Bound to Earth

44: Dreams and Screams

It wasn't until later that night my mind had whirled enough for me to lay awake. Brynjar curled into me, his soft snores mixing with Malachi's heavy breathing. The room was so dark I could barely make out the white hotel sheets tangled around our bodies.

I closed my eyes, turned around, and kicked the blanket off. My body was already too warm with Brynjar radiating enough heat to explode. When I twisted back around, reaching for Brynjar, his warm body gone. Cool cement met my fingertips, my hands much smaller than I'd remembered.

With a sharp inhale, my eyes popped open. The room was still too dark for me to see.

Brynjar was gone. Not a trace of his scent had lingered, or Malachi's.

I was alone, completely alone.

The deep breaths I took didn't help. The musky tang of damp mildew churned my stomach. Even the cement beneath me was damp, sticky.

Blood.

That tanginess in the air, stickiness beneath my fingers, was blood.

It wasn't my blood. Several steps from me was the silhouette of someone. No warmth. No scent. No movement. No life.

My vision had blurred from how fast my pants came. I couldn't tell who exactly laid there. I almost didn't want to know.

There was only an emptiness in me as I stared at the body, knowing it was someone I knew. I could feel it in my bones.

I dragged myself up and lunged for the body, only to be yanked back by chains. Chains that rattled to the beat of my heart, to the speed of my breaths. Chains that rattled so loud around my wrists and ankles, my head rattled with it.

Chocking on the thin air, I pulled on the chains so hard. My joints groaned, ready to snap at the force. Pain didn't numb my panic, only made everything worse. My skin peeled as I wrestled with myself on the floor, limbs tangling in the chains.

The cold bit into me, stiffening my body at an excruciating rate. It became difficult to move, my joints creaking their protests with the metal wrapping around me. My jerky movements slowed, vision fuzzed and darkened more than it already had.

Breathe.

My limbs were locked in place. The chains moved on their own, snakes tightening and cutting off my blood circulation. There was no source for where the chains came from, not one that I could see.

Then it all seemed to stop.

The tension from my body was released all at once, so fast I became light headed. The limbs were lighter without the metal weighing me down, but heavier from the exertion piling. Panic had subsided enough for me to suck in large gulps of air.

Chest heaving, limbs tired, I pulled myself up once more. There was only darkness surrounding me, no way out.

A hand as cold as ice wrapped around my ankle too fast for me to react. I was pulled back several feet. My nails dug into the cement, shredding and peeling from the skin and bone. I screamed loud enough for my ears to ring.

Another pull had the skin on my fingers blistering and peeling off.

I screamed for Brynjar to come find me, to get me out of whatever basement I was chained in. And when he didn't answer, I screamed for Malachi who was only a few feet away when I'd fallen asleep. Then I screamed for Alistar and Valentino, hoping one of them could hear me from the other room.

Only, I wasn't in the hotel room. They weren't anywhere near me. Not a single trace of their scents lingered, not even on me. I was alone.

The shackles tugged at me until one of my ankles finally snapped. The pain so agonizing, I lost my breath yet again. There was no strength left in me to fight back, not when there was no one to fight for.