On The Other Side

Chapter 35 - Too Weak

CLAY
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I wake up suddenly, feeling hands closing around my throat, making it hard to breathe. My eyes snap open, and I find a familiar face hovering over me. My heart sinks as I see the hatred in his eyes.

I grasp his hands tightly, struggling to break free, but it seems impossible. The sound of George crying reaches my ears, and I try to look at him, but the guy's so strong that I'm unable to move.

My hands start to tingle, and my legs feel like they're on fire from the lack of oxygen. In a desperate move, I remember the knife I always keep between the mattress and the headboard. Slowly, I reach for it, and as soon as it's in my grasp, I stab the guy's hand.

As the guy falls off me, clutching his wound, I turn my attention to George. Two men are holding him, and there's tape over his mouth. Tears stream down his face as he struggles to break free from their strong grip.

One of the men holding George rushes toward me. As I attempt to defend myself, handcuffs suddenly snap around my wrists from behind, and I'm forcefully knocked to the ground.

Out of nowhere, the man who had knocked me down cuffs my hands behind a chair and forcibly seals my mouth shut with tape. George is whimpering and crying in utter horror, a level of fear I've never seen in him before.

With the two men holding their guns against my head, the bedroom door swings open. I steal a glance to see who's entering, but my heart sinks as I lock eyes with Pablo, his sinister grin sending shivers down my spine.

He grips the gun in his hand, closing the door and locking it behind him. His gaze sweeps across the room, and as soon as he spots George, he lewdly scans him from head to toe, biting his lower lip.

My heart aches for George as I watch him. He avoids looking at Pablo, his gaze darting everywhere else, tears streaming down his cheeks, overwhelmed by fear and anguish.

Pablo's eyes meet mine.

He looks down at the gun in his hand and slaps it against his palm twice. He glances at George and the man holding him and grins. "I'd like some privacy with my friend here," he says, sending shivers down my spine.

The man's hand slips behind George's neck, guiding him out of the room. George's sobs intensify, his distress growing as he's taken away.

"George!" I hear Nick's panicked cry from his room.

"Shut up!" a man shouts.

Everyone else leaves and then Pablo locks the door behind them.

It's just us now.

"You did it." he chuckles as he sits down on the bed me and George were sleeping on just ten minutes ago. "You escaped." he slaps the gun against his palm again, looking down at it.

I can taste the bile in the back of my throat. I can feel the blood trickling out of my wrists as I struggle with everything in me to somehow get out of the handcuffs.

"And you know what?" he asks and pushes himself off the bed, walking closer to me.

He grabs the tape and pulls it off my mouth, leaving a burning sensation behind.

"It's better like that." he chuckles, walking around the room. "I can kill you in your own home, now."

My eyes are glued to him, my breathing coming in rapid, intense heaves. I grit my teeth, unable to look away.

"How'd you like my surprise, Clay?"

I'm looking straight at him...suddenly aware that moving to Florida and not further was the biggest mistake of my entire life.

And all I can think about is George.

I squeeze my eyes shut and all I see is George.

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