Deliverance [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

I didn't dream.

Thank the fucking gods for that small mercy.

Instead, I woke up to the soft sound of beeping. It sounded like medical equipment somewhere to my left. I felt warm soft blankets around me, and I swore one of them was heated. What a strange little miracle these people had created. I savored it, sighing in relief at the comfort it provided. I could faintly smell vanilla and leather, mingled with something almost smokey. An odd combination of smells, but vaguely familiar.

I could hear ocean washes crashing against a cliff side, rushing over the rocks, then slowly being sucked back out to sea to begin their slow, steady rhythm against the earth.

I wasn't on the island anymore. I wasn't with Atlan anymore. Diana was dead. Everything was back to normal, or at least, for everyone else it was. Somehow, I felt lethargic about the whole thing. I felt empty, hollow even. It felt strange not waking up to the hot smell of breakfast, to the distant sound of ocean waves against the shoreline, to thick heavy blankets, the jingling of jewelry, or Atlan even. My temporary attempt at pretending to have people like me was gone now and I was back to reality.

I opened my eyes slowly and found myself staring up at a gold and white tiered ceiling, the delicate matching panel walls around me, old paintings by artists whose names I couldn't pronounce. I turned my head, expecting to see a balcony that showed the Black Sea outside, bordering the realm of Hell, but my eyes were instantly drawn to the IV bag beside me, the liquid it was pouring through the line and straight into my arm.

My eyes widened.

No.

No!

Panic seized me instantaneously as I snatched the IV from my arm, hissing in pain as the needle left me and fell to the floor. I kicked the blankets back and got up quickly, but the moment I stood, my world tilted to the left and I slammed into the floor, breathing hard as pain erupted up my arm and shoulder. I scrambled on the floor, trying to see straight, but I was so dizzy, I was getting sick.

I tried to find my breath and calm down, but every time I blinked, I saw the IV bag, saw Tiberius laughing at me, grabbing my head and forcing it back as he plunged the needle into my throat. I shuddered and vomit bubbled up my throat and poured past my lips before I could stop it. I choked and gasped for breath, trying to grab the bed to pull myself up, but I just tore all the blankets off the bed on top of me.

And somehow, I found myself remembering that dream with Hannibal, remembered the heavy weight of him on top of me and I squeezed my eyes shut, wrestling the blankets away from me until I could back up into the nightstand. My chest hurt from hyperventilating, my throat hurt from vomiting, and everything still spun around the room like I was on a carousel.

Things only got worse when I closed my eyes, opened them again, and froze at the sight of the room I was in. The tiny, smelly room from the brothel where Tiberius had kept me. I blinked several times, but it wasn't going away, and my panic turned into full blown hysteria as I grabbed at the nightstand, heaving myself up. I wobbled and stumbled until I slammed into the wall by the nightstand, breathing hard as I clutched at my chest, trying to force this hallucination away.

That's what this was. A hallucination. It had to be.

This wasn't real.

Hannibal wouldn't send me back there.

Yes, he would.

No, he wouldn't! Arikos wouldn't let him do this. Akin wouldn't let him do this.