Shattered

Chapter 18

Taking a shaky breath in, I made a weak attempt to calm my breathing, doing little to nothing. Steadying my intake of oxygen appeared to be a way to ease the pain, but I soon found out that all it did was make my trachea quiver, the anxiety still taking control of my body. Slowly releasing the breath, continuing to tremble, I allowed the heavy weights that were my eyelids to lift.

Clenched tightly near my chest, the cotton sheets kept me warm, yet the crisp air left a strawberry bite on my cheeks and nose while my hands remained cold to the touch. Below the cloudy sky, the city exudes vibrant lights and the streets were littered with white and red, the curtains no longer drawn to shield me from it. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume it was still night, but the faint remainder of Chandler's cologne left beside me proved it had been no more than five minutes since he left to work.

Glancing at the faint purple near my shoulders, flashbacks of the night ran through my head. It was hard to believe that I had fallen asleep at some point, having been left in a painful position with ropes digging into my flesh. This time, I knew the blame was on me, the excuse of earning my freedom invalid. Shamefully, I admit that I had only listened to Nakoa out of spite for Chandler and Lucas, knowing it wasn't an escape plan for me as it was for her.

Her eyes had sparkled with such intensity and determination, I couldn't have said no. From here, she's much closer to Canada, whereas, in Florida, it'd be a lot harder to get up North. Perhaps I truly am a masochist as some have said. Although I knew the plan would fail and had warned Nakoa, we still went along with it, and to my dismay, I shamefully gave in to Chandler the moment we were caught. I don't enjoy the pain yet I always end up in pain.

Periodically, I blinked sluggishly, feeling the exhaust pull me back in, but my mind refused to rest, not after Chandler threatened me profusely some minutes ago. Soon after, I found my hands trembling, partially from the lack of circulation, mainly from the fright which had coursed through my body. He left me speechless, no words forming in my mind, only sheer terror. His vile words played over and over in my head, like a repulsive recording. I had pushed him too far.

Carefully, I reached a sore and tender hand up to my face, softly grazing the left side. Almost immediately, I winced in agony as I remembered the way my head fell onto the table while Nakoa was dragged upstairs by her ankle, a wake of blood left across the floor, both mine and hers. Despite wanting to check on Nakoa and make sure she was alright, I couldn't bring myself to build the willpower to leave the room, or even the bed. I felt so defeated and lifeless; so dead, memories of the night taking control of my head.

"Are you sure they're distracted?" I inquired while taking a cautious step out of the bedroom. "Yeah, I just gave them some drinks and they were pretty engrossed in the football game." Sports, my true demise, I'm literal ass at them. "Remind me of the plan." Handing her the hairpins she asked for in advance, Nakoa smiled at me and skipped across the hall.

Pointing to the white door beside her, she began to explain the truly stupid plan. "First, we break into the office, snoop around a bit. Second, we find the key to the front door. And third, we run like hell, well, away from hell." Crouching down, I joined and watched as she separated the metal pins.

"But I told you that there's no way to use the elevator without a special card." Winking, she smiled widely. "So? Maybe we'll find it here, hopefully with some car keys. And if not, you said there's stairs."

Groaning in frustration and possibly nervousness, I debated backing out. "Yeah, but we're eightyfucking floors up." Shrugging, Nakoa started to mess with the lock, poking pins around. Stiffly, I remained on high alert as I watched down the hall for any movement. "We'll stop at a random floor and bang on someone's door, easy." She's so optimistic about something that'll only end in failure. And the worst part is that we both knew that, yet still continued.