After Dark Read online

  Back of the Book

  Can a love that starts out in terror be real or last?

  Meredith Ashcroft is on her way to a client meeting in the Yorkshire dales when she disappears. Five months later, Art gallery manager Stephanie Edwards also goes missing. Both are held and tortured by the same sadistic man. Realizing their fate is doomed, and likely to die where they are, they take comfort from each other. Sharing their lives and dreams to help ease their terrifying existence.

  After their rescue, the bond that connected them grows to a friendship that most deem unhealthy. Thrown together by chance and united in trying to overcome their shared ordeal, they find themselves falling in love. But is it true love or just an attachment to each other born out of fear for their lives?

  After the Dark

  © 2019 by Samantha Hicks

  Affinity E-Book Press NZ LTD.

  Canterbury, New Zealand

  1st Edition

  ISBN 978-1-98-854986-6

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form without the express permission of the author and publisher. Please note that piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights and is illegal.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editor: Angela Koenig

  Proof Editor: Alexis Smith

  Cover Design: Irish Dragon Designs

  Production Design: Affinity Publishing Services

  Acknowledgments

  It has been a lifelong dream of mine to be a published author and it’s bizarre for the dream to now be my reality.

  Once again, my utmost thanks and gratitude goes to the lovely ladies at Affinity Rainbow Publications. Mel, Julie, and Nancy have been invaluable in this process and I have learned so much from this talented bunch and I truly appreciate all their hard work and brilliance in making this book what it is today. I couldn’t imagine doing this without them and hope to continue working with them for a long time to come.

  I want to thank my family for supporting me through all this, and especially to Lyndsey and Josh who spoil me with pizza, wine, and chocolate (my favourite things). A huge thank you goes to my constant companion Finley, my springer spaniel, who allows me the time to write and makes me go outside in the fresh air to walk him. There is no better writing partner than a dog. And thank you, Kelly, for allowing me the use of your surname, welcome to the family.

  My appreciation goes to all the staff at Affinity for their dedication in making all our books sparkle. And finally, thank you to all the readers and writers I have connected with over the last year. It’s a wonderful community and I’m honoured to be a part of it.

  Dedication

  To Sam Jones,

  You truly are the world’s most generous man and my lifelong friend.

  Thank you for everything.

  Also by Samantha Hicks

  Trusting Hearts

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  About the Author

  Other Books from Affinity

  Chapter One

  “Don’t forget we’re meeting Ted and Wendy at seven o’clock tonight, darling.”

  “Yeah, I remember, Kath. I should be back by five, at the latest, so I’ll have plenty of time to get ready.” Meredith took her eyes off the country road in front of her, flicking her gaze over the GPS sitting on her dashboard. Shaking her head, she muttered, “This is ridiculous.”

  “Sorry, honey, I didn’t get that,” her long-term partner Kathleen said from the speakerphone.

  Stop with all the bloody cutesy names! Meredith hated the pet names. She marvelled at how many Kathleen knew, hardly ever the same one twice. She wasn’t sure if she hated them in general or if it was just Kathleen’s use of them that irritated her. She pulled her gaze back to the winding road.

  “I was talking to the GPS. I’m sure the guy at the car dealership messed with the programming just to mess with me.” She remembered the look in his eyes, the smarmy way he leered at her. She had been brusque with him, hoping he’d take the hint that she wasn’t interested. He did, and she was positive he did this to her GPS because it was the fifth time in two weeks, she had gotten lost following its directions.

  “Sweetheart, are you sure you’ll be back in time?”

  Meredith was on her way to meet a client in the Yorkshire Dales, and as she was driving up from Bristol, she had been on the road since six that morning. The meeting would be relatively quick, so she had plenty of time to get back home. She had originally tried putting Kathleen off from meeting her friends, knowing she would be tired after driving most of the day, but Kathleen wouldn’t hear of it. Ted and Wendy were not the kinds of people you put off, apparently.

  Meredith rolled her eyes at Kathleen’s whining tone. “Yes, I’ll be back in time, I promise.” No sooner as she uttered those words when an ominous, loud, grumbling sound came from the front left tire. She quickly said her goodbyes and slowed to a stop in the middle of the narrow country lane.

  She pulled on the handbrake, switched off the engine, and got out of her newly leased BMW Seven Series car. The wind blew softly around her, and she reached up to push the fire-cracker-red curls back from her face. She bent low and examined the now flat tire, cursing under her breath that she had never allowed her father to teach her how to change one. Just as she stood up with the intent of calling her breakdown service, she caught the flash of something big and heavy swinging toward her face, catching her on her right temple. Pain exploded in her head, her gaze swam out of focus. Landing on her back, she caught sight of a dark figure leaning into view. She had the tiniest glimpse of soulless eyes staring into hers. Glove-covered hands reached for her, and before Meredith had the chance to scream, her world went black.

