Eclipse | Luke Hemmings

00. | prologue

===
WARNING: This book contains graphic depictions of violence, sex, drugs, and more content that might be unsettling to some readers.

You have been warned...

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊

"Ugh," I groaned out in pain. My voice was frail, my throat was sore and when I initially came to consciousness, I was met with a wave of dizziness that didn't seem like something that was just going to magically go away.

The cold, hard pressure that was pressed against my cheek and the majority of my body instinctively told me to open my eyes, partially unaware of my body at this point.

Upon forcing my eyelids open which felt like they had twenty-pound weights attached to them, I was frozen in fear of where I was.

This isn't our bedroom, this wasn't our home.

The cold and hard pressure that I initially had noticed that was certainly making my cheek and jaw sore turned out to be the dusty floor of an eerily unfamiliar room.

My eyes darted around in a panic. Cement walls, cement floors, a high ceiling with cracking grey concrete, and a large, metal gate with thick iron bars were all I could really make out in front of me, unnervingly similar to what you would see in a jail cell.

The air felt thick and it was almost hard for me to breathe, but everything looked and felt foggy. In the corner closest to me, I noticed a buildup of mildew and spiderwebs. Above me, one bare lightbulb with a pull string, was just too far out of my reach.

The room was filled with the oddly recognizable smell of cleaning products mixed with must.

I squinted hard to look through the gate, where I saw a small, red blinking light— the only thing I could make out as my eyes slowly continued to adjust to the darkness. I focused harder, doing everything in my power to figure out what that light was.

When I began to move my arm so I could reach up and rub my eyes, desperate to at least try and clear my blurry vision I was met with a strong resistance coming from my wrists and the clanking sound of metal. Lightly gasping, and still mostly unaware from my daze, I glanced down toward my hands. A thick, metal cuff locked around both of my wrists with a large chain welded to it which connected behind me to the wall was the cause of the resistance I was feeling.

I was completely trapped.

As a direct result of my pulling and thrashing, I was made instantly aware of a searing pain that shot through my arms. At the same moment, I realized that the pain wasn't just coming from my arms... I felt it everywhere.

Continually struggling to see through the darkness, I could barely make out my own skin, everything seemed to be covered, but it definitely wasn't clothing it was covered with.

It was the now too familiar, dark crimson of blood.

My heart rate immediately increased at the sight while intense feelings of anxiety began to flow through me like a flash flood, sweeping away everything in its path. I no longer felt like I had the ability to breathe at all.

I shut my eyes as tightly as I could, hoping deep down that when I opened them again I would be back home... Hoping deep down that all of this was just a terrible, terrible nightmare that I would be able to wake up from.

My eyes shot open, and glancing around the room again, the harsh realization that this wasn't just a terrible nightmare came instantly into the forefront of my mind.

"N-NO!" I cried out helplessly, my voice cracking at the attempt as all that left my mouth was not much more than a panicked whisper. I yanked on the chain that was connected directly to the wall behind me, the pain continuing to radiate endlessly.

Although I was shivering at the obvious coolness that was engulfing me from the room itself, the pain was burning hotter than any flame ever could.

I sat up fully, using all of my strength to do so as I fought back sobs that were aching to be released from within me. Silent tears trickled down my face one by one, rolling off my cheeks and onto my lap. I was practically gulping for air at this point.

One tear turned to two tears turned to three tears turned to an uncontrollable flow that was pouring from my eyes.

I was petrified to my core.

The realization didn't hit me until I followed a tear that fell off my cheek all the way down to my upper thigh where it landed. I was wearing nothing asides from my underwear and bra from the night before and the rest of my body was covered in the same amount of blood as my arms.

This couldn't be happening to me.

Where the fuck was I?

Why am I here?

The same type of cuffs that were holding me to the wall by my wrists were also holding me to the wall by my ankles. No force that I would ever be able to apply to the metal would be strong enough to break away.

I wasn't going anywhere.

With each passing moment, the air only felt more suffocating. Between my tears, and the sobs I was choking out I couldn't seem to catch my breath. It was like hands were pressed tightly to my neck, slowly squeezing to close my airways as my panic only skyrocketed.

My eyes shot back to the blinking red light again. Now that I was able to see more clearly it didn't take me more than two seconds to realize what was staring back at me.

A camera set up on a tripod, pointed directly toward me, the blinking light showing me that it was indeed recording.

The fear I felt only intensified further as a light outside of the metal gate flickered on, making a buzzing sound as it did, exposing a tucked-away staircase in the corner.

I began to hear footsteps coming down, one heavy step at a time causing me to hold my breath.

My pulse was racing faster, faster, and faster.

I glared toward the stairway, frozen in fear. My sobs came to an immediate halt as the shadow of whoever was coming down moved across the wall.

I clenched my fists, the whites of my knuckles definitely showing through as I dug my nails into the palms of my hands. At that moment all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and disappear.

Slowly.

Slowly.

Step after haunting step moving closer to me.

There was no way for me to run. There was no way for me to hide.

Is this the end?

"Well, well, well... Look who finally decided to wake up."

_____