Page 6

THE CASTLE – Chris Grey

Faint whispers and distant beeping roused me awake. The air smelled sterile and cold, forcing a shiver to ripple across my body. Panic followed as visions of my last memories came crashing down. I clutched the sheets and attempted to sit, but a pair of hands gripped my shoulders.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re safe.” My fight faded when the woman’s familiar voice broke through and the bright light from a nearby window ignited like a halo behind her.

My angel.

Sinking into the pillow, a calm I hadn’t known in so damn long washed over me as her gentle brown eyes greeted me with a smile.

“I’m glad you’re finally awake. How do you feel?”

Like I’d been hit by a freight train, then run over by a bus. Chewed up and spit out. Every inch was fiery and bruised. I attempted to speak, but my throat felt dry and grainy like sandpaper.

“Water,” I rasped, eyes on a white Styrofoam cup by the windowsill .

Without hesitation, she propped the straw to my lips and patiently waited until I had my fill.

“The nurse is scheduled to make her rounds in a bit, but if you want me to go fetch her, just let me know.”

I shook my head, but immediately regretted the gesture, as even the slight jostle intensified a dull ache brewing in the background. My body was fiending to be put to sleep, craving that sweet prick of a needle.

“No, not yet. I just need to…breathe for now.”

“I understand,” she said as she reached for my bandaged hand. “You’ve been through a lot. Three days ago, I wasn’t so sure you’d make it.”

“Three days?”

Her smile wavered as she nodded. “Yeah, you’re pretty banged up. I’m so sorry they did this to you.”

“You don’t even know me, and you stuck around for three days.”

“Maybe…I’ve been in your shoes. And I remember wishing someone had been there for me when I woke up.”

Tears brimmed in my eyes at this stranger’s kindness. She could have dropped me off and moved on with her life—or worse yet, kept driving. I contemplated if I would have done just that had the roles been reversed.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. I’m Cambri, by the way.”

“Thank you, Cambri. I’m…”

That girl was no longer here. The name shriveled on my tongue. They’d killed everything she was. It hurt to think her name, to live in her skin. No, she needed to die. It was the only way to hide from the pain.

Violated and shattered into unrecognizable pieces.

Athena was dead.

But where would I go from here? Where even was here?

The bruises and wounds littering my body raged when I forced myself to sit.

“Hey, you’re hurt. Please, lie back down. ”

I slapped her hand as she attempted to restrain me again. Flashes of being held down and chained ripped away the security I’d felt just moments ago.

“Don’t touch me,” I gritted out, punctuating every word.

With her hands in a defensive gesture, she eased closer. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”

I shook my head as Cambri’s image blurred behind tears. Maybe she was a good person. She had to be to stop for a bloodied stranger on the side of a dark highway. But there wasn’t a soul on this earth I trusted. And the only people I gave a damn about probably thought I’d abandoned them.

I can’t go back.

Ronan…

I choked down his name. He had some of the world’s most dangerous people in his pocket. Kai and Derek wouldn’t stand a chance.

“I-I need to see…” I ripped out my IV and every goddamn piece of medical equipment keeping me confined to the fucking bed. My legs felt boneless when I touched the floor and tried to bear weight.

“You really shouldn’t be doing this. But if you insist, at least let me help.”

With a reluctant nod, I held out a shaky hand. But she ignored it and gently swung my arm over her shoulder. “Bathroom?”

“Please.”

Cambri was patient as I shuffled across the floor, clamping my jaw closed and holding my side as pain sparked through my body.

“Can you hold yourself up?”

“Yes,” I said between shallow pants, hands gripping the white sink, my head bowed. “Go.”

“Are you sure?”

My knuckles whitened. I wanted to scream, to tell her to fuck off. But as much as I desired to set the whole fucking world on fire, Cambri didn’t deserve my wrath.

“I’ll let you know. ”

She backed out of the small space. The moment I was alone, I tugged on a strap and untied the gown, letting it drop to the floor. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to the mirror, where I was met with matted hair, littered with days’ old blood and debris, and slashes and bruises painting every inch of my flesh.

There was nothing left of the girl I used to be. Even my eyes were empty. Dead.

The words Jane Doe were written on the white bracelet on my wrist.

I’m no one.

Licking across my cracked lips, I lost myself in the broken reflection staring back.

But I could be anyone.

My life had been plagued by pain, loss, and death. But there was a time when the ugliness of the world hadn’t tainted me. The image of two little girls building sandcastles on a beach in Rio de Janeiro lit behind my eyelids. My childhood best friend.

Amara Carvalho.