Trapped (Bullied Book 4) (Bullied Series) Vera Hollins (best large ereader txt) 📖

He picked up a small, flat rock from the ground and skipped it across the pond. It jumped four times before it ended up on the other side of the garden. For a second, I thought he was going to refuse to answer, but I was wrong.

“She was the granddaughter of one of our previous maids. We were the same age. She lost her parents when she was four, and she came here to live with the only remaining member of her family.” He smiled. “It took me just one glance to decide she was going to be my best friend. We were best friends ever after.”

A small pang hit my chest. I knew I shouldn’t get jealous of Emma—it was awful—but I couldn’t help but compare myself to her. She’d gotten Blake’s friendship from day one. I’d gotten only his hatred.

“It sounds like she was a nice girl.”

His smile trembled. “She was. She was the most amazing girl.”

I pursed my lips, holding back a sigh. He talked about her with so much love.

“And when did you start dating?” I asked tentatively.

“In seventh grade. I had a crush on her for a long time, and that’s when I finally found the guts to ask her out. We were fourteen when we got kidnapped.”

I pressed my hand over my lips. They were only fourteen. I tried to push away the image of Emma on the floor with that monster pressing her against it as he… No.

“But why? Why did they kidnap you?”

His eyes were on the pond, becoming glassy. “Money.” His voice was monotone, as if he’d said this word countless times before he became detached. “They knew my family was rolling in it, so they made a plan to capture me and demand ransom.”

I stifled a cry that burned to escape from my mouth. “Why did they take Emma?”

“She just happened to be with me. They never would’ve taken her if she hadn’t gone out with me that day.” He clenched his hand and released it right away, his eyes haunted. I could see it. He was blaming himself.

“That’s horrible,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes.

He crouched and ran his hand over the surface of the water, creating small ripples. “It was horrible. Day after day, hour after hour…minute after minute that felt like a fucking eternity, and I thought I was losing my sanity. I’d already lost hope we would ever get out of that place alive. We were left in that dark basement for days, and at times, they kept us without food or water. They beat me whenever I refused to listen to them, and sometimes it was so brutal I almost begged them to kill me so I wouldn’t have to feel that pain anymore. But I couldn’t die. I had to stay alive for her.” He stopped moving his hand, keeping it an inch above the water. “They filmed everything and sent my parents the videos as an ‘incentive’ to make them shell out their money.”

My throat closed at his words. His tone was emotionless, but I could feel the stormy emotions twirling beneath that impenetrable shield of his, and I wanted to take all his pain away. I wished for a healing touch that would make all his demons and bad memories disappear.

“But why did it take so long for your parents to pay the ransom?”

“At first, my dad didn’t want to yield to them. He thought they were just some rookies who would give up once they saw he wasn’t intimidated.” He smiled bitterly. “He was wrong.”

I didn’t know what to say. It was hard to believe his father was ready to gamble his son’s and Emma’s lives just so he wouldn’t be cornered into giving in to their demands.

“You saw that video. That was the eleventh day. After…” He closed his eyes. He made a motion like he was trying to grab the water, only to clench his hand so hard the veins on the back of his hand bulged out. “After her death, they kept me there for three more days, until my parents finally handed over the money. I don’t even remember the last day, because they beat me to the brink of death and I lost consciousness. I woke up at the hospital.”

I was shaking with silent tears that ran unchecked down my cheeks. My chest ached with dull pain that only pulsated stronger.

“Those days were a new kind of nightmare. I went crazy, raging and screaming at them to kill me because I didn’t want to live. I didn’t deserve to live. She was gone. She died because of me, and I was so mad, so full of anger. They had to strap me to the bed until they were sure I wasn’t going to kill myself.”

I pressed my hand over my chest. It hurt so much.

“Life wasn’t the same after that,” he concluded, standing up.

A flock of birds rushed across the sky, wonderfully free and unconstrained by the cage that life could be. The hues of orange, purple, pink, and red colored the horizon as the day gave way to night—a beautiful sight that contrasted with the ugliness of Blake’s past.

“I’m sorry, Blake. I’m so sorry for everything you had to go through. I’m sorry for Emma.”

He finally turned to look at me; his face was ghostly pale. His eyes scanned over mine, tracing my tears. “You’re crying. Why?”

I took a tentative step toward him. I wanted to pull him into a hug and tell him everything was going to be all right.

“Because I feel for you. I feel for Emma. I wish neither of you had gone through any of that. When I saw that video…” I wiped off the tears, but they kept coming. “It was monstrous. It was heartbreaking. I’m so sorry.”

He watched me silently with a blank face. He turned away and looked at the sky.

“My parents kept everything under wraps, you know? No police, no media, nothing. No one