Afterlight ✔️

chapter seventeen

— Chloe Romano

I literally thought I was going to die.

I didn't know how many times I thought about dying here, but tonight, I believed it was actually going to happen. The whole curiosity punishment thing had been taken to a whole new level, getting me kidnapped once again. This time, it wasn't Damien's doing, at least not all of it considering that it is because of him I was running into Dean's arms. Death had grown to be my biggest fear, it had just been gravitating towards me. I didn't know whether I deserved it, or not.

Justin was upset that I lied to him, but what did he expect me to do? He told me that if I would have told him earlier, he might have found a solution to my situation, but I wasn't so sure. The look in his usually hazel brown eyes darkened when he put the gun against to my head, rubbing the front of his gun against my skin, making me whimper in fear. But then he stepped away, backing up completely and letting me go.

But little did I know what was going to happen next.

There was cloth covering my eyes, tied tightly around my head. Another cloth was wrapped around my mouth, and my hands were tied with a rough rope behind my back, making me unable to move. The whole van reeked of cigarette smoke, the toxins filling my lungs, making me cough. I felt someone behind me, breathing down on my neck. The air became thick, fear consuming me.

"We have arrived, doll." A familiar voice murmured into my ear. It was Dean.

Abruptly, I heard the doors open and I felt the cool breeze of the night enter into the van, the scent of the cigarette diminished almost immediately. I was snatched out of my seat by my arms, which were still tied behind my back. I knew there were two hands on my shoulders, and a set of hands on my arms. There was a whole gang of people, trying to escort me somewhere.

"Hmph!" I struggled against whoever held me, but it was pointless. I wanted to fight their hands off of me so badly, but with my hands tied around my back and my vision blackened, I was screwed.

In a sharp move, I was shoved indoors. Well, at least I felt like I was indoors. I shivered to myself as I was being led in different directions, down numerous paths. "Watch your step, babe." A gruff voice commanded.

Roughly, I was shoved down to what I felt was a stair step. I had to reach my foot out, trying to measure whether there was a step where I was heading before I completely stepped there. I kept my balance, trying my best not to fall down. Even though there were guys holding onto me, I still felt like if I fell, they'd just let me keep falling until I hit the ground. Finally, we got to the bottom of the steps. I heard a door open, then I was roughly shoved again, this time even harder. I soon felt myself being freed from my hand restraints. I wiggled my fingers around, finally feeling my blood circulate. The cloth around my mouth was then removed, causing me to let out a huge sigh, breathing as hard as I possibly could.

"Welcome, little girl." I heard a guy whisper to myself, as I still saw total darkness through the cloth covering my eyes.

I didn't say anything out of fear to either snap at him and causing more trouble or burst into tears. Eventually, the cloth was removed from my eyes. I shut my eyes, protecting myself from totally blinding myself by the bright light inside the room, then slowly opened them. In front of me was Dean standing with a grin of satisfaction on his face and I shoot him a grimace back. His hair stood messy on top of his head, and his dark brown eyes just pierced through my soul, leading me to want to escape this hell hole, even more.

"Why are you doing this to me? You know I did nothing wrong!" I hissed, sticking my neck out in rage.

"You're right, you didn't do anything wrong. But I still need you." He said, walking closer to me. I wanted to strangle him, practically get rid of his existence, but I knew he was stronger than me.