Page 96 of Seven+Four
The ache in my head increases. I still need to do something. I can’t just wait for my brothers to find me. I’m strong and capable—I’m the son of Linda and Meg, the bravest and most badass women I’ve ever met.
Taking a deep breath, I count to three and twist. A crack and then searing pain envelops my left wrist. I stifle a piercing scream by gritting my teeth, letting a few seconds go by before I slide my hand out the rope. Now for the worst part. I need to reset the joint. A sharp tug, and this time, I’m unable to keep a low whimper inside.
The cold shiver down my body is replaced by a blazing, scorchingly, agonizing sensation. Sweat beads over my lip as I gasp, and my eyes roll back. My fingers tighten around the ropeuntil I feel it biting into my palm, praying that it will keep me focused and prevent me from passing out again.
I don’t know how much time passes. My wrist throbs, but I’m free. I have the rope in one hand as I touch the side of my neck behind my ear with the other. I feel the little bump where the tracker is, unscathed. Thank Goddess. Still, I better prepare myself for the worst.
Voices reach the room, distant, barely audible over the pounding of my heart and jarring breaths.
I slowly stand up, shaking my weak legs before going to the door, I place an ear on the wooden surface and listen. Men’s voices again, footsteps moving away and then a door closing. As I expected the handle doesn’t move, the door is locked, the window as well. I could use the bat to break the glass, but the strong noise could attract undesired attention. Same thing for the door. Now I regret not letting Ren teach me how to pick locks.
I look around the room for something to use as a weapon. I find a pair of scissors in the small nightstand drawer among condoms, huge dildos, and other disturbing sex implements. I grab the scissors and hurriedly go back to the chair. I push my hands behind my back to hide the weapon and the loose rope, waiting for my kidnappers to show.
I’m not defenseless anymore, but my muscles ache from the unnatural position, and the acrid, bitter scent of fear is heavy inside my nostrils.
I feel the warning of a panic attack just before the drowning sensation hits me. Goosebumps rise on my arms, and I start shivering. My sight turns blurry as terror constricts my chestand worms its way into me, clawing at my insides. My body is frozen as I fight to get some air in. Am I really going to die here?
Uri’s face is again in front of my eyes. His soothing whispers, confident gaze, and warm lips. I whimper, desperate to move, but my body doesn’t want to cooperate.Stay with me, Uri’s baritone voice echoes inside my mind.You know this feeling. It’s terrifying. It feels like death but not. Let yourself breathe. Let yourself…be. You can’t give up; it’s not your choice to make. I won’t let you.
Tears run free as a strange sense of calm overcomes me, washing away the suffocating panic. I suck in air, feeling it fill my lungs to maximum capacity. My eyes open as the sun starts peaking on the horizon. I curl my fingers around the scissors and the rope, relieved to feel them still in my hands. I hear voices again; they sound a little closer now but they are coming from my left now. There’s multiple people out there, what if they come in here all together?
A loud bang, bang followed by two heavy thuds and another bang makes me jump in the chair. Gun shots.
The following silence rings in my ears until a door nearby screeches open. My stomach tightens with dread. The unknown of it all is killing me. I hear the click of a lock, and then the bedroom door slowly moves until I can clearly see the person walking inside.
What the hell is he doing here?
“Surprised to see me, darling?”
My lips part, but nothing comes out. Trent. As in my ex-fling, Trent is standing in front of me. He doesn’t seem to be here tosave me, judging by the crazy, excited look in his eyes and the relaxed way he slowly prowls inside the room.
“Trent, what’s going on?”
He walks toward me, stopping near the table. He drops a gun and a bloody knife on the glass surface. Then he takes out a napkin from his jacket and starts wiping off his fingers. He must have been the one shooting. Did he kill someone?
“I saved you,” he finally replies.
Saved me? I’d believe that if he had tried to untie me. He’s sporting a disturbing smirk I’ve never seen before on his face. His leery gaze doesn’t leave me for a second as he keeps wiping the blood from his hands.
“You can’t hide your resplendence, not even bruised and bound to a chair.” The amazement dripping from his words makes me sweat with anxiety and uneasiness. A lot of uneasiness.
“Why am I here, Trent?”
“If you want to find something, you have to stop looking,” he recites a Zen koan. “Well I cheated a little, but who cares!” He curls the corners of his lips up in what I can only describe as a hungry smile. He takes another step toward me—still too far for me to do anything. My muscles stiffen and I brace myself. My fingers turn sweaty around the scissors’ handle.
He doesn’t advance further. “We are mentally and spiritually bonded, darling.”
Oh God, can this be possible? To have another obsessed freak in my life.? I could do the math but I know the possibilities are scarce. Trent seems a little unstable. He was good at hiding thisside of him from me when we briefly dated. Otherwise, how did I not see it when we went out?
I am strangely calm, given the situation. My blood feels like ice, and I refuse to flinch as he comes closer. I faced death head on many times as a kid and have witnessed many lives come to an end in the last seven years. I thought I felt kind of indifferent toward death. But my breath is coming in sharp pants, and I might pee myself very soon.
“My brothers will find me,” I state. My voice is trembling…with confidence.
I clearly see the change on his face. Fury possesses his features, making his eyes blaze with it. “Your faith is misplaced, darling.”
“Faith is an irrational belief in something that is impossible. I know what my family can do. They’ll come.” My tracker will lead them right to me.
“Are you expecting that perverted brother of yours? Oh, dear.” His face morphs into an evil expression. “You see, I paid him a visit.” His hand suddenly brushes my aching jaw, right where I was punched.
