Chapter Marian
Marian
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The disturbance to the void I’d been resting in rippled, pulling me back to awareness.
To a knowing my brain couldn’t even decipher.
Fear? No. I wasn’t there yet. I couldn’t think.
It was instinct leaving me clawing to some sort of memory.
To emotion. But I could barely blink in the light before heaviness pulled me down again.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Water. My brain processed the sound, but with it, the “knowing” returned. The one that told me to scream out. The one that whispered to run.
Drip.
Drip.
Darkness.
A glow…
Blurry stone barely registered in the dim room. There was no light, but I didn’t need it to feel the coarse fabric from the cot that scraped across my cheek as I turned and tried to lift my head. My body wasn’t working right. I was moving, just not how I needed to.
Drip. Drip.
Drip.
Time.
Drip.
My lids flew open, and with it, I gasped, choking on oxygen while my throat tightened even more.
My mouth was so dry. Every muscle in my body ached.
A gray color blurred as my eyes rolled, and I fought the unconsciousness that was trying to pull me back under.
I was half on my side, half on my stomach, and I couldn’t feel my arm as I struggled to sit.
Drip… Drip
Like a mantra, water splashed against the ground not inches from the cot I was resting on.
I swayed at the vertigo, nearly falling back down through the unbalance and pain.
Nausea hit hard. I leaned back against the stone behind me, using it to hold me up.
Again, my eyes rolled. I even passed out for the smallest moment again before the water drew me back to the room.
Back to the pain and terror that left me shaking.
What was happening?
Where was I?
I scanned the dim surroundings, taking in the hanging light that rested high above.
It was either so high barely any light reached ground level, or it was so dim that it only appeared higher.
I couldn’t tell with my distorted vision.
I couldn’t see straight. I could barely breathe in the musty room.
It was cold and damp, leaving me shaking even more in the cream slip dress I was suddenly wearing…
Or was that realization seeping into my bones?
I was in trouble. I didn’t need a clear mind to know that. I was not okay. The man took me. He shot me in the neck with something. And the masked man. He was there. The one Penny had been terrified of. Had they been working together? Hadn’t we been running away from the man?
Intense pain throbbed behind my eyes. I gagged, feeling the excruciating ache in my head increase.
Should I call out for help? Would anyone come if I did?
No… I couldn’t bring attention to being awake.
I couldn’t bring on my fate too soon. I wasn’t sure what I faced.
I had to think. To figure out some sort of plan.
Stupid. There was no plan. I was taken. If this was the same man who took Penny before, my fate would be no different than hers. I’d be a captive. He’d torture me.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, using almost all my strength to move to the edge of the cot. Every small creak of the metal legs had me curling in my shoulders even more. The water stayed in a steady drip, and I couldn’t mute out how loud it suddenly sounded in my fear.
Drip.
Drip.
Tears came, blinding me as I eased to stand on unsteady legs.
To step forward was nearly impossible. It had nothing to do with my strength.
The room wasn’t large, but the shadows suddenly promised danger.
I was in trouble. I was in so much trouble, and I knew how dark this world could go.
My small time in the Jane Doe Foundation showed me that, but I’d barely brushed the surface on training back then.
This wasn’t the same. There was no fellow sister or Madame coming to save my ass if I got in too deep.
This wasn’t me trying to become some undercover savior to other women.
These people could kill me. I had to get out of here.
Another step.
A single tear rolled down my cheek. I reached up to wipe it away, freezing through the uncertainty that was suddenly… my mind. It was ridiculous to think they’d hear me wipe away the wetness, but what if they did? What if they came because of it?
The newfound anxieties only had another tear following. And more. A sob pushed through, and I held in as much of the cries as I could as my shoulders shook. I forced my arm up, wiping my face and braving another step forward. I was a shark. I was not a mouse. I was a shark.
Another step.
And another.
The looping bravery ended as I took in the door. Above it rested what looked like the symbol of an upside-down crown. A heavy metal grinding had me jumping and stumbling back. A door?
I raced to the far end of the room, burying myself in the shadows as footsteps registered.
With each step, they grew louder. My breath held as I waited.
