Page 4 of Scarred in Silence (The Twisted Trilogy #2)

Astra

The dark, star-filled sky twinkles down upon me. The tide washes up onto the shoreline, skimming over my bare feet. The water is cooling under the dark night sky.

My blonde hair is spread out into the sand, and my back sinks into the wet sand. I take a deep breath as I listen. The sounds of water flowing soothe me, as my mother never had. My eyelids are heavy from baking in the sun all day.

I lie flat in the sand and roll the round, blue pill between my fingers. I’m at a crossroads.

If I take the pill, I will wake up in the morning. I will be groggy, wishing for another. I love how Valium makes me feel in the moment—weightless, but I hate how I feel the next day. I hate remembering—feeling.

I prop myself up on my elbow as I take the pill anyway. Maybe I can do both.

I stare into the dark ocean. The waves are angry, crashing against the rocks with vengeance. The waves call to me, as they always have.

I stare into the water, letting the waves hypnotize me.

I wonder what it feels like to be water.

I stand on heavy legs and slowly press my feet into the sand, one by one. Taking in the melting sensation. The cold water hits my shins hard, knocking me off balance, but I catch my footing by pressing all of my weight into my heels.

I step further into the ocean, letting the water reach my waist. My shorts cling to my body, and my hands skim the top of the water at my sides. I guide myself to a calmer spot and let my feet rise to the top of the water.

My ears submerge into the ocean, as my hair floats freely. The water rocks me gently. The salt stings in my eyes and burns in my nose, but I welcome it.

I let the water carry me as I rest my eyes. I feel my body growing heavy from the pill. Panic filters into my body, threatening to pull me under, but I am like water. I am powerful.

I take a deep breath, continuing to float away at sea. The minutes feel like hours, as I hum “All I Want” by Kodaline to myself as I drift into the black abyss.

In this moment, all I feel is… free.

I don’t remember how much it hurts to have lost my sister. Or how my parents will always hate me. Or how Lucien, the one person who saw me—who heard me, left me so easily. A tear rolls down my cheek, meshing with the liquid enveloping me.

I’m easily forgotten, always the shadow in the room.

A bright light shines over my face. How long have I been floating?

I pry my eyes open and stare into the blinding flashlight. No.

He’s not here. I’m alone in the sea.

Th e drugs make me hallucinate sometimes. I quickly sink my feet into the sand below me, rubbing my eyes to rid them of salty water.

He IS here, but why?

“W-what are you doing here?” My words strangled in my throat.

He shines the light at me brightly, as the water continues to crash angrily onto the nearby shore.

“You forgot where your loyalty lies.” His words are chilling. A shiver runs down my spine, merging with the sea that has turned frigid. His blue eyes pierce through me, as if he has put a bullet through my soulless body.

“W-what?”

He closes the distance between us, splashing water as he trudges through the powerful current. He brings his hand up to my forehead, tilting my head back. He moves the flashlight between my eyes.

His jaw clenches, and his eyes narrow.

“What did you take?”

I press my eyes shut, unable to look him in the eyes. I can’t stop. I never will.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU TAKE!”

I flinch at his words. My ears start ringing, as they have since I was a child. Yelling makes my bones feel like I have a million ants crawling in them, fighting to escape. He grabs my wrist and starts pulling me to the shore. My body feels like it is being tied down with weights.

I look at his frame, and for a second, I don’t see him. I see my father. No. No…

I pull my wrist back, freeing it from his hold.

“Leave me alone!” I stumble back, crashing into the water. The wa ves crash on top of me, sending my face down into the sand.

Pain erupts on my scalp from a firm grip ripping at my strands of hair. My body is lifted out of the water. I choke on the ocean water, trying to catch my breath. He doesn’t let go. He keeps pulling me. Pulling me to my final fate.

I dig my nails into his flesh, and I let my weight fall into the water below.

He will have to kill me before I go anywhere with him.

My legs scrape against the rocks as he drags me over them.

The burn intensifies when I am tossed into the gritty sand.

My leg has a trail of blood running down the side.

I watch it as it tints the grains beneath me.

Contaminating them with my sinner’s blood.

