The Death Curse

Chapter 25: Shadows

"Layla."

Darkness swam in front of my eyes as I felt hands gripped me under my armpits and flopped me over a shoulder. I winced at the increased pain in my head from being upside down and swallowed down nausea that the jolted walking motion was causing.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to clear my vision but was heaved from the shoulder into a hard metal chair before I could break through the fog that wrapped my brain.

Bindings were pulled tight, trapping my wrists and ankles to the chair. With great effort, I forced my eyelids to open and forced the blurry room into focus. The walls were made of dark metal and the high windows were frosted over by age. Tools I didn't know the names for were littered on work tables and twisted rusty pipes, that I realized were old car parts, were pushed into corners.

I was in what appeared to be an abandoned auto shop. And standing over me was my old bearded friend from the DVD store. Bruises covered his face and there was a cast on his right leg but still, he grinned down at me like he was on top of the world.

Fear washed over me and in an instant, my mind cleared. I struggled against the zip ties restraining me to the chair but all it accomplished was to make the man chuckle.

"Surprised to see me?" He asked. "I was surprised to see you the other night. Didn't I throw you into a river?"

"Let me go," I begged still pulling against the zip ties.

"I can't do that. You have something I want."

I shook my head frantically. "No, I don't have anything."

"I wouldn't be so quick to say that. If you have nothing for me then your of no use to me." He leaned over and bore his eyes into mine. "So you better think twice about how you want this to go because you might just wish you stayed in that river."

"Rhys will be looking for me," I threatened, trying to sound more confident than I was.

"Who the fuck is Rhys?"

"Emrys Fahy. You know, the guy that has you looking like Violet after she left the chocolate factory."

He grimaced. "Yeah, I considered that. But some things are worth the risk."

"What makes you think I have whatever it is you're looking for?" I asked, more for stalling for time than actual curiosity. Julia said she would be back to check on me so she would realize I was missing sooner or later. I was praying for sooner.

"It's simple. You come into my shop asking about the girl who wanted to sell a very special ring but got cold feet and took the secret of its whereabouts to her grave," he said casually as if he wasn't the one who sent Vivian to the grave early. "Then the word on the street says the very special ring is back on said street. Who else but Emrys Fahy's girlfriend would know where it is?"

"What's so special about the ring? Why do you want it so bad?" I asked, redirecting.

The man chuckled. "Don't play dumb with me. Or do. It will make this more fun." He bent and grabbed the front legs of my chair and flipped me back with enough force to painfully knock the air out of my lungs.

As I struggled to breathe, I heard a faint voice calling me. "Layla."

Before I could search for the source, he yanked my chair back upright. "So where is the ring? Does your boyfriend have it or is he letting you hold on to it?"

Still battling to regain my breath, all I managed to do was wheeze. Not liking that as my answer, he backhanded me sharply across the face.

"Layla, can you hear me?" The words floated to me while my head spun.