Page 16
Chapter Thirteen
RAELYN
The pounding in my head causes me to groan and shift. The feeling of softness under me, the warmth covering me, I almost don’t want to move or wake up. It’s like sleeping on a cloud.
But the fact that it’s not a lumpy, shitty hotel mattress causes me to slowly peel my eyes open. The light hurts, and I squint, trying to see through the pain.
Where the hell am I?
“Ow,” I moan as the hammer in my skull pounds away at whatever is left in my head. The fogginess and confusion keep me from trying to figure out where I am. One thing at a time, though.
Slowly, I sit up and find myself in my clothes from last night.
But I am in a strange bed. This definitely is not the bed of the hotel we were staying in.
I swallow, and my throat feels like there are razors in it.
I turn to my right and see a bottle of water sitting next to me.
Quickly, I grab it and open it, taking a huge gulp of water and immediately regretting that.
Nausea suddenly hits me, and I try to blow out long breaths to calm it. The last thing I want to do is puke all over this very nice and probably very expensive bed. God knows I don’t have two pennies to rub together let alone money to pay to clean or replace this.
I blink a few times, trying to get some moisture to my very dry eyes. When I finally focus, I gasp at the view in front of me. The panoramic view of floor-to-ceiling windows shows a beautiful view of the strip.
Even with the pounding in my head, the view draws me toward it. The blue sky shines through, the sun lighting up the room around me.
Holy fuck.
Wherever I am, whoever I am with, is definitely swimming in some cash. This is a premium view of the strip. Not to mention the size of this room and the décor.
The wall behind the bed is lined with wallpaper with a gold shimmer. The white shade headboard pops from the wallpaper. A dresser of some sort sits at the end of the bed. It’s a light-colored wood that has gold accents.
I get up to inspect it and find that there are no drawers on it. There is a button on the side, and I push it. The “dresser” comes to life, and the top rises up. Out of it, a TV pops up.
Huh, okay. That is some fancy ass rich shit.
I shake my head and hit the button, and the magically appearing TV goes back into its mystery box. I run a hand through my hair and let out a sigh. I need to find Ronnie and figure out how I got here.
Because I don’t remember much.
Voices from another room catch my attention. Men’s voices. My body freezes in fear. My feet are cemented to the floor below me as I listen for his voice.
Has he found me? Did he finally find me?
Did they find me?
I need to get out of here. Quietly and fast.
Taking in a deep breath, I slowly let it out to try to calm myself. Stealthily, I creep toward the open door of the room and stick my head slightly out to see if I can see where the voices are coming from. The super fancy hallway decked out in sculptures and art is, thankfully, clear.
I start my way down the hall, the marble floor making my boots squeak under them. I wince as I try to walk slower and softer, so I don’t draw attention to myself. To my right is a set of stairs that I am assuming go to a second floor. This place is very Richie Rich.
As I pass the stairs, I notice an opening to an elevator. That has to be the way out. But the opening to another room is directly across from it. And that’s where the voices are coming from.
“Ken, let me up. How’s the girl doing?” a deep voice asks. I creep closer to the other side, trying to see if I recognize any of the voices.
If the devil himself is here.
“Girl? Did you bring home a girl, Evans? Did you get laid?” a second voice asks and chuckles.
“She was hurt. I just happened to be there and brought her back here and called Asher.” That voice. Chills run down my spine. Not in a bad way.
“Is she okay?” That… that voice I definitely know. Why do I know that voice?
I shake my head and start to try to figure out my way out of this place.
As quietly as I can, I head back toward the elevator.
If I can get it to open and close before they catch me, I can get out of here.
But the next words out of one of the voices stop me dead in my tracks. In the center of the hallway.
“Well, that is what I want to check on. She was definitely drugged. Ketamine,” the first deep voice shares. And my eyes widen at his admission.
“Whoa. Someone drugged her?”
