“Love?”
I tilted back my head. I cringed since I had forgotten about the cut on the back of my neck. “What?”
“Do you think you could possibly sit up?”
“Why?”
“Do you think you could?” He looked down at me.
With every part of my body painfully expressing objection, I was able to sit up and lean back against the stone. Lying on my side for those few minutes as well as eating that bread must have given me a little strength. I moved closer to the iron, but I couldn’t move far.
“This is the best I can do.” I leaned back again as I closed my eyes as the cold stone met with my skin. It felt so good and seemed to silence some of the objections to my sitting up.
“That’s fine. Can you lean toward me though? I want to check on that black eye you were telling me about before.”
I didn’t recall telling him about any black eye, but didn’t bother trying to figure it out. “I’m not sure what there is to check, but okay.”
I leaned against the iron and turned my face toward him. He reached his hand through as he leaned closer and placed his hand on my cheek.
“What are you checking f-” I tried to ask but was cut off when he placed his lips on mine. His lips were soft as he gently moved them against mine. I could feel my surprise fade away as I closed my eyes.
I’d never been kissed on my lips before. I felt explosions erupt inside of me, my body not knowing how to react otherwise. It felt entirely new to me, in an amazingly good way. My pain was forgotten as I tried to move in closer to him. I wanted more. I needed to forget everything but this pure moment with the two of us alone.
I could feel him smile as he pressed his lips a little harder against mine. He slid his hand down to my neck and slid it around the back. When he hit the cut, I gasped. I flinched away from him. He pulled his hand back to him, and when it got to his side of the bars, I saw that there was blood on his fingers. He brought his gaze back to my face. He had a look in his eyes that I had never seen before on him. He wasn’t just angry, he was filled with rage. It made me feel so unsettled that I turned my head away from him, unable to look at his face.
“Andrea, we have to get you out of here.” I could hear fury deep in his voice.
“Do you think I want to stay here?”
“Of course not. But you have to fight back.”
I rested my head against the iron. “I can’t fight back, James. You don’t know what they do to me. It’s impossible.”
He looked down at his hand and then slowly brought his gaze back up to me. “I don’t know?”
“You have no idea what they do to me, James.” I could feel anger as it started to grow inside me. This was something he couldn’t begin to understand. “You don’t know because you haven’t experienced it.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just…” He reached his hand up and placed it on the side of my face. “I just wish I knew what to do. I don’t know how to get us out of here or how to keep them from hurting you. It kills me to see you like this.”
I closed my eyes. “I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“I don’t mean it like that. I just feel so helpless. I can’t save you from this, not right now. But I promise that I’ll think of something.”
I slowly opened my eyes. “Right now I don’t need you to save me. I just need you to be here for me.”
“I can do that.” He leaned toward me and kissed me again.
~~~~~~***~~~~~~
The next time Mark came in, I had just been thrown back into the room. I managed to crawl to the wall and used it for support to sit up. He came over to me and straddled my legs as he stood over me.
“I still have yet to receive word from your father.”
I didn’t lift my gaze but kept my attention on his knees. I hoped he would tire of his games and do what he planned to do to me. After a moment, he knelt down and sat on my thighs. He placed his hand under my chin to lift my head so I had to look at his face. I had no strength left to fight against his touch, so I let him do it.
“All you have to do is say the word and the torture stops.”
“Never,” I said under my breath only because I didn’t feel I had the voice to say it any louder.
“You would seriously rather be tortured than do one little thing for me?”
“Yes.” I spoke a little louder.
He leaned toward me. “What if I give you a preview?”
“Get away from me, Mark.” I turned my head, but then he put his hands on both of my cheeks and forced me to face him as he leaned closer. He rested his forehead on mine and looked into my eyes. I started to squirm, but he held firm.
“Does this make you uncomfortable?”
“Yes,” I said quietly again, unable to take my eyes off his for fear of what he’d do if I looked away.
He traced his finger along my jaw line. “Why?”
I swallowed a lump rising in my throat. “You aren’t a good person.”
He smiled. “Imagine what we could be together though.”
“I’m not that type of girl.”
“How would you know if you don’t try?” He brushed his thumb over my cheek the way James liked to do. I closed my eyes wondering if James was watching this. I prayed he wasn’t. I tried to distract myself by thinking of the last time I had been up on the ledge and about the kisses James had given me. His hand was on my cheek and his lips were soft on mine but a little more forceful than I remember. I suddenly realized I wasn’t just thinking about it, but that I was actually being kissed. Only this time, it wasn’t James. It was Mark.
I shoved him back, which made him laugh. There had been few times in my life when I had become as enraged as I was then. I felt my hand form a fist. My fingers protested, but I didn’t care. I leaned forward just slightly, enough to pull my arm back behind me and swung as hard as I could. I hit him hard enough that I could feel the bones in my hand break. He jumped up in an instant as he pulled his knife out and sliced me across the face. I shrieked, the only way to describe it. I put my face in my hands in case he decided to attack again. Instead, I heard him muttering as his footsteps led away from me, and then the door slam shut.
