Jane Doe Read online

  “I know what you’re thinking.”

  She jumped. She hadn’t realized he was so close behind her. “If I were you, I’d stop thinking about escaping and find a way to make me like you better.”

  Raven kept her back turned from him. He might have total control over her body but not over her thoughts. He couldn’t stop her from thinking what she wanted.

  He watched probably to make sure she was being thorough. After ten minutes or so he left but didn’t close the door.

  That had never happened. She could hear him out in another area of the barn—if it was a barn. Edging toward the door as far as the chains would let her go, she peeked out. Horse stalls and then the sound of a whinny. Definitely a barn—a very old one. There was nothing modern about this rickety old building. It must have been standing a long time.

  Rays of sunshine danced on the straw-covered cement floor.

  Her eyes filled with tears at the beauty of it. How long had it been since she’d actually seen the sun? Or been outside? Or felt the soft breeze? She didn’t know. Could it really have been a full year? It didn’t feel that way, but all her days and nights blurred together. The only thing that separated them was when the monster showed up and hurt her.

  Her gaze landed on a nail. Just inside the door. The monster must have kicked it in without noticing. Or was it a trick? One more thing he could punish her for. Could she reach it? She pulled until the chain around her ankle was taut. She reached out. Another few inches but still couldn’t touch the nail. She laid flat on the floor stretching her arm. Her finger touched the nail. Carefully, she rolled it toward herself. And then she had it.

  The sound of footsteps made her hurry back to the bucket.

  It felt like a victory to get the nail. But why? What could she do with it? She couldn’t overpower the monster with a silly little nail. Still she had it, and he didn’t know she had it. That was something…unless it was a trick.

  As she poured more bleach, she stared at the container. If she drank enough of it would it kill her? She knelt down and scrubbed. She thought it might. But she wasn’t sure. What if it just made her sick but didn’t kill her? That could be worse than dying. Best not to risk it.

  As much as she wanted to end this torment; she didn’t want to be the one to make it happen. That was God’s job, not hers. And not the monster’s. Or it shouldn’t be the monster’s decision, but she had a feeling she knew why he was forcing her to clean the room.

  Her time here was coming to an end.

  She closed her eyes. It’s OK, God. I’m ready to come home. To be with You. To end this torment and suffering. To be in a place with no pain and no tears. Only peace and joy.

  But she hated the thought that this monster would get away with this.

  And what if she wasn’t his first victim—or his last?

  She moved as close to the doorway as she could get. Couldn’t see him but she could hear him moving around out there. Maybe doing his own spring cleaning. She hurried back to the bleach and poured a big puddle on the floor and kept scrubbing.

  The nail was still in her hand. It felt good. Her gaze moved to the little window. Then she had an idea. She walked over to it. Using the nail, she scratched the letter R. Then she hurried back to the scrub brush. Then took a chance again. This time she scratched the A and V before she lost her nerve and went back to scrubbing.

  Scrub. Scratch. Scrub. Scratch. When she was finished, her name, Raven Lynn Marks, and the year, were written on the tiny wooden windowsill. She stared at it for a long moment. Then she spit on it. Once. Twice. She waited as the wetness disappeared.

  Her DNA. But she didn’t know enough to know whether it would last, but she smiled. Her name. It was proof she’d been in this horrible place.

  She quickly moved back to her knees and continued scrubbing.

  He poked his head in several times. Each time he found her on her knees scrubbing just the way he’d told her to. When she was finished with the parts she could reach, she sat in the middle of the room and waited.

  He walked in and sniffed. “Oh, that’s better. Much better.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  “I’m glad you understand that, Suzie Q.” He stared down at her. “What are you smiling about?”

  “Just enjoying the smell of clean.” Hopefully, someday someone would find her name and know what this monster had done to her.

  3

  “I promised if you did a good job, I’d let you get cleaned up. And I’m a man of my word. Time for that bath. Stand up.”

  She stood.

  “Put your hands out.”

  She did as she was told.

  He wrapped gray duct tape around them. Not handcuffs, but it might as well have been since it did the same job. Her hands were basically worthless. No way to escape. Not true, she reminded herself. With God, all things were possible.

  “Can’t have you trying to escape now, can we?”

  She refrained from saying anything. Over time, she’d found it best to not antagonize the monster. Though there were times she did it anyway. But this wasn’t one of those times.

  She was curious to see what he planned for her. A bath? Or was it time to end her suffering? Either way would be a win as far as she was concerned. She was tired of feeling so dirty. She stood there quietly, praying and waiting.

  He leaned down. As he was unlocking the chain around her ankle, she wished she had something to hit him with and the courage to do it. But she didn’t. He was much stronger than she was and using her bare hands against him would only make him angry.

  And that meant more punishment.

  She didn’t want to be hurt anymore. If it was her time to die—so be it.

  He grabbed her arm and led her out of the room then shoved her against the wall. “Don’t move.”

  He walked in and picked up the bucket and the empty bleach jugs. She held her breath. Would he look at the windowsill? Would he see her name? If he did, he’d make it disappear and then no one would ever know what happened to her.

