The Hermit Read Online Free Page A

he just stopped breathing.  I thought, they’ll
go now .  I figured they’d kill me…I was prepared for that.  I…I hoped for
it honestly.”  She wrapped her hand around her throat, rubbing gently.  “I
never considered they’d take me with them.  I never thought it would go
on and on.  They packed up our camp and threw Steven’s body in a deep ravine
with our camping gear.  They kept his camera equipment but Steven they just…just
tossed him away.” 
     
    She
put her fingers to her temples, “We hiked deeper into the forest for three more
days.  They took me to a cave; there was a cage built inside.  They didn’t feed
me at first.  I think they figured I’d die anyway.  I had a bucket and the
bedroll from my tent.  Sometimes they’d be gone for days.”  Daphne’s voice
trailed away, as if she’d been transported back in time.
     
    Ryan
didn’t move, no matter how much he wanted to.  He said calmly, “Daphne.  It’s
alright.  You’re safe now.  They can’t hurt you; they can’t ever hurt you again.”
     
    In
answer, she exhaled on a sob and continued, “I was afraid for them to come back. 
I was afraid they wouldn’t and I’d die trapped in a cage like an animal. 
All this time, I’ve done nothing but wait.  Wait to be used, tortured, given
scraps of food and drinking the water that dripped from the cave wall.”  Daphne
looked at Ryan across the room, her hand going subconsciously to the jagged
scar on her jaw, “I…I fought at first but that made them…worse.  Usually, they…they
came no less than two at a time…” 
     
    She
swallowed hard, her entire body shaking hard before going completely still. 
Her eyes went cold and distant.  “Then, one day only one of them came.  I
pretended to want him, calling him to me.”  The small smile was filled with a
combination of satisfaction and horror.  “I…I killed him with his own knife. 
Stabbed him over and over and over, I don’t remember how many times, but I was
covered in his blood.”  Looking down at her hand, Daphne seemed surprised to
see her skin clean of the blood she remembered so vividly. 
     
    “It
was the first time any of them had been so careless.  I don’t know what
happened to the other two.  I took the knife and a packet of jerky and made my
way off the mountain.  I’d been walking for almost two days, I think, before I decided
to sleep.” 
     
    Ryan
wanted to hunt the remaining men down, to take them out painfully, to leave
them bleeding in the dirt as they screamed in terror.  He couldn’t look at her,
afraid she’d see the person who lived inside him.  His fists on his knees were
tight enough to leave nail marks in his palms. 
     
    He dragged
much needed air into his lungs and told her, “Daphne, let me get my computer.” 
She nodded and picked up the candlestick as he stood, going into his bedroom
and returning with a laptop.  Sitting back in the chair, he worked to connect
to the Internet, going to a search engine and entering her name and that of her
husband. 
     
    She
watched him read, knew he’d found information about her.  About Steven.  It seemed
like a long time before he spoke.  “There are stories about you all over the
web.  They sent out search parties for almost two months after you disappeared.” 
He glanced up and she saw the regret cross his face.  “The rangers found your
husband; they suspected foul play when they examined his…his remains.  Your
friend, Janice, still makes trips up here with her brothers to look for you.” 
     
    He
found the missing person contact information, took out his satellite phone and
saved the number listed.  He held the phone out to Daphne, “You can call them
if you like.  I’ll give you the coordinates of where you are now.”
     
    She
stared at his hand for a long time and he stood, moving to set the phone on the
arm of the couch.  “When you’re ready, you hit the green button.  It takes
about thirty