“Andrea, Love, what happened? Are you alright?” James asked quietly from up in the corner. There was a note of panic in his voice, which I couldn’t blame after the sound that had come from me.
I realized I was sobbing, and it wasn’t the silent kind. Sounds were coming from me that I had never heard before. I was shaking so hard that I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to stop.
“Please say something!” he begged.
I slowly lifted my head out of my hands and put my finger on my cheek. The cut Mark had given me spanned from the middle of my cheek, over my eye and stopped in the middle of my forehead. I couldn’t let James see this now, not to mention that I felt so ashamed from Mark kissing me.
“Andrea, Love? Please tell me what happened.”
I looked up toward the ledge but since I was leaning against the same wall I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t climb up to see him, so I lay down instead. I closed my eyes, still unable to sleep. My sobs had slowed a little, but I was still shaking.
A little noise came from up in the corner, and then I heard a frustrated grunt. James was probably trying to pull the bars off, as if it were possible. I heard a muted thud along with a word I’d never heard him use before. After a few quiet moments, I heard him sigh, and then he started to hum. It was the same tune as the one he’d used before to try to comfort me.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I knew that even though I was too quiet to be heard, he knew.
I must have dozed off because I suddenly felt hands on my arms, and I was yanked to my feet. I was so disoriented that I didn’t know where I was for a moment. The candle wasn’t lit and whoever was holding me didn’t take me out of the room. A hand wrapped around my throat. I was lifted off the floor, and I started to kick but didn’t make contact. Tears stung my eyes as I gasped for
air. Right before I blacked out, I was dropped. I hadn’t even sucked in a fresh breath of air before I was kicked in the stomach. I felt my hair yanked back, as I was pulled upright. The way I was positioned left my throat exposed. Thankfully though, that wasn’t where I was hit. Instead, I took it under my jaw. I was then thrown back to the ground. I coughed hard and tried to catch my breath. This was something new. Any time I had been beaten it had never been in my cell. The door opened behind me and then shut, And I was alone once again.
But I was never truly alone. Since I was now in the middle of the room, I looked up at the ledge. James wasn’t visible at the moment, but a few more seconds went by and I saw the shape of his body, barely distinct in the small amount of light, but still there. I was grateful that he couldn’t see me, even though I knew it was killing him. But just being able to see his shape made me hope that we would get out of here one day.
It was a long time before I heard anything. When I a door opened, I knew it wasn’t mine. It sounded like it came from James’ cell. I barely lifted my head and looked in the direction of the opening by the ledge. I heard some shuffling and then a dull thud followed by whispering. I sat up, curious about what was going on when my own door suddenly opened. Mark lit the candle quickly before he came over to me. I didn’t have enough time to get to my feet so he grabbed my upper arm and yanked me to him.
“I’m getting tired of waiting for your father to respond.” He shoved me back into the wall, his hands firm on my shoulders. “What kind of father doesn’t care about his child enough to at least try to talk to the kidnappers? It’s been almost a week!”
I just looked at him, unable to respond. That was it? It felt like I had been there so much longer. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. I didn’t know where Captain Brown was.
“Where is he?” he shouted as he glared at me. He shoved me harder into the wall.
“I don’t know!” I yelled back.
He was about to say something else when he looked at my shoulder, at my scar. He removed his hands from my shoulders but before I could move he had his hand around my neck. He lifted me just enough so that the tips of my toes were the only part of my feet touching the ground. My throat was still tender, and his tight grip brought tears to my eyes. I reached up to pry his hand away from me when he suddenly lifted his free hand above the scar. My hands instantly froze over his as my attention stayed on his free hand.
“I don’t know why I asked for your permission to do what I want to do to you.” He glanced up at my eyes, which were still locked on his hand, before he looked back down at the scar. “I’m not getting what I want, and I need something if you’re going to be staying alive much longer.”
He met my gaze again as he gently put his finger on the scar. I felt a burning sensation start at the scar and blaze deep inside me. I couldn’t let him touch me again, not how he wanted to. This was my only chance to save myself. I could feel the desperation and rage rush through me, and I was suddenly able to push his hand off my neck. I fell back against the wall but before he could react, I punched him in the stomach with my non-broken hand. I still felt the fire race inside me so that I couldn’t feel the pain from my dislocated fingers. Instead of keeling over like I had hoped, he threw me to the ground. When I landed, I twisted my body in the same motion and, kicked the back of his knees the way I had with James on the island. He collapsed to the ground, which gave me enough time to scramble to my feet. I tried to run past him to the door, but he reached out and grabbed my ankle. I fell right back to the ground face first. I screamed from the instant pain. He was suddenly on my back. He grabbed my arm and held it behind me with one hand while he pushed on my shoulder with the other. He pushed my shoulder into the ground and then yanked on my arm. I felt a pop, and then my shoulder felt like there were hundreds of little glass shards inside it. I cried out in pain, but he didn’t let go. I closed my eyes. I just wanted it to end. Then I heard heavy footsteps. Maybe it would end quickly. The thuds grew louder, and when I opened my eyes I saw boots close to my head.
