Page 1 of Genesis
Chapter One
Bones
First day missing
Fear.
Fear is said to bean unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
My mind is a hazy prison cell with melting walls and a twirling floor. I feel my head fall to the side as my eyes blink open to darkness. My brain pounds against an achy skull as I catch the faint drip of water in the distance.
“You’re up.” I hear.
“Who’s there?” I ask, hardly recognizing my own voice. I cough to remove the dryness in my throat.
Where the fuck am I?
My heart hammers against ribs I realize are bruised when I shift in the uncomfortable chair. My hands move, and I gasp when plastic dings into my skin around my wrists and my biceps. The feel of cotton against my face confirms I have on a blindfold.
“Don’t worry about that,” he says, his tone unfamiliar. He’s using a voice disguiser. “Knowledge is a gift. I think you told me that one time.”
“I told you that, huh? So, I know you then?” I try to clear my foggy mind, wishing this headache would stop. I laugh lightly, shaking my head. “Do you know what you’ve done?” I say acidly.
“I’m very aware of what I’ve done, Bones.”
“As long as you’re aware then.” I wiggle my hands, feeling the zip tie cut into my flesh. I try to recall how I got here, but the drugs in my system keep my memory blocked. “What do you want?”
He laughs. “I want what you got to have.”
I scoff, tasting copper when I lick my bottom lip.
“And what’s that?”
“Satisfaction.”
This time I laugh. “Well, you got the wrong person, my man. I haven’t had satisfaction in years.”
I hear a groan coming from the other side of the room, and my throat closes.
Bexley.She was with me. We were attacked going to the flower shop where she works.
Anger and that fear I mentioned earlier consume my veins, forcing the fog completely from my mind. Dread fills the room. It’s so real, I can feel its skin as it wraps its hands around my throat, constricting the air that begs to enter.
“Bexley, you all right?” I ask, tilting my head to the side so I can hear her again. Goddammit, I can’t see shit. I don’t know if she’s hurt. I move, making the chair screech across the floor.
“She’s fine,” the stranger says. “She won’t always be, but for now, she’s fine.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I wiggle more, noticing my legs are also zip tied to the bottom of the chair.
“It means exactly what I said. You’re not getting this, man. I plan to take everything from you. Including her.”
I turn my head, spotting a light through a sheer spot in the cotton over my eyes. It pours in from somewhere, but it’s natural, not from the glow of a bulb.
“You will know the pain I’ve felt.”
I slightly flinch at his sudden closeness. I breathe in, trying to see if I recognize his scent.
“I will remove the people you care about one by one, and you, Danny O’Brien, won’t be able to do anything about it.”