“You think you can run from me?” He stands between me and the water. My clothes cling to my body as my body sinks into the sand. He walks closer, kneeling before me. His shaggy blonde hair blows in the wind. He looks different from when I last saw him. He looks… furious.

“Did you forget what I did for you?” His tone is calm, yet harsh.

“N-no,” I say softly.

“I took a fucking bullet for you. Remember?” His last word is clipped.

“I-I know…” Tears threaten my eyes.

He pauses, eyes skating up and down my body.

“You’re thin.”

My stomach twists into knots.

“I—”

“Shut the fuck up.” He stands and scoops me up into his arms. I lie there, frozen in place. What am I supposed to do? He mad e it clear that day that I would always owe him one thing—my life.

I didn’t ask him to take a bullet for me. He fucking volunteered.

He walks quickly through the beach and up into the empty parking lot. His car is the only one visible.

He sets me down as he opens the passenger door.

I only have one chance…

I start sprinting across the parking lot. My legs are heavy from the pill, the rocks dig into my bare feet, but I don’t stop. My lungs burn from the mixture of air and saltwater.

I look over my shoulder to see Lucien two feet behind me. I brace myself for the tackle.

He pummels into me, sending me skidding against the concrete. My body aches as if I had the flu. He holds me down, pinned in place as I struggle to free myself.

He pushes my face into the rocky asphalt, forcing my lips to part. “What did you take?” His tone is threatening as he leans his face close to my ear.

“B-blue pill,” I choke out.

I feel a pinch on my upper arm, and my vision tunnels seconds later. It feels like I have been paralyzed.

“W-what d-did you… do…” My speech is slurred.

“Why do you care? Fucking whore.”

He removes his weight from me, yet I still feel like I am waterlogged.

He throws me over his shoulder, my limp body sagging against his tight muscles. I fucking hate him. He doesn’t even care about me. He wants to be seen as a hero again. He will never be my fucking hero .

He lies me on the ground next to his car as my vision starts fading out. He kneels before me, pushing a stray hair from my tear-streaked face. I don’t flinch, I can’t move.

“You’ll always be loyal to me. You’ll always be my Siren. My curse.”

The sound of clanking metal is the last thing I hear before everything turns black.

I hope when I wake up, I’m still floating away at sea. I want to be free.

* * *

The pain in my head pulses as if it has its own heart rhythm. The open wound on my leg feels raw. I feel like fucking death.

I force my heavy eyes open, and I am greeted by four concrete walls. No doors. No escape.

There is a single light bulb set in the center of the cell, and what appears to be the outline of a rectangle on the ceiling next to the light bulb. Where the fuck am I?

A toilet is located on the opposite side of the room, along with a sink. I lie on a bed in the corner, dressed in black sheets.

I lick my cracked lips, and my mouth dries instantly. I’m dehydrated. I go to sit up, and the sound of clanking metal makes me jump. It’s like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

I look down to find myself dressed in a clean t-shirt. My hair has a lingering honey scent. Did he bathe me?

I pull the sheet off me. I don’t have any bottoms on, probably because my ankles have cuffs around them, each with a long chain connected to it. What the Hell?

I pull my feet off the bed, standing on shaky legs as I inspect the ch ains. They attach to a loop bolted into the cement floor at the foot of the bed. I lay the chain on the ground softly and walk to the sink. No mirror. Just a sink.

The metal scrapes across the floor, and my skin crawls at the sound. I turn on the water and splash the cold water on my face, hoping to wake up from whatever sick fucking game he is playing.

I take slow, painful steps back to the bed, tucking myself in. I don’t know what day it is. What time it is. All I do know is that I wish I weren’t lying in a dungeon right now.

Normally, this kind of situation would make me panic, but I know Lucien. I know he has one purpose for bringing me back. He wants to get me clean so he can send me back to my parents, or keep me for himself. They probably paid him to kidnap me.

I bet they have some elaborate statement planned to say I have been taking my sister’s death hard. In reality, it’s not her death that made me do drugs again. It’s the fact that I can’t live in my own head anymore.

Nobody ever hears me. Nobody ever sees me.

I close my eyes and hope sleep doesn’t evade me. The drugs always make me feel sick if I don’t have more. Sleep is the only thing that can help me right now.

I know Lucien won’t.