“Get off of her.” It was a young man’s voice, one I thought sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure why.
Mark moved off me slowly just as another pair of boots appeared in the doorway. They quickly came around the first guy and then the person knelt down. His hand slid under my cheek to turn my face toward him. My eyes followed his arm up to his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes. But James wasn’t looking back at my face. Instead his eyes stared at my legs. His gaze slowly traveled up my body, and when they landed on my face, he did a double take. He scrunched his brows together as he brushed my cheek. He couldn’t seem to stop looking at the scar over my eye. He touched it gently. His finger traced from my cheek up to my forehead while he slowly shook his head in disbelief and horror at what had become of me. He looked me in the eye, and after a moment he adjusted his position so that instead of kneeling, he was crouching on his feet. He carefully turned me, but touched my shoulder in the process. I cried out as tears burned in my eyes. It startled him.
“What is it? What did I touch?” He looked over me again, and I could tell by his expression that he knew it could have been anything to cause my outburst.
“My shoulder.” I sat up the rest of the way by myself, and when I was in a position where he could lift me, he put his arm under my legs and the other one around my back. As carefully as possible, he lifted me. I gasped, unable to hide it. It didn’t matter how gentle he was, he was going to hurt me anywhere he touched me. However, I was going to do everything possible not to cry, not in front of James.
I looked toward the back of the cell where Mark stood. He glared at me before turning his attention to the person who had saved me. I slowly turned my head but couldn’t get a look at him. James quickly carried me into the hallway. We didn’t get far before I heard a gunshot. I buried my head in James shoulder trying not to think what was happening behind us. It was a good thing, too, because we suddenly appeared in sunlight. I tilted my head a little to see where we were. It almost blinded me.
“What’s wrong?” James asked but kept moving.
“The light. I’ve been in the dark for so long that it hurts my eyes.”
He stopped. “It’ll be dark soon. As soon as Will is done here we’ll head out.”
It was Will? He had finally come for us? I knew I had recognized his voice but since I had only heard it once, I couldn’t place it. I felt so much relief with finally being out in the open air.
“Here, let’s go into the forest a little ways. It’ll be slightly darker, and you’ll be able to open your eyes.” He started to walk again. I didn’t care how far it was going to be, I just wanted to be able to see again. He stopped after several minutes and then set me down. He leaned me back against what I assumed was a tree. My shoulder was killing me, but I tried not to think about it as I slowly opened my eyes. We were in a clearing. I couldn’t see the building, and for all I knew, we could have been back where we had been before being captured. James sat down next to me and gently pulled me onto his lap. He held me loosely against him but didn’t say anything. I heard leaves rustling behind us, which made me turn my head.
A young man about James’ age stepped into the small clearing. I felt my heart skip a few beats when he locked his eyes on mine. It was as if I was looking in a mirror. His eyes and his mouth… his face as a whole was the exact same as mine. His hair was the same color brown as mine, cut shorter now that mine had grown out some. There was no doubt that I was related to him and I knew by the way he was looking at me that he’d known it since the first time he’d seen me sleeping in my bedroom. This was William.
Suddenly a switch flipped on in my mind, and I was overwhelmed with memories from my past. I remembered running on the beach with him and splashing in the water as we tried to dunk one another. I remembered parties, and a few times when we snuck into the doors under the stairs where there was a huge ballroom. Ladies and gentlemen were dressed up and swirled by us in time with the music. Then
one day Will and I were in town. We were playing around as we waited for Captain Brown to get something done so we decided to chase each other. I hid in an alley and that was where Peter found me and snagged me away. I remembered it all.
I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder which made me cringe.
“What is it?” James asked.
“It’s her shoulder.” Will quickly came over and knelt down in front of us. He looked at it and then glanced at James. “That bastard dislocated it.”
He scrunched his brows together as he took in how my shoulder was angled and then turned his attention back to James. “Okay, I need you to hold her. Place your right arm around her stomach and then place your left hand on her other shoulder, wrapping it around her body.”
James did what he said.
“What are you doing?” I asked. I felt uneasy and I could hear it in the tone of my voice.
Will ignored me as he took hold of my hand. I ripped it away from him though I gasped at the pain in my shoulder when I did it. Will looked at me and then at James.
James pressed his lips to my ear. “Andrea, Love, just trust us. We’re only going to help.”
“Why?” I asked as Will took my hand and then held it out in front of me. He adjusted it so his palm was against mine. He then placed his other hand on my shoulder as gently as he could. I was about to ask what was going on when he suddenly yanked my arm toward him. I felt my shoulder snap and screamed. It was louder than I was prepared for since it echoed through the trees.
Will looked at me slightly alarmed as I curled back into James. He reached toward me but I buried my face in James’ neck.
“Andrea, listen to me,” Will said. “We needed to put your shoulder back into place. Now it’ll be better. I’m sorry for the pain, but it would have only gotten worse.”
“Look at her hands,” James said next. He took hold of my wrist and held my hand upward. I opened my eyes and watched him as he looked closer at it. “This one looks different than the last time I saw it.”
Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series) Page 17
