Page 28 of Lost In The Dark

“Adam’s right. We should eat and rest while we can. Addy’s nightmares will be coming soon and she’ll need us to be less zombie like than we are right now,” Asher agreed.

Eli nodded and they both started eating as Adam and I filled our plates too, but the silence didn’t last long.

“This is all on dad!” Eli snapped as he slammed his fork down loudly. “If he hadn’t abandoned her, we’d have known about her. We could’ve protected her.”

“It’s too late to change any of that now,” Asher sighed as he put his fork down too and looked to Eli.

“She was alone, damn it Asher! She was all alone her whole fucking life! We should have been there! No one even reportedher missing.” Eli’s voice faltered on his last words and Asher instantly wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulders and pulled him into his side.

“She’s here now. We’ve got her,” Asher soothed. “We won’t let anyone hurt her again and we’ll make damned sure she never feels alone again, okay? We’ve got her now.”

“We’ve all got her,” Adam agreed and I nodded as I looked to my brother. We didn’t know Addy, but she was family and she needed us. We just needed to gain her trust so she could believe that too.

ADDY

I was confused about where I was when I woke up and glanced around the stark, white bedroom. The bed beneath me and the comforter over me was so soft and luxurious, but that didn’t calm my anxiety that, once again, I had no idea where I was. I sat up in a panic, then instantly calmed down when I found Asher and Eli sitting on chairs right beside the bed, both of them passed out, their heads leant to the side and propping one another up.

I remembered then, leaving Vegas, the plane, and being at their place. I recalled Asher and Eli both hurrying in to me several times in the night, when I woke screaming. That was why they both looked so exhausted. I’d done it to them. My terror had kept them awake all night.

I laid back down and took in a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I didn’t remember the nightmares I’d had the night before. I just remembered the heart pounding fear I’d felt as I jolted awake, awoken by my own deafening screams. I knew it made me a coward, but I was relieved I couldn’t remember the nightmares. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to remember any ofthe things that had happened to me during those missing two years. It was more than I could take just to deal with the two fragments I’d already gotten back.

I sat up and shuffled as quietly as I could to sit on the edge of the bed, opposite where Asher and Eli slept. I didn’t want to wake them. Even as uncomfortable as they looked propped together with their arms folded over their chests, I knew they had to need the sleep they were getting.

My ribs screamed at me as I moved, and my wrist was throbbing too, but I sat and just tried to breathe through it. I’d need to find some pain pills to get through the day. The pain was intense, and I’d never had a good pain tolerance.

As I rose to my feet I was relieved to find I wasn’t shaking on my legs like I had been for the last week. I also felt less panicked and crazy than I had the night before. That was likely due to the fact I had gotten more sleep that night, even with the nightmares, than I had since the day I woke in the hospital after the car had hit me.

I looked around the room and took everything in. The walls were all a stark white and no pictures hung on them. A gray blind hung at the vast window, behind where my brothers sat, and there was a dresser beside it. The bed was flanked by nightstands on both sides, and there was a huge flat screen TV on the wall opposite the bed. I realized it was likely a guest room, which would explain why it was so plain and impersonal. It was still a beautiful, comfortable room though – definitely the nicest I had ever spent a night in.

Two doors were opposite where I stood so I pushed through the pain and hobbled towards the first, which turned out to be a closet bigger than my entire room back home. Most of the rails were empty, but on the one closest to the door there was adozen or so hangers, filled with new clothes, all with labels still attached. On the ground were two different pairs of sneakers and there were also some clothes folded on shelves near the back. Not wanting to be nosy I closed the door and turned to the next, which was the bathroom I had been hoping for. It was tiled in bright white, shiny tiles with a tiny border of gray. Sat in one corner was a huge claw foot tub, and opposite was a walk-in shower cubicle. The vanity, with two sinks, lined the other side of the room and beside that sat the toilet, which I was desperate to use, my bladder screaming at me to stop exploring and pee already.

Once I’d taken care of that need, I stripped off my clothes - the same ones I’d travelled there in - and headed for the shower, cranking the heat as high as I could.

I honestly didn’t know how long it had been since I’d showered. I had wanted to at the hospital, but since I was cuffed to the bed and too scared to speak to the police officer who would need to free me, I hadn’t bothered.

By the time I stepped into the steam filled stall and stood beneath the powerful, warm spray, I was already beginning to feel a little shaky once again, my body obviously pretty weak after all it had been through, but I took the time to shower thoroughly, dowsing my grimy body in the vanilla scented shower gel - which I had found on a glass shelf - several times until I finally felt clean again. Washing my long, wild hair was harder, since the one arm I could get wet shook violently when I lifted it to apply shampoo, but I muddled through and felt so much better just to be clean by the time I shut off the water and stepped out.

Much to my relief, the whole bathroom was filled with steam, so I didn’t need to try and avoid my own reflection as I driedoff quickly, then wrapped the huge white, fluffy towel around myself.

When I opened the top drawer beneath the sink I found a brand-new toothbrush and toothpaste, along with a ton of other brand new toiletries. I couldn’t help but wonder who slept in this room. The realization that any of the guys could have a girlfriend who stayed over hit me, and I worried whoever the woman was, my presence would upset her. I hadn’t even thought to ask Asher or Eli if they were married or in a relationship.

I used the toothbrush, making a mental note to tell someone so it could be replaced before the person who used the room came back.

I hesitated to use the hairbrush which was also in the drawer, but my hair was a disaster and I knew I needed to do something with it if I ever hoped to feel human again, so I grabbed the brush and ran it through my hair, ripping at the knotted sections again and again until finally I could get the brush through unimpaired. I could see the way too long, ends of my hair were dry and in desperate need of cutting, but that would need to wait. I had bigger issues to deal with, after two years of captivity, than split ends.

I shook off that thought, determined to start the day a lot saner than I had been the night before. I needed to find a way to keep myself together. Asher and Eli had brought me into their home and I refused to embarrass them by being a crazy lady. I could do better and I would. I was determined.

I was surprised when I walked back out into the bedroom and found Asher and Eli gone, along with the chairs they had been sitting in. I panicked for a moment at the fact I was all alone, butthen I remembered my plan to do better and forced myself to breathe.

I knew Asher and Eli’s rooms were right next door, on either side of me. Eli had told me that as he brought me to the room the night before. They wouldn’t be far away, I reminded myself as I settled on the end of the bed. I’d need to wait for one of them to come back to find out what I could wear for the day. The clothes I had gathered from the bathroom floor sat beside me on the bed, but I wasn’t eager to put them back on now I was once again clean.

Moments later there was a knock at the door. It startled me a little, but I took another breath and slowly made my way over, hoping it was Asher or Eli. I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to hold myself together if Adam or Jordan were on the other side. I was sure they were good men, just as Asher and Eli had promised, but I didn’t know them and something inside of me instantly filled with fear upon meeting them. I couldn’t override or ignore that feeling, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. What if it was my instincts trying to tell me something?

“Hey sweetie,” Eli greeted when I opened the door hesitantly.

“Morning,” I replied, relieved it was him there.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as I stepped back into the room and he followed me.

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