Crossing Paths: A Brooklyn Shifters Romance Book 1
Page 38
The claw marks on the wall are just a constant reminder how no matter how hard I fight I can't leave. My hands are dusty cracked and my nails are chipped. My mouth is dry and I know it's been at least a day since I'd last drank any water. The water bottles they left me now sit in a corner crinkled up. My stomach rumbles and my head pounds harder and harder as the moment's pass. But I'm still here, still breathing even when I close my eyes I can't drift off anywhere.
The silence in my own head is driving me crazy. mya lay dormant within me unable to think or manifest without going insane. She used to be so full of life, so cheerful but now she barely gives me one word answers.
She's given up. Why can't I just go with her? Give up and let this fate take me without so much as a backward glance.
Again an agonizing screech along with what sounds like ripping of clothes resounds off the walls. I huddle closer under the ratted pink butterfly blanket I was given. Of course, that was only after my roommate was killed or moved.
I don't actually know. She was human, here one day and gone the next. She didn't say much and moved even less. I can only assume they killed her.
I know the other girls can hear it. I know he can hear it. Up in whatever fucking ivory tower he's sitting in. He can hear us scream and cry. Some of us wail others beg for mercy. And it's the ones who cry for their parents that really get to me.
I hate him. I thought I knew what hate felt like, looked like even. I thought I hated my brother. I thought I hated my parents for leaving me. But I didn't. I loved them and was misguided at best.
What I feel for Kaiser though is pure hate. The seething feeling of wanting to destroy him by any means necessary running through my toes all the way to the throbbing in my head.
Another screech echoes. My skin prickles and I know that kind of scream. That's the kind they bellow when he has his hands on you, tortures you for misbehaving. I wonder who it is, what they did.
I want to know every single thing he does to every single girl here so when it's my turn I can bear it for their sakes. I want them to know they have someone here who won't let him win. Who isn't afraid.
Yet as I curl tighter into the corner of the flimsy mattress on the grimy floor, I know I'm lying. Lying to myself and to them.
I'm terrified.
I don't know what he wants from me but he doesn't let the others touch me. All the words he spoke that day he kidnapped me haven’t been put into action. I haven’t been raped or used, just starved. He doesn't touch me either unless it's to beat me. Even then he doesn't allow skin to skin contact. I wish I knew what he wanted.
I wish I knew if Zelik had anything to do with this. Maybe he really did just get fed up. No. mya responds to my thoughts, a groggy snarl emanating from her.
I want to agree and have some kind of faith that he wouldn't be capable of something like this. But he was angry the last time I saw him. And in recent years we haven't been getting along. Especially with Ya-Ya growing older.
I miss the old bat. Every time I think of her I want to cry. I hope she's okay. I don't know what they did with her and even if she's still alive at this point. I'm sure Fran is looking after her.
My best friend. The one woman in the world I can truly depend on. She has to be looking for me. With her new beau Alex.
The thought makes me smile. She so wanted to believe they weren't meant to be. But it was obvious I saw how they looked at each other on my stoop. There was no one better for her in this world. But I know she's looking for me. She wouldn't give up right? She wouldn't not unless...
Wait.
What if Fran died? What if even though I lured Kaiser away she still died. Oh god!
The familiar well of panic begins to bubble within me as I think of her laid out on the floor dragging her bloodied body away from the panther shifter. She was a mess and I could have sworn I saw bone before I ran.
No no, I need to know she's okay. I need to get out of here!
I stand my naked body wrapped in the dirt covered child sized blanket. I run my hands over the walls like I have done a million different times. Nothing has changed maybe a few more pieces of cement have crumbled away but not much else. I check the vent in the corner no bigger than a thick textbook.
The air coming from it is stale and wheezing. The grate is fastened tightly and I pluck at the rusty screws for a moment before moving on. I check the corner with my bathroom bucket. Because these fuck sticks dont want to give us toilets at least not real ones. Still nothing.
