Sweet Oblivion (Sweet Series #1)

by Bailey Ardisone

  “This isn’t working!” a cruel voice with a hard accent shouted, slightly waking me up. It was still extremely difficult to open my eyes or make any sort of movement. Whatever they were drugging me with, it made it impossible for me to wake up.

  “I want everything flushed out of her system now!” he kept shouting, but I had yet to hear another voice. “Move her to the cage when you are done.”

  “But sir, what if she is a threat? What if she cannot be contained just like he cannot?” another voice finally inquired. It had the same strange accent.

  “If she was the same as him, she never would have lasted this long. She would have already been gone. I have no choice. This obviously isn’t working, and I need answers!” A loud thud echoed in the room, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

  It vaguely registered what was happening around me. Strong, rough hands kept grabbing my arms or my head, doing who knows what. It was extremely unpleasant. I felt violated and exposed, hating every second that I was out of my own control.

  There was nothing I could do or say, I had to just lie there half asleep and take whatever these people did to me. It was torture.

  I could faintly feel myself moving, like I was flying through space. Logic told me they were probably just wheeling my hard bed somewhere else and I wasn’t actually in outer space. Right?

  Finally, after a few minutes I stopped moving. A strong smell of salt snapped me awake, and I unconsciously shook my head.

  “Wake up!” a menacing voice yelled, startling me and reminding me where I was. I tried to open my eyes, but I was afraid. I didn’t know what I was waking up to. I slowly realized my head was no longer restrained, but as I tried to move my arms and legs, they still would not budge.

  “Open your eyes. We know you are awake,” an accented voice snarled, growing more irritated. He sounded German or Austrian maybe? I slowly opened my eyes, half expecting to see Arnold Schwarzenegger staring back at me. Instead, the look of disgust I met after he saw my eyes made me wince. The man was young, maybe in his late-twenties, and that surprised me. He was dressed in a black suit, white dress shirt, and black tie. His blond hair was slicked back with gel, and he had a rough look to his appearance with a crooked nose that claimed the middle of his face. His pale skin starkly stood out against the black of his suit.

  He recovered from his disgust quickly and now stared at me with no specific expression or emotion at all. For some reason, that scared me even more.

  “Let me go! What do you want from me?!” I tried to find my voice. “Help! Help!” I screamed, but it mostly came out raspy and unrecognizable. The man didn’t answer or even look bothered by my distress. He kept pacing the room, never taking his stoic eyes off mine.

  “Wh-wh-” I tried to clear my throat, hating the fact I could hardly speak. “Who are you?” I eventually croaked out, pain stretching through my sore, raspy vocal cords. I was dying of thirst.

  “You are in no position to be asking questions. Where is the Sindora?! Where is Mycah Nightly?” The venom that dripped from his voice as he said Mycah’s name sent chills through my body. I didn’t respond, partly because I didn’t know what he was talking about, but mostly because I was afraid to give anything away that could hurt Mycah.

  “Answer me!” His sudden outburst had me reeling, trying to figure out what in the world this could all be about. Why was he asking about Mycah? And who was this S-S-Sin-whatever person? I’d never heard that name before. The man quickly came back to himself, clearing his throat and pulling at his shirt collar. I could tell he was trying very hard to stay calm.

  He rushed over, putting both arms on either side of me with a look that could kill as he yelled, “Now!” so loud that my restrained arms instinctively pulled up but failed to cover my aching ears.

  “I don’t know,” I finally said.

  “How do you know him?”

  “I don’t know him. I’ve only see him around a few times,” I protested, trying to sound convincing, since it basically was the truth anyway. I didn’t even know Nightly was his last name.

  “You do not know him? Would you like to explain to me why he would risk exposing himself for a girl he does not know?” the man scoffed in disbelief.

  Wait…risked himself? For me? The sudden news that Mycah could be in trouble because of me had my heart racing in a whole new way. If I caused Mycah to get hurt, I could never forgive myself.

  My dwelling thoughts kept me silent, and that irritated the man even more. He grabbed my face roughly with his right hand and hovered over me. His face was inches from mine.

  “Why do you have violet eyes?! Huh?! Tell me!" Spit hit my face, and I tried desperately to pull my head away from his grasp. It was no use. He was too strong, and the fear of what he'd do to me when he realized I wouldn’t be answering his question—since I didn’t even know the answer myself—overwhelmed me.

  I struggled against my restraints and his tight hold, wishing I could kick him in his groin. This was so unfair. Anger was quickly overcoming my fear. How dare he kidnap me and tie me to this dang bed!

  He must've seen the defiance in my eyes as he lifted his arm to slap me with the back of his hand. I refused to show fear, so I made myself stare back into his evil eyes and clenched my jaw, bracing myself for the blow. It came, quickly and painfully, and with so much force that I was lost to darkness as my head was bashed to the side.