Page 10 of Knight

I force myself to do as he says, turning around a fraction of an inch at a time. Something drags through my hair as I move. Something my mind shies away from naming.

A figure looms in the darkness. Tall. Broad shoulders. Black t-shirt. But it's what's in his hand that makes the room spin sideways.

A gun.

A gun pointed at my head.

My stomach free-falls into nothingness.

The world distorts, bending around the horror of it.

This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

His gaze drops to my laptop. "Put it down."

I can't make my fingers work. Can’t breathe. The laptop's the only real thing in this nightmare. The only thread tying me to reality.

He steps closer, the air around him shifting into something that promises violence. "Down.Now."

The laptop slips from my fingers. The crack as it hits the floor makes me flinch. My ears are ringing. Everything feels distant, surreal.

"That way." He gestures with the gun toward the shadows. "Move."

I stumble forward, legs moving on instinct, my mind detached from my body. My focus shrinks to the weapon pressed between my shoulder blades. The way it never wavers.

“Stop.”

I freeze. He leans past me, and a door opens, flooding my vision with harsh fluorescent light. The brightness burns my eyes, making them tear up. The gun drives me forward again.

White tile swims into focus. Chrome fixtures. A bathroom bigger than my bedroom.

"Face the wall. Hands behind your head."

"Please." My voice sounds strange. Far away. "I can explain?—"

"Now."

I turn, my forehead almost touching the tile, the cold radiating through me. My hands shake as I lift them, fingers interlacing at the back of my head.

The position is humiliating. Exposing.

Oh god. This is really happening.

"Knees."

The command doesn't register at first. Then the gun presses between my shoulder blades.

"On your knees. Now."

My legs buckle. I hit the floor hard, pain jolting up through my knees. Cold seeps through my jeans as I stare at the wall, trying not to throw up. This isn't how tonight was supposed to go.

“This isn’t …” My breath stutters. "Knight invited me here."

There’s no response.

"He's been helping me look for my brother. We've been messaging for weeks. Please, I need to find him. Something must have happened —"

"Shut up."

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