Hunt and Pray (3 page)

He considered the stuff they served him the food on, but there was no silverware, and the plate and glass were plastic. No help there.

He sighed and decided he might as well eat. Whatever was going to happen, there was no point in being weak from hunger when it happened.

Once he tasted the food, he wolfed it down. It was delicious, and Drew suspected it was all homemade. He wondered if Chance had cooked it. He hoped so. The thought of eating something one of the other two lunatics cooked made his stomach roll.

When he was done, he put the garbage in the small plastic trash can he spotted at the foot of the bed and contemplated his situation.

He realized no one was really going to be looking for him. He’d taken a week off work, and the reason he’d been waiting at Jason’s apartment was that they were supposed to be going on vacation together to work on their relationship.

Jason walking in with another guy’s tongue down his throat was Drew’s first indication that he wasn’t interested in figuring things out.

The genuine surprise on Jason’s face let Drew know that his boyfriend—ex-boyfriend—had totally forgotten the plans they’d made. His stumbling explanation of stopping for a drink after work and running into an old lover only made Drew feel worse.

Jason tried to apologize, going on about how the guy had always been the “one who got away,” and he’d needed Drew to make him jealous. Drew had been devastated to learn he’d been used that way.

As he thought about it now, he realized it was only his pride that had been hurt. He’d liked Jason well enough, but he was more embarrassed than heartbroken.

So no, the few people who might have missed him weren’t expecting to speak to him. He’d told his family he was going away, and a few missed calls wouldn’t have them too worried even if he hadn’t mentioned it. Drew was always getting lost in his stories and sometimes would go a couple of weeks without any communication with them.

He was supposed to be headed for a resort in the Dominican Republic today, and instead he was stuck in this fucking cabin in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of madmen.

Drew Edwards, you have all the luck!
All bad, that is.

All he could do was wait and see what happened next.

He slipped off the bed and walked over to the chair where the novels sat. One of them was a Stephen King novel he’d never had the chance to read, so he grabbed it and flopped back down on the bed.

It didn’t take him long to become engrossed in the novel. Reading and writing were always his escape from reality, and this time was no different.

There wasn’t anything he could do about his situation right now, and getting himself all worked up wasn’t going to make him feel any better.

He’d read about half the book when the door opened again, and Chance entered. He had a gun in one hand pointed at Drew as he walked over to the bed and dropped two pills onto the covers with his other hand.

“My dad wants you to take these. He says you’re probably sore from bouncing around tied up in the truck all day.”

Drew looked down and saw they were just Advil, and seeing as how he felt like he’d been rode hard and put up wet, he grabbed them and swallowed them dry, grinning when Chance winced as he did.

“Why does he care? As far as he’s concerned, I’m already dead.” Drew studied Chance curiously, noting a fresh bruise blossoming on his cheekbone. Drew gestured at it. “Did he do that to you?”

Chance blushed and then glared at him. “None of your fucking business.” The words were harsh but didn’t have quite the bite they should have.

“He needs to be able to say he’s being fair and giving you the best chance he can. And he wants you to be in the best shape possible so you can be the biggest challenge for me.” Chance laughed bitterly.

“It’s fucking useless. I’m a trained killer, and you’re nothing but a….” He seemed to be searching for the right word.

“Nothing but a faggot, right?” Drew spat it at him. He looked up at Chance “Yeah, you’re right. You’re going to kill me, and it probably won’t take very long. But it’s not because I’m gay. I’m going to die because you were trained by the Marines to hunt people, and I’m just a small-town guy whose only experience in the wilderness is all the camping I did with my dad.”

Chance looked surprised at Drew’s outburst.

Drew just sneered at him. “Yeah, I have a dad, you know. I wasn’t fucking hatched. And he and my mom and the rest of my family are going to drive themselves crazy looking for me.”

Drew took a deep breath and flopped back on the bed. “Never mind. It’s not like it matters to you anyway, right?”

Chance kept staring at him, not saying a word.

