Blurred Lines

CHAPTER 6: CONFUSION

"You're such a beautiful thing," Sarah says, her eyes focused on Jeremy's rising and falling chest.

She leans forward, curling her hands around the young woman's legs. Sarah spreads her legs apart, trailing her fingers across Jeremy's inner thigh.

Bound to the bed, Jeremy bucks her hips, trying to dislodge Sarah's hands. A strangled sob is rent from her lips.

Her captor laughs and continues to graze her fingers across the sensitive flesh at the juncture of her thighs. Sarah flicks the tip of her thumb against Jeremy's clit.

She howls, the sound muffled by the gag inside her mouth.

"Now, now, dearest. You mustn't get angry. Joseph doesn't like it when you get upset."

Jeremy whimpers, though she continues to struggle against the ropes wrapped around her wrists and ankles.

The brunette smiles and slides a finger between Jeremy's plump pink lips. Her intent is to break her prey by any means necessary.

"You should be proud, dearest. You're the only one who's survived this procedure."

Jeremy snarls and clamps her legs closed, pinning Sarah's hand in place.

Sarah shoves several fingers into Jeremy's vagina, further stretching her already sore muscles. With every jerk of Jeremy's hips, Sarah pushes the offending digits deeper into the tight crevasse. Several minutes later, she withdraws them, eyeing the blood coating her alabaster flesh.

Defeated, but not beaten, Jeremy stares up at Sarah, her blue-gray eyes full of fury.

"One way or another, you will come around. Joseph has given you the chance to redeem yourself. Why won't you take it?" Sarah asks, ripping the gag free of Jeremy's lips.

"You're damned lucky I'm tied up right now."

Sarah laughs, fingering the edge of the bloodied gag. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

"No, darling, you should be. You think what I'm doing to you is bad? Think again. This is nothing compared to what Joseph has in store for you."

A murderous glint flashes in Jeremy's eyes.

"Why don't you kill me, then?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

Jeremy hocks back a wad of phlegm and spits in Sarah's direction.

The phlegm lands on the brunette's cheek, dripping down her face to seep into the collar of the jacket she's wearing. Sarah lifts a hand and wipes the spit away. She stares at her hand with distaste.

"Is that the best you can do?"

A knowing, calculating grin spreads across Jeremy's lips. "Maybe."

The brunette's eyes narrow. She curls her hand into a tight fist.

"I doubt it," she says, slamming her fist across Jeremy's right cheek.

***

The dreams keep coming. I'm afraid of what they could mean. Every day, they grow darker, pushing me into a world that makes no sense, whatsoever. Part of me wants to tell Josh about the recent chaos I've been seeing in my mind, but I'm afraid.

What if he doesn't believe me? Would he think I'm going crazy? Why are my dreams growing more and more as the days pass?

I try my best to make sense of the fact that someone tried to kill me. The man landed me in the hospital with multiple broken bones, limiting every aspect of my body's function and mobility. My recuperation since then has been slow, though I've been making a slight progress.

It also irks me that there are holes in my memory. The fact that I can't distinguish what is real or fantasy sometimes makes me question the world as I know it.

What is happening to me?

A soft sob bursts from my lips. I roll onto my right side, shoving my fist between my teeth to muffle my cries. If the doctors ever find out that I'm slowly losing control, they'd lock me up for sure.

I further stifle my cries and roll onto my back, staring at the plastered ceiling above. Tears slide down my cheeks, seeping into my ears, my hair, and the pillow beneath my head.

My mind travels back to the moment I met the physical therapist. Her face surfaces at odd intervals, both in my dreams and while I'm awake. She's familiar, yet she's also a stranger.

Who is she? Who I am, for that matter?

There's something I'm not seeing, but what? Is itpossible I'm not the person I always thought I was?