Page 51

HARPER

J asper’s eyes stayed on me as if he was waiting for something. Nothing made sense anymore, confusion consumed my thoughts as I watched on. I felt dizzy trying to understand what was happening.

Malice grabbed me and shoved his gun into the side of my head making me wince at the sudden movement of my dead weight, strained from hanging. My arms had gone numb, but my muscles and nerves ached. I raised my chin at his attempt to intimidate Jasper with his threats.

He told Jasper and Max to put their guns down when they didn’t, he started to count. Terrified, I looked up at Jasper, feeling defeated, but something in his eyes spoke to me. Then, with a slight nod toward the dark corner of the room, my gaze was drawn to a figure crouched in the shadows.

He had a plan.

A part of me wanted to feel relieved, but through the fog of confusion, I wasn’t certain if that was a good thing for me, or if it would simply save me from one monster and push me into the arms of another.

As Jasper lowered his gun, and Max did the same, Malice relaxed his grip on me and let his gun fall to his side. I let out a deep sigh of relief and then took a breath that barely filled my lungs.

My head started to spin, and my vision blurred. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I couldn’t move because of the chains that bound me, and I couldn’t breathe enough air from the small space, that was now filled with too many large man-made men with firearms, and rage.

I maintained a straight face, trying to appear unreadable, but on the inside, I was in a state of panic, feeling as though I was losing control over everything within me.

I had no idea what was happening to me. I felt sweat dripping from my forehead, but my body shivered. My breaths were labored and the sounds around me suddenly became muffled. The steady ringing in my ears was so loud.

What’s happening to me?

Moments later, my eyes rolled back, and my head drooped. I became aware of the surrounding voices, yet I couldn’t piece them together to understand what was being said; The voices intensified, becoming louder and more furious, but still, they meant nothing.

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t. I had lost control over the movements of my body. It felt like I was trapped in a shell of myself.

After what felt like an eternity, I was being moved. My wrists were released, one after the other. The sudden absence of my body weight from my joints was an excruciating agony. My entire body was on fire. I wanted to scream or thrash or fight back, anything to gain an ounce of control over my situation, and what felt like the end of my life. Still, at every attempt nothing happened.

Loud bangs caused the ringing in my ear to become even more audible, and a harsh metallic smell assaulted my senses.

I felt strong hands wrap around my waist catching me as I fell forward at my release. I heard some mumbled words against my neck as I was lifted and laid against what I could only assume was a hard chest. The vibration of movement and the sound of more mumbled words lulled me into the darkness.