“When are we doing this?” Drew didn’t want to ask, but he couldn’t help it.

Chance shrugged. “Day after tomorrow, probably.”

Drew felt sadness growing in his chest. He had one more day to live. Tears pushed at the back of his eyes, but he didn’t want to cry in front of Chance, so he flipped onto his side and put his back to him.

“Just leave me alone. I’m not some animal in the fucking zoo for you to gawk at.” Drew thought he did a pretty good job of keeping the hitch out of his voice.

The other man was quiet for a moment before Drew heard his footsteps once more as he walked toward the hallway. Drew heard the door close and the lock turn. Only then did he let the tears fall.

Chapter Three

D
REW
woke up suddenly, shocked and a little dismayed to find he’d fallen asleep again. Just the thought of how vulnerable it made him had him shivering in fear.

He sat up and looked around, noting how dark it was. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was 3:00 a.m. He wasn’t surprised to be wide awake. The drugs had made sure he’d slept most of the day yesterday, and now he was awake enough that fear and anxiety would keep him from sleeping any longer.

He’d failed to notice the lack of a light source in the room when it was still daylight outside, but now, with only the faint moonlight shining in the window to see by, he was more than a little overwhelmed by the darkness.

Slipping off the bed, he walked over to the door and felt around the side of it. Sure enough, there was an electrical switch, but when he flipped it up, there was no reaction.

He sighed and shook his head, then walked back over to sit on the bed again. He should have been expecting it. Even a light bulb could be used dangerously, he supposed.

He became aware of a sound coming from the hall and froze. Sitting there in the dark only made everything scarier, and he struggled not to fall into a complete panic.

He heard the lock on the door click before it swung open silently. He started to shake when an unfamiliar face showed itself in the dim light from the window. He wondered which one it was.

“Hello, faggot.” The sneer in the man’s voice was impossible to miss.

Ezra, then.

Drew sighed. He was possibly the most dangerous of all three. The man was a loose cannon, and Drew knew from what little he’d heard that Ezra hated the hold the colonel had over him.

He opened his mouth to yell, but the slimy little weasel was across the room and had a knife to Drew’s throat before he could make a sound.

“None of that now, boy.” His voice was ragged and cruel. “I’m not real keen to have the colonel come and investigate, so what’s say we keep this between us?”

Drew had no choice but to nod in agreement. The greasy man smiled and pushed the knife a little harder against Drew’s skin before he pulled it back and pushed it into a sheath on his hip. Drew could feel something warm trickling down his throat and knew it must be blood.

“Now, boy, I think it’s time to have a little fun.” He grabbed Drew by the hair and pulled him off the bed, dropping him to his knees on the floor before scrabbling for his belt buckle. “I figure you must be an expert at sucking cock, so let’s give it a try.”

Drew’s eyes widened. The man was greasy-looking and smelled like days-old sweat. There was no way Drew wanted the man’s cock anywhere near his mouth.

He started scrabbling backward but was stopped when the man grabbed his hair tightly and pulled him back. The world exploded into fireworks as the man backhanded him across the face, leaving him dizzy and shaking.

“Now that I’ve taught you some manners, let’s try this again.” Ezra was back to pushing at his pants. “You’re going to suck me until I come down your fucking throat, and if you try and bite me, I’ll cut your fucking dick off.” His cruel smile was horrifying in the moonlight.

The disgusting man finally got his button and zipper open when he suddenly stiffened and let go of Drew's hair. Drew looked up and saw a strong arm around the man’s neck, cutting off his air supply. Ezra frantically tried to pull it away to no avail.

“You’re going to get the fuck out of this room right now and never come back.” The voice coming from behind the suffocating man was definitely Chance’s. “Unless you’d like to explain to my father why you were trying to have sex with the gay prisoner?”

Ezra’s eyes widened in terror, and he shook his head desperately.

The arm around his neck went slack, and then he was spun around and pushed toward the door. “I mean it, Ezra! Don’t fucking come back in here. Dad left me in charge of him, and I won’t let you fuck it up.”

