Chapter 72 – Mitchell
MITCHELL
I’ve helped dozens of people over the years out of dangerous and disheartening situations, not all that dissimilar to this one.
But nothing can compare to walking into this basement, the scent of blood and urine heavy in the air, and seeing Marissa sitting inside the cage she was forced to live in for two years, crying as Charlie fights his fathers to keep hold of Jace’s body.
Caleb reaches in again, this time managing to get a firm grip under both of Charlie’s arms and pulls. Charlie continues to fight, holding on tight to Jace who is completely limp, his clothes stripped away revealing the countless bruises, cuts and scrapes over his body.
When Caleb finally gets Charlie close enough to the door, his twin reaches in and wraps an arm around his middle, pulling heard and managing to break his grip on Jace enough that they can pull him out.
With Charlie clear, Ryan carefully removes Jace’s body from the cage, lying him down on the ground in front of Charlie who lets out a heartbreaking wail.
Ryan presses two fingers to Jace’s throat, his eyes locking with Elijah’s momentarily before he immediately tips Jace’s head back, pinches his nose and breathes into his mouth.
Seeing Ryan start CPR, Charlie stops trying to break free of his dads’ hold and instead turns into them, wrapping his arms around Elijah who looks at me with a tears in his eyes.
With Jace and Charlie out of the cage, I grab the keys out of the door and crawl through the open doorway to Marissa. She swallows a few times, her eyes red from crying and when she speaks, her voice is hollow. “Is he…?
I don’t answer her question. Instead, I study her. She’s breathing in shallow, rapid pants though I’m not sure if that’s her own panic over Jace or not, but the way she also keeps swallowing and licking her lips, coupled with how raspy and hoarse her voice sounds has me worried.
They’ve been gone for more than two days. Dehydration is a real concern, especially if she has any injuries that I can’t see right now.
Pressing my fingers to her throat, Rissa lets out a small moan of annoyance, looking at me with confusion and trying to pull away, but she doesn’t have the energy to give more than a slight jerk.
Feeling the slightly elevated thread of her pulse, I try to keep my face neutral. Tilting her chin up, I look into her eyes, relieved to find that whilst she’s clearly exhausted and they’re a little sunken in, they’re bright and alert.
“I’m going to get you out of here, then we’ll get you some water,” I tell her, keeping my voice level and calm so I don’t scare her.
“Caleb,” I call out, looking over my shoulder as I gently pull her upper body forward. “Can you please run to the car and get some water?”
He looks at Bonnie before his eyes drop down to Charlie and Jace. “Uh, yeah,” he answers, getting to his feet and racing up the basement stairs. Just before he disappears through the doorway, he throws one last grim look at Jace.
Turning back to Marissa, I work the key into the lock around her wrist, ignoring Ryan’s voice echoing off the concrete walls as he tries to get his son’s attention.
The chain falls from Rissa’s wrists, and I carefully unwind it, removing the cuffs that are starting to bite into her skin.
“We’re going to do this slowly,” I say, gently releasing her arms to fall back down behind her and start softly massaging her shoulder to encourage blood flow back into her stiff muscles before I gradually work her left arm in front of her body.
She lets out a hiss, wincing but otherwise doesn’t complain and I start the process on the other arm. “You okay?” I whisper when I’m done. Her eyes flick to mine momentarily and she nods, before refocusing back on Jace.
Placing my arm under her knees and the other behind her back, I pull her into me. It’s a struggle with how small it is in here, but I manage to lift her and turn my body to make my way back out of the cage.
“Charlie!” Ryan shouts, trying to get his attention but he’s too distraught to listen, and Ryan is forced to give up in order to give Jace another round of rescue breaths. “Dammit, Eli bring him here.”