Page 75 of Pretty Poison

Again, I don’t know why I trusted him on his word of returning, but if hope is all I have left, I’ll rinse it dry if it means Liana comes home to me.

Thirty Three

LIANA

“Hey, blondie, wake up.” A soft, deep voice says. A light grip wraps around my arms and shakes me slightly, but my body is too cold to focus on their words.

The surface beneath me is freezing cold and flat, like metal. I hear the trickling of water in the distance, causing an echo to bounce around the room.

“She should be awake by now.” Another softer, quieter voice says.

My eyes refuse to open and every part of my body feels stiff. In an attempt to respond, an almost soundless hum escapes me, but it’s nothing compared to the noises that surround me. Gathering as much strength as I can, I hum again, this time a little louder.

“I think she’s awake, but still out of it. Get the spray.”

I listen as a hurried set of footsteps walks away from me before coming back, and a tapping noise sounds against the floor.

“I didn’t say throw it at my head, you prick.” Venom and annoyance lace the voice.

All of a sudden, a putrid scent fills my nostrils and bile rises up in my throat as my eyes shoot open and I inhale a large, deep, scattered breath.

“I told you she’d have brown eyes.” A large muscular man says, a wide smile on his face. “I’ll take my money now.”

The woman in front of me side-eyes him. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to do that as soon as we leave this place.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Strawbs,” he replies, leaving my eyeline.

“I’ve told you to stop fucking calling me that,” she retorts, her eyes rolling and a disgusted grimace pulling at her lips. Turning her attention back to me, she brushes the hair from my face. “How are you feeling?”

“W-what the fuck was that?” I ask, referring to the wretched smell as a shudder rocks through me as I recall it.

“Neat little thing, isn’t it?” she says with a smile, holding the small white bottle up to my line of vision. “It’s something to wake you up when your body isn’t ready. It’s disgusting, but it works.”

“I can still smell it.”

“It’ll pass in a few hours.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “What the fuck is in it?” I ask, rubbing my eyes. “It’s getting stronger and… fuck it burns.” My hands become frantic as they try to rub the pain from my eyes.

Her cold hands reach for mine as she pries them away from my face. “It’ll only make it worse if you irritate it further. Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

I glance at her in confusion. This room is almost twice as small as my bedroom with what seems to be at least six people including myself. Three of them are lying down, facing the walls as they sleep, leaving me, this girl and that guy the only ones awake. She’s trying to make light of a very dark and glum situation.

“We’ve only got day-old bread and some very suspicious-looking water, but it’ll hold you over until tonight when they bring more.”

I nod, grabbing her hands as she holds them out to help. As I rise, the light-headedness returns, and everything spins wildly. She holds me steady as she slowly guides me near the black rusted metal door that keeps us confined in this box.

She helps me sit down on the bed beside the door, and it creaks under my weight, sending an echo through the room.

“Here,” she says, tearing me off a piece of the stale bread and handing me the bottle of water that has about a swig of dirty liquid left. “It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks.”

Every part of me screams to release the bile in my stomach, but my body won’t cooperate. My mouth is bone dry, and my stomach growls as I stare at the water and dry bread in front of me.

I hold the bottle with a shaky hand as I take a bite, the bread crumbling in my fingertips. I take a small sip of the water to wash it down with. “I was expecting a lot worse,” I admit, shame filling me.

She offers a comforting smile and sits beside me. “What’s your name?” she asks, facing me.

“L-Liana,” I answer in a low voice, my eyes flicking across every aspect of the room.

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