Burying her alive.
Choking on a sob, Rose frantically looked around, but there was nothing to see but complete and utter darkness. She’d been trapped before, locked into small spaces, but she’d always been able to move, at least a little.
Now she couldn’t even turn her head.
Completely stuck.
There was no way she could even attempt to dig herself out, and even if Mr. Bedroom Man and his friends did the honors, they weren't going to let her go. They might just kill her outright, or maybe they’d toy with her a little longer, the cat playing with the mouse before it gobbled it up.
Maybe they’d even ship her broken body back to her brother.
As far as she was concerned, she’d rather die at the hands of her captors than her brother. She didn't want to give Ridge the satisfaction of ending her life.
Didn't want to give these men that satisfaction either, but trapped as she was, she couldn’t even grab a rock and bash her own skull in. Something she absolutely would have considered if she’d had the use of her arms.
But like always, she was stuck.
Stuck in her childhood, unable to escape.
Stuck in her own head, unable to let go of her childhood.
Stuck in this cell, her childhood coming back to torment her once more.
Always stuck.
Frustration bubbled up inside her, rage that her life had been so unfair, fury that she was partly to blame for her own circumstances because she used her past as a crutch, a reason not to have to step outside her comfort zone.
A bitter laugh escaped, filling the deafening silence. “Maybe if you’d just stop fighting so hard, you could finally get where you want to be.”
Peace. That’s what she wanted, what she craved. So, dragging in huge mouthfuls of air, she could only hope she used up the remaining oxygen trapped with her as quickly as possible so she could finally get her peace.
Chapter
Eight
December 27th
12:32 P.M.
Watching in horror as Rose was buried alive by a pile of concrete, Steel found himself frozen.
The need to get to her, to do something, pulsed through his body, and yet he was unable to move.
“What the hell was that?” Lion asked, appearing out of nowhere.
Shoving the tablet at his friend, Steel wrenched open the door in the kitchen that led to the basement and hurried down the stairs. Before he even reached the bottom of the steps, Thunder was there. Thank goodness for enhanced speed, because he was going to need all of them to even stand a chance at saving Rose before it was too late.
“Was that the ceiling that fell?” Thunder asked.
“Rose.” That was all Steel could force out because it felt like his lungs had constricted, making it almost impossible to draw in enough oxygen to function.
Was she already dead?
Surely she had to be, how could a woman barely topping five-foot-two, hardly over one hundred pounds, possibly survive a pile of concrete crushing her?
“Thought she was doing tricks?” Thunder asked.
“She was. Only those tricks were trying to escape,” he muttered. “Basement. Now!” he screamed, knowing that Blade, with his superior hearing, would hear him no matter where he was in the mansion and gather the others.
