Fate's Exchange (Twisted Fate, Book 1)

Chapter 2

Finding consciousness was like waking from a nightmare without the mercy of daylight.

I jerked awake, feeling a pinch in my hands that shot pain up my arms.

I froze and held my breath to keep from screaming.

Fire coursed through my veins, heating me from within to let me know I wasn't dreaming. Everything hurt. I bit my lip, slowly exhaling. Still, I didn't move, afraid that doing it wrong would cause me to black out again.

My arms felt like limp noodles left out to dry and harden, tied tightly behind my back around the tree. My shoulder blades burned as they stretched against the restraints. The trunk was impossibly large for my small frame, leaving me pinned and helpless.

Blinking, I tried to clear my clouded vision, but dusk filled my sight. The wet, moldy leaves bunched on the ground cast jagged shadows, taunting me like boulders ready to be hurled. They gathered at the base of the trunk, flattening beneath me and rising at my sides like a bean bag chair. The forest was damp, the ground scattered with leaves. Free from litter but reeking of snow mold, the bitter scent lingered on my tongue, sharp enough to induce a headache, and my head swam.

There was no way to tell the exact time, though the fading sun suggested at least seven. Not yet summer, the sky would be dark by eight.

My parents were going to kill me.

Had Tina called yet?

If my phone had survived the attack, it would still be on silent, and I had no clue if the GPS would still work. Was my bag in the woods? Someone may notice it lying in the field and wonder if something was wrong. Maybe my parents would somehow know I'd been taken against my will and come looking. They'd drilled into me the rule to be home before dark since before I could tell time. It had been ingrained in me: "Bad things happen at night."

The idea filled me with hope, then deflated like a popped balloon as the reality pushed aside the thoughts of rescue.

I forced my eyes wider. Feeling like it was the only part of my body that hadn't been broken, I was able to move my neck just enough to look around, registering four Elixir students sitting in a misshapen circle to my left. They passed a pipe while sharing a bottle filled with a clear liquid. Judging from the sour faces, it wasn't water.

"Have you ever shot a deer?" the largest boy from the field asked from my right.

I recoiled. The bark of the tree bit into the raw wounds on my back, and I fought to keep my agony from visibly breaking through, squeezing my eyes shut as the breath whooshed from my lungs. Slowly, I opened them again, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing my pain. He didn't deserve the victory it would give him. My gaze darted from the group and then finally on him.

"You should try it," he said from his perch on a boulder a few feet away, elbows resting on his knees. Without looking up from the stake he carved with a silver pocketknife decorated with black skulls, he continued, "Make sure you watch their eyes once they're in your sights. Wait until they know what's coming. You'll see them go from docile to frightened..." He snapped his fingers, and my hands twitched in their bindings, the ties at my wrists pinching. "To dead." He looked up and smiled. "It's fascinating."

"You're sick."

He lunged forward and squeezed my cheeks until my mouth popped open. I glared at him, determined not to show fear, noticing his bloodshot, erratic eyes. He released me, smiling still, and I breathed in relief.

He feinted to the right, laughing, then twisted and kicked me.

Pain exploded through my side.

My body folded around my stomach.