Chapter 14
The cord bit into my neck and cut off my air.
I lunged forward, trying to break free, but the movement was only instinct. The cord—the garrote—was too strong, and whoever was holding it was strong too. They didn’t stumble. I couldn’t pull them off balance. Instead, they yanked me back toward them and kicked my feet out from under me.
I went down, and I hit the floor hard.
For a moment, the cord slackened around my throat. I rasped for air. My throat burned, but I tried to call out—and couldn’t. I blinked, and the room swam around me. The desk was right in front of me. I crawled toward the kneehole. The sound came of the door shutting.
Hands grabbed my legs and dragged me away from the desk. I kicked and made contact with flesh. My attacker grunted, but they didn’t let go. They kept dragging me out from under the desk, ignoring my flailing legs.
The door handle rattled.
My attacker planted a knee between my shoulder blades, pinning me to the floor, and got hold of the garrote again.
Someone tried the door again, and then a surly teenage boy called, “What are you doing in there?”
I tried to answer, but the garrote was too tight. Black spots danced in front of my vision. I clawed at the cord, but I couldn’t get my fingers under it.
“Why are you so weird?” Keme said. But then, after a moment, “Are you okay?”
Something strobed inside my head. Flashes of bright and dark.
It wasn’t even a thought. It was desperation.
I let go of the cord, flailed for one of the chairs, and managed to tip it over. The crash echoed through the house.
“Dash?” Keme’s voice was louder. He hammered on the door. “Hey! Open up!”
Darkness crowded me, thicker and thicker. Flecks of light sparked in the darkness, but fewer. And fewer. The pressure in my head was incredible, but then it didn’t hurt so bad—
I was drifting downstream.
Something thudded. The collision was nearby, close enough that it rippled through my body, but I was a long way downstream by then, and it was easier to keep drifting.
Shouting.
Crashes.
Air, and the fire of oxygen flooding starved cells.
I gasped, drawing in more, and the pain was everywhere.
“It’s okay,” Keme said. He stared down at me, cradling my face in his hands. Blood ran down his face like a lightning bolt. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Keep breathing. Indira!”