by Kaitlyn Hoyt
I FEEL SOMEONE NUDGING ME. “Wake up.” My body is shaking. I can’t get myself to open my eyes. My ears are ringing, and my face is throbbing. I feel someone grab the front of my shirt again and lift me up, my feet dangling off the ground.
“I said wake up!” He starts shaking my body. My head lolls back. I feel like it weighs a ton. He slaps me on my other cheek this time, causing another fit of pain to spread across my face. I open my eyes and glare at him. I can see two other men in the room. There’s a man standing in the middle of the room, and another at the door. Is all this protection from me?
The man standing in the middle of the room, watching me is incredibly handsome: tall and lean, standing around David’s height with Colton’s physique. His skin is tanned, and his hair is slicked back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Piercing brown eyes stare into mine.
“Thomas, put her down.”
I fall to the ground with a thump; my knees tuck under me, and my arms take most of the fall. Pain shoots up them. I try to recover quickly, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing me in too much pain.
“Now, Ryanne. I need some information, and you’re going to give it to me. You’ve been here for almost two days without food or water. If you cooperate, I’ll think about giving you some. If you don’t…well, you don’t really want to know what happens then,” he says. I can’t see him, but based on his tone of voice, he is smiling.
“Now,” he says calmly. “Where were you staying at? We already checked your home, and you haven’t been there for a while. We looked around the area where you were captured, and there was nothing there. Where were you?” They didn’t find the house? That means Claire’s enchantment worked. I am finally able to sit up, but I refuse to talk. “Nothing? Fine.”
He stands up, and walks to the center of the room. His eyes never leave mine, but they narrow and his face furrows in concentration. I’m about to ask what he is doing, but my head starts aching. The dull pain intensifies, causing me to cry out. It worsens to the point where I can’t think straight. It’s unbearable. I scream in agony, but the pain doesn’t lessen. I fall back to the ground, on my stomach, curl my knees up under me, and prop myself on my elbows, grabbing my head. Panting, I try to breathe normally, but can’t. I’m unable to concentrate on anything but the pain. Suddenly, images start forming in my mind.
“What’s wrong honey?” she asks me, taking her eyes away from the road for a second.
I bite my lip and continue staring out the passenger window. If I share what just happened with anyone, they’d never believe me. It’d be his word against mine.
With a sigh, I turn and look at her. “Nothing happened, Mom. I’m fine.” All I want to do is curl up in a ball in my bedroom and cry myself to sleep.
“You’re not fine. You wouldn’t have called me to pick you up if everything was fine.” She turns back to me, trying to figure out what is causing me to act this way. She’ll never know. I can’t tell her. She’d overreact.
Messing with the seatbelt, I reach out and grab her free hand. She worries too much. I’ll be fine. I just need to stop thinking about it and busy my mind.
“Mom, why are you…” Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of silver. I face forward and look out of the windshield. A large truck is driving on the wrong side of the road, heading directly for us. At its current trajectory, the truck will collide with us head on, the majority of the impact on the passenger side. My side.
“Look out!” I yell at the same time as she turns and looks at me, tears in her eyes.
“I love you, Ryanne.” Throwing her hand on the horn, she jerks the car to the left.
I love you too, I think as we collide with the truck. My body is thrown forward, just as the airbag deploys, sending me back against the seat. My seatback rubs the skin across my neck and chest raw.
The sound of crushing metal fills my ears as glass starts shattering around me. The outside world blurs as the car starts flipping through the air. Glass fragments scrape across my skin with each movement. Warm blood starts oozing out of the cuts. The car slows as the back connects with the base of a large tree.
I’m hanging upside down when the car finally stops moving. I try to move, but pain shoots through my side. A large piece of glass is embedded under my ribs. In the distance, I can hear sirens headed in our direction. I turn toward the driver’s seat to see if my mom is okay, but the seat is empty.
Black spots are starting to cloud my vision as the ringing in my ears worsens. I reach out and lightly touch the area. Drawing back, I see my hand covered in blood. I reach down and unbuckle my seatbelt. As I fall, I succumb to the darkness.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Mom?” I grumble as I try to open my eyes.
“Sweetie, can you hear me?”
I open my eyes and instantly shut them. The room is too bright. Fluorescent lights overhead reflect off the white linoleum tiles on the floor, instantly giving me a headache.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Where’s my mom?” I ask, as I slowly open my eyes again. One look at her expression tells me all I need to know. I start shaking my head as the tears begin falling from my eyes.
“No, no, no,” I repeat over and over again. Maybe if I keep saying it, she’ll come back to me. As the nurse starts walking toward me, I begin screaming. I want my mom. I don’t want a nurse. I. Want. My. Mom.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” she whispers as more nurses come into the room. I struggle against their restraints, trying to get away from them. I know they just want to help, but there’s nothing they can do. That truck was supposed to hit me. Not her.
Me.
I was the one that was supposed to die. I watch as a nurse walks over to the side of my bed, and pushes the button to inject me with morphine. I continue struggling against her until I start to feel the effects of the drug.
That is the most painful moment of my life. My body is numb; the physical pain no longer there. The emotional turmoil is worse. Leaving me with my thoughts and memories, I realize that I’d rather feel the physical pain. That moment was the moment that I realized that I had no one left in the world. The only person that truly loved me was gone, ripped from my life, and never coming back.
I was alone.
The images go away, but the headache doesn’t. I turn my head, and see all the men still standing over me. I close my eyes because the lights in the room are too bright. I prop myself up, and empty the little contents of my stomach.
“So, are you ready to tell us now?” I’m not sure which one spoke to me, but I don’t care. They’re all crazy.
“No,” I grunt. My voice cracks at the end as I try to speak.
“Stubborn, insolent little girl!” Someone kicks me in the stomach, sending me backwards, and when my body hits the wall again, the air is knocked out of my lungs. Based on the intense pain, I think he broke a couple of ribs. I roll onto my back, trying to catch my breath again.
“We’ll be back.” I hear their footsteps leave the room, and the door is bolted shut again. Warm tears start falling down my face as I let the grimness of my situation sink in. I may never get out of here. I wish that I would pass out again. At least, I can’t feel the pain that way, but my body will have nothing to do with it. I lay on the concrete floor for hours, before my body finally gives in, and I fall asleep.