My body turns toward the voices, and I see all of them standing there. I let out a gasp. Drugged? My eyes widen, and my mouth drops open. My mind tries to run through the events of last night, but I come up empty. I remember bits and pieces, but when could someone have drugged me?
“Holy fuck.” The voice that sounds familiar breaks me from my thoughts, and my eyes meet his. He pales as he slowly walks toward me, but I am frozen where I stand. He stops next to a giant of a man whom I suddenly have a memory of.
Those blue eyes.
The man who was watching me from the bar. My heart starts to beat wildly in my chest, and my breathing starts to pick up. My eyes go back to the man next to him as he studies me. His eyes lock on mine.
But then a single word sends my world spinning.
“Raelyn.”
“Holy shit! Is she okay, Doc?”
“Keep her legs elevated above her heart.” I can’t see anything, but I hear voices. Where am I? Wait…
My eyes fly open, and I see five faces. In a flash, an image of black shadows stands over me, and suddenly I can’t breathe. But I blink a few times, and the faces before me return.
“Whoa, whoa. Give her room. Back the hell up.” My eyes find the voice, and I lock eyes with him. His beautiful blue eyes that I can’t take mine off of. And the voice that brings me chills.
Memories start to flood back. That is the voice that took me from the bar. The man who stared at me like a stalker. My eyes widen at him. Oh my God, is he a stalker?
You aren’t anyone special.
“Hey there, Raelyn. I’m Dr. Asher Nichols.” My eyes break from the blue-eyed god to find the doctor talking to me.
And instantly, I get lost in the doctor’s eyes, beautiful green eyes with flecks of grey in them.
He has his salt and pepper hair combed back to almost perfection, with white buzzed patches above his ears.
His jaw and face are so well defined, with a smattering of a beard starting. But damn those eyes…
“Can we sit you up slowly?” the doctor asks as he holds his hand out toward me. I don’t reach out to his hand; instead, I push myself up. The doctor doesn’t try to help, but he watches me carefully, understanding I don’t really want to touch him. “There you go.”
“Here, she needs to drink something.” My eyes meet a muscular giant with black hair and emerald eyes. These eyes are more vibrant than the doctor’s. Jesus, these fucking eyes are going to be the death of me.
They almost were once.
I slam my eyes shut as I try to shake the thought from my head. My only focus needs to be getting out of here, then I can have my panic attack.
“Drink.” I look back up at the emerald-eyed man as he shoves the water bottle in my face. His voice is harsh, and he seems more annoyed than anything.
Someone must have pissed in his Cheerios.
“Take it easy, Cameron. Raelyn just passed out; let her make sense of it all.” My eyes find the man who knows my name. His blue eyes soften at the sight of me. Oddly, I don’t fear him. His blond hair is messy, his lips turned down. He looks sad. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
I study him for a moment, trying to place him with the few faces I can remember. His voice is so familiar, but I can’t remember a time I have seen his face before. I shake my head.
“Can you guys back away for a moment?” he asks the gigantic god-like men around me. With a nod, they all take a few more steps back. He kneels down to the floor to be more level with me. “My name is Andrew Spencer. You, however, can call me Drew.”
My mind still fights itself in trying to place Drew.
He bites his lip for a moment before continuing. “Do you remember that you were in a fire a few weeks back?”
Do I remember the fire? Not really. I remember escaping. I remember running and finding freedom. But then I was in a hospital, and was told I was in a fire. So, I shake my head.
Drew lets out a sigh. “Well, you were, and I was the one who got you out. I found you in that room, Raelyn.”
What the fuck? Is this real? Did he really rescue me? Did he really get me out?
“Yeah, I really got you out,” he answers as if he can read my mind. “I wanted to see you in the hospital, but by the time they let me go and were allowing you visitors, you had disappeared.”
“You got me out?” I whisper, my voice hoarse.
“I did. I got you to safety. The paramedics and firefighters got to work just as I was getting you out of the house.”
