Heart of Ice

Chapter Two

Song: Vigilante Shit- Taylor Swift

Present

I'm downright stupid.

There's absolutely no way that kiss meant a single thing to Hunter. And now, I'm paying for foolishly believing for a second that he has a heart. I'm even more stupid for letting my own feelings be affected by something as simple as a kiss.

But nothing is ever as simple as it seems, right?

Which is why I'm currently being dragged to my potential final destination by the man from my nightmares. He throws me into a dark, cold room, making sure my entire body slams against the wall like an omelet being flattened in a skillet, and then has the audacity to chuckle when, due to weakness from the vervaine coursing through my veins, I crumple to the floor. He steps aside to allow another man into the room, one much younger, and then the one who dragged me in disappears down the hall. Not that I prefer either of them, but I'd be lying if I say I didn't heave a sigh of relief when freaky neon-green eyes man left and was replaced with the new one walking toward me. Knowing how freaky neon-green eyes had haunted me in my nightmares, though, I just knew I was going to be seeing him again during my time here. The new guy drags thick ropes toward me, pooling them around me as he jerks me into an upright position and begins restricting my wrists and legs.

"You should be honored, really. These ropes have the strongest bind, and they were saved for this special occasion," He smirks as he pulls the rope around my wrists as tight as he can while I wince from the burning sensation. "We've been waiting for this day."

"Well, I appreciate the sentiment."

He bats his eyelashes. "Really?"

"No, jerkwad," I hiss, using all my strength to thrash in the ropes, but I'm hardly able to move an inch. "What do you even want with me anyway?"

"Let's just say that there's some unfinished business," He wraps more rope around my ankles and pulls them even tighter than my wrists to the point where I'm sure blood is trickling down my skin. "Now, you should probably save up your energy. You have a big week ahead of you, and then--"

He falls silent as he steps back and admires the work he's done with the ropes. Pressed tightly against the wall, my arms and legs are trapped, and I imagine if anyone could look at me straight on, I would probably resemble a lanky starfish. He remains silent, simply staring at the knots he made around my limbs, and I raise an eyebrow. "...Then what?"

"I'll save that for the boss to tell on the grand night."

"Who's the boss?"

His devilishly smirks. "Trust me, you'll find out soon enough."

He turns on his heels and leaves the room, locking the cell door behind him. Above me, a single vent is blowing out vervain, and I feel myself growing weaker until, eventually, my arms tremble in the ropes from the weakness. My eyelids grow heavy as my head droops, and before my vision fades to black, the door to my cell opens, and a group of people walk in. Though, it isn't the group itself that sends a shocking jolt through me-- it's the one leading the group.

"Pathetic," A girl with crimson eyes smirks, throwing a dagger into my shoulder, and I whimper from the pain that spreads throughout my arm, courtesy of the vervain in my system. The rest of the group gathers around me, and as I lift my head, Hunter stands in front of me, the same emotionless expression on his face as when I last saw him. Doesn't feel like a good sign to me.

"What should we do first on the boss' list?" A younger guy behind Hunter questions, but his eyes remain locked with mine. He glances at the ropes around my limbs, and then at the vent blowing vervain, before he faces the group.