Chapter 20- Despair

Regina’s POV
I woke up from slumber with a splitting headache and found myself in a back of a truck.
The memory from before I passed out came back to me gradually. And I remembered. Nigel abducted me. He and Gavin knocked me over with a stick and took me away.
I tried to sit up. And then I found that both of my hands and feet were tied up with ropes. There was also duct tape on my mouth, keeping me from crying out for help.
I also got a bitter taste in my mouth. Probably wolfsbane. To prevent me from shifting.
I used my knees and elbows to crawl forward and approached the truck's back door. The door rattled as the car drove forward and there was a crack between the doors.
I narrowed my eyes and peeked through that narrow crack.
We were driving down a freeway.
It didn’t seem anywhere I had been to before. The roadsides were lined with brown and withered vegetation. Everything seemed bleak and deserted. There weren’t any buildings within my sight.
I had no idea where we were going.
For what it was worth, they could be taking me to the end of the world and planning to kill me there.
I took in a deep breath to calm myself down and looked again.
The sun was blazing in the middle of the sky. I remembered that I was knocked over around midnight. If I hadn’t stayed unconscious for more than one day, now was probably the next afternoon. And it was highly likely that we were still in Ever Moon Pack.
Hope sprouted in me.
They would have to stop for gas and food at some point, which would be my opportunity to ask for help.
There was still time for me to escape.
I sat back and lied back on the floor and stared at the black ceiling on top of my head.
I was actually freaking out internally. The vicious smile on Nigel’s face was still vivid in my mind. He was probably taking me away to torture me. And everything he said to me in Ever Moon Pack, how he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life together with me, was nothing but a lie.
I had to stay strong for myself, for grandpa and grandma, and for Gray.
I still remembered the look on Gray’s face when he asked me to wait for him to come back.
I couldn’t let him down.
I had to make it back home safely. For him.
The car kept driving forward and I had no idea how much time had passed. Was it half an hour? An hour? Probably two?
Maya must have found out that I was gone and let everyone know already. Grandpa and Grandma must be worried sick and my dad as well. And Connie…
Wait a second.
Did Connie know that Nigel was going to abduct her?
That thought a chill down my spine.
Now that I thought of it, it seemed unlikely for Nigel to abduct me out of Ever Moon Pack without somebody’s help. How did he pass all those checkup points? How did he explain a living person in his truck to the guards?
And Connie did ask me to leave with Nigel repeatedly many times.
Why did she want me gone so badly?!
Or maybe I was simply imagining things that didn’t exist. It didn’t make any sense for Connie to help Nigel…
Just then, the moving truck halted sharply, interrupting my line of thought. Then I heard the driver’s door shut with a slam and a series of footsteps approached.
My guard was up instantly. I quickly sat up straight and stared at the door nervously.
The door was wrenched open from the outside the next second. Bright sunlight shone into the truck, blinding me temporally.
Nigel was standing there, holding his arms in front of his chest with a cocky smile.
“Enjoy your afternoon nap, Princess Regina?” he cackled.
I glared at him with my eyes. He patted his forehead and giggled, “Oh I forgot you can’t talk. The duct tape. So do you promise to be a doll and don’t scream and yell if I take it off?”
I stared at his disgusting face and nodded slowly.
He reached over and peeled the tape off my mouth.
I immediately sucked in a deep breath. Then I hissed, “Where the fuck are we going Nigel?”
“Dropping the f bomb. Really? Is this how a lady should behave?” Nigel said sarcastically, “Everyone called you a princess, but you surely don’t act like one.”
“Just tell me what you want!” I snapped.
Nigel spread his hands and shrugged, “Relax. All I ever wanted was one thing: for you to come home with me and lead a happy life together.”
I couldn’t believe it.
He was still lying.
“How can we be happy again after what you did to me? You abused me, lied to me, betrayed me and now abducted me! We are over now, Nigel. Wake up!”
The evil smile on his face faded away slightly. Now his face looked grim.
“You didn’t seem to mind the way I treated you in the past. Looks like your family really poisoned your mind big time,” he said sullenly. “It’s best for you to spend the rest of your life away from them…for your own good.”
His words made me tremble in fear.
The thought of being kept away from my family—from Gray—for the rest of my life horrified me. It felt like my chest was cut open with a blade and they just gouged my heart out.
“Please, Nigel. What do you want?” I softened my tone and begged, “Money? Power? A title? My family can give you everything you want as long as you let me go. You don’t need to do this!”
Nigel’s mouth spread wider into a pleasant smile. He seemed to be enjoying my pleading.
“I want all of those. But most importantly…I want you,” he giggled. “You are my wife, and Ever Moon Pack’s lawful heir. I don’t need to exchange you for money and power. With you in my hand, I can have everything I want…Even Ever Moon Pack could be mine! Only an idiot would strike a one-time deal and let you go!”
His eyes gleamed with greed. I felt my heart seized by terror and shock.
“Are you crazy?” I gasped, “Ever Moon Pack will never be yours! Gray is the Alpha! Ever Moon will never fall into my hand, let alone yours!”
“He is the Alpha now. But will he be Alpha forever?” Nigel shrugged, “If Gray dies, it puts you next in the line of succession. Then everything will work out perfectly.”
I quivered involuntarily at his words.
Why would Nigel say such a horrible thing?
Gray dying…No, it was impossible. Gray was like the strongest Alpha/warrior in the whole wide world. Nothing would ever happen to him!
The horrified look on my face must have given Nigel a great sense of pleasure. He snorted and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
“Shit. Where is my lighter?”
He fumbled in his pocket while murmuring with a cigarette in his mouth. Then he started to walk towards the front of the truck.
“Hey, Gavin! Got a lighter?” he cried.
The truck door was still open.
Nigel didn’t know this…But I had worked the rope on my feet loosen already.
This was my chance.
In a splitting of second, I jumped off the truck and ran crazily for my life. I heard furious screams and yelling from my back, and I sprinted even faster! Quicker! Faster! Don’t let them catch me!
“HELP!!” I screamed at the top of my lung, “Somebody help!”
Yet to my greatest despair, there was no one around. The truck was parked on the curb of the freeway and the surrounding was as deserted as I peeked through the doors an hour ago. The road stretched into the horizon. And not a single passing car could be seen.
“Help…” I choked, desperately. My energy was draining. And yet, no one came to my rescue.
Heavy footsteps caught up with me from the back. I panicked and lurched. A hand caught my hair and spun me around. A heavy punch landed on my face the next second.
I staggered to the side, coughing with blood in my mouth. Gavin rushed forward to contain me. And Nigel fixed me up with one more kick on the stomach.
“Bitch!” he snarled, “This is what you get for running!”
I dropped to the ground. Tears ran down my cheek along with the blood and seeped into the soil underneath me.
Nothing tasted colder and bitter than despair.