I felt dread more than anything else.
I wanted death to find me. Yet, my body still hung on.
What was the purpose of still breathing? Why? Just why?
Another tear, this one following the same path as before. Only, it was wiped away by a warm, gentle finger.
I refused to turn to the touch. The touch was terrible. Moving was even worse.
“Dakota. Please.”
Wait.
I know that voice.
Keep talking,I thought, trying to get my body to move just a tiny bit. Anything. I wanted that voice to stay.
The touch left, with it the voice. And the warm hand became cold.
***
I couldn’t move, no matter how much I tried. Something heavy lay across my torso, holding both of my arms down at the elbows. Every time I tried to move my arms at all, the pressure kept me pinned.
Terror was slightly there, off in the distance. I could feel the tips of the string pulling me like a tightrope. It was ready to burst, to thrust me into themode of no return and no lifesaver at a moment’s notice.
I breathed in, feeling the weight press against my stomach as my lungs fought to get enough air.
It was twisting; pain like no other shot out every nerve ending. There was no one place that didn’t hurt. But that was the least of my concerns.
I was tied down. It was as bad, if not worse, than being hogged-tied. Losing the ability to move was never a good thing. Not for me.
Breathing heavily, I twisted again, even when the spike of pain intensified.
“Please, boy. Settle down. Please. You’re okay. I promise.”
Wait. What? Who?
“Shh. I won’t let anything happen.”
I was going crazy. I had to be.
There was no way on earth Sir was able to talk to me. He was dead.
I shook my head back and forth, feeling the back of my head rub on what seemed to be a pillow. I didn’t want to think about why I was on a bed, tied down like some insane patient in an asylum. I wasn’tcrazy. But I sure wasn’t going to give up the fight easily.
I had to get free. I had to get out of here, wherever I was.
“Dakota. Damn it, boy. Stop it.”
As breath tickled my ear with the words, I froze. My mind was slow on the take. My body knew.
Was I dead?
“Good boy,” Sir’s voice whispered. It was no louder than a whisper, right at my ear.
Somewhere, a beeping quickly got on my nerves. It wasn’t loud, but it grated against the quiet, and my mind couldn’t stop focusing on it while my body tried not to move against the binding holding me down.
I shifted, an arm trapped as I tried to brush the noise away. I couldn’t get it any farther from the bed than my elbow. I tried a second time, only for the voice from the dead to mutter something I couldn’t make out.
