“Also, the answer to your other question is no. Nothing was found,” he said quietly.
It took me a moment to realize he was talking about Ariel’s knife. “Thank you,” I said, though I didn’t feel the relief I thought I would. I was assuming that if the knife was missing, it meant the blood wasn’t Ink’s, but it could have been. It also likely meant my daughter had to stab someone. Either way, the absence of the knife wasn’t the good news I thought it would be.
26
INK
Pain was the first thing that registered with me. My whole head hurt, and there was a steady pulse that made me feel like I was going to puke. I tried to sit up, and that’s when I realized my hands were zip-tied to the bed. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember what happened. It took me a while, but a vision of Ariel backing away from a body on the ground flashed in my mind, and it all came back to me. Well, everything until I blacked out. I didn’t know what the hell happened after that.
Opening my eyes again, I glanced around the room and took in my surroundings. I was in what appeared to be a basic bedroom, but there was a window. If I could get the zip ties off, I could escape through the window. A quick tug of my hands told me that wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped.
Regardless, I wasn’t going to wait around to see what happened. I was going to get the hell out of there and make sure Ariel was okay, one way or another.
The sound of someone shouting interrupted my thoughts. “We don’t have fucking time for that!” a male voice I didn’t recognize shouted. “We have to do something now!”
“Fine! But this is on you, not me,” another male shouted.
Footsteps stomped down the hall, followed by a thud outside the door to my room. I quickly closed my eyes and did my best to look like I was still knocked out. When the door opened, I heard someone softly crying, followed by a loud slap. “Worthless bitch. I’ll deal with you later. You better hope he fucking makes it.”
I waited until the door closed to crack one eye open. I couldn’t see anyone, but I could still hear the crying. I don’t know how much time passed, but it was long enough for me to feel comfortable speaking. “You okay over there?”
The girl screamed and jumped to her feet, coming into view for the first time. She looked like hell. One side of her face was bruised and swollen. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her clothes were covered in what appeared to be blood. She stared at me with wide, fear-filled eyes.
“I don’t suppose you have the key to these,” I joked and tried to nod my head toward my zip-tied hand. Unfortunately, the move sent a sharp pain shooting through my skull, causing me to grimace. “Or ibuprofen. I’ll take freedom or pills.”
As she continued staring at me—glassy-eyed and wordless—I realized she was on something. She’d either help me or she wouldn’t. The only way to find out was to try.
“Yoo-hoo. Nod if you can hear me.”
She blinked a few times before she finally nodded.
“Good. That’s good. Listen, I don’t know how much time we have before whoever that was comes back, but if you’ll help me get out of here, you can come with me.”
Again, she stared blankly.
“Or you can stay. I don’t care. But I’m getting out of here, and it’d be great if you’d help me.”
Nothing.
“What are you on?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered and shivered.
Well, that wasn’t the answer I expected.
“He made me take it,” she said.
“What’s your name?”
“Chloe.”
“Okay, Chloe, my name’s Ink. And I’d really like to get out of here. Now, I’m making some assumptions, but it seems to me like you don’t want to be here. If that’s the case, you can come with me.”
She shook her head vigorously. “I can’t leave. He’ll kill me.”
“I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I can help you. If you help me get out of here, you can come with me. I’ll make sure he’ll never hurt you or anyone again.”
She shook her head.
