"You should eat," Logan urged me, and I scoffed.
Summoning courage, I looked up at him. "How do you expect me to reach it?" I asked, my voice cracked and hoarse.
After a moment of thought, Logan took the tray from the table and placed it on my lap.
"I would appreciate the food if only I could eat it," I said, frustration evident in the tone of my voice.
Logan groaned, clearly annoyed by my disturbance. He undid the rope on my right hand, leaving my left hand still tied to the headboard above my head. "You better figure out how to eat with one hand because there's no way I'm releasing both of your hands," he said.
"Are you kidding me? How do you expect me to eat with just one hand?" I questioned him.
"Just like I said before, figure it out!" Logan replied dismissively. His phone began ringing, and he had to reach into his back pocket to fish it out. He checked the caller ID and smirked before looking at me. "I'll be gone for a short time. Don't do anything silly, or you'll regret it," he threatened before leaving the room with his ringing phone.
As soon as he left, I began to panic, thinking of how to release myself from this bondage and get out of here before he returned.
"I have to get out of this one way or another, but I need to hold myself together," I told myself, even though my mind was racing a thousand miles per hour. I grabbed a piece of fruit from the tray with my free hand and took a bite from the already sliced apple.
"Okay." I heaved a deep sigh of relief, calming myself down and gradually, I began to relax.
After a while, my senses adjusted, the adrenaline wore off, and my breathing returned to a normal pace. I was ready to tackle this situation with a calm mind and came up with an idea.
I took the glass of water and drank it all in one gulp. Looking at the glass, I said, "Just what I needed," before breaking it into cracks. I then struck the broken glass against the wooden table near the bed, shattering it further with a loud sound.
My heart skipped a beat, fearing he might have heard it. With my free hand, I immediately began using the broken glass to cut the rope holding my other hand to the headboard. Though I got a slight cut, I wasn't concerned about it; my only focus was escaping before Logan returned. I successfully freed my wrist from the bond, then proceeded to tear apart the rope on my legs.
As soon as I was done, I scurried out of the bed and rushed to the door.
I cautiously approached the door and started to undo the lock, then pulled the door open just enough for me to pass through. I ducked my head by the partially opened door, scanning the hallway for any sign of Logan or anyone else. The hallway was clear, with no sign of Logan or anyone else. It seemed Logan and I were the only ones here, so escaping would be easy if I moved quickly enough.
I could feel my heart racing as I tiptoed out of the room, making sure not to make any sound that would draw attention or alert Logan as I sneaked out of the room. Glancing back at the locked doors behind me, I slowly made my way into the hallway.
I rushed through the hallway, took a narrow passage, and headed for the stairs in front of me. I couldn't believe escaping from him could be this easy, and it gave me a bit of hope that I would be out of here soon.
"Stephanie!!!" I heard Logan bawled deeply at me, his fast-approaching footsteps echoing behind me. My hopes were soon crushed as the sound of his steps grew closer. "Come back, girl!!!" he ordered, but that didn't stop me as I began descending from the stairs.
I heard something flying towards me and immediately ducked my head out of the way as a wooden stool came hurtling past me, breaking into pieces as it hit the ground in front of me. Logan was so desperate to get me back that he would do anything to stop me from leaving, even pick up a stool from the passage and throw it at me!!
I glanced back, watching out for anything Logan might throw at me and gauging how far away he was from me. To my horror, Logan was running faster than I could have imagined. He was already halfway to catching up with me, making my heart race.
Just as I reached halfway through the stairs, I tripped over the leg of a wooden chair, stumbling and rolling down the stairs until I landed on the floor with a hard thud. I groaned in pain as Logan continued to chase after me.
"STEPHANIE!" Logan exclaimed, worried that I might have sustained an injury.
Logan was halfway down the stairs towards me. I could hear every step behind me.
Fearing he would reach me at any moment, I struggled to get up on my feet and run from him, but I fell back down to the floor. It was to no avail. He was close and I needed to try to get out of here, at least to reach the door.
I began crawling towards the door while the floor creaked under Logan's approaching steps. I believed I could make it—or could I?