Ezra scowled at him but left without a word, rubbing at the bruises on his neck. Chance turned back to Drew and offered him a hand up, but Drew was still reeling from the abuse he’d suffered. He crouched down, wrapped his arms around his knees, and tried to make himself as small as possible.

Chance sighed wearily, reached down, and grabbed him under the armpits.

Drew froze in fear but didn’t cry out. The other man just dumped him back on the bed and then turned toward the door.

Drew shivered uncontrollably as the bile rose in his throat. He couldn’t stop it. He lunged for the wastebasket, reaching it as his dinner came up all at once. As he heaved, he faintly registered the door closing and the lock engaging. He continued retching until his stomach was empty and he was finally able to take a breath again.

He shoved the disgusting mess as far away as possible and then dragged himself back onto the bed, pulled back the blankets, and crawled under them, hoping that would stop the shivering.

He tensed as the door opened again, but it was just Chance coming back in holding a glass of water and a damp cloth. He handed them to Drew and then went back to the door. He watched, his expression unreadable, as Drew washed off his face and then sipped some of the water.

When he could speak again, he looked at Chance. “Thank you.” He wasn’t sure why he was thanking someone who was holding him hostage, but it felt right.

Chance just nodded at him, mouth turned down in a frown, before he grabbed the wastebasket and left the room. Drew heard the lock engage again and sighed a little in relief. He was reasonably sure he’d be safe from Ezra as long as Chance was on duty.

But who was going to keep him safe from Chance when the time came?

Drew knew he didn’t stand a chance against the soldier. Physical fighting had never been his strong point. He could argue and debate with the best of them, but violence was something he was strongly against in any form.

He’d like to think when it came right down to it, Chance wouldn’t be able to go through with killing him. But even if that were true, Ezra and Colonel Crackpot would have no such qualms.

His only chance might be to quickly find somewhere to hide and see if he could wait them out. He had a feeling the men were expert trackers, and Drew had no experience in trying to not be noticed.

He let himself drift, knowing there was nothing he could do other than hope the morning might bring a few more answers.

W
HEN
Drew woke again, it was to sunshine in his face and the desperate need to pee. He lay there blinking, trying to will himself more awake when the door opened, revealing Chance. The man didn’t look happy.

“I’m here to take you to the bathroom.” The bruise on his face was more pronounced than the day before, and Drew almost winced in sympathy.

Instead, he just nodded and got out of bed. He stumbled to the door, noting that there was no gun in Chance’s hand.

The other man followed his gaze and then smirked at him. “I don’t need a gun to control you.” Their eyes met, and Drew could see nothing but honesty there. He decided not to argue.

Chance stepped back and gestured at Drew to go through the door and into the hall. Drew made his way to the bathroom, where he was surprised to see a neatly folded towel and a brand-new toothbrush and toothpaste on the counter.

Drew looked at them and then back at Chance.

“My father provided them for you. You can have a shower if you want….” He seemed to hesitate before continuing. “Ezra and my father have gone to run some errands for a couple of hours… no one will bother you.”

Drew just stared at him, unsure of what to say or do, until his aching bladder got the best of him.

He turned to the toilet and did his best once more to ignore the fact he was being watched by his captor. When he was finished, he decided to take the shower. He felt disgusting, and it might be the only chance he got.

Checking on Chance, he saw the other man was doing his best to not look at Drew as he undressed. Drew hesitated and then shrugged and took off his watch and set it on the counter. No sense in worrying about it.

After slipping off his shoes, he pulled off his shirt and then let his jeans drop to the floor and toed off his socks. He turned the water on to warm up and pushed his underwear down as well, then stepped into the shower and closed the curtain.

The warm water felt amazing on his painful muscles, and he couldn’t help but moan as it sluiced over his skin. The heat seeped through his body, loosening tight muscles and easing some of his aches.

Looking over to the ledge, he spotted a bottle of shampoo and decided to help himself. When he opened the bottle, he recognized the smell wafting through the shower but wasn’t quite sure from where.