Wrongfully Claimed

Chapter Four

A whole day had passed by and Ryder still hadn't returned home to check on her. She assumed he had a life outside this house and didn't just spend his days loafing about, judging by how smartly dressed he was this morning before he left her there without any food or water and forgot about her.

Every time she thought she'd heard a car drive past the house, she jumped a mile high and buried herself underneath the covers, thinking it was him. But there had been no indication that he was back or would be any time soon.

As the minutes passed her by, every precious second stolen from her life and unaccounted for, she plotted and started to look for a way out of there, until she heard the sound of his car pulling up to what sounded like the driveway.

Ryder was home.

Thankful she came across a large, black, oversized t-shirt that she presumed was his, with Metallica written on the front of it in big gold letters, just thrown underneath the bed and forgotten about.

It had been miles too big for her, but it was a lot better than sitting around in her bra and panties all day, giving him more ideas to take advantage of her even quicker.

Languidly slumped on her bed, weak from malnourishment, Aurora groaned, feeling her head still throbbing in excruciating pain, as a result of how hard he yanked her hair and dressed herself in the darkness of the room.

As time pushed on with no sign of Ryder coming up yet, Aurora found herself shivering, at how cold it had become in here, as though the climate in the room had dropped to about nine degrees. Even the pillows and the thin mattress felt like ice, frozen to her touch.

No matter how many times, she lay there during the day, huddled underneath the thin, flimsy blankets -- the only thing she had to cover herself, nothing helped.

Nothing took away the coldness in her body, like something stabbing at her skin and the emptiness she felt in her heart of being ripped from her father, never knowing when she would see him again or her life as she knew it.

Her eyes were so swollen from crying all day that she could no longer see out of them anymore. It felt as though something had been tearing at her eyelids, each time she tried to open them. It hurt every time she did.

And now he was back after hours of respite from him. There was no telling what he had planned for her this time.

Not moving from her position on her bed, she remained stationary there, knowing he was about to storm through that door at any minute and start barking the orders again.

Her stomach soared in her chest, thinking of the other victims before her, cringing every time, she thought of what he could have done to them. She wondered how many of these girls had got to see the light of day after being captured by him. The thought sickened her just picturing it in her mind.

She went from crying and having panic attacks, to hyperventilation from being incarcerated in a confined room for so long, thinking of what he had planned for her. If he was holding her hostage in the hopes of getting ransom money from her family, why hadn't he brought it up yet and why hadn't he called them demanding to pay up?

Which brought her to the next question: If this had nothing to do with money then what did he want from her?

The earth came to a complete standstill, once she heard Ryder's footsteps creeping towards the door. Aurora swallowed the lump in her throat, and held her breath, listening to her captor open the door.

Not having to wait long for his arrival, once the key was inserted into the lock, with a twist and a quick turn, the door had been unlocked and pushed open with ease.