Chapter 30
Finn
Fuuuuuuuck.
This was not a hangover.
Maybe a concussion.
My stomach turned as the bitter, sour stench of vomit hit my nose.
Ugh.
Probably my own.
I tried rolling as far away from the smell as I could get, but that wasn’t much.
Fuck.
Tiny bright daggers attacked my vision as pain spiked again.
Moving fucking hurt.
Everything hurt.
And I couldn’t move my arms.
My hands were bound behind my back.
I thought back to the last thing I remembered.
I’d woken up on my bathroom floor.
No.
Wait.
I’d woken up on a floor.
I’d thrown up.
Then… someone had drugged me.
That explained the sluggish feeling and the way my body seemed to be several steps behind my thoughts.
I needed to go further back.
What’d happened before?
I’d met my friends. We’d done the pub quiz and then… then my Uber had canceled. I’d walked home, and Eric had followed me. Wait. No. Not Eric.
I’d called Eric.
Told him off.
But it hadn’t been him.
So…
Fuck, why did my head have to hurt this much?
Right.
Someone had hit me with something. And then… oh, there’d been a prick before, right?
Yeah.
I remembered… lying on the ground. Someone leaning down, looking at me. His eyes…
Vampire.
A sting in my neck and… nothing.
Fuck.
The fledglings had gotten to me.
At least… at least Eric knew that I’d been taken.
I wanted to laugh, but my mouth wouldn’t open.
I’d sent him away, demanded he leave me alone, yet here I was, praying for my stalker to come find me.
My life fucking sucked right now.
Whatever they’d given me—twice—was wearing off.
I thought.
Maybe.
I blinked again. Every bit of light that hit my eyes sent fresh waves of pain through my body, radiating from the back of my head.
But I could do it.
I could take the pain. Could handle the nausea if I could fucking see.
It wasn’t bright in here—and thank god for that—but there was enough light coming from a streetlight outside to make out vague shapes.
The room was blissfully empty, but it screamed warehouse to me.
The floor was concrete, the walls were concrete, and the smell… beneath all the vomit was something… mechanical?
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, even though it just made me want to hurl again.
I needed to push through.
I needed more information.
Definitely something like… fumes. Motor oil?
Ugh.
I had no idea.
So… on to something else.
I wiggled my hands.
Yep.
Tied up.
But not with handcuffs or zip ties, rather…. Was that a belt?
I wiggled my hands again.
Yeah.
That felt like leather. Sturdy, smooth leather. And there was a metal buckle for sure.
I placed my hands on the floor behind me. There was still a bit of space left, so I rocked back, back, back until my fingertips met the wall.
Good.
Now to sit up.
My whole world shifted; the pain stole my breath for a while as I tried righting myself.
Holy fucking shit.
Like fuck.
Was the floor moving?
Nope. Just me.
A wave of dizziness almost made me fall over again, but I pushed through. Through the moving floor, through the blinding pain and the bile rising in my throat once again, until I was sitting upright, though leaning heavily against the wall, my face smushed against the plaster.
I was looking right at the door.
It was metal and had some kind of window in it.
Looked a bit like an office door.
Maybe I was in the manager’s office?
Or what once had been a manager’s office?
A supply closet?
Whatever.
It didn’t matter.
What mattered was that I’d see them coming.
And I…
Pain crashed into me.
Fuck. Thinking was hard.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
Okay. Got it.
I opened my eyes and tentatively moved my hand to my back pocket, hoping to hell I’d find…
There.
They hadn’t taken my flashlight.
Idiots.
I grinned as I shifted, ignoring the pain slicing through me as I fished for the small, pocket-sized UV flashlight.
If they thought I’d make this whole kidnapping thing easy on them, they’d thought dead… fucking… wrong.
They were talking.
I thought.
I couldn’t make out the words, but there were definitely different voices.
A loud bang—a door falling shut.
More distant murmuring.
My head pounded, the flashes of pain getting worse by the minute. Focusing was hard, but I kept my eyes firmly trained on the door. I needed to stay vigilant. Needed to be ready. Needed to…
I blinked, catching myself before keeling over.
Fuck.
Staying awake was hard when everything hurt, and my body just wanted to sink into the dark, numb comfort of sleep.
Footsteps approached.
Voices.
Louder now.
“Let’s see if he’s…”
Go time.
Pushing through the agony, I sat up straighter, tilting my body until the flashlight in my bound hands was pointing right at the door.
It swung open. I angled the flashlight up and hit the on button.
Success.
The screams were out of another world. Screeching, desperate howls.
The figure fell back, clutching at their face.
My vision blurred, the loud yowls of pain sending wave after wave of agony through my head, but I held firm, waving the flashlight in the direction of the door.
If they wanted to get to me, they’d have to pay with pain.