Chasing Constellations (The UGS Constellation Series) (5 page)

Chapter 8

It would have been nice to be woken up by the feel of the sun streaming into the window next to Elisa’s bed, or the sweet sound of birds chirping in their morning serenade to the sun.

That wasn’t the
case, however; what really woke her was the shrill screech of her telephone as it rang from the living room area.

She tripped over the strewn bedding in her rush to make it before the caller hung up, bouncing off of the wall with her shoulder and jarring her ribs once again.

Just as she reached the phone, Elisa tripped over the sheet wrapped around her body.

“Hello?” Out of breath and barely able to talk, Elisa just managed to answer before the person on the other end hung up.

“Are you ok Miss Jones? You sound out of breath. Did you hurt yourself when you ricocheted off of the wall?” It sounded like a man was chuckling as he listened to Elisa’s colorful language while she extracted herself from the clutches of the bedding.

“I’m fine, just raced to the phone and bounced off of the walls. Who is this? Why are you calling me so early? What time is it anyway?” Her words were punctuated with a yawn as she spun in place
while she attempted to find a perch to sit on the arm of the couch.

The deep voice sent a skittering of fear down Elisa’s spine as the chuckling continued for a moment,
it caused her heart started beating a rapid staccato before the raspy voice commented.

“I know who you are Elisa Marie Jones. I know you’re looking for answers, but you’re not going to find them. Not where you’re looking. Return to your safe little world and stop trying to be
a man, you’re not strong enough and if you don’t… well… things are just going to get dangerous for you.”

She shook as the dial to
ne sounded from the other line. Elisa was not even aware that she had slid off of the edge of the couch, until she sat with her knees pressed against her chest after slamming down to the floor.

With white knuckles shaking from the force of gripping the phone Elisa replayed the one sided conversation in her mind.

Slowly, almost afraid the phone would ring and the mysterious voice would be on the other end once more, she returned the phone to its cradle and dropped her weight heavily onto the couch.

What the heck? Was I seriously just threatened? Is that what just happened? What do I do? David, I need to call him and tell him what’s going on.

              Just as she had come to this decision, the shrill scream of the phone ringing once more sent her heart throbbing in her chest.

“H… hell… Hello?” Whispered words that stuttered from a throat constricted by fear, Elisa clutched the phone with both hands.

She was cringing and knew she was, but she had never dealt with anything like this before and wasn’t sure how to handle it.

             
“Elisa? Hello? Is everything ok?”

When she heard the familiar voice of her best friend Sandy, Elisa let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Yes. Just some idiot making a wrong call and I bounced off the wall racing to get to the phone! How are you Sandy? Is everything ok on your end?” She rushed the words, trying to get her friend to not ask about the odd call.

“Not really. Billy and I aren’t getting married. He cheated on me Elisa. It’s over and I don’t ever want to see him again!” Her friend sounded distressed, her voice scratchy as though she’d been crying and was fighting off more tears.

Over time she began to tell Elisa that she had caught him with his ex from another school, he hadn’t even tried to deny it.

Knowing that there wasn’t much that Elisa could do other than offer her ear to her friend and comfort as much as she was able to over the phone, they eventually hung up after her friend started to feel better.

It was times like this that Elisa missed her old life, her frie
nds always seemed so far away. But with her Grandmother gone, she had no real reason to stay behind and the memories of her old home just brought too much sadness.

So she
had sold the old house and moved into an apartment, but now she took a huge risk and went to California. With the hopes of being able to keep others from hurting the same way she had.

Later that evening, Elisa had already forgotten about the mysterious call, choosing to push it out of her mind as some crazy local wanting to scare her
. Or even one of the officers trying to get her to drop interest in what was going on.

Instead, she
chose to spend the day exploring the town; spending her day aimlessly meandering down the streets and visiting the local stores before heading to a diner on the edge of the beach.

She never noticed the tall man following her from one place to another; if she
had, she might not have enjoyed her day as much.

It
wasn’t until after dark that Elisa made her way back to her home. Elisa never knew that he watched as she made her way from her car with her hands filled full of the treasures she had purchased throughout the day.

Setting the bags at her feet, she searched her purse for her the keys she dropped in there while
gathering the shopping bags from the back seat of the car. Just as she pulled the keys out of her purse and fit them into the lock, a hand wrapped itself around her lips and stifled the scream that tried to force its way out of her mouth.

T
he fingers dug into her left cheek as the body behind her forced her roughly against the door. It knocked out whatever remaining breath she had left in her body. Another arm wrapped around her side and crushed the bruise, from the day before at the police station, while trapping her arms against her sides.

With wide
eyes, she tried to peer around her shoulder at whoever was holding her, to break free. But their weight was enough to drive against her and pin her to the door. Even though she wriggled her body against their hold, attempting to kick them with her legs, it only caused her to be pressed against the door with more force.

“I warned you to stay away, to go back home and leave well enough alone
but you wouldn’t listen would you? Instead you stayed here and played like all the other little ants. Well, the next deaths are on your head! Too bad you won’t be able to enjoy their suffering on your behalf!” The gruff voice triggered her memory, he was the one that had called earlier and threatened her!

