Page 1 of Unraveled Love

1

Addi

Someone might as well have been pounding against my temple with a hammer. Everything hurt. The same person who’d made my head pound must have scrubbed my throat with sandpaper. It was raw, and when I tried to clear it and swallow, my tongue rubbed on something rough.

Pain.

Darkness.

As I managed to peel my eyes open, I saw nothing. Nothing but black. My eyes hurt so much I had to close them again, and once I did, the view was no different.

Black.

Darkness.

Pain.

It all came to me in a foggy vision.

The bar. The man. I’d seen him before…but where?

And Charlie lying there, on the tiled bathroom floor. Unconscious.

Charlie.

My eyes snapped open. I had to find her. I jumped to do just that, but when I attempted to move, I couldn’t. My hands were behind me, and there was wood at my back. My legs couldn’t move.

Oh my God.That man. The gun… He’d stabbed me with something. Covered my mouth.

Panic flared and made my heart race and my blood boil.

Where was I?

And Charlie?

Was she…?

I tried to scream, but something sweaty and soft had been shoved into my mouth, preventing anything more than a groan from coming through. And my throat…God, it killed.

A light flickered, making me flinch. I writhed in pain as whatever was wrapped around my wrists dug into my skin, biting into my flesh every time I twisted. Fear turned my blood to ice as the light continued to flicker.

And then there was a noise. I cocked my head to listen better. Dripping water? No…footsteps.

I tried to swallow again and felt nothing but shards of glass.

“You’re awake.”

I shivered at the voice and fear cascaded down my spine. I didn’t recognize it, but it was colder than ice, stronger than steel. I couldn’t see anyone, but those footsteps had stopped. Where in the hell was I? And what were they going to do to me?

Oh God. It has to be Daniel.

The light finally stopped flickering and illuminated the room. Barely brighter than the nightlight I used to have in my bedroom as a little girl, it allowed me to make out shapes and shadows. Except all I saw were shadows. Cement walls. One metal door with bars. And at the bottom corner, the shadow of a booted foot.

“If you stay still, stay quiet, nothing will harm you.” He chuckled, and that voice trailed down my flesh like jagged fingernails. “At least, for now.”

Footsteps started again, quieted, and vanished.

Oh God. I hurt everywhere. My shoulders. My back. My knees. There was a relentless throb in my cheekbone, and my head was so heavy it fell forward.

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