Rule 38 - Delaney
Not everyone is your friend.
Ifound myself wandering the halls, holding my ruined nightgown to my chest, handcuffs still on both wrists and disoriented. I paused at a door and knocked.
"Moth?" I called. Everything felt so hazy. One moment I was in the throes of passion with a masked man, handcuffed and forced onto his lap. The next, I'd been set free, but... I didn't remember much else.I knocked again. The metal handcuffs rattling against the wooden door made my knock louder, but no one answered. I trudged back to my room, suddenly exhausted. I paused at my door and realized then that I was holding my keys and phone. Had I been drugged? No, I couldn't have been. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in hours. Was the sex just that good?
I crept into my room, unsure of the time. But all of that was tossed out when I turned around and let out a small shriek.Moth was standing on the other side, grinning like a madman.
"How did you get here before me?" I asked quickly as he put a finger to his lips to shush me. I looked him up anddown. "You changed your clothes."Seeing Moth in my suite only made me more confused. How did he get down here so fast? I put my hands to my temples and closed my eyes. A headache was forming fast.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm just..." I thrust my arms out. "Can you unlock me?"
With a chuckle, Moth took my wrists and dug into his pockets for the keys. "Better?" he asked after releasing me.
"Yes, thank you." I blushed. "I never realized you were that kinky."
His eyebrows shot up in amusement. "Yeah? What made you think I wasn't?"
I put my arms over his shoulders and pulled him to me. I inhaled deeply and paused. He smelled different. He smelled like mothballs.
"Are those your clothes?" I asked, pulling back. "You smell old."
"Sorry. I should ask if they have laundry service. Who knows how long we'll be here."
"What do you mean? The storm isn't supposed to last for more than a week."
Moth didn't answer me, instead, he went around the bed and found my laptop, pulling it from my bag."I got curious, waiting for you, and read some of your stuff. It's dark."
"You read my manuscript? How long have you been here?"How long was I roaming the halls?
"Not long, and I wasn't reading your manuscript. I found a recent document. Where you talk about what they did to you. After Priest killed that guy."
"Priest didn't—" I shook my head and joined him on the bed. "What recent document?" I didn't recall writing anything.He turned my laptop on and once it was loaded,showed me the document. I read through it quickly, my blood growing colder with each word. Those were my words, my memories, my story. When did I write this down?
"They treated you no better than a criminal. Shocking your brain until you were drooling and couldn't think for yourself. They should be in jail."
"I'm fine," I lied. "They only wanted to block certain things."
"Sure, but what about your life now? Delaney, you've been wandering the halls for hours. And before that, you went outside in the storm in just a shirt and skirt. I'm worried about you." He put his hand on my bare shoulder, and I shuddered. He was so cold.
"Why didn't you come find me?" I looked away from the screen to find his expression darkened. His soft, playful eyes were cold and hiding something.
"Delaney, what you've gone through, no one should ever have to experience. What does Priest have to say about it?"
I closed my laptop and pushed it away. "Nothing. I haven't told him. He doesn't need to know. That was private, Moth. You shouldn't have gone through my things."
"I had to. You're so closed off. I don't know anything about you other than how flirty you are, that you like to write, and that you're Priest's sister."
"What?"
A slow grin spread across his lips, and it sent a chill through me."What, you didn't think I knew? I told you, we go way back. It was almost like seeing a ghost, that first day we got here. I never thought they'd let him out, and then when you said your name, I was just as surprised." He reached for my hand, bringing it to his ice-cold lips. He kissed the top and then began trying to kiss up my arm. I pulled away.
"What are you talking about? You said you knew himfrom school. Cunningham's." I scooted off the bed. I found my robe, abandoned on a chair, and quickly put it over my exposed body. This wasn't the man I'd spent my evening with in that mirror room. Something wasn't right.
"I never said school. And if he did, he's lying to you." Moth stood and hurried over. "Cunningham's is a hospital for the mentally unwell."