  †

  Meredith awoke in pure darkness. She lay on a thin, ratty, and smelly mattress. As far as she could tell she was alone. Her eyes adjusted to the inky black surroundings but still couldn’t make out any form or function to the room. It was small, she thought she could see a door to her left. As she tried to stand, her arm snapped back behind her, her wrist tied to something by a chain, keeping her in place.

  She sank back into the filthy mattress, trying to piece together what had happened, how long she had been here. Meredith had no idea about anything. The handful of times she had awakened it had been to the sounds of the Man shouting at her as he humiliated her and abused her. Her body was bruised and damaged, she had no clue as to how many times he had beaten her, raped her, or tortured her.

  Meredith ran her swollen hand through her thick, matted hair, realising she hadn’t had a bath in God knows how long. She smelt horrid. If Kathleen could see me now, she mused. She wondered if Kathleen was all right, if she was worried about her, looking for her. Surely someone had found her car by now. Not if the man took it with him! There was a good chanc
e no one had any idea where to even look for her. Kathleen only knew the general area Meredith had travelled to, not the exact location of the meeting. She hadn’t been overly interested where Meredith was going, only that she be back in time to meet her friends. Meredith had the sardonic thought that maybe being here wasn’t all that bad if it meant missing out on meeting with Ted and Wendy.

  Meredith continued to think about her circumstances, trying to find a bit of hope in an otherwise impossible situation. She had just about given up on planning her escape when the door to her left flew open. The Man walked over to her and kicked her hard in the leg. Pain exploded in her thigh. Her whole body ached, not one part of her felt normal. It wouldn’t have mattered where he kicked her, she still would have felt the pain all through herself.

  “You dead yet? You’ve lasted longer than the others.” He pulled her up by her hair and twisted her around to unlock the cuff on her wrist. “Don’t be stupid, bitch,” he warned.

  “How long have I been here?” He didn’t reply. “Look, I'm sure I can get you money, I’m a wealthy woman. I know people.” She tried all she could to talk to him as he pulled her down a darkened hallway, her feet dragging along the stone floor, skin peeling off as she tried to push back away from him.

  He opened a door at the end after a thirty-second walk from her previous location. She counted at least ten other doors on either side of the corridor and she prayed they didn’t conceal any other victims. He did say I outlasted the others, perhaps there were dead women in them. Horrified at the thought, she began to struggle against his grip. He backhanded her across the cheek and roughly threw her down onto the hard concrete floor, the rough stone cutting into her back. The air was decidedly chillier in here and it raised gooseflesh on her overheated skin.

  “Time for some more fun.” He punched her in the face and she was momentarily stunned, blinking her eyes, trying to clear the pinpoints of light dancing in her gaze. This gave him enough time to tie her down in the shackles spread out on the floor. Lying there, spread eagle, Meredith felt her emotions shutting down. This room was new. She couldn’t remember being in here before, unless she had been unconscious, and she feared what would happen to her now. Closing herself off on the inside was the only way she could get through whatever was about to happen. If she thought too much about it, it would drive her insane. Putting her mind to a place of happier times she thought of her childhood, her old bedroom, and her parents. She thought of anything she could to remove herself away from the brutality he was about to inflict on her and the tightness of the shackles around her extremities.

  He injected something into her arm and slowly her tense muscles began to relax. She couldn’t move, her eyes refused to remain open. Her last recollection was of her dirty blouse being ripped from her skin.

  Chapter Two

  “Make yourself comfortable, you’re going to be here a while,” the man said.

  Meredith felt a warm body press close to her, and she caught a faint whiff of roses, probably from her perfume, mixed with a strong smell of alcohol. She listened to the sound of the door slamming shut, then she opened her eyes to see the bruised and bloodied face of a woman in front of her, her dark hair falling across her cheek. She sympathised with this new person, and she faintly recalled how she had felt when she first awoke in this nightmare.

  Gently she smoothed the soft hair back from the woman’s face, assessing the cut above the newcomer’s eye. Pain-filled dark-green eyes blinked back at her.

  “Hey,” Meredith whispered.

  “Who are you? Where am I?”

  Meredith concentrated on staying awake. She hadn’t eaten for so long that her energy was all but gone. He only fed her a small, stale bread roll every few days and she couldn’t remember when the last time that had been.

  “My name is Meredith and we’re in hell.”

  The newcomer closed her eyes; all her energy appeared to drain out of her. With her lashes still lowered, she murmured, “How long have you been here?”

  Meredith didn’t know. It felt like a lifetime. She asked the woman what the date was, and she was shocked to learn, once she calculated back to the date she was taken, she had been here nearly seven months.

