Beyond a Brotherly Bond | Grethan

Chapter 18

*Ethan's POV*

My anxiety exacerbates quickly, and the darkness appears as it is closing in on me. I tug relentlessly at the knots around my wrists and ankles, desperately trying to free myself. All that has come of it is the tearing of my flesh beneath the rigid rope.

Grayson has tied me to things in the past when he's pranked me, but never as tightly as this. I give up, wincing at the pain of the blood flowing from my open wounds.

All this time I believed I was in a beautiful, flourishing relationship. It's astounding and horrifying to realize how little I truly knew about Meredith.

"Help! Please!" I yell, hopelessly. I have no view of my surroundings — or even a clue as to the time of day — only a solitary darkness. The small, flickering light bulb above my head creates a haunting loneliness.

"Can anyone hear me?! Help!" I try again, hoping that I'm at least being held hostage above ground.

Somewhere in the midst of the darkness before me, a door creaks open and quickly slams shut.

"Is someone there?! Help me, please!"

"Oh, shut up already," Meredith emerges from the darkness. A blinding rage supersedes me and I lunge myself at her with all of my might, quickly proving useless as I'm painfully restrained.

"Stop fighting. You're not getting out of those ties," she states bluntly.

"What the fuck is going on, Meredith?! Why did you trap me here?!" I shout, grimacing at the worsening cuts on my wrists.

As she inches closer, her glowering expression becomes more apparent in the light. "The plan was going perfectly until you snooped around in places you shouldn't have."

"The plan?!" I spit in disgust, "This has got to be some kind of sick joke!"

"No, Ethan! It isn't!" She exhales, dramatically rolling her eyes. "I bet you wish you had listened to Grayson when you had the chance... it's too bad you'll never be seeing him again."

My chest grows gravely hollow at the reminder of Grayson's early warnings and how I blatantly ignored every single one of them. I betrayed the one person that has always been there for me, the one person who supported all of my stupid decisions, the one person that has loved me unconditionally from the beginning.

My vision blurs with tears; a poignant reminder of the anguish I've caused — a culmination of my suffering, unreciprocated effort, and failure. I make a final attempt at freeing myself, incessantly pulling at the knots, trying to ignore the burning flesh.

Meredith begins laughing at me, exponentially increasing my rage. "You'll never break free, Ethan. Face it, you're pathetic and weak."

She leans forward, bringing her face closer to mine. "Look at how long you fell for my plan... look at how long you believed I actually cared about you."

I stop tugging, letting the tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down my face. Meredith's right. I am weak; I am pathetic. I gave up the most important person in my life for a one-sided relationship with Satan. I'm worthless.

"You and Chase will never escape," she retreats into the darkness. After a few short moments, a second light bulb illuminates a few feet away, revealing Chase — unconscious and roughly tied to a chair, like me.

I stare in horror at Chase's bruised arm, signifying all the places Meredith has injected her with who knows what.

"Y-You used me! And Chase! You m-monster!" I force out through my tears.