22. Ana
22
ANA
T he sound of flesh striking flesh, followed by a grunt, seeped into my unconscious mind. My eyes slowly opened and then widened as I watched a big hulking man grab Reece’s neck and then throw his fist into Reece’s stomach, chains rattled as Reece grunted from the impact blood spilling from his mouth, that’s when I noticed that Reece was hanging from chains attached to the ceiling. The dimly lit room reeked of sweat and metal. The clinking of chains echoed off the cold concrete walls. I could hear the heavy breathing of the bulky man. His muscles tensed as he readied to throw another punch. My heart pounded in my chest as I witnessed Reece's struggle, his face contorted in pain. The sight of him suspended helplessly, and bleeding, made my eyes sting with tears.
“Where is he?” The man demanded .
“Fuck you,” Reece responded in a hoarse voice.
Who were they talking about? Were they talking about Caden? I felt hope spark in my chest at the thought that they didn’t have Caden. He would come for us, we just had to survive this first. I looked around, trying to find a weapon or something I could use to take down the big man torturing Reece.
He continued beating him, every sound sending an ache through my chest. I turned back to the horrible scene. The man’s smile gave him a macabre look as he grabbed Reece’s arm with both hands. Oh god. No!
Reece shouted as the man twisted his arm. The sound of bone snapping echoed in the room. I pushed off the ground and threw up.
“Ah, she's awake,” Another voice said from the shadows.
Footsteps approached, and then a pair of black boots appeared in my vision. I kept my head down and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. The man crouched and grabbed my chin, lifting it to face him. I glared at him. His bald head glistening with sweat, the dusty leather jacket he wore fell open, revealing the gun at his waist.
“You're pretty enough for all the trouble, at least.” He said.
His eyes roamed over my body, and he licked his lips.
He smiled. “Now, we gotta get you ready. ”
“Get up,” He added as he stood.
I remained where I was.
“Leave her the fuck alone,” Reece said in a hoarse voice.
He had passed out after the other man broke his arm. Even with how much pain I knew he was in; he was worried about me. Tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to spill over, but I fought to hold them back. I knew that if he saw me distraught, it would only add to his own pain and worry. So, with a trembling hand, I wiped away the tears and forced a brave smile onto my face. Deep inside, though, my emotions were a chaotic whirlwind. The worry for his well-being gnawed at me, intertwining with the anger I felt towards the man who had caused this harm. But I couldn't let those emotions consume me. I had to be strong for him.
The man standing in front of me sighed and rolled his eyes and snapped a finger. A small woman emerged from the shadows. She walked up to me and with surprising care, she helped me up. My legs felt numb and wobbly. The drug I was in injected with was probably still in my system. The woman led me to a small room not far from where we just left. It was filled with candles and there was some kind of opening in the concrete roof. The moon light shone down, illuminating the space. There was a foul smell in the room despite the many scented candles trying their best to cover the smell. The woman began to untie the belt around my coat and brought my hand up to stop her. She paused at first and then tried again. I let her this time. I knew it was useless to try stopping her. Plus, I’d rather she be the one doing whatever this was than the bald guy down the hall. He creeped me out.
After performing some sort of ancient bathing ritual on me. The woman poured what smelled like lavender oil all over my body and then walked to a corner of the room where a metal bucket filled with dark red liquid laid on the ground. She picked it up and walked over to me. There was a look of regret on her face right before she dumped the foul-smelling liquid all over me. I gagged at the smell, and the fact that I realized it was blood. Oh god! I panicked at the thought that they had bled someone dry and just dumped their blood on me. I looked at her.
“Pig's blood,” She said.
That was the first thing she had said to me. I didn’t feel the sense of relief I thought I would at knowing it wasn’t human blood. Dripping with the sticky, smelly blood, she placed a white gauzy robe around my body and tied it at my waist. Then she placed a veil of the same transparent material on my head. I was led to what looked like an exit that led into a forest.
“Follow the path. Don’t try to run they will kill you,” She said, and the turned and left.
I took a deep breath, instantly regretting it. The smell of the blood enveloped my lungs, and a dry heaved for a couple seconds. I strolled down the path, the soft wet soil feeling cold between my toes. I tripped multiple times on my robe.
Finally, I made it to a clearing and froze when I noticed numerous hooded figures surrounding a stone altar. The moon light fell directly on the stone platform. One of the hooded figures stepped forward, stretching out a hand.
“Come,” The deep voice said.
I hesitated and then stepped forward, putting my hand in his. His skin was cold, and I had the thought that this was probably what a corpse felt like. He led me to the altar and then another figure stepped forward with a goblet, offering it to me. I reluctantly took it.
“Drink,” The deep voice ordered.
I thought about telling them I was no longer a virgin but decided against it. They’d see no use for me then and would probably just kill me. I looked around the crowd and spotted Nathan. I didn’t even try to ask him for help. I knew he wouldn’t.
I brought the liquid to my face and sniffed, then took a sip. I swallowed it, knowing it was probably drugged, but I was just grateful it wasn't pig blood. After I gulped down the liquid. The man gestured for me to lie down. I swallowed hard, my throat going dry even though I just drank something. I was going to die. This was the part where they would kill me. The hooded figures began to surround me, locking arms with each other they formed a circle and then began to chant odd sounding words. My vison blurred, and I definitely began to hallucinate, because I saw Caden standing in a corner watching me. Watching these people do these awful things to me. He smiled a macabre smile and then his face morphed into a horrifying image of a decaying wolf with its face sunken and half rotted away. I screamed and then passed out.