Chained

Chapter 16 - Sore

Winter's POV

It was the pain that told me I was awake and that I had somehow survived.

I had felt this type of pain before; unable to open my eyes out of its shear ferocity that tore through every cell in my body like wild-fire.

There was no way to tell where I was, my senses were overwhelmed by the pain and my eyes remained stubbornly shut, even my nose would not tell me where I was. There was noise in the background but it was muffled like I was under water, I couldn't make out any of it. I must have tried to move because pain spiked through my chest so intensely I couldn't bring myself to breathe.

Something had happened. I knew that, but what it was or who was involved remained a mystery to me. Even my own name felt like it was slipping from my grasp. All I knew was the pain.

Open your eyes dammit.

I tried. For a moment I thought I saw a flicker of light appear through the cracks but it was too harsh, I squeezed them back shut. The muffled sounds seemed to come closer, like I was reaching the surface of the water. Over the muffled commotion there was a shout so loud I could almost make out the words.

Ringing echoed through my ears and I forced myself to stay as still as I could despite the discomfort.

I heard myself groan as my arm was moved by something. Pain seemed to wash over me like waves and despite my closed eyes I felt the world spinning around me. There was another sharp spike of pain before I was left still again.

For a few moments I was left lying there, the noise seemed to dull and my other senses followed. Even the pain became nothing more than an ache in the back of my mind. My thoughts clouded and reality slipped from my fingers.

If I dreamt, I couldn't remember what is was about.

Christ my head hurts.

Once again I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, but I felt more aware then I did last time. I clenched my fist and an ache ricocheted through my arm but I ignored it. The pain felt dulled and subdued, but so did my mind.

I clenched my other fist which hurt my shoulder more than anything.

My shoulder.

I had been injured there in a fight. I could remember now. Though what the fight was about or who it was with remained a mystery to me.

Did I win?

If I won I doubted I would be here. But where was here? A hospital? I doubted it, he would never take me to a hospital.

My heart lurched at the thought of him. I couldn't remember his name but his face was burnt into my memory like a brand I'll never be able to remove. He must have done this.

The fear pushed me to will my eyes to open.

The light was unnaturally bright and overloaded any understanding of my surroundings. I must have made a noise because out of the corner of my eye something moved towards me.

My body froze as his face appeared in front of me. Standing over with the same smirk plastered on his expression that appeared whenever he saw me in pain. His brown hair just touched his black eyes that widened in glee at my terror.

"Hey," a masculine voice that I didn't recognise said. I sounded as if it was coming from him but his mouth wasn't moving. "It's okay, you're safe." The voice was rough but gentle, as if it was attempting to sooth me.

His sadistic face blurred and contorted over me and I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to make sense of what was happening.

When I opened my eyes again, his face was gone. I must have been lying down because the ceiling was above me holding a lurid white light that invaded my eyes. I sucked in a breath, ignoring the ache that tore through my chest and down my back however my breath was caught in my throat as I felt the presence of an oxygen mask over my mouth.