I WAKE UP AND FIND myself still lying on the concrete floor in the cell. I try to sit up, but am too weak. I haven’t had anything to eat for days now. I’d wake up, and find small bottles of water in my cell. They give me enough to keep me alive, but nothing more. I don’t even react when I hear the sound of the door opening for the third time.
The handsome man, who I assume is the infamous Dravin, sits on the ground beside me. “My patience with you is running out.” He reaches out and touches my swollen cheek. I flinch away from his touch, but he forcibly grabs my chin, and jerks my head closer to him. Aggressively opening my mouth, he pours a vial of clear liquid down my throat, placing his hand over my mouth, coercing me to swallow.
“What I just gave you was a truth serum. Now, I’m going to ask you again. Who were you staying with?”
I turn toward him and give him the most menacing look I can muster. “Why do you want to know?”
“Why do you think I want to know?” I know what he will do if he ever finds out about them. He will use them against me in an attempt to make me do whatever the heck he wants to me to do. “Now, tell me where they are! Where are the mages that are helping you?” he yells.
The serum is starting to go into effect. I can feel the liquid moving throughout my body, the majority of it coating my vocal chords. My mouth is urging me to reveal everything, but my mind is screaming at me to remain silent. He asks the question many more times. Each time I don’t reply, he beats me, kicking me in the stomach, legs, and arms, while punching and slapping my face. My left eye is almost swollen shut. I can barely see him anymore.
Each hit pushes my body one step closer to telling everything. But I keep picturing Claire laughing, Colton and David smiling, and Tom giving me a hug. I can’t do anything that would put them in harm’s way. Thinking about them makes me stronger.
Dravin is getting frustrated. He hits the ground beside my head. I jerk my body away from him out of fright. My whole body aches from the torture, but I don’t want him to know how much pain I am in. I’m not going to give him that satisfaction.
“Thomas, go get the new recruit.” Thomas walks out of the room, and down the hall. Dravin slaps me across the face one last time, splitting my lip. I can feel the blood drip down my chin and neck. He growls and gets up, walking out of the door. I close my eyes and wait for this new recruit to arrive. There isn’t anything that he can do that could be worse than what I’ve already endured.
Shortly after they leave, I hear the door open, but I refuse to open my eyes. From the ground, I can hear the sound of footsteps stopping right beside me, and the sound of clothes rustling together, as someone sits next to me.
“Interesting predicament you’re in here.” I tense. I recognize the voice—the voice that had haunted my dreams, the one that had terrorized me through high school.
I open my eyes, and stare angrily at Adam. Using all of the strength I have left, I try to scoot back, but can barely move. He looks at me, and smiles wickedly. I struggle harder to get away from him. He crawls closer to me, and punches me in the stomach, knocking me on my side. Rolling me onto my back, he straddles me, inhibiting movement.
“Why don’t we finish what we started last summer, eh?” I struggle harder, but freeze when I see the dagger in his hand. He reaches down, unzips my sweatshirt, and pushes one side off of my shoulder. I gasp as he presses the dagger to the side of my neck, applying slight pressure, and dragging it down to the edge of my shoulder. Blood oozes out of the wound, and drips down my back. He pins my hands above my head with one hand and bends down, trailing kisses down the cut.
Reaching the end of the cut, he moves away from my neck, and looks at me. His face is covered in blood. My blood. I want to throw up. It is repulsive. I feel tears start running down my face again, and I start screaming, trying to get out from under him.
“Now, now. Calm down, Ryanne.” When my struggling increases, he says, “Fine. I didn’t want to have to do this. I’d rather see your reaction, but either way will be fine with me.” He brings his hands up and grabs me around the neck, cutting off my oxygen supply. I try scratching his arms to get him to loosen his grip, but it causes him to squeeze harder. I continue grasping at his arms until I feel mine go limp. My eyes roll into the back of my head.
I can still hear everything around me, and feel the pain running through my body, but can’t move or see. Adam’s laughter echoes around me. I hear the sound of the cell door being thrown open, and Adam’s body weight is thrown off of me. Grunts, and the sound of punches being thrown, echo through the room. Then, it gets quiet.
I am quickly losing consciousness. Strong arms reach under me and lift me up.
“I’ve got her! Bragden, clear the exit.”