Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I jolted awake, disoriented, slightly nauseous, and gasping for air. My head pounded, and a metallic taste lingered on my tongue.
What happened? Where was I?
I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the inky blackness surrounding me. No light penetrated the shroud of darkness, which weighed heavily on me.
But it wasn’t the black hood anymore. I was in a dark room, too dark to make out any details.
Was it night already?
How long had I been out? And where exactly was I?
I stilled and tried to listen, straining to detect any sound that might give me a clue. But apart from the pounding of my pulse in my ears, I couldn’t hear a damn thing.
I turned my head but immediately stopped since the slightest movement increased my pounding headache.
At least, I wasn’t dead, right?
Not yet, that was.
I closed my eyes and took a whiff. The room smelled of laundry detergent mixed with a citrusy scent.
Crisp and clean—totally not what I’d expected. I thought I would end up in a warehouse or maybe some basement.
Not in someone’s…bedroom? I sniffed again. There was the light musky scent again—even though faint.
Was I not alone?
I tried to get a sense of the room. I was in a sitting position. I yanked on my arms but couldn’t lift them.
“What the?—”
I tried to move my legs—equally unsuccessfully. I was restrained, my wrists and ankles bound tightly to what felt like a sturdy chair.
My arms and legs tingled, and when my fingers went numb, panic bubbled up, hot and acidic. I jerked against the restraints again, testing their strength.
Ropes, not zip-ties.
Who on earth would use rope in this day and age?
I jolted my arms again, this time with even more force, and the ropes surprisingly didn’t cut into my skin. Sadly, they didn’t give an inch either, no matter how hard I strained against them.
I tugged and pulled until my muscles burned and my chest heaved with exertion. But the bonds held fast, leaving me trapped and immobile.
Shit.
My pulse thundered in my ears as a thousand terrifying scenarios flashed through my mind. Who took me? Why? What did they want?
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to take a slow, deep breath.
Freaking out wouldn’t help me at all. I needed to keep a level head and focus. I needed to be prepared to escape if I wanted to find a way out of this. Escape had to be my top priority. The room became smaller around me, the blackness oppressively dense.
Silence pressed in from all sides, heavy and suffocating.
My throat went uncomfortably tight, and it felt as if that arm was back around my throat, cutting off all air. Whatever this place was, it felt…empty. Devoid of life. Like a void where hope went to die.
I couldn’t breathe.
I clenched my jaw and squeezed my fists.
Not again. Never again.
And that was when I heard it.
I jolted at the faintest sound, my heart pounding violently against my rib cage. Someone was in here with me, watching from the shadows.
The realization amplified my terror to dizzying heights.
“Who’s there?” I demanded, my voice barely audible despite my efforts to sound strong. “What the hell do you want from me?”
Silence answered, thick and suffocating. I strained to detect any movement, any breath, or rustle of clothing, but there was nothing. Just the thunderous pounding of blood in my ears.
Terror squeezed my chest as my mind raced. Were they going to hurt me? Kill me? Sell me into human trafficking? A hundred nightmarish scenarios flashed through my thoughts, each more horrific than the last.
“Show yourself, you coward!” I screamed into the darkness, yanking furiously at my restraints. The ropes didn’t give an inch, biting into my wrists, making everything worse.
My breaths came in frantic gasps as panic clawed its way up my throat. I couldn’t get enough air. Couldn’t think clearly. The room seemed to shrink around me, closing in like the walls of a tomb.
Not again. Dear God, not again.
I tried to hold my breath until I gasped for air. And no matter how much I tried to take slow breaths, and no matter how much I tried to calm the frantic pounding of my heart, the panic was still stronger. I’d remained calm in Italy. Had thought someone would surely come to our rescue.
Only nobody came.
And now it was happening again.
Memories of that dark basement in Italy flooded my mind—the dank smell, the oppressive silence, the chilling fear of the other girls there.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but the memories kept coming in flashes. The helplessness. The fear. The endless hours spent waiting for a rescue that never came. The sheer terror when those footsteps echoed through the floor, when that flashlight was directed at me—the guilt about the relief I felt every time one of the girls was picked. The shame when Fee offered herself…
A guttural scream ripped from my throat as I thrashed against the ropes, my whole body contorting with the effort. I had to get out. Had to escape before that all-consuming terror took over again.
I couldn’t do it again. Wouldn’t survive this time.
“Let me out of here!” I shrieked, my voice cracking with desperation. “Please…please, I can’t…I can’t breathe…”
The words dissolved into ragged gasps as I strained for air. Black spots danced across my vision, and a high-pitched sound filled my ears.
I was losing it—slipping back into that dark pit of terror I’d barely clawed my way out of before.
Suddenly, there was movement in the shadows. A shift of fabric, the barest whisper of sound.
A low chuckle cut through the silence, but I was too far gone.
All I could do was scream.
“What the hell?” a gravelly voice barked.
The sudden flood of light seared my eyes after so long in the darkness. I instinctively squeezed them shut and turned my head away as tears leaked from the corners. But I didn’t stop screaming or thrashing against my bonds.
The ropes cut deeper into my wrists and ankles, but the pain barely registered over the pounding of my heart and the whirlwind of panic swirling through me…as I fought with renewed desperation.
“Jemma.” His gravelly voice reached my ears, cutting through the haze of terror momentarily. My stomach lurched violently at the sound—smooth and rich like velvet caressing bare skin.
That voice…I knew that voice. Tried to grasp onto it.
I blinked rapidly against the tears streaming down my face as I tried to make out my captor through the blinding brightness.
There, staring at me as if I was the crazy one was the last person I expected to see.