Praised By Magic: Unbreakable Series, Book 3

Chapter 6

Kris

My head feels heavy with the sharp, splitting pain still lingering inside it. My body aches from dry heaving. I shouldn't have trusted Angela. I knew better than to take anything she offers. The food I've been given by her in the past was okay, most of the time. There were a couple of meals I found questionable, and later on, I learned of at least one meal that was composed of something entirely gut-wrenching. The vision of the girl, another Arrowhead member whose name I did not know, getting thrown up against the rock wall by the raging waters below, flashes into my mind. I have tried to forget this image, but I can't.

I shake my head to free myself from the memory, but my head sears with pain in return. I shouldn't have moved my head. I don't know how long I have been here. I come in and out of consciousness. I try to sit up and do my best to do it slowly. My stomach turns and my cheeks tingle. My body wants me to vomit, but there is nothing more for me to throw up. I'm becoming more and more dehydrated by the second. Is this how Angela is going to kill me? From lack of water and food? I cough and gag, trying to bring something up to ease my stomach, but nothing happens. Instead, my head pounds with excruciating pain from all the movement.

I lay back down, this time on my side, facing a wall. I close my eyes and cover them with one arm and rest my head on the other. I breathe in and out to calm the pain and uneasiness in my stomach. I let myself drift. I'm not completely asleep, but I'm worn-out from this condition I can't shake.

I find myself in-between being awake and asleep. The same area I found myself in a few times before. I push myself to get into my meditative state. I want to enter the realm of calmness I seem to be able to only find when Angela pushes me to my breaking point. I control my breathing and slow my heartbeat the best I can. I begin to lose feeling with myself. The pain and discomfort in my head ease. My stomach is no longer queasy.

A vision appears in front of me. I see Tyler sitting on his porch swing at his house. He rocks slowly back and forth. I walk up behind him and start to put my arms around him, but I'm stopped by what I see him holding in his arms. A baby wrapped in a blanket. I stare down at the little one and wonder who the parents may be. The baby's skin tone matches Tyler's. I wonder if the baby belongs to Nehemiah and Sarah. I know it isn't Meadow, but maybe I'm envisioning another baby to come for them.

Louisa walks up beside me and smiles down at the baby. She places her hand on the baby's head. A light transfers from her to the baby. The baby remains asleep and looks peaceful. Louisa moves her hand from the baby to my stomach. The light transfers from her hand to my stomach. I feel the warming sensation against my skin, but I don't understand what she is trying to show me.

I try to keep myself there in that moment where I feel safe with Louisa and Tyler, but it all fades away as quickly as it had come. I keep my eyes closed in hopes it will come back. Instead, sleep replaces my vision and I'm too exhausted to fight it anymore. I give in and let my body rest. For now, my headache is bearable and my stomach no longer bothers me.

****

When I wake, my mouth feels like I have cotton in it. I try to swallow saliva, but I'm not producing enough of it to make that much of a difference. My lips burn from being cracked, and I long for just a sip of water. I continue to lie as still as possible. I don't want my headache to come back with a vengeance. My arm still covers my eyes, but I slowly stretch out my other arm that I have been laying on. It tingles as the blood flow returns normally through it.

I don't know if Tyler heard me when I tried reaching him before. A part of me thinks it isn't worth it to try again, but the other knows if I don't get the help, I won't be leaving this cell alive. I decide to give it another try.

Tyler. I concentrate on his name. I picture him lying beside me, holding me securely against him. My head resting on his chest and my hand over his heart, trying to recreate what it's like when we communicate this way. I don't know if it matters or not, but I want this to work. I need this to work. Tyler, if you can hear me, please send me a sign. I need to know you hear me.

My eyes sting and threaten to release tears, but I take a deep breath to keep them from falling.

Kris. Tyler's voice is a whisper, but the sound of it startles me at first. My eyes shoot open and my heart races just hearing him say my name. I listen intently and wait for him to say something more. Was it real, or am I becoming delirious?

The door to my cell creaks open. I turn over onto my back to see a blurry person. One of Angela's deputies, I presume, coming through the doorway. He's a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark eyes. Beyond that, I can't make out much about him, but I know the dark eyes. I remember seeing them before. This is no man at all. It is one of Angela's robots.

My body shivers as an icy chill runs the length of my spine. I know I wouldn't be allowed to sit here forever without being put to some kind of test. They have trained me for a lot of things, but being this weak from dehydration and starvation was not in my lessons.

I sit up slowly. I do the best I can to stand on my feet without showing my state of being unwell. Just for a second, I extended my hand out to the wall behind me. I blink a few times to try to clear my eyes from the spinning room. I keep my gaze at the deputy, but he hasn't moved since I've stood up.

"Come with me." His rough, deep voice echoes off the concrete walls.

He turns to head back out of the door. I start forward to follow him, but I stumble over my own two feet and fall to the hard floor. I catch myself in time to keep my head from bouncing off of it, but my knees take the rest of the impact. They sting, and I notice the bloodstains on my pants over them.

The deputy is only a few feet away. He doesn't turn to check on me. He doesn't seem to have noticed anything at all. I don't know if what I'm doing is going to end up haunting me or not, but I know I can't stay in this cell anymore. Right now, the only choice I have is to follow him and hope for the best.