by Ivy Knight
"Take this," Kai hands me a painkiller and I thankfully take it.
"I need a minute, Kai," my voice hardly comes out as a whisper. My head aches, my side in pain, and my whole body on fire: I take my bag and walk behind a tree. Quickly, I put on my blue contacts.
"Summer!" Alice runs to me and engulfs me in a warm hug, "You're burning up."
"Am- am n-ot," and again, everything turns pitch black.
...♛...
You know that scene in movies when a girl passes out and she wakes up in a totally different place? Well, that's me right now.
It feels like two seconds ago, I was jumping off a seventy feet waterfall and now, I'm in a warm bed. The room is dark and one I've never seen in my life. I'm safe, I know that for sure so calmly, I climb out from under the sheets and head towards the door.
I twist the knob and luckily, it opens revealing a long narrow hallway with expensive paintings hung all the way down the hall. I take a step out of the room and quietly close the door.
Before heading down the hall, I look down at myself. I'm in one of Kai's shirts. It's different one from the one before. It feels fresh, one that hasn't been worn. I can tell by the absence of his musky cologne.
Still not sure as to where I am, I decide to walk down the hallway. My head constantly looking around, I wander the whole house to finding single soul in sight.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" My hand finds its way to my heart and I spin around to meet Alec. "To be honest, I don't know where I'm going. I don't even know where I am or what day it is."
"It's Monday and you're at one of our safe houses."
"This is way too big for a safe house."
"Oh really, how would you know?" Alec folds his arm. His muscles flex showing his veins.
"When I was kidnapped, I learned a couple of things."
"Oh yeah, that's right. You were kidnapped," he says hinting that he knows there's more.
"What time is it?" I question.
"Twelve-oh-three."
"Drop me off at home, I have until after school."
"It takes an hour and a half to get back to your house."
"Good, that means I'll still have thirty minutes," I reply smartly. I lost two days of my life. I have no memory of them and the only person I trust to tell me the truth is Alice.
...♛...
"Summer," Alice sighs heavily as I walk into my room. After the little talking session with Alec, he decided to drive me back home.
"What is this?" I question looking at the packed suitcase.
"It's your stuff. Kai asked me to pack it for you."
"Kai," I sigh looking around my empty room. "I don't remember anything from yesterday. After we jumped, what happened?"
"When you jumped, your stitches were undone. The pain caused you to start breathing underwater so you choked. Kai saved you by giving you mouth to mouth and stitching you up again. You were awake for almost fifteen minutes before you passed out again due to a fever caused by an infection. The guys carried you back to camp and Kai took you somewhere to get you treated. Cole's the only one who let me know that you're still alive."
"Well, here I am now now. Is Brody– is he okay?" I'm hesitant to ask. I haven't talked to him in a while and I won't get the chance to talk to him again anytime soon.
"He won't answer my calls," Alice replies.
"What about mom and dad?"
"They're in their room. They had an argument last night and they're just dealing with that."
"I want them to hate me. They're going to hate me."
"They're not going to hate you, Summer."
"They have to hate me. They just have to hate me, okay?" I look Alice dead in the eyes. "And you, you have to move away from here – away from me, away from Cole. Promise me that."
Alice hides her gaze from me and I know I've lost her. She's confused.
"You do not get to be confused, Alice. It's time for you to make some decisions and do something. It's time for you to move on."
She nods her head as tears start dripping from her eyes. I close the distance between us and hug her tightly. Discreetly, she slips a knife into my back pocket.
"It's time to go," Cole says from the door. I take a step away from Alice and she wipes away her tears. Cole passes by and takes my suitcase in one hand and my arm in the other.
"I know the way out," I pull my arm out of his grip.
"Then start walking."
I do as I'm told and exit my room. I stop when I hear the door slam shut.
"She's not allowed out," Cole explains. I nod in response. I'm still weak, mentally broken and physically drained to argue with anyone at the moment.
Once we're out, I'm greeted by a black GMC truck. Cole puts my stuff in the trunk as I walk towards Kai who's waiting outside of the passenger's door.
"Summer White."
"Kai Black," he replies as we firmly shake hands. "Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Then watch this," he nods his head behind me and I instantly turn around only to watch my house burn in flames. In one of the windows upstairs, is Alice screaming, hitting the window and in the other are my parents. Tears brimming my eyes, I feel my lungs failing to catch the oxygen in the air.
With one swift move, I spin around slicing Kai's arm and kicking him back towards the car. In his moment of weakness, I turn back around and run into the house.
"Mom! Dad! Alice!"
"Summer!" my parent's voices along with Alice's all reply back in panic.
"I'm coming!"
The black smoke makes it impossible to see anything and everything seems to be burning in the flames. Nothing and no one is safe. The smoke stings my eyes and the heat burns my skin.
"No, you're not," Kai grabs me around my waist and pulls me off the stairs.
"Let me go Kai! You violated the deal! I'm no longer yours!" I scream at the top of my lungs.
"Your family is dying. If you aren't mine, then you're no ones and you'd hate to be an orphan again."
I elbow Kai in the rib and he let's go of me.
