Chapter 26 – Ink
INK
Pain was the first thing that registered with me.
My whole head hurt, and there was a steady pulse that made me feel like I was going to puke.
I tried to sit up, and that’s when I realized my hands were zip-tied to the bed.
Closing my eyes, I tried to remember what happened.
It took me a while, but a vision of Ariel backing away from a body on the ground flashed in my mind, and it all came back to me.
Well, everything until I blacked out. I didn’t know what the hell happened after that.
Opening my eyes again, I glanced around the room and took in my surroundings. I was in what appeared to be a basic bedroom, but there was a window. If I could get the zip ties off, I could escape through the window. A quick tug of my hands told me that wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped.
Regardless, I wasn’t going to wait around to see what happened. I was going to get the hell out of there and make sure Ariel was okay, one way or another.
The sound of someone shouting interrupted my thoughts. “We don’t have fucking time for that!” a male voice I didn’t recognize shouted. “We have to do something now!”
“Fine! But this is on you, not me,” another male shouted.
Footsteps stomped down the hall, followed by a thud outside the door to my room.
I quickly closed my eyes and did my best to look like I was still knocked out.
When the door opened, I heard someone softly crying, followed by a loud slap.
“Worthless bitch. I’ll deal with you later. You better hope he fucking makes it.”
I waited until the door closed to crack one eye open. I couldn’t see anyone, but I could still hear the crying. I don’t know how much time passed, but it was long enough for me to feel comfortable speaking. “You okay over there?”
The girl screamed and jumped to her feet, coming into view for the first time. She looked like hell. One side of her face was bruised and swollen. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her clothes were covered in what appeared to be blood. She stared at me with wide, fear-filled eyes.
“I don’t suppose you have the key to these,” I joked and tried to nod my head toward my zip-tied hand. Unfortunately, the move sent a sharp pain shooting through my skull, causing me to grimace. “Or ibuprofen. I’ll take freedom or pills.”
As she continued staring at me—glassy-eyed and wordless—I realized she was on something. She’d either help me or she wouldn’t. The only way to find out was to try.
“Yoo-hoo. Nod if you can hear me.”
She blinked a few times before she finally nodded.
“Good. That’s good. Listen, I don’t know how much time we have before whoever that was comes back, but if you’ll help me get out of here, you can come with me.”
Again, she stared blankly.
“Or you can stay. I don’t care. But I’m getting out of here, and it’d be great if you’d help me.”
Nothing.
“What are you on?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered and shivered.
Well, that wasn’t the answer I expected.
“He made me take it,” she said.
“What’s your name?”
“Chloe.”
“Okay, Chloe, my name’s Ink. And I’d really like to get out of here. Now, I’m making some assumptions, but it seems to me like you don’t want to be here. If that’s the case, you can come with me.”
She shook her head vigorously. “I can’t leave. He’ll kill me.”
“I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I can help you. If you help me get out of here, you can come with me. I’ll make sure he’ll never hurt you or anyone again.”
She shook her head.
“I can’t pinky promise, so you’re gonna have to look at me. Can you see what I’m wearing?”
She cocked her head to the side at my question, then stepped closer to the bed. Her eyes landed on my cut, which is exactly what I wanted.
“I can’t really turn to show you the patch on the back, but I’m a Blackwing. Do you know who the Blackwings are?”
Her eyes widened at the name, and she nodded a few times.
“So, you know we can help you,” I said.
She nodded again.
“Good. Now, I need you to find something to cut these zip ties off with. Can you do that?”
She nodded again, then glanced around the room with a look of confusion on her face.
I bit back my annoyance and gave her more precise instructions. “Go over to the dresser and look in the drawers. See if you can find a knife or a pair of scissors. Anything that will cut through plastic will work.”
After opening each drawer and rummaging through the contents, she looked at me and shook her head.
“Come check my pockets,” I told her. “I always carry a pocketknife. I assumed they emptied my pockets, but maybe they didn’t.”
She looked at me skeptically.
“It’s up to you, Chloe. It’s not like I can do it.”
Reluctantly, she walked to the side of the bed and carefully reached into my pocket. I knew the idiots hadn’t checked me for weapons when her eyes lit up. Moments later, she was holding my knife out to show me.
“Great. Now, cut the ties so we can get out of here.”
She flipped the knife open and moved toward the zip ties with shaking hands while I internally cringed. She was going to cut me; there was no way around it.
I felt the burning sting of the knife slicing my skin before the tension around my wrist disappeared, and my hand was free. “Thanks,” I said and reached for the knife. “I’ll get the other one.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“It’s okay,” I said, even though I hadn’t looked at the wound. And judging by the wetness I felt, it wasn’t okay. But it would have to wait. We had bigger issues to deal with.
Once I was free, I got to my feet and promptly swayed as the room moved in unnatural ways. “Fuck,” I hissed and rubbed my forehead. My head was pounding while my stomach roiled with nausea. “What’d he hit me with, a torque wrench?” I asked, laughing at the irony. “Fuck, that hurts.”
“Are you okay?” Chloe asked quietly.
“We’re going to pretend like I am,” I said and moved toward the window. “Please tell me we’re on the first floor.”
“We are.”
“Great. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
I had the window open and the screen pushed out when I heard a car approaching. “Fuck.” I didn’t know for sure, but I had a feeling that car was headed our way. “We’ve gotta go. Now!”
With that, I grabbed Chloe and shoved her out the window. It wasn’t gentle by any means, but it was necessary. “Sorry,” I said as I jumped out behind her. “Go! To the trees.”
She scrambled to her feet, and we sprinted to the woods. I had no idea where we were, but it wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was getting as far away from that house as we could before they discovered we were gone.
Unfortunately, my body was in no condition to endlessly run through the woods. We ran until I couldn’t run anymore. My head was hurting so bad that I nearly collapsed. Reaching for the nearest tree to brace myself, I leaned forward and vomited.
“Ink, are you okay?” Chloe gasped.
“No. No, I’m not,” I finally admitted and lowered myself to the ground.
She kneeled beside me. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You need to keep going. Find a phone. Call Phoenix Black,” I told her and tried to keep my eyes open. I was fading fast. “Can you do that?”
“I’ll try,” she cried.
“Phoenix Black,” I repeated. “And tell Presley I love her.”
The last thing I heard was the rustling of the leaves as Chloe left me.