20 Questions

Chapter 132

Why is it so dark?

What is all that bumping?

Why am I so cold?

Who do those voices belong to?

And why the hell does my head feel like it's cracking in half?

The questions ping pong around in my throbbing head, but the answers lay somewhere unbeknownst to me. When I made my return to the land of the living, my eyes refused to open and my head was in a deep fog. The last thing I remember is Griffin's eyes, ice blue and panicked. After that, everything went black. I am in and out of consciousness and can't figure out what's making me so groggy.

I don't know where I am, what I'm in, how long I've been out or what's going on. I'm encased in some type of box, wooden I assume from the smell and the rough scratching on my back. I think I have a splinter in my leg but I can't reach it to find out. I can't move and even if I could, there's nowhere to go. I've been positioned on my left side, the pressure on my hip throbbing. If I lay here much longer, I'm bound to develop a pressure ulcer. My chest is warm, but the rest of my body is cold...and shivering...and wet. My nose is running. My hair is wet. I can at least make sense of that.

The shower. I was in the shower when everything went black.

My head is too cloudy to make sense of anything. I go to arch my back when suddenly, something moves.

No! Somebody moves!

I'm trapped in a box next to a body and I don't know who it is. It's pitch black and I can't see anything in front of me. I panic, wiggling frantically. It doesn't do any good and it makes the person next to me stir more. Their breath fans my face and they groan silently. My breaths come faster and my heart rate is through the roof. I suppose the silver lining in all of this is that I'm not stuck in some box with a dead body.

Then again, depending on who it is, a dead body may be better.

My arms are by my sides, no way to lift them over my head. I have to find a way to get out of here. If I am stuck with one of Ivan's men, they are going to kill me or do unimaginable things to me. I try to bend my arm up as high as it will go, but it's not far. I will never be able to get it high enough to push on the top of this box. As I writhe around, trying to get free, my roommate clears their throat.

"Jenna, stop moving around. Let them think we are still out."

Griffin.

"Oh my God, Griffin. It's you. I'm so glad it's you."

"Why? Have you had fantasies about being trapped in a coffin with me? That's kinky, Jenna."

I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole. Especially not after he said coffin. Momma's freaking out. I have been entombed in a death box and they are going to bury us alive. We will run out of air and suffocate to death. I already feel like I'm suffocating. The oxygen is not enough to keep up with my demands. I'm gonna die in here and after they bury us somewhere, nobody will ever find us. The tears burn my eyes.

"Griffin," I cry. "We are gonna die. They are gonna suffocate us in here. They are going to bury us somewhere off the maps or drop us in the ocean. I don't want to die that way."

"Jenna, baby, calm down. There're no oceans in Kentucky. They aren't going to bury us alive. They are taking us somewhere. I think to the warehouse. I overheard them talking as they loaded us up. I was in and out of consciousness, but I heard that part. Sweetheart, I need you to stay calm and focus on your breathing. We are ok. It's gonna be fine."