Detained

07.

❝No Known Boundaries❞
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Next day, May 2016
San Antonio, Texas

Gasping for air and wincing past the painful pulses that hammered against her skull, Moira sat upright in her bed and glanced around through squinted eyes. The morning sun shone in through the window of her room, bringing an off-putting heat that made Moira kick back her covers and freeze.

Dried blood along with grass stains were smudged on the hem of her sweatpants and splatters of blood were blotched on her wrinkled tank top. Her eyes flashed over the blood and grass marks in confusion, wondering where they came from and why she couldn't remember how they got there. The memory of her running outside when her parents invited all those people last night came to mind, but then she realized she hadn't showered then, and was still dressed in that mint dress the hospital let her have.

Moira slid off the bed and stood still for a second, a dizzy spell occurring before those earlier pulses came back, her hand shooting to the middle of her forehead just to find a knot the size of a soda's bottle cap. Her arm went back down to her side and she lightly shook her head.

Something happened last night, and an urgency to find out was rising more and more as Moira swept her gaze over her bloody hands. She shakily stumbled forward until she shifted in a chary stagger, each footstep cold on the soles of her feet as she moved across her room.

When her hand gripped the golden knob on her room's door, she became inert, a sense of dread developing. Nothing felt right, especially with her being unable to connect the pieces of last night, but she wouldn't find out anything if she stayed in the room.

Moira opened her bedroom's door and immediately shut it close when she spotted a familiar figure standing at the end of the hallway with their arms crossed over their chest. Her fingers fumbled with the small lock on her door as the sound of heavy footsteps neared.

The moment the lock clicked into place, a raucous bang rapped against her door, and she flinched, her body subconsciously sidling back into her bed where she pulled her knees into her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks as the recollections of last night came flooding back.

The backdoor being unlocked. The phone's empty receiver. The gun that was pressed against her head. The bloody body that she had to drag in her house. The faces that are now permanently printed in her brain. Fainting from the overwhelming beat of her heart and knowing that she was in danger once again. Everything came hurtling back now, and her tears had turned into full-blown sobs as more harsh knocks pummeled on her door, the three hinges ripping slowly but surely from the wooden frame with each strike.

"Open the fucking door, or I'll knock the shit down!" Marcos growled, his threat proving true as the first golden hinge flicked off and landed on her room's floor. Moira covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as Marcos continued to hurl menaces and bang on the opposite side of her door.

Moira knew whether or not she unlocked the door or just let him whack it down, she would still be trapped and left on the defenseless end. For all she knew, he had that same gun in his hand from last night, ready to actually use it this time.

The second hinge's screws popped out one by one, the base barely staying in place as Marcos shoved his weight into the weakened door, his voice ballistic and deranged as he claimed the moment the door was out of his way, he would strangle her to death. Moira balled her hands into fists, her sobs getting louder as she fretfully awaited for the final pummel, but it never came.

Her eyes were fixed on the door as she slowly lowered her hands from her ears, struggling to make out the mumbling she heard before perking up when she caught Marcos sigh in annoyance before reluctantly giving in with a low, "Fine."