A Dangerous Game

Chapter 14

Light, pounding behind my eyes. Or is that footsteps? Thump thump

thump. Thumpidy thump. Defiantly boots on the

ground. I swing around, my body limp. Am I flying? Who is holding me.

"Hello," I say. Haha. My voice is all spinny. Spinny spinny-

Ow. My stomach hurts. Did someone hurt it? I don't

know. I can't remember.

"Shut it before I make it so you can't ever open that pretty mouth of yours again," grunts a voice. It's very deep. Makes me think of...

unicorns! The rainbow horses with glittery horns.

Does that make sense?

"Just knock him out again, he's probably delirious."

"Jshfshnoo, you'RE delerious," I giggle. I don't remember what that means.

Then stars explode behind my eyes, twirling into a whirlwind before-

Darkness.

. . .

"Should we tie him up boss?"

I groan, too tired to even open my eyes. My limbs feel like lead, and I can't move them. I start to panic, trying to thrash around. All I manage is a pathetic little wiggle. Then someone new is up in my face. I know because his breath is hot on my skin and smells like roadkill and dead fish as he squeezes my jaw so hard my lips pucker.

"...pathetic, isn't he?" I drift back into consciousness as everyone laughs. My body wants to sleep, sagging and begging me for the relief of rest. But my brain is screaming, bordering on hysteria as it shouts commands at my muscles to move. They don't listen, blocked off by a screen of white. I try to push through it but it engulfs me, pulling away at my conscience. I try to run away but it sucks me in, taking the world with it into an endless void I can't escape.

Finally I give in, and just like that, I'm gone.

. . .

Light.

Darkness

White, noise, I-

. . .

I'm drown

ing

in white

clouds

so fluffy so warm

suffocating

help, I need-

     sleep...

"Louis?"

"Emily! Em, they have Harry and I'm driving towards the location he gave me right now, just-"

"What?  Who? Wilson?"

"Yes, yes. Who else?" I chuckle nervously before forcing a deep breath, trying in vain to keep my head clear. No need to panic. The boy I left on his own who I kind of sort of might be a little bit in love with has only kidnapped, the most likely end point to it all being his death.

No need to freak out.

"Look, Harry had my phone but I doubt he has it now, so the only thing I have for communication with Wilson is-" A chime interrupts me and I look down at the burner phone in my hand. 

"Speak of the devil," I murmur, then open the image he sent. I immediately regret it, my jaw dropping. I feel like I'm going to throw up in the back of the cab as my eyes trail over Harry's battered body. His hair is messy and obscures his face from view as he slouches, but I can make out several large bruises covering his arms and legs, as well as long cuts that look a bit too clean to not have been deliberate. My hands tremble around the phone clasped in my fist and I squeeze it hard, forcing my emotions back in check. My eyes roam over the image once again, my jaw clenching tighter and tighter until I hear my gritted teeth start to crack.

"...Louis?" Emily asks, sounding terrified.

"Sorry. It's nothing. Well..." I run a hand over my face. "It's definitely something. But he's alive, and I should be there any minute now."

She's silent for a moment, and when she speaks, her voice warbles. "What can I do?"

"Nothing," I sigh out, feeling my body deflate into the cab seat. "Absolutely nothing. Just stay put, and if I don't come back from this..."

"Hey, don't talk like that," she says firmly. "You're going to get Harry out of this and you'll both come back in time to do a double date with me and..." her voice breaks. "And everything will be okay. Understood?"

"Understood," I whisper back. I don't tell her that I only have the shell of a plan, which basically involves me bargaining for both of our lives and hoping against hope that Blake Wilson, a killer, thief, and an all around criminal, will find it in himself to have mercy.

I don't tell her that Harry's mother might have to die in his place. I don't tell her that she's the person hunting him. And I don't tell her that even after all the evidence and proof and work we've put into this case, in the end it's all down to the decision of a grieving gang leader.

"I love you Emily. I just wanted you to know," I say. I thank every god I can think of that my voice doesn't shake. She swallows.

"I love you too Lou, but this isn't the last time we'll, that we'll-"

"Understood," I say again. She goes quiet once more, then forces out a strangled "good luck" before hanging up the phone. I lower it to my lap, leaning my head against the upholstery and squeezing my eyes shut.

"I'll need it," I whisper, even though she's already gone.