"Then I am mine. I don't need an owner. I can live alone. I don't belong to you Kai black!" I yell, my emotions a mess.
I don't remember two days of my life and my whole family is dying right in front of me all of sudden. What the fuck has my life come to?
"You no longer have a choice," Kai groans.
As words are about to leave my mouth, a pinch in my throat distracts me, "Fuck!"
"We had... a d-deal Kai," the sedative is taking over fast. "I will ruin you."
With that, I'm out cold in his arms.
Chapter 11
I wake up to the sound of my own heartbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My hands are tied to my sides, my butt is sat on a cold concrete floor, and my back is leaning against a rigid brick wall. Judging by the amount of difficulty I'm having just to move my back off the wall, I think I've been in this position for over hours.
Sitting in this position, I decide to open my eyes. With all my force, I peel open my eyes and I'm greeted with more darkness.
Nothing.
I might as well had kept my eyes close because even with them open, I can't see anything. My eyes are useless, so I decide to use my other senses.
The room feels spacious and cold. My legs are bare and full of goosebumps along with my arms because Kai's t-shirt only covers me up to my thighs. My upper, right side is in less pain. I can tell the infection is mostly gone because every time the inside of my arm brushes the wound, the swollen skin feels smaller than before.
My thoughts are interrupted by a blinding light appearing from behind a creaking door. A silhouette of Kai stands in the doorway and slowly it moves closer to me.
"You're finally awake," Kai says as he crouches down to my level. It's him, who stands in front of me, but fire is what appears in my mind. The fire that he set to burn my whole family alive. "Not in the mood to
talk I see."
"I-," I try to reply, but the dryness in my throat breaks my voice.
"Water?" Kai holds up a water bottle, I had no idea he carried in with him. My eyes are glued to it, but I know better. I'm not going to beg for it. Without another word, he unscrews the cap and holds the bottle above my head. I tilt my head back, opening my mouth as he pours in the cool water.
The water calms down the burning sensation within me. It helps my heartbeat return to normal and moisturizes my dry throat.
"Better?"
"I hope you're not waiting for a thank you because clearly, you're not getting one."
"At least we know Summer's still in there," Kai responds.
"The only reason I'm still here is because I'm tied to this damn wall, but the second you untie me, I hope you know I'm going to ruin you in ways nobody can even dream of. I'm one person you did not want to double cross Kai Black. You made a mistake and you'll regret me for the rest of your life," the rage spewing out like an active volcano. Nothing but hate and regret clouds my mind. I should've killed him the second I thought I could.
"It's a good start. I really expected you to scream at the top of your lungs or cry your eyes dry." I wait quietly for him to continue," I accept the challenge. I accept you Summer White. I'm going to work on you until I watch you cry yourself to sleep, until you scream in agony and beg for me to stop. I will make your life miserable. That's what the deal was about."
"Plenty have tried. Endless people have tried, but only one has ever exceeded. You can never top what he made me go through, never in a million years could anyone ever make me beg like he did. No one has seen my eyes as swollen as he has. No one has ever been so cruel and demeaning to me as he has. No one can be worse than him, that's why I'm not scared. I'm not scared of you Kai. I can't be scared of you," my voice full of force. Flashbacks from my childhood appear in my mind as I speak. Nick is definitely a part of it, but who's coming to mind, is a whole different person. One, more cruel than Nick.
I'm given no response as Kai gets up and exits, leaving me in the dark yet once again. I thought I was going to be alone for a while, but I'm proven wrong when only minutes after, Alec enters the room.
"Time to get up," Alec squats down and unties my hands. With nothing holding me up, I fall forward onto Alec.
"Hey hey hey, look at me," Alec helps me sit up again. "Hey, open your eyes."
I peel them open and look into his eyes. My mind numb begs for sleep, but I know I have to stay awake.
"Bring her food."
I look past his shoulder at an unfamiliar face exiting the room. A few seconds later, he returns with a tray of food. Alec gets up and puts it down in front of me.
"Eat, or else you won't survive what's in store for you tonight."
I look at the tray that contains a chicken sandwich and a glass of orange juice. I extend my right hand out. I hesitate when I see the red bruise around my wrist on top of my scars, but shake my mind clear. The scars are my past. The bruise is my present.
Once the glass comes in reach, I curl my fingers around it and pick it up. The cold juice stings my sore throat, but I drink until there's no more left. After I'm done, I put the empty glass down and look up at Alec.
"You have to eat the sandwich," he says.
"Not yet," I reply.
"Take it away," Alec says to the guy who stood by the door. He walks in, picks them up and exits.
"That's it, you're just going to leave me?" I question. My mind has five hundred different ways I can escape this room with just my fingernails now that I'm not tied to the wall. Is Kai being stupid, or is he trying to get me to do something?
"That's it. I'll be back in a few hours," Alec says and leaves. The light in the room goes out with him leaving me in complete darkness.
With the help of the wall, I stand up. I stand, with my side against the wall, until I can start feeling my legs again. When my legs regain their blood circulation, I take slow steps towards the door.
I reach it in fifteen steps and then back to my original spot in fifteen again. My speed increases every time I pace back and forth becoming comfortable in the dark.
