“I’ve got her,” Bryan says, his jaw set in a firm line.
“What are you doing to find her?” a trembling Valley asks.
I explain the plan to them.
She just looks me in the eye. “You’d better bring her back, Hunter. I mean it.”.
“You know I will see her back safe,” I tell her.
I turn, still holding onto my sister. Going back to my room to get her lucid again is the best idea right now.
She babbles incessantly, making no sense. My heart breaks every time she gets like this.
I am praying I can get her proper help once the bullshit stops.
Phoenyxx
I come back to consciousness with a gasp. The only thing I can feel is pain. The brand Maxim gave me hurts so bad, I almost cry out.
I gingerly lift the nightgown to look at it. He must have bandaged me up while I was out. It still throbs, electric jolts running over my pelvis.
The room is so dark, but there’s just enough light to see by, if I squint.
I yank on the chain still around my ankle, heaving a sob when I feel it still attached. I try to stand to see how far I can get. I manage to take a couple of shaky steps before the chain pulls taut.
I yell out with frustration. I am absolutely scared to death. I don’t even know if the sicko Maxim is down in this cold, dank basement with me.
“Hello?” I call out on a dry and scratchy throat, raw from screaming.
No answer. I'm alone.
Flashes of my guys whip through my mind, along with my friends.
I can't handle this. I'm not going to survive it.
I can’t take endless days chained up—not like when Synn's father held me captive.
I'm not surprised when I’m hit with another memory from childhood. Synn's father was completely obsessed with me—that much is crystal clear now.
Phoenyxx
Age 7
I can barely move. I've been inside this cage for so long.
My tummy growls. I'm so hungry and thirsty.
The bad man left me down here in the dark.
I push at the door as I try to shift, and it comes open. My mouth forms an “o”, and I try to scramble out.
There's something cold and hard around my wrist. Confused, I yank my arm and hear chains rattling.
Oh no, not again. Please, no.
I must have been bad. I don’t remember what I did. A lot of the time a word or a look on my face makes the bad man mad.
I shake with fear. If the door was open, it's a test. He does that sometimes. Tests me, and if I fail—I get punished.