  He tossed the water on the spot where she’d been sitting. No doubt cleaning up any forensic evidence that she’d ever been in the room—no evidence of her torture. Or of his evil. He was washing away her very presence. Or so he thought.

  She opened her hand, staring at the nail, and then let it fall on the floor. It clunked. She held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t hear.

  He turned toward her. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing.”

  He walked out of the room and stared hard at her. Then looked down at the nail. “Where did this come from?”

  She held her breath. Please God don’t let him see my name.

  He picked up the nail and turned toward her. “Did you see this?”

  She shook her head.

  “Good thing. Maybe you would have tried to kill me with it. Nail Death instead of Death Knell.” He laughed and laughed. When he stopped, he looked at her. “Didn’t you like my joke?”

  “I don’t have much of a sense of humor these days.”

  “I can see that. That’s too bad. I’ve been told I have a great sense of humor. It’s one of my strengths.” After one last inspection, he walked out of her prison room and propped the bucket against the wall. “Let’s go, Suzie Q. Time’s a wasting. Obviously, I can’t take you up to my house for a bath, but I’ll keep my word.”

  “Why not? Is your wife up there? Does she know she’s married to a monster?”

  He moved close. “I’d be careful what you say to me. I’m in a good mood today. But if you make me angry, you’ll regret it.”

  Could she get the ski mask off? She wanted to see his face before she died. If she saw his face, she might understand why he was doing this to her. She looked down. “Sorry.”

  “That’s better. Anyway, I’m not going to renege on my promise. You will definitely be getting wet today.” He held up an open can of soda. “Drink this.”

  She was sure it was drugged, but so what? He p
laced the open can in her hands. She lifted it to her mouth and took a long drink. It tasted so good. And the sugar—she could almost feel it making its way through her body—energizing her. By the time she’d finished, she felt the drugs beginning to relax her in spite of the sugar and the caffeine. She looked at him. “Thank you.”

  He started to say something but grabbed her arm instead. “Let’s go get that bath. But I’m warning you—no funny business.”

  Her legs and feet weren’t working right—and her head was spinning. The drugs? So fast? He must have put a lot in the soda. She stumbled and fell to her knees. His hands slipped from her arm. Her gaze fell on the rake in front of her. Should she go for it? Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the rake handle and jumped up at the same time. She turned and swung at him. The blow landed on the side of his head. She swung again.

  He managed to grab the handle and moved toward her. Anger radiated from him. Each step brought him closer to her. Using her bound wrists, she tried to hit him. But his hand grabbed hers. It was over. She’d lost. But she wouldn’t—couldn’t give up. She turned and ran.

  Seconds later, he grabbed her hair.

  She screamed, hoping—praying someone would hear her.

  He dragged her across the barn. “You might as well save your breath, Suzie Q. No one’s here but me. Nobody to hear you. Nobody to rescue you.”

  She screamed louder.

  He pulled her hair even harder. Tears sprang up. Then without warning he let go. She tumbled to the floor. “Now, you’ve made me mad. I warned you to not try anything, but you didn’t listen. You’re going to wish you’d listened.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

  Raven reached out to grab the ski mask.

  He punched her in the stomach.

  She doubled over as she gasped for air. “You’re a monster.”

  His face contorted. “Maybe so, but you’re the one who’s dying today. Not me. And all because you couldn’t mind your own business. My secrets are my business, not yours. You should have stayed out of my business.”

  “I guess we’re not pretending that I’m going for a bath anymore.”

  “I guess you’re right.” He took the end of the rake he was still holding and hit her in the stomach with it.

  Gasping in pain, she said, “Why are you doing this?”

  His answer was to punch her in the stomach once more. While she was bent over, he hit her head.

  She fought against the darkness. Her head hurt. Her stomach hurt. Actually, there wasn’t any part of her that didn’t hurt. But her head—foggy. Couldn’t think. She reach up with her bound hands and touched something sticky. Blood. Would she bleed out? Her brain turned fuzzy and the dark descended.

  ~*~

  Where was she? Raven opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Fresh air. She sucked in more. What was happening? She struggled to clear her mind. There’d been sunshine in the barn and the smell of bleach as she’d scrubbed away her very existence. The nail. Scrubbing and scratching. The fog cleared as she remembered the fight.

  She turned her head to see the sky. She was in something that was moving. A machine that hummed through the floor she was laying on. Not a car. She angled her head up. It was dark now. Stars twinkled above her. The faint outline of the vehicle took a moment for her gaze to decipher. She was riding in a golf cart. How long had she been unconscious? I’m ready, Father. To come home. To be with You.

  The golf cart stopped moving. The motor shut off. And then it was quiet. He whistled as if he was happy. He really was a monster. “Oh, you’re awake, Suzie Q. How nice for you. I did promise you a bath, and so you will have one.”

  “Monster.”

  He scooped her up. “That’s not very nice. After all, I’m only doing what you asked. You’re the one who asked me to kill you. That makes it your responsibility, not mine. None of this is my fault.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “Too late.”

  Her eyelids drooped. She forced them back open. She stared into the eyes of her captor—her murderer. He still had on the ski mask. She would die without ever seeing his face. Without ever knowing why she had to die. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

  He smiled. “Because I can.” He walked to the edge of a cliff.

