I had no clue what was happening with Gray or if he was still alive. There were noises from that room, but they were growing quiet and dull. I crossed my fingers, hoping the silence didn’t mean Gray had lost the fight. I huffed. At least he had the smaller guy. He had better not lose, or I’d piss on his grave.
The man took a moment to regain his composure, rubbing at his eyes when he lunged unexpectedly. I reacted fast and jumped forward onto him, knocking him back as I straddled his vast frame. I smacked him repeatedly across the face with my open hand, doing my best to keep him down.
“Just… stay… down!” I grit out through clenched teeth.
In the struggle, he caught my arm. It was a vice, halting me with incredible and sudden force. Stunned, he yanked and flipped me. I arched over him and crashed onto the tiles. My head hit the hard floor in the worst possible way. I reached up, certain I’d feel my brains leaking out my skull, but glad to find it intact.
Stunned and in pain, I didn’t notice as he rolled and got to his feet. His meaty paw grabbed my forearm and hauled me up with him. I dangled there like a rag doll. Spinning me, he pinned my back to his chest with one of my arms twisted behind me.
“Stay still, you little brat,” he growled.
My free hand clawed at his other arm, which had wrapped around my neck.One of my acrylic nails popped off in the effort, and I hated him for it.
“Gr-ay!”I croaked before the man tightened his arm around my neck, rendering me speechless.My mouth hung agape, drool dripping down my chin.
He wedged the arm behind my back between us and freed that hand so he could rummage in his pocket for something.
I tried my best to kick him between the legs but failed, losing oxygen and growing weak. With dwindling hope, I watched for any sign of help from the other room, desperately trying to call for Gray, but no sound escaped.
Through watery eyes, I saw a hand clutch the splintered bathroom doorframe, someone using it to pull themselves up off the floor. Blood stained the fingers, and the knuckles were already puffy and bruised. A face came into view, and I almost fainted with relief when I saw Gray’s electric blue eyes and wild hair. He was panting, with one arm wrapped around his stomach and his face splattered with blood. I glanced to where he cradled himself. Still no blood there, not stabbed.
His eyes widened when he saw how I hung from the man: feet hovering off the floor, a tight arm around my neck, my lungs begging for air. I could only imagine what my face looked like, because I felt like a balloon about to pop.
“Betty…” he huffed. Gray stumbled forward, just as I felt the pinch of something near my belly button.
Tears pricked my eyes from the sudden sting. When the man’s arm weakened at last, I chanced a look down, gulping air. The man’s free hand was gripping a syringe, the needle lodged to the hilt in my stomach. His thumb squeezed the entire contents of the syringe into my gut, and a burn bloomed from the point of the needle. Instant tendrils of warmth spread across my body. My limbs slackened almost immediately.
I gasped out, voice hoarse,“What… the fuck…was that?”I could barely form the question through heavy breaths. His grip around my neck loosened further, and I fell like dead weight to the floor.
I could just make out Gray as he flung himself at the refrigerator-shaped asshole. The cottony, far-off sound of them fell away behind me, out of my view. The ground shook, and glass broke.
I almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing, but was growing too numb and progressively more exhausted. My eyelids grew heavy, and a euphoric weariness tugged at my consciousness.
It felt like hours passed before a hand cupped my cheek. It took all my effort to lift my gaze, finding it was Gray. He was studying my face, eyes searching mine. I barely remember him picking up the needle and syringe, sniffing it briefly before looking back at me with a concerned frown.
“Hold on, Buttercup. I’ve got you,” he panted.“You’ll be okay.” His face, below thick facial hair and weather-worn skin, was strained and frantic, eyes swollen and…
???
I was freezing cold. I wasbouncing, and I really had to pee.
I tried to open my eyes, but they felt frozen shut. My head lolled, and a deafening roar filled my ears while an icy wind whipped across my face. I instinctively braced myself against the sting, a sinking feeling in my stomach when the world dipped suddenly and rose again. I reached out for something to hold on to, feeling like dead weight on a roller coaster.
The roaring subsided, and I took hold of something cold and hard in front of me. As I fumbled with it, the roaring faded further. I lifted my head. The noise cut out entirely, along with the shaking of whatever was between my legs.
There was something tight and constrictive around my waist, pressing uncomfortably on my bladder. I winced and tried to open my eyes, crusted with what felt like ice. When I finally cracked a lid, blinding sunlight met me.
“Hey, go slow,” a voice in my ear urged with a weight against my back.
“I have to pee,” I mumbled in a whiny, childlike tone. It was all that really mattered at the moment.
There was a deep male chuckle before I heard rope sliding against rope. The cinch around my middle loosened, and I slumped forward before an arm caught me.
“Whoa there, take it easy,” the deep voice said.“If you have to go, just go.”
I shook my head, brow knitting in frustration, trying to understand.“Just go?” I moaned weakly.“Go where?” I was too annoyed to deal with such trivial conversation. Maybe I would just pee my pants. It’d be warm, at least.“Where’s the bathroom?” I tried again.
More chuckling.“Anywhere you want it to be.”
