I stretched my shoulders and rubbed the sore skin around my wrists.

"We've got to pack you up," he said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I say. "I don't need to pack anything." "I don't think you'll want to wear my clothes," he chuckled in his voice.

I frowned at Ben. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"We're getting out of this," he said.

"yes, but I don't have to pack my bags when I go to the police station."

"We're not going to go to the police."

My jaw dropped, and Ben's face was full of worry. He held my face in both hands. When he touched me, my stomach was knotted. I grabbed his wrist and tried to pull him away from me. I kicked him. Ben snorted in pain.

"Diana, calm down," he said. "We can't go to the police station. If we go there, they will tear us apart. ”

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Ben, you're also a victim of this."

Ben took a deep breath and rested his forehead against mine. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was on the verge of leaving, but the harsh reality I was trapped in returned.

"I'm not completely honest," he said. "When I met Bethany, I wasn't just a bankrupt screenwriter living in Toronto."

He closed his eyes tightly. When he opened his eyes, a blinding blue was staring at me.

"I'm on the run," he said. "The police are looking for me because I killed my sister and my mother."

I ripped Ben's hand away from my face. My chest spasmed and I had trouble breathing. Ben reached out again and stroked my face, and I slapped his hand away from me. I saw Ben kill Oliver, but what I saw was a man killing his captives to get free.

Ben was a murderer.

He killed his family in cold blood.

That's why he didn't have any problems killing Colin. He didn't know who Colin was. He could have asked Colin to get out of here with us, but that wasn't what he wanted.

"Diana, don't cry," he said.

I didn't realize that tears were pouring out of my eyes. I wiped them off my cheeks with a rag and the back of my hand.

"You're crazy," I said. "You're a killer."

"That's why I didn't dare tell you," he said. "I knew you wouldn't understand. I'll explain it all to you, but I don't have time right now. We need to get out of here. ”

"I don't."

Ben reached out to me again, and I went to hit him. He grabbed my wrists and pressed them against his chest.

"Listen," he said. "I love you, Diana. I can't go anywhere without you. I always tell you: we will get out of this together. ”

"I don't!"

Ben let go of my wrist. He pulled the gun out of his pocket and put his other arm around my neck. He held the gun to the side of my temple. He tilted his head forward so that his head was next to mine. My body tensed. After firing at Oliver, the barrel was still hot.

He said, "I'm left with you alone." "His voice was hoarse, sending chills down my spine. "I can't live without you. If you refuse to come with me, then I have no reason to live. I will do everything I can to make sure we are together. ”

Ben pressed the gun harder against my head. I imagined his fingers wobbling on the trigger. With a small movement, he can shoot a bullet through our brains.

Ben has been teaching me how to make these doctors happy so that I can live. I need to do the same to make Ben happy so he doesn't kill us.

I put my arm around Ben's neck. I could feel the gun slip over my head again. I buried my face in his neck. Ben's body relaxed, and he and his ammo pile he put his arms around me. I was relieved when I felt the gun no longer press on my skull.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I said.

Ben kissed me on the forehead before standing up. He stretched out his arm and helped me to my feet. He wrapped his arms around my waist in a twist of his arms. I wiped the remaining tears from my face. As we passed Oliver's body, Ben held me tightly on top of him. He grabbed his backpack from the counter and we walked down the hallway to my room.

Ben put the bag on my bed, stuffed with stuff and clothes. He handed me a piece of clothing. I looked down at myself and saw that I was still wearing the surgical gown that Oliver had given me. I wanted to run to the bathroom to change, but I knew Ben wouldn't like it. He had already seen me naked, so I changed my clothes as soon as I could.

He zipped up his bag and slipped it over his shoulder. He interlocked his fingers and we walked back down the hallway. He handed me the sunglasses before we started going up the stairs.

I followed Ben as he pulled me through the house. He squeezed my hand as we walked out. There was a silver car parked in the back lane

I stepped into the car, and he slammed the door shut. I turned around in my seat and watched him put his bag in the trunk and walk to the driver's side. When he inserted the key into the ignition, I pulled the seat belt to my chest.

Ben didn't say anything to me when he pulled the car out of the driveway, but he put his hand on my lap. By the time I sat down, the hem of my skirt had risen, so his hand was on my bare skin. My chest tightened as his fingers slid up and down my thighs. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"I'm not sure yet," he said.

"Can we go to Ottawa?"

"Why? Because your family is there? He looked at me and saw that I was chewing on my lower lip. "Honey, we can't see anyone."

"We've been kidnapped again?" I say. "We ran away together, so to speak."

"What about your eyes? I'm sorry, but this can't happen. ”

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back into the bed seat. Ben took his hand off my knee for a few seconds so he could turn on the radio. The interior of the car is filled with the sounds of classic rock. Ben's fingers tapped my thighs to the beat of the music.

I saw a police car drive past us. The lights were not on and there was no alarm. I wish it would rush to Oliver's house, but it's not.

Ben drove for hours and I kept silent. He left the busy city streets behind and now walks on a series of country roads. Only that strange car passed by us.