  Her head hung over. She could see the moonlight glistening off the water far below. Then she looked up. At the twinkling stars. God was waiting for her.

  “It’s been fun, Suzie Q. Bon Voyage.” A moment later, he tossed her.

  Her gazed focused on the twinkling stars above her. God, I’m coming home. She soared through the air as if she were flying. And then she dropped.

  4

  “Raven.” Her mother’s voice sounded far, far away.

  But it couldn’t be her mother. Her mother was dead.

  “Raven, open your eyes.”

  Her dead mother again. Oh…that must mean she was dead too. Because…why was she dead? Something bad happened, but she couldn’t remember exactly what. Her head hurt too bad to think. Oh well…it didn’t matt—

  “Raven. I mean it. I want you to open your eyes right now. I need to talk to you. Please.”

  Not her mother’s voice.

  She forced her eyes open.

  Her sister stared down at her. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You’re awa—”

  Too hard to keep her eyes open. She let them close. Someone held her hand. It felt safe. She squeezed the hand but didn’t have the energy to open her eyes. She drifted back into a dreamless world. The hand was gone the next time Raven became aware of herself. It was quiet.

  She opened her eyes. Ceiling tiles above. Machines that had her hooked up to IVs. She was in a hospital. Not dead. That was probably good. But why was she in the hospital? What happened to her? She fell asleep.

  The hand was back. Raven squeezed the hand and opened her eyes.

  Her sister stared back at her. “Oh, Raven. Don’t be scared. I’m right here with you. You’re in the hospital. You’ll be OK. You’re safe now.”

  Her throat hurt, but she managed to say, “Don’t…leave.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here with you.”

  “What… happened?” Probably a car wreck.

  “Don’t worry about that right now. You just rest.” He sister touched her cheek. “I love you, Raven.”

  “Love…you…too.” The next time she woke up her sister was gone, but a nurse was standing beside her.

  “Welcome back, Raven. My name’s Misty. I’m one of your nurses. How are you feeling?”

  “Confused.” Her voice sounded scratchy, and her throat still hurt.

  Misty patted her hand. “I’m sure that’s very true. Your sister just stepped out for a few moments. She’ll be back before you know it. In the meantime, I’ll change a few bandages if that’s OK with you?”

  She nodded. “Where…?”

  “The hospital, dear. You’re in the hospital and you’re safe.”

  Safe? Why did everyone keep saying that? “What hospital?”

  “You’re in Cumberland Medical Center, dear.”

  She hadn’t heard of it. “Ohio?”

  “No, dear. Maryland. You’re in Cumberland, Maryland.”

  Maryland? “But…but I live…Ohio. How…?”

  “Don’t worry about that right now. In fact, don’t worry about anything. Just concentrate on getting better. You’re safe. And we’re taking good care of you. There’s nothing for you to do but get better.”

  She’d said it again. Safe? The nurse started changing bandages. Cuts and bruises covered her body—a lot of bruises. Why couldn’t she remember getting them? And how did she get to Cumberland, Maryland? “Throat hurts.”

  “That’s because you were intubated, but that came out yesterday. You probably don’t remember since you were heavily medicated.”

  “Must be a euphemism for being drugged,” she mumbled. Her throat burned. “Can I have some water?”

  “How about some ice
chips?”

  She’d take what she could get. “OK.”

  She was sucking on an ice chip when Amanda walked in. “Oh, Raven, you’re finally, really awake.”

  “Sort of. I’m still very tired. And confused. What happened to me? Why am I here?”

  “That’s nothing to worry about. The doctor said that you probably wouldn’t remember anything.” Her sister tried to hug her, being careful not to dislodge any of the wires and tubes. She gave up and touched Raven’s cheek instead. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I’ve been so worried.”

  “What happened? Why am I here?”

  Her sister shook her head as she wiped at the tears. “We were hoping you could tell us.”

  “We?”

  Her sister moved aside.

  A man stood just inside her room near the doorway. He wore a uniform and pointed to the badge on his chest. “I’m Sheriff Matthew Borden.” He smiled. “But you can call me Matt.”

  “Am I under arrest? Did I do something wrong?”

  Before he could answer, one of the many machines she was hooked up to began to beep. Seconds later another man ran in. “What’s going on? Y’all shouldn’t be in here. She’s barely awake. Out all of you.”

  “But I’m here sister—her next of kin.”

  “And I need to talk to her.”

  “Out. No one’s talking to her right now. That’s an order.”

  Her sister let go of her hand. “I’ll be right out there. I’m not going anywhere, Raven, so don’t worry about a thing.” She took hold of the man’s arm. “Come on.”

  “But—”

  “You heard him. Out.”

  The beeping slowed. Raven looked up at the man still standing beside her bed. “Are you a doctor?”

  “Actually, I’m the head nurse for this shift. The name’s Desmond Jackson. I’m sorry about all that. The sheriff sneaked past me when I wasn’t looking. But don’t worry, he means you no harm. He just wants to ask you some questions, but he’ll have to wait for the doctor to give him permission to talk to you. I promise you he won’t be bothering you again until you’re ready to talk to him.”