Phoenix ✔️

Chapter 19: Security

All I can see is black. The noise level is so low that it feels like it's in the negatives right now.  I'm lying flat on my back. Something hard is touching my back, and giving me the support. I try to move, but something cold and sharp is on my hands. Something that's restraining me from being free. I try to lift my legs up, but something rough is holding them back. 

I can't get free. I can't spread my wings. I need to spread my wings, and then fly. I want to fly. Then, the light is visible, the flashes cause my eyes to squint out of surprise. Once my eyes adjust to the burst of light, they catch sight of my current state. I'm lying on a bed, with each limb tied to each corner of the bed. The room I'm in is barren, with no other sight of furniture, with paint peeling off of the walls. 

My head lifts itself up a little bit, and I'm only wearing my underwear. "Help! Help!" I scream, but those screams are absorbed by the walls and to never be heard by the outside world. Then, the creaking of the old door grinds my ears, and the one person who I never wanted to see again is standing at the frame. His fingers are wrapped around what looks to be a pocketknife, while malevolence wraps the eyes that he's using to drink in my current state. 

My breathing starts to get heavy, as I don't know what he plans to do to me. It could be a lot worse than all of the tortures combined. He possesses the ability to do anything to me. When he absorbs my vulnerable state, he starts to chuckle. "You know, Nicole? You've always been such a feisty girl. I've been telling you that it's going to get you killed one day. You just never listened," he says, and he sits on the edge of the bed. 

My hands pull themselves from the ropes that are holding me back, with the rough material scratching my wrists. "Let me go, you prick. You don't own me anymore," I spit at him. The tip of the knife flies to my throat, and the look on Colin's face turns sinister. The cold tip of the blade presses against my neck. 

"Ah ah ah. Don't forget that I still own you. You haven't divorced or separated from me yet. You're still mine. And now, you're mine forever," he says, while the tip of the knife traces down to the middle of my chest. Tears sting my eyes like little bees. 

"Colin, please let me go. I won't tell anyone. I promise," I beg, and he just snickers a little bit. 

"Lies, Nicole. I know what Mark and you did. This is to ensure that you will never leave me ever again," he says, while climbing on top of me. I open my mouth to scream again, but Colin's large, strong hand clamps over it. 

"Shut up! You're mine!" he bellows. I thrash violently against his grasp, and I try to get out of his horrid plans. The tears that filled my eyes are now streaming down my face. 

"Nicole! Nicole! Wake up!" a voice screams in my ear. Immediately, my head shoots up, and it hits a soft, yet firm object. My eyes shoot open, and tears spill out of my eyes. Arms wrap around me, and they gently stroke my hair. 

The darkness around the room and the sheets that cushion my body tell me Colin's not with me anymore. "You're okay, Nicole. Nothing will ever happen to you. I got you," a sweet voice whispers in my ear, as I start to sob. 

"I-I can't g-get h-him out of m-my mind. I'm h-having c-constant n-nightmares. He's g-going to g-get m-me. I'm n-not s-safe, Elena," I sob in Elena's chest. Elena's arms wrap around me a little tighter. 

"Shhh. Nicole, I think I have to take you to the doctor. This doesn't look too good," she says gently, while I continue to cry in her arms. 

"What's going on?" I hear the voice of my dad inquire. 

"Nicole had a really bad nightmare, Dad. I think it was about her ex-husband," Elena says. I hear the wheels of my dad's wheelchair squeak over to where my bed is, and his hand rests on my shoulder.