Leave No Trace

Chapter 12

Allison

She was sitting, still tied. Alex had briefly untied her four times already to escort her to a tiny bathroom only slightly bigger than her closet. Mercifully he had stood outside the door. It wasn't like she'd had a way to escape at the time.

She certainly was trapped.

She still didn't know where she was, and it bothered her tremendously.

Mi, I'm coming back to you, I promise. She thought. She couldn't think of anything but Mira. How Mira had protected her time and time again. You can't protect me from this one, boss. She closed her eyes. Her contacts were seriously starting to irritate her eyes.

They were close to watering, but she tried to suppress the tears. If Alex came in and saw her crying, he would consider it a sign of weakness. I'm running out of time.

He walked in. He said nothing, but the vibes he was sending off were dangerous. They said don't mess with me. He was angry, his eyes flashing in the dim light.

"You have a lot of nerve" he said softly, walking over and kneeling in front of her. She looked him in the eyes. They were filled with a deep and untamed rage.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You were so careful to tell me the names of your friends. But you seem to have left one out, Miss Perry. You lied to me. And that is something I would recommend to no one." He said. His voice was still quiet.

"I haven't lied to you!" she protested, although the move likely wasn't smart.

"It was a lie of omission." He said coolly. Her heart felt like it had stopped cold in her chest. Was she breathing? She couldn't tell. She stared at him, paralyzed in fear. "You told me the names of all of your friends.... All but one. Tell me... Ally... was she worth it?"

Allison's heart shattered into shards, as she realized what he was saying. He knew about Mira. He didn't know who she was, but he knew of her. And why was he using Mi's nickname for her? Because after Mi started calling her that.... Dean had used it. Not many people knew it though. She was scared, that was certain. "I don't know what you're talking about" she said in a level voice. Don't make him angrier she thought to herself.

"Then perhaps this will jog your memory?" he said, an innocent enough saying, but she could tell that there was malicious intent behind it. He slapped her across the face, her head knocked against the wall by the force of his hand.

Her cheek throbbing, she looked at him. "You can't make me tell you!" She said, about to start crying.

"Do you wish to bet your life on that, Ally?" With that, he delivered a swift kick to her ribs. Pain exploded where his boot had made contact with her ribs. It took her breath away, the pain of it all. Mira, I have to protect you. I know you can protect yourself. But this is real danger, like we wrote about in our books. She tried to inch away, but he was having none of it. He kicked her again in the same spot.

She actually whimpered in pain, unable to stop the sound from escaping. The pain in her ribs was unbelievable. I don't think I've ever been in this much pain. Her eyes closed involuntarily, her breathing becoming labored.

But because her eyes were closed, she didn't know it was coming.

Suddenly her entire body contracted, pain blossoming and radiating through her entire body. Her muscles contracted, and her eyes flew open, the pain of an electric shock multiplied by her already labored breathing. She was about to scream, but she couldn't find the way.