And I’m in the mood for breaking limits and bones.
As I follow them both outside and into the bitter night, I lean against my SUV, watching the pockets of vehicles split up and disappear, swallowed by the darkness of the forest as they breach the gate. The red headlights shrink until they’re no longer visible.
I grab the cigarette from behind my ear, finally lighting it, and watch the smoke mix with the icy air. Each inhale of the toxic fumes does nothing to take the edge off my nerves, and when I close my eyes, all I see is her.
Her curious little hand held out for me to pass the smoke over.
That image of her curled up on my side after six years.
The feel of her in my hold when we watched the stars on her roof before this life wrecked her.
Fuck.
I can’t.
My mind can’t wander as if those are fading memories.
Iwillget her back.
I’ll hand over my life for hers. I’ll give it all up, just to let her be free from all this.
My phone vibrates against my thigh as I open the car door, and I dig it out to read a text.
Each line my eyes trace makes my brows knit further together.
24
Indie
nothing's gonna hurt you baby - cigarettes after sex
Idon’tknowhowlong I’ve been here.
Hours?
Days?
There’s no windows, no sound of a clock ticking. No footsteps outside the door, no voices crying for help like I expected them to. There’s no one else in any of the other cells, unless they’ve been conditioned like Jenna had mentioned.
My fingers trace the vertical dents on the stone wall, days spanning into weeks by whoever was captured and held prisoner. Each groove beneath my soft pad sends an involuntary heave in my stomach.
A letter has been carved at the top, and the bottom. It looks like they’ve only managed to scrape the beginning of an initial, before whatever came in here and stopped them.
The tallies count to almost a year. I can’t be here that long; my mind wouldn’t survive it.
I’ve been in and out of sleep, even though I don’t want to. The mass of emotions running through me is wearing me down to the point of exhaustion.
Sleep makes me vulnerable, and each time it gets the better of me, my nightmares jolt my body awake to remind me. Except it’s not a nightmare. It could very well be my reality the next time that door opens.
My body is crammed against the corner of the cell, ensuring that when anyone opens that door, I’m ready for them. I might not have anything to protect me, but I’m sure as hell not giving up without a fight, even if it kills me.
Though the way the unknown is toying my mind with what could lie ahead, maybe I’d be better off.
I’m so lost in my volatile mind, I don’t register the door being unlocked, the light humming inside my cell the only warning as it sears the backs of my lids.
The metal door smacks off the wall, sending an involuntary jolt through my body.
“Hello, stranger.”
