Chapter 2

The smell of the sea and the lullaby of the tide. It was another beautiful day on the shore of the Virginian beach. Seagulls sailed the skies and the waves crashed into sand. It was quiet on that private stretch of beach; no one to bother them with morning car alarms or school busses passing by. It was serene and the perfect place to hide. Especially a body.

The man worked on it all morning as his newest bride stayed locked beneath his kingdom. It wasn’t much of a kingdom but rather a beach house. And as for Gabrielle being beneath, she was simply in his basement. That man couldn’t wait for her to wake up. In his mind, he was determined to have the perfect love like the one from his favorite poem. The beautiful tale was his life, his life’s goal. One day he would find the girl to be his Annabel Lee. Maybe this time he found her.

The pick strummed over the guitar’s strings. It was G-chord, one of the first he learned by his father, rest his soul and the one of his mother’s. That was a true love. His father had even bought his mother this house. And he had the word carved into the wood over the mantle.

“A man’s home is his kingdom,” he said to his son. “Never forget that, Charlie.”

And Charlie never did. He grew up watching his parents and their perfect love. His mother’s laugh was the most beautiful sound. His parents were in love like the excerpt of the poem they had tattooed to their bodies. His mother had ‘And this maiden she lived with no other thought’ over her shoulder blade while his father bore ‘Than to love and be loved by me.’ It was beauty and perfection.

He wanted that perfect love too.

Charlie sat with his guitar in hand and strummed again, writing scribbles down as the song came together. It was intricate but simple like the way she looked when he first saw her. But the song was not finished. When he finished it, he would know at long last just what he was trying to create.

Down below in his kingdom’s basement, Gabrielle began to stir. Her fingers twitched as she barely opened her eyes. She wanted to scream and cry and huddle into a corner. She wanted to fall back asleep and wake to find this a strange nightmare. She wanted to have her mother yell at her for being late and for her dad to complain tardiness is bad. Most of all, she wanted to be home again. But poor Gabrielle could hardly even move.

She wasn’t sure what she was given or if it was an after effect of passing out. Either way, the world looked and felt like it was revolving faster around her. Her head throbbed and her body ached. Coughing hurt to do but it was all she could do to even breathe. Her weak arms pushed her off the floor and looked to the only source of light: the very high up window.

It was dusty and peeling with paint but it gave her hope. As soon as she was able to stand, she hobbled over to the glass and scanned the scene. Dried grass lined the house, fighting to live. She squinted through its blades and into the sand. Not much could be seen but there was the ocean. Panic riddled her body. She lived hours away from the nearest shore. But the thing that caught her attention most was her kidnapper sitting with the guitar in his hands.

His shoulders weren’t as broad looking anymore and his relaxed posture didn’t make him as threatening. The man’s eyes looked to the sky and Gabrielle saw him in a better light. He smiled beneath his well trimmed beard while the chords of the instrument played charming music. She didn’t know why it calmed her down. She scolded herself for even thinking he wasn’t evil. He stole her off the streets for God’s sake!

Gabrielle spun on her heels and scoured the room she was locked in. It was very plain, only having concrete walls and the single mattress she had been sleeping on. But there were wall decorations and they made the room much more alarming. A poem she recognized from the works of Poe had been painted on the walls in sky blue letters. The full thing ranged from the right of the single door, around the room and ending a foot away from the left side. It was disturbing to say the least.

Her breath quickened as she saw he put her belongings in with her. The first thing she searched for was her phone. Dumping her things on the mattress, she realized it was gone along with half the other things that might have helped in escaping. The only items she had were her pens, a granola bar, her lyric book and her makeup. Gabrielle swore before hitting her head against the concrete wall and sobbing. She was kidnapped.

“Why God,” she whimpered into the silent air. “Why did you let this happen to me?”

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to my number one fangirl BVBLover213. She's an amazing person herself and if you guys are into romances, she has a popular one called Little Red you should look at when you get the chance. Cute, sassy and fun to read. Click the external link for that and don't forget to comment on what you think of both Gabrielle and her kidnapper! Votes also help!