders frightened her but she didn’t run. All she did was change her direction. Her feet turned her body around to take the long way home. Her mother would understand.

But the man did not.

Heavy foot falls from rapid paced running found its way to her ears. Even before she turned to see what he was doing, her legs already began to flee. And justly so. The man was sprinting towards Gabrielle, desperate to fetch his newest bride.

She screamed though her throat protested the sound. It was already torn from overdoing it at her band’s practice singing into the microphone. But no matter the pain, she screamed on. There was a man trying to take her and she would not let it happen.

With her heels hindering her naturally slow running pace, he caught up to her in no time. The neighbors ignored the cries for help thinking it was probably children running amuck in the neighborhood. Hulking arms wrapped around Gabrielle, dragging her back to his car’s open trunk. She struggled in his grip, fighting him and yelling anything to get someone’s attention. Either no one heard her or no one cared enough to find out what was happening.

She gasped for breath under the hold he had upon her neck. Eventually she lost the feeling in her arms. Her body slumped into to his and the shining look in his eye was the last thing Gabrielle saw before blacking out from lack of oxygen. It was if he was crying. She found that very strange yet it was true. The man began to weep for the girl.

In an effort to keep her from panicking too much, the deranged man whispered underneath the ragged beard.

“Everything’s fine. No need to fret for you belong to me,” he whispered. “I’ll guard you, keep you safe and warm. You’ll be my Annabel Lee.”

.