Without even thinking, my arms fly out and wrap around him. It throws him off balance for a moment, but he catches himself. He doesn’t wrap his arms around me, but he keeps me steady.
And then I let out a sob.
Tears and agony just flow from me. The pain and suffering I endured in that hell, the one I would have died in, he saved me from.
The place I wished for death in.
“Thank you,” I say through my tears. To be honest, I never thought I would leave that hell, my prison. I was fully prepared to die and to think I was moments away from that actually happening.
Until he rescued me.
“Is it okay if I touch you?” Drew asks quietly, and I almost gasp at the question. Fuck knows how long people took what they wanted from me, touched me when they wanted to.
I nod in response to his question, and slowly, his arms softly wrap around me. A warmth I have never felt before spreads through me. A comfort.
I’m not sure how long I cry on his shoulder, but I feel myself being picked up and brought elsewhere. I soon find myself on his lap, and I continue to get lost in my own mind. Drew softly caresses my back and arm, telling me to get it out.
A bottle of water in my face startles me out of my thoughts.
“Drink.” It’s emerald eyes, Cameron. “You need to drink. Small sips.”
Drew takes the bottle from him and holds it to my lips for me. Slowly, I let the cold water slide down my throat. When Drew thinks I have had enough, he pulls it back.
“Are you okay, Raelyn?” he asks softly.
My eyes meet his, and then I look up to find the rest of the men circling around me. A pit in my stomach starts to form, but I don’t know why.
“That broody one right there is Tristan.” He points to the man who is watching me like a hawk. His eyes lock onto me. The man from the bar… Tristan. “He rescued you last night from the bar. Do you remember what happened?”
Frowning, I shake my head. I just know that I was there, I was with Ronnie, and then I woke up here. “I… I was with my friend,” I whisper. My eyes stare at a spot on the wall as my brain tries to fill in the missing pieces.
“Someone put something in your drink.” His voice breaks me from my staring contest with the wall. Tristan narrows his eyes as I see him clench his jaw.
It’s then that I suddenly start to feel hot, and like I can’t breathe. My hand flies to my heart, which is racing like crazy. I jump from Drew’s lap and start to slowly walk backward away from the eyes.
All the eyes.
“She’s a pretty one.” Dark eyes behind the skull mask stare into me.
I struggle against the restraints holding me down. “Let me go, fucker!”
“Oh, she’s got a mouth on her,” another low rumbling voice says behind a mask.
“We can fix that.”
“Not too much. I want to hear her scream.”
A black ball of some sort is placed into my mouth, and a strap is buckled around my head. Did these mother fuckers just put a ball gag on me?
I scream through the gag, but I can’t form any words. I can feel the drool down the side of my face. With every ounce of strength I have, I try to pull against the restraints.
“Don’t fight it. This will be easier if you just let it happen. Bring out the initiates.”
Hands force me to my knees, and they hit the floor hard. I scream out in pain as tears well up in my eyes. Agony radiates through my body.
A hooded figure steps closer to me, but my eyes focus on the darkness ahead. My head is yanked back, and I close my eyes. A warm liquid drips on my face, and the smell of copper hits my nose.
With everything in me, I let out a blood-curdling scream over the gag.
“Raelyn!” A concerned voice brings me back to the present. “Raelyn, are you okay? Breathe, sweetheart. Breathe for me.” My eyes meet Dr. Nichols’ as he hovers over me.
“Is she okay?” I hear Drew’s voice behind him.
“Raelyn, you passed out again. I need to get some fluids in you, and you need to rest.” I watch the doctor’s lips move, and I hear the words, but my mind keeps going back to the vision.
“They will find me,” I whisper.
The doctor scrunches his face. “Who will find you? Who is looking for you?”
The rest of the guys come into my view as they look at me with confusion on their faces.
I look at Tristan, then at Dr. Nichols again. “The eyes. Always the eyes.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16 (Reading here)
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38