Plié (Lost Birds Book 2)

Part 1 Nightmares

One thing I had to learn the hard way was that rope burns when it's biting into the sensitive flesh of my wrists. The more I struggled the stronger it burned but I had to get free. I knew without a doubt that if I couldn't get out before Stephan got here he would kill me. He would do horrible things to me and then he would kill me.

"Tori!"

I could hear someone calling to me but I couldn't see.

The stupid blindfold over my eyes blocked out everything.

Someone touched my arm and I whimpered pulling away.

I didn't want Stephan to touch me. I didn't want him to hurt me anymore.

"Tori! Please wake up!"

The deep voice calling to me sounded nothing like Stephan but I knew of his tricks. He could easily have altered his voice. Maybe it was the drugs. Things sounded fuzzy when he'd drug me.

I struggled against the ropes again but it was no use. I couldn't move. I couldn't get free.

"Dulzura... sweetness please please wake up..."

That was not Stephan.

I stopped trying to escape the ropes and suddenly they were gone. My wrists weren't trapped at all. The only thing trapped was my arm and even the slight pressure there wasn't holding me in place it was only shaking me a little.

I peeled my eyes open only to be trapped by the mesmerizing golden flakes swirling in the brown eyes above me. Tao's entire face softened with relief as I met his eyes. He let out a huff of air and dropped his head back to look at the ceiling for a moment as he caught his breath.

"What happened?" I croaked. My voice came out as a scratchy whisper but somehow Tao managed to hear me.

"You..." He looked back down at me and shook his head. He took another deep breath and shook his head again.

"You were having a nightmare." He admitted finally.

My brow furrowed as I looked up at him. Nightmares weren't exactly new to me but by the way he was acting it looked like he had been the one inside the nightmare.

"Are you ok?" I asked quietly. I found that if I whispered my voice didn't come out nearly as scratchy and painful.

"Am I ok? Dulzura..." Tao shook his head. He looked down at me with his hand in his hair and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Do you remember the dream you were just having?" Tao asked after a moment.

I gulped and adjusted myself in the bed to sit up.

"Maybe some of it..." I admitted.

"You were thrashing around and screaming for help. You wouldn't wake up and you were crying..." Tao shook his head again as he spoke.

I raised my hand to my cheek. The dampness there was proof enough of Tao's words.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered.

"You're sorry?" Tao repeated.

I nodded.

"I didn't mean to scare you... it just happens sometimes..." I tried to explain.

"What?" Tao asked flatly.

"I just... sometimes I have dreams about things that... things..." I struggled for a way to back out of what I had just admitted to Tao. My mouth was moving faster than my brain. It was too much information. Private information that I wasn't ready to share. It explained to much of how badly Stephan had broken me.