I close my eyes and pray to God that this, whatever this is, ends soon. I pray that some find us. I pray that someone notices that we’re missing and comes looking. Ellie. She will know that I haven’t come home. She will look for me.
Drool leaks down the side of my mouth as my chest feels heavy. What did they do to me? What did they give me?
I hear a groan and look over to see Patch slowly lift his head. I wait with bated breath to see if he actually opens his eyes and sees me this time. My throat is dry and scratchy, but I open my mouth and try his name once more just to try and get his attention.
“Patch.” I hear him moan again, and slowly his good eye opens and locks on me.
“Anika?”
“Patch, you have to wake up,” I tell him. All my words sound slurred like I’ve been drinking, but I wasn’t. They had to have drugged us. That’s the only thing I can think of.
“What happened?” he asks, his head still rolling around his shoulders.
“I don’t know. They came out of nowhere,” I tell him what I can remember. They attacked us. Patch was walking me to my car, and they just came out of nowhere and attacked. I remember him trying to fight them off, and so did I before I was hit in the head. That’s why my head aches so much.
“They hurt you,” he says softly as he tries to hold his head up.
“I’m okay.”
“They hurt you,” he repeats before he loses the battle once more. His eye slowly closes, and sleep takes over. I sob because now I’m left alone. I’m all alone again.
I lay my head back against the wall and listen for anything I can. Any sound that might give away where we are, but I hear nothing but people shuffling around above us. That means we are in a basement, like I suspected.
My eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, and I can make out some things down here. There’s an old couch on one side of the room. There’s a chair in the middle, but that’s about all I can see. There isn’t much else down here but us.
Tears slowly leak down my cheeks. This can’t be the end of my life. This can’t be the way it all ends. I don’t want to die like this, in this place.
“Patch, you have to wake up,” I plead with his limp form. A slight light from the moon shines in through the small window as I sit curled into myself.
My life, all of it, flashes behind my eyes when I close them. My mom. How she used to smile at me. How she used to kiss my cheek when I’d cry. I remember the smell of her. The way she always smelled like flowers. I remember my dad, how he worked so hard to give us the life we deserved, how he took care of us. We never wanted for anything.
And my brother. He was the one who was there for me when they were in that car accident. He was the one who held me when I cried. He kept me tucked into his side that night, never letting me go. He’s a good man. He always put me first. He made sure that I was taken care of even when I was old enough to take care of myself. It meant everything to me.
And Ellie. God, she’s been like a sister to me. She’s been there through it all. She’s held my hand, given me strength. She has to be going out of her mind. We’ve never been apart, not in years. She’s always been by my side. She’s been the best friend that anyone could ask for.
I keep my eyes clenched shut, not wanting to face the reality that this could all be the end. That this could be the last breath that I take.
I can’t handle that. I’m not ready to die. I’m not ready for my life to be over. I have so much more I want to do.
And yet I feel like this is it. This could very well be the end.
Chapter 9
Patch
My body fucking aches as I pry my eyes open. Only one will open, though. The other is swollen shut. The ache in my head is almost too much to handle, but I force myself to open my good eye anyway. Nausea rolls through me, and I bend over vomiting on the floor next to me. My stomach tumbles as the acid burns my throat.
I blink rapidly, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness when I see her. Anika is curled into herself, her eyes closed. She’s naked. What the fuck?
“Anika?” I call her name, hoping to hell she can hear me. My voice is scratchy and doesn’t sound like my own. “Anika,” I say once more. She slowly lifts her head, and her eyes come to lock with mine.
“Fuck,” I whisper as my head spins.
“You’re awake,” she says softly.
“I’m awake. I feel like shit,” I tell her.
“Me too. Are you okay, though?” I shift a little to test my body, and it screams in pain.
