Page 13

Chapter 13

Raven

H oly fuck.

I don’t know where I am or what exactly happened, but I do know that I’m not in my house anymore. It’s hard to get my bearings straight with how badly my head is swimming. My whole body is on fire again.

What the fuck happened?

I can feel my body and mind starting to panic. That feeling of not being able to breathe is settling in. My thoughts are running a million miles a minute, and I can’t take it.

Fuck.

I can’t breathe.

I’m going to die in here.

Just when I feel like I may pass out from lack of oxygen, I remember what my shrink told me years ago. Three-three-three. Identify three objects around you. Name three sounds. Then move three body parts. Once that’s all done, I take a deep, grounding breath and get my head on right. It’s worked for me in the past.

So let’s do this.

I start by trying to identify something around me. It’s dark in here, but my eyes are getting better with the lack of light, by the minute. I can see a box shoved off to the side of me. Perfect, that's one. I turn my head and see a bundle of rope. I don’t like the sight of that, but that’s two. And when I look up, I see an emergency handle sticker illuminating slightly in this dark space with a green handle next to it.

It puzzles me, but I pay it no mind. Yet.

Sounds. That’s what I need to focus on now. I close my eyes and focus. At first, all I hear is my heart pounding. Blood rushing through my head, and my heavy breathing in this small space. But that’s when I hear it. Faint music and hushed voices. Well, wherever I am, that’s two. And then I hear police sirens in the distance. They are nowhere nearby, which is useless for me, but at least I know there’s some kind of civilization out there somewhere.

Now I’m down to moving body parts. Something I haven’t even tried yet other than turning my head side to side. I try to lift my arms but find they're tied behind my back. I can’t feel them much, other than general soreness, which means they are numb and useless. However, I can wiggle my toes and lift my head. But when I tried to lift my head, I smack it into something hard and what I think is metal.

Oh, my fucking god. I’m in a trunk. Those bastards tossed me into the back of their car and kidnapped me!

Realization of everything sets my thoughts straight immediately. Dorian and Malachi Black kidnapped me. They stole me away and are now on the way to god knows where with plans to do something with me. I don’t plan on finding out what that is, though.

Using all my strength and a little awkward maneuvering, I weasel my arms around my legs, and they now sit in front of my body. My shoulders are screaming in protest, but I notice the feeling seeping back into them quickly. Thank fuck for that because, without my hands, I’m useless. Staring around the small space, I try to see a way out but come up with nothing.

Nothing except…

I remember suddenly the emergency handle above me and quickly grip it with my fingers and pull hard. The truck flies open, and the cold air from outside rushes into the small space, chilling me to the bone instantly. I lift my head just enough to see outside and realize we aren’t in town anymore. It’s pitch black outside, snow swirling wildly around the car as it slams to a stop, throwing me back into the trunk and slamming into the back of the seats. My vision swims from my head smacking into the large box, but I don’t let that stop me. I give it a minute, and the moment the car comes to a complete stop, I spring into action.

I’m going to freeze to death.