She’d completely forgotten about the call after talking to her friend
, and then spending the day shopping, enjoying herself in the warm sunlight and pristine beaches of California.

Without warning the hand wrapped around her waist moved, turning the key and unlocking the door before it was shoved open
hard enough to bounce it off of the wall.

Stumbling her
way into the house as she was pushed from behind, Elisa was still struggling and kicking as much as her slight weight would allow even as she was forced into her rented home.

The slammi
ng of the door behind them sounded ominous to Elisa. Since she had no idea what the man wanted or if she would even survive the encounter, and she couldn’t even break from his tight grip, she could only guess at what he intended.

Oh my god, is he sniffing me? I have to get out of here! I have to get away before he kills me!

Elisa could feel the man’s nose brushing against her neck, sliding from the hair that had been
knocked out of the loose bun as it tumbled down her back. His nose traced along her shoulder, she could hear the deep breath in he took, felt it skittering down her flesh as he released it with a groan that frightened her even more. It was enough to turn her stomach when she felt the added pressure of his erection growing against her lower back.

When his hand
moved up to cup her breast, she tried to rear her chest away, but only succeeded in pressing her back against his front.

His
grip on her had changed. With her arms now freed, Elisa was able to jam her elbow backward as hard as she could. She was rewarded by hearing a very satisfying
oof
and muttered curse.

A
s she jammed her elbow back, she also slammed her heel down on the arch of his. Her three inch heels drove into the soft loafers the man wore; the scuffed and well used brown leather was no protection against the near dagger-like shoe. She slammed her foot down hard enough it snapped the heel off, leaving her lop-sided.

Finally, she
was able to break free by bending forward far enough to break the grip across her mouth.

She didn’t stop to think
, instead Elisa just took off running towards the bedroom, screaming as much as her lungs would allow.

Sadly, she
didn’t have much room left after the bruising from the day before and the man knocking it out of her just now; as a result her screams were barely heard.

Elisa thought she was safe, that she had eluded her pursuer as she made her way across the
bedroom rapidly to the window, her steps hobbled as she bounced on one broken heel while the other was still encased in her black shoe.

The missing heel making her
steps, uneven and slowing her down, but she didn’t dare pause long enough to remove the other.

Instead, she
tried to lift the window with shaking hands and started to climb out of the single story home, her fear making her waste precious seconds as she fought with the pane of glass before realizing she needed to release the catch. Finally, she managed to open it, knocking out the screen with her free hand.

She was just starting to heft herself out of the window to freedom when the man caught up with her again.

Elisa released a small screech of shock as she felt hands grab her roughly
around the waist before they yanked her suddenly out of the window.

She had only managed to get her chest out of the window before the stranger was pulling her back into the
home.

S
he pulled against him as hard as she could, but her strength was no match for his. The only thing she managed to do was slam her head against the top of the window, while her nails scraped against the painted wood.

The slam to the frame against the back of her head left her dazed, her body falling limp. The sudden slack in Elisa’s body gave him the needed opportunity to completely haul her body into the house.

As he pulled he stepped back from the window, he twisted his body and hurled the small body with brute strength back across the room.

Elisa flew towards the far wall as the man
grunted from throwing her and smiled. She tried to keep her eyes on the man, she even carefully turned her head to the side, but all she was truly able to do was to move her eyes.

She
was horrified at the sadistic curl of his lip when noticed that his lowered head radiated such satisfaction it sent Elisa’s panic to a whole new level. She knew this man! The face that was so familiar to her, since it mocked her from the wall with all of the other photos.

Her body
had hit waist high on the wall and slowly slid down, leaving a small crimson streak against the once pristine white walls. The coppery smell that rapidly filled the room caused the man to lift his head and inhale the scent, releasing the breath with a moaning growl.

Once more Elisa felt his weight drop on her back as he used
his weight to keep the girl from breathing easily, his hands glided almost lovingly against the skin on the backs of her thighs as he straightened her legs out and pulled her crumpled body away from the wall.

He rolled her onto her
stomach, grinning manically as his hands forced her burgundy skirt up over her hips and caressed her lower back just above the line of her basic white underwear before moving on.

He jerked and yanked, laughing like a mad man
, as her body bounced beneath his. He pulled until he had her shirt untucked and the tan material ripped in several places. He exposed her back to his satisfaction beneath his splayed hands.

He
almost seemed to revel in the feel of her rapid breaths as they expanded her rib cage.

His laughter turned
maniacal as he raised one hand clenched into a tight fist, his other braced between her shoulder blades and holding her down.

The solid thud of his fist connecting with the already dark bruise against her ribs was followed by another and another.

Both of his hands soon become engaged with slamming against the girl. Nothing was spared and soon she was swollen in color patches.

But it wasn’t enough, wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy the man above her.

Over and over the man rained blows against her defenseless body, from her shoulders down to the backs of her knees. His arms blurring in their rapid strikes, pausing only long enough to grind her hips against the floor as he moved down to sit on her calf’s before resuming the agony he brought to her.

Finally, her
back was covered and he ran out of pristine white flesh.