Pressing my back into stone, I curled into myself, facing more towards the damp hardness, turning my face towards it as my fingers reached past my bicep to dig into the rock.
With as much strength as I used to push my back into something stable, I didn’t feel grounded.
I felt like I was going to fall through.
I prayed I would. Anything to get me out of this room.
My breaths became shallow. Metal jingled outside my door, and I took fast steps to the corner, wedging myself in.
I could try to fight this way. I could protect myself.
Yes. I could protect myself. I was so wrapped in fear that I wasn’t thinking correctly.
I’d been trained for this outside of the Janes. All my life. Trained. Think. Think!
A lock clicked and the door pushed open. A man with brown hair and pale skin wearing a dark navy colored uniform paused as he looked around, stopping right on me. The British accent left me momentarily disoriented. I’d been in Miami… Was I back home?
“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Follow me, and you won’t get hurt.”
At my confusion, his hand shot up in annoyance.
“Move your ass. I don’t have all day.” A pause. “Don’t make me come over there.”
My eyes lowered to the floor, taking peeks up as I pushed from the wall.
My heart was pounding so hard I was sure I’d be sick.
My entire body felt like a tuning fork as I continued forward.
I may not get a chance like this again. I wasn’t tied up.
I wasn’t being held. This… man was letting me out of the door.
But… uniform? The button-up shirt and the slacks reminded me of a prison guard or jailer. He wasn’t the one that had taken me…
Curiosity battled survival but didn’t last as I approached the opened barrier.
The man stepped in behind, gesturing for me to walk down the long torch-lit hall.
All I could manage was an abrupt stop. The scene looked like it had been plucked from a horror novel or some medieval story.
Hay was propped in the corner, off to the side, and doors aligned the area for as far as I could see reminding me of stables.
“Where am I?”
Nothing. The man gave me a push, sending me stumbling a few steps forward. As I approached the door next to mine, I couldn’t help but call out.
“Penny? Penny, are you in there?”
“Quiet it down and keep moving.”
Another push.
Another door.
“Penny?”
Fire cut across my calf, sending me crashing to my knees on the stone. I tried sucking in air, but heat stung across my back as the man brought back a thin baton, striking me with it repeatedly. Each hit was harder than the next. I clawed at the floor, trying to scramble away.
“I said walk!”
My arm was grabbed, and I was jerked up, but with the violence it unlocked my own.
I reared back, sending my fist slamming right into his throat.
The man’s hands flew to his neck, and I didn’t think, I ran.
I knew I was still sobbing. I knew I wasn’t being quiet, but I couldn’t think of that as the pads of my feet pounded against the hard, cold surface.
I felt like I was flying as I ran for my very life.
Light seemed to flicker at my speed, and as I neared the end, I felt myself jerk to a stop.
There was no turn. No… adjoining hall. My head shook and I scrambled back, spinning and crashing right into a man nearly as wide as a horse.
His hand was already swinging right for my face.
All I saw was a bright flash as my knees buckled and pain like I never felt left me crumbling to the floor.
My cheek was throbbing but numb from the back of his hand, and I was barely conscious.
Barely even able to see through the stalling of my shocked mind.
Blood. It raced from my nose to my cheek as I went in and out.
“Stupid. You girls never learn.” No accent.
The large guard grabbed my bicep, lifting me off the ground enough to keep my head from hitting as he dragged me behind him.
The pressure that he held to me was torture in its own, and my arm felt like it was going to pop out of the socket.
My feet scrambled as I tried to find footing, but I was jerked every time I started to relieve the pressure. “Alwyn, you alright down there?”
A clearing of the throat sounded, followed by a cough.
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“Finish the hall. I’ll take her over.”
The man in the distance didn’t respond as we headed for one of the random doors. He opened it, and pulled me through, finally jerking me up to stand. His thick finger pointed right in my face. I was still lightheaded as I struggled to function.
“If you fight, I fight.”
The warning had my lower lip trembling. My gaze lifted meeting gray eyes. My mother’s words rushed through my head. Lessons on behavior—a million manipulations.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m so scared. Where am I? What’s happening?”