Chapter 24 #3
A growl violently tears through the atmosphere as the B.A.I.T member I dropped in the beginning finally pushes himself off the floor. He reaches up to the blood dripping slowly from his temple, then with the same hand, snatches the taser from the cold floor. “Hold her!” he barks.
The weapon crackles to life. Blue electricity dances between the prongs as he closes the distance. The B.A.I.T member lunges forward, driving his forearm against my throat and jams the taser into my side.
I scream.
The taser crackles again. Pain tears through me as my knees buckle.
“No!” I scream, the word tearing itself from my throat so viciously my vocal cords burn. I lock my legs, pushing myself hard against the wall. Every muscle trembles beneath the unbearable strain, but I refuse to fall. I refuse.
The man shoves hard as the electricity surges through my body again, this time ripping my flesh. My vision blurs as I moan, slumping into the grip of the men, and then concrete rushes toward me. My legs give out against my will.
The world tilts sideways as I hit the ground, hands begin grabbing for me before I fully land.
Not to help, but to force me there. I thrash.
Twisting and kicking with the little fight I have left.
The effort is pathetic. My body no longer belongs to me.
They drive me onto my stomach, instantly knocking what little air remains from my lungs.
A scream rips again from my chest, but I can’t hear it. I can’t hear anything. I see Kova’s jaws chomping against the barrier, but no sound registers in my eardrums. Everything sounds so muted, like I’m trapped underwater.
Weight crashes down from every direction as the men dig their knees into my body. One knee digs into my shoulder blade. Another into my lower back. One presses against my calf as I feel the grip of two hands against the back of my thigh. Every inch of me is trapped beneath someone.
The warehouse disappears beneath the pressure.
I can’t move, can’t breathe. I can’t get up.
My wrists are pulled in front of me still seized as steel clamps around them, the sharp clicks echoing through my skull.
The sound final. The shackles bite into my skin as I try to yank against them, my shoulders screaming as my body is stretched in an unnatural way.
Nothing gives. Panic begins clawing its way into my chest as my breath evaporates.
A hand grabs my hair, yanking the tangled mess backward. The pressure pulls tight at my scalp as my eyesight adjusts to the ceiling. Please, no. Another hand wraps around the back of my neck. I stop breathing. I stop moving. Thick leather settles against my throat, tight and painful.
Everything vanishes as the memory of hands claw to the surface. The memory of helplessness. Not being able to breathe. My feet lifted off the ground as I stare desperately into Devin’s black eyes. My past swirls around me tauntingly.
The collar closes around my neck. Only the sound of a leather strap being adjusted fills my ears as I stare blankly above.
Eight loud metallic clicks follow, the weight of them almost unbearable even as they still rest on the floor.
I pull against the men so violently my spine screams. The man crouched beside me laughs, giving the chains latched onto my collar a good yank.
The pressure increases as he begins gathering all eight chains into his hands, handing a few off to the other men behind them as they’re too thick for him to carry alone.
“Get her up.” He orders.
Metal rattles around me as chain, after chain, after chain, begins to move.
Each connection sends another vibration through the collar.
A reminder. Another piece of prison being built around me.
I don’t belong to Greyline. I certainly no longer belong to myself.
I belong to them now. The men finally release their weight.
The chains draw tight in every direction at once as the pressure pulls against my neck and wrists.
I stagger as they begin to drag me upright, my legs barely cooperating.
My face throbs as my airway is restricted and the room sways before me.
The warehouse spins. The chains remain taut.
Holding me exactly where they want me. I stand there motionless while the B.A.I.T men begin stretching the chains outward in every direction.
Two of them disappearing toward the bars in front of me.
Two toward the bars of Kova’s enclosure.
And the others anchored to the walls themselves. A steel web.
A cage built inside a cage. The men step back to inspect their work, their eyes moving slowly over the web to make sure its intact.
All six finally settle their gaze against the collar.
Satisfied. Like they’ve finally contained a threat.
Kova’s growl rolls through the warehouse, low and ancient.
I stare straight ahead as my pulse hammers against the leather around my throat, my skin already itching within it from sweat.
The chains shift softly with each ragged breath from me.
I now understand exactly what Greer wanted me to feel.
Useless.