After a while, once I feel my muscles start to tighten, I take a seat at the back of the room and do some static stretching. I have no idea what kind of torture Kai has in store for me: mental, emotional, physical? I don't know, but if I can prepare myself for them then I will.
...♛...
A bright light peeks through my closed lids making me squint. I don't remember falling asleep. The last thing I remember is hearing some sort of mist go off in the room. It must've been a sedative. My hand reaches up to cover my eyes as I open them.
I stand up and look around. It's like an arena, but I'm trapped in the middle of a square with two exits and on my left, in a cage, are three attack dogs. Barking loudly, their mouths drip with saliva hungry for the taste of my skin and their eyes full of anger.
"Summer, the attack dogs are being let out in one minute. You have to find a way out of this maze if you wanna live," Cole's voice echoes through the open arena.
"Honestly, fuck you guys!" I yell at the top of my lungs. I'm not in Kai's shirt anymore. I'm now in a sports bra, Nike shorts, and running shoes. My stitches are covered by a thick bandage so the bra doesn't affect it that much.
"Ten, nine, eight..." A voice starts counting down. My heart begins beating against my chest and I know I have to start running. With no strategy in mind, I take one of the exits and take a right.
Attack dogs are smart, fast and only listen to the commands of their owner. In this case, I'm guessing their owner is one of the guys. The only way I'm going to survive this is with speed and instinct.
As the turns come, I take them. I can hear the dogs now, gaining on me. With every turn I take, the more confused I become. My legs starting to ware out as the barking starts to increase in volume causes me to almost lose my composure.
Running seems useless. With a right turn, I find myself trapped in a dead end. I turn around to go back, but instead, meet eyes with the three savage dogs.
I look around for help, but I can't find anything. The walls are almost nine feet high, so there's no way I can climb over. I look back at the dogs who slowly surround me. My chest visibly pumping up and down, yet it doesn't feel like I'm breathing. It feels more like I'm dying and I only have ten more seconds until I lose all my senses.
I look around again hoping to find anything that can help, and that's when I find a hole. It's deep enough for my foot to fit in it. I take one last look at the dogs. The canine's saliva dripping from their mouths; I can tell that they're ready for their food. Not wasting another second, I run to my left. I turn right and jump. When I'm high enough, I push myself higher by inserting my foot in the hole and push myself up from there.
My hands curl around the edge of the wall and I pull myself up in time, saving my legs from being bitten. The ledge is thin so I stand up and balance myself. I shut out the barking and concentrate on what I can see now.
The maze is large, but at the opposite side of where I was heading before, I can see cars. I can see the exit and I can see my way out, so I jump off, onto the other side, and run. I run until I find my way out.
With the three boys in sight, my feet start moving faster. At a distance of three feet, my feet glue together and I flip over the three boys. I've been highly trained in parkour, so jumps like these are easy for me.
When I land on the ground, I don't look back. I keep running until I'm inside the hallways. Heavy footsteps follow behind. One turn after the other, it feels like I'm in the maze again. When the footsteps fade away, I slow down a bit.
I take a left and I can see the exit. I'm about to to exit but Brody walks in, blocking my way. A smile stretches out on my lips and I run up to him. He wraps his arms around my waist and the warm feeling sends relief throughout me.
"I missed you so fucking much," I sigh. When I don't hear a reply right away, I know something's wrong.
<
br /> "I missed you too," he says almost three seconds later with nothing in his voice to support his words.
He did something.
When I feel his right-hand lift off my back, I knee him and he lets me escape.
Both of his hands grab his goods, in one, is a needle, "What the fuck Brody. Are you involved with them?"
"You can't run away Summer. They'll find you."
"They killed Alice and you're helping them? What the fuck, Brody! Move and let me go before I kill you."
"Then you'll have to kill me," he stands tall. My teeth grit against each other. I know I have to do what will help me, so with a swing of my right arm, I nail Brody right in the jaw. He comes back with a punch to my gut pushing me back.
I take another swing, but miss. Brody grabs my right arm in the motion and twists it behind my back.
"I taught you most of your defense skills."
"I know," I reply taking my left elbow up to his temple. He lets me go, but my right shoulder blade rubs up against another bone delivering unnecessary pain. I roll my shoulder and kick Brody on the side making him fall landing on all fours. His jacket lifts up revealing the gun tucked under his belt, and I quickly snatch it claiming it as mine. I release the safety and point it at him.
He looks up from the corner of his eyes and curses under his breath as he puts both his hands up in surrender and stands up.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire the gun?"
"I have none."
"Well, I do," I say turning around and firing the gun. The bullet hits Cole's right side and he falls to the ground just as I feel a pinch on my neck.
Fucking Brody.
The sedative takes over my body and mind making me fall back in Brody's arms.
Chapter 12
"Wake up," Kai's aggressive voice rings through my ears. My head pounds against my skull like a bad hangover as I open my eyes and find out why I feel so exhausted.
Both my wrists are cuffed above me while my whole body, below my chest, is buried in ice. My arms aching, are now a faintly tainted blue.
"I-I c-can't-t f-feel-"