Page 81 of Jessica's Hero

Just like every time I wake from the nightmare, every few months or so, it takes me a minute to get my bearings again. For my pulse to return to a more normal speed. For the paralyzing fear to subside.

When it last happened a few weeks ago, Kane was there to comfort me. And it was better. Instead of laying awake for hours waiting for my spinning thoughts to slow down, Kane just gathered me in his arms and rubbed my back until I fell asleep again while he murmured soothing things likeyou’re okayandthere’s nothing to be afraid ofandI’ve got you.

But where is Kane now? Why isn’t he here? Did he get called out in the middle of the night and forgot to tell me?

No. He wouldn’t. There’s no way. He’s just asleep. And I’m still partially trapped in my dream.

I turn towards him—he always sleeps on the right side of the bed, between me and the door, claiming it’s safer in case an intruder comes in—expecting to meet his reassuring warmth and lingering scent that always helps me calm down again.

But when I try to roll over, my body won’t obey. My arms won’t work. My legs?—

No.

NO.

A supernova of terror explodes in my chest.

It’s not that Ican’tmove. Something’s not letting me.

Something rough; rubbing painfully against the sensitiveskin on my wrists. With each movement, pain flares, radiating up my arms and into my shoulders.

It’s rope.

No no no no.

I’m tied up. My wrists are bound behind me and attached to my ankles. Hogtied? Is that what they call it in those action movies Kane likes to watch? Do they actually tie up pigs like this? Before they roast them over?—

NO.

I can feel my mind resisting reality, wanting to retreat to things that aren’t as frightening. To the mundane, like pig roasting and movies and how similar this rope feels to the kind I bought by accident for the last knitting project I did.

But that won’t help. I need to focus. Figure this out. Try to channel Kane and Nora and do what they would. Not panic. Use my senses.

So I open my eyes, a sliver at a time, my heart racing in fearful anticipation.

At first, I’m not sure if my vision is working, because all I’m met with is an expanse of black. Then, as my eyesight adjusts, it turns more gray. When I crane my head, I spot a blurry, glowing image just in front of me.

Though panic is right there, threatening to take over, I keep working to catalog each detail.

I’m on something hard. But as I rub my cheek on it, I feel the sensation of carpet on my skin. A faint swooshing sound breaks through the silence. Suddenly, my body is jostled as whatever I’m in goes over something.

And there. The glowing green symbol. It’s in the shape of a little car. With the trunk?—

Oh, shit.

I’m in a trunk. Tied up.

And my mouth isn’t just dry. There’s something stuffed in it.

Now everything else slots into place.

I was at the lab. Headed back to my office for a virtual training. Just as I walked through the door, a shadow came at me. Big. Dark. Moving too quickly to identify. Then an explosion of pain. As I collapsed to the floor, my consciousness fading, I heard a darkly satisfied voice say, “Finally. It’s about damn time.”

After that, it’s all a blank. Until now.

Can this really be possible? Me, kidnapped? Stuck in a trunk? Being taken to… I’m afraid to know.

Could it have been Eliza? But she’s not allowed into the building. And she’s my height; there’s no way she could carry me anywhere. Unless… she has a partner? Someone else who hates me just as much as she does?