I check the door, the panicky energy leaving me in a whoosh. I'm weak and don't even remember the last time I ate more than a few bread scraps. I fall to my knees suddenly feeling tired and scrape my hands along the frame.
I stop when I feel a large number of crumbling bits of cement fall into my hand. One of the hinges to the heavy metal door is coming loose. A screw wiggles a bit when I touch it making another small piece of cement clatter to the floor.
Hope, actual goddess forsaken hope blossoms in my chest.
I could actually get the fuck out of here. It'd take time but if I got the screw loose I could chip away at the other hinge and the whole door could come down. I smile the movement hurting a smidge. mya stirs.
They are coming.
I know what she means and it's not a moment later after I've stumbled back onto the bed that the door begins to unlock. My leg aches the memory of being branded flashing before me every time he comes.
I try no to think about it most days. The dark charred skin is now replaced with scar tissue. It's raised and and and some parts more ugly than others since my body was exhausted and unable to fully heal itself. But it's there and there's nothing I can do to change it. There's no point in mulling over it.
One lock then two and then third come undone. Geez, they really have no faith in their own system of imprisonment if they need that many locks.
The door creaks open an inch at first. Then slams open once I remain still. I notice the sound of falling concrete but try to hide my pleasure at that.
A looming shadow comes into the door frame a harsh white light silhouetting his figure. mya tries to come to the surface. Her attempt is weak and I almost don't feel it. I'm losing her. The thought chooks me.
"It's nice to see you’re up. I didn't want to wake you." He wakes in one deliberate step at a time. He looks paler than before and his eyes are bloodshot but he wears his well tailored suit as normal. Though it looks to be covered in a thin layer of dust. Then there is something I definitely know was not there before. A thin scar on the right side of his mouth. Almost making him look like he's constantly smirking. It's unnerving.
"Fuck off." I snap at him as I try to stand. I struggle staggering some of the nerves in my leg shot. He walks up to me, his mouth a thin line of displeasure. A hard unyielding gloved hand comes down across my cheek.
I fall back down onto the mattress and he bends down as the sting still sizzles on my now reddened cheek. "I will no longer tolerate that mouth of yours."
I say nothing I just scowl remembering I need to find a way out of here. If I'm beaten and bloody I can't do jack shit. "You have guests to entertain today my dear." I furrow my brow at him. He turns his back to me and tilts his head indicating something to someone outside the door.
"Grab her." Then two hulking men in what seems to be cloaks and masks come barreling in grabbing at my arms. And I kick and fail my body until one clamps a hand over my throat and the air refuses to enter my lungs. My hands are pulled behind my back and I just can’t move. No matter how hard I struggle I can’t breathe I can't move. The slimy smirk on Kaiser's face is the last thing I see before darkness consumes me.
Stay Tuned For…
Nothing In This World-A Brooklyn Shifters Romance Book 2
Authors Note
Hi everyone thank you for coming on this journey with me through my first couple Alexander and Francesca. It was a hard book for me to get through personally. Though I’m not a shifter (oh goddess how I wish). I did ex
perience abuse in ways Frannie had. It is really important for me to bring real life issues into my books because I know not everyone has an easy outlet to deal with them.
I hope for some of you this book showed you that you aren't alone in the abuse you experience from any. There are others out there who have gone through similar experiences and are here for you.
I know this book won't be for everyone and may have been triggering to some. I am a writer who likes to confront some of the darker things in my mind. I will continue to do so in later books so please purchase at your own risk.
In lighter news the next book Nothing In This World will be featuring our next couple and I am more than excited to write it. I am going to be writing the rest of the series in first person just so you know as well. I made that choice once I was almost done with this one but it just fits the rest better to have it in first person. So you guys in the next book!
P.S If you can guess who the next couple is you get major brownie points. Also for updates on the next book please follow my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Daphne-Snow-103846948420638