  “Seven months,” she said wearily. She had missed Christmas. She had missed her birthday. Her periods had stopped weeks ago, and she knew her system was failing. She wouldn’t be alive much longer. She gave up all hope of ever getting out.

  The woman’s eyes snapped open and a tear tumbled down her cheek. Meredith used her thumb to wipe it away, dismayed that she herself couldn’t conjure any tears anymore. Seven months in this hell would do that to you, I suppose.

  “I’m sorry,” The woman said softly. “We probably aren’t getting out of here, are we?”

  “No, I don’t think so.” Meredith removed her hand and rolled onto her back, staring up into the darkness. “What’s your name?” she asked quietly.

  “Stephanie. Stephanie Edwards.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Stephanie. I’m not sure what to say to you. Things are going to happen to you that I wish you didn’t have to go through, but there is nothing you or I can do to stop him. He’s had me here for seven fucking months!”

  Stephanie reached her hand out toward Meredith’s and closed warm fingers over her tight fist. A few moments later, Meredith relaxed her hand and they laced their fingers together.

  “I don’t know how you’ve lasted all this time, but you have,” Stephanie whispered. “I can only imagine what has happened to you and I’m sorry. But you’re obviously a strong person to have survived this long. We’ll get out of here, I’m sure of it.”

  Meredith felt Stephanie’s head rest gently against her shoulder and she drifted off to sleep still holding her hand. She felt oddly comforted by this stranger, and she prayed both would somehow survive. She was kidding herself, she knew. It would only be a matter of time before her body shut down completely.

  It wasn’t long, it only felt like a few minutes to Meredith before she was startled awake by movement in the room. The Man grabbed Stephanie from beside her and dragged her toward the door. She could see Stephanie struggle in his grip and she shouted at him to stop. Meredith tried to reach for her, but she couldn’t stretch far enough. The cuff at her wrist cut into her skin as she struggled to reach for Stephanie.

  “Leave her alone, you freak!” she shouted and screamed at him, but he didn’t respond. He ignored her pleas as if she wasn’t even there. The slamming of the door and the fading shouts of Stephanie ended her struggle to release herself from her restraint. Her wrist, bloodied from her effort to escape, throbbed, and she sat back against the cold wall, cradling her hand in her lap. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the images plaguing her mind, knowing what that bastard was going to do to Stephanie.

  Meredith had been there, she knew the perverse pleasure the man took in torturing her, abusing her. She hoped, for Stephanie’s sake, that he would be quick today. That he wouldn’t hurt her for too long. He seemed to have no problem in keeping at it for hours at a time. The torment he inflicted on Meredith appeared to spur him on more and more and he never tired, never exhausted himself. She wondered what level of psychosis he was in because, clearly, he was a psychopath.

  †

  “Tell me about yourself,” Stephanie murmured.

  “What do you want to know?”

  They were sitting side by side, backs up against the wall. Meredith guessed Stephanie had now been here three days. Three days of intermittent torture for them both. The man didn’t appear to stick to any schedule and Meredith wondered if he had a job, if he was a member of society, or if he just spent all his time torturing women.

  She still hadn’t seen or heard any other people, but she supposed there were others. It seemed logical that, if he had the two of them, there were more. Perhaps the rooms are soundproofed?

  “I don’t know, anything. Are you married?”

  Meredith closed her eyes and Kathleen’s fac
e drifted into focus.

  “Not married, no. But I do have a partner, Kathleen.” She sensed Stephanie’s gaze on her and wondered about her reaction. Meredith had never been closeted and she wasn’t ashamed of who she was, even if others had a problem with it. And besides, with where they were now and the likelihood of their death in this place, it didn’t really matter what Stephanie thought of her.

  “You’re gay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Cool.”

  Stephanie shifted on the mattress and faced Meredith fully.

  “What’s she like?”

  “Not much to tell. Her name is Kathleen. We’ve been together for four years.”

  Stephanie waited for more information, but Meredith wasn’t eager to talk.

  “Is that it? Come on; tell me what she’s like.”

  Meredith thought for a moment, trying to sum up Kathleen in a few sentences. The truth was there wasn’t much Meredith could say about Kathleen. Yes, they had been together a long time, but they didn’t really know each other, not properly. They both worked hard, and during their downtime Meredith liked to stay in and catch up on her reading, and Kathleen liked to socialise. If Kathleen couldn’t be “seen” by the right people all the time she felt her social standing would slip. They had little in common, but their time together was pleasant. They both found it a mutually respectful and enjoyable relationship.

  “She works on the stock exchange, but I’m not entirely sure what she does. She makes a lot of money and that seems to satisfy her.” Meredith grew quiet once again, contemplating her relationship, and wondered how Kathleen would cope if she ever got out of this hell. Turning her head toward Stephanie she asked her the same question.