Their Runaway Mate

Chapter Eight

Eliana POV

As my senses returned frustratingly slowly, I began to fade into awareness. It was dark. It was so dark, and I couldn't move my body. My dry, itchy eyes were covered by some rough fabric, pulled tight at the back of my head, and causing my already pounding headache to throb more violently. I was sitting upright in an uncomfortable metal chair, the slats digging painfully into my thighs, and my limbs were tied securely behind my back and to the chair legs.

My mind catching up to my predicament, I started to panic properly. Tears soaked the makeshift blindfold and my aching muscles heaved in anxious shivers as I tried in vain to calm my frantic heartbeat. My breaths started coming in pants and I tugged harshly at the restraints, the tight ropes cutting into my wrists painfully.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." I muttered quickly under my breath.

The feeling of being trapped clawed at my heart as I continued struggling uselessly with the ropes. There was absolutely no budge.

I needed to try and clam down before I had a full-blown panic attack.

Forcing myself to take deep breaths and stop pulling at the ties, I settled back into the cold chair and closed my covered eyes. Instead of fighting the feeling, I accepted that I was trapped and scared, the only way I would be able to slow the panic. Within a few minutes I could at least hear more than just my pounding heart in my ears and my breathing was much more even.

I needed to think this through.

Seeing as no one has said anything to me despite me so clearly being awake, I assumed no one is in the room with me. That's a good start. I tried to piece this together, seeing what I could remember before being grabbed.

The cocky little shit who called me Ellie and chased me through the alley seemed to be quite important in the whole 'kidnap-Ellie' mission if his brazen confidence to chase me through a public diner was anything to go by. His quiet friend maybe some sort of backup? Though he left much earlier, only after a few minutes of arriving. Maybe he was the one to prep the guys with the van? Sent in to confirm it was really me before they made their move? It was clear they did know who I was but maybe they needed to see me to double check?

God, there were too many questions.

But I didn't think this was to do with Them.

It was the same guy who had come into the diner to send a message to Sara who grabbed me, after all. And I know he wasn't involved with them.

Suddenly, a loud metallic clanging sounded in the room and what sounded like a heavy metal door opened roughly. Even without my vision, I could hear the effort it took to wrench the door open and I screamed internally at how unlikely that made my chances of escape.

"Ah, you're awake. Good. I was starting to think we'd overdone it." Came a familiar voice, an inappropriate cheeriness imbedded in the words.

Footsteps followed immediately afterwards and my body leaned backwards on autopilot to escape the threat.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my shaky voice betraying my faux confidence.

"I'm hurt you don't remember me, Ellie. I thought I'd really made an impression." The voice replied, at the same time non-too gently pulling the blindfold from my eyes.

I flinched from the unexpected touch and blinked rapidly to adjust to the artificial light. Looking around, I cringed at the small cell I found myself in; concrete walls and stained flooring which sloped ever so slightly towards a drain in the centre of the room. Right in front of the chair I was sitting in. Not a good sign.