Always next to you

Chapter Thirty

NICOLE

"Stay still, you little bitch," the man growled into my ear.

The sound of his voice twisted the intestines in my stomach and I nearly threw up. There was nothing left to throw up because I refused his food. The man brought us food once in a while, but I refused to eat it in case it was poisonous.

As a result, I was losing strength. The boy and I had long lost track of how many days we'd been gone. We lost any hope of anyone finding us.

When his stomach was full, the man would come back to force the food into our mouths. I fought back, shaking my body with all the strength I had. He stepped onto my stomach to hold my body down and slapped my head with his free hand.

"You want to die? Death can't save you from me," the man said. "Even if you leave here, I will come find you so we can play together. Don't you love it here?"

"Let go," I croaked out, but I could barely hear myself. "Please, let go,"

As I struggled, I glimpsed the boy that was with me. His weak body was sprawled on the floor. He was barely conscious and with the dim light, I could see he was covered in bruises.

The boy's face was covered in food paste mixed with blood. He barely had the strength to lie down, yet he was trying to crawl toward her. I closed my eyes and allowed the hot tears to flow.

They were going to die here. Is no one really coming for us?

My body was shaking in fear. It was very warm but I felt a strong chill from within me. As a result, my body continued to shake. The only thing I could do was shiver and cry.

There was no reason for my weakness. After all my struggles, there were still people stronger than me. The room was too cold for me to do anything, so I leaned closer to the source of warmth.

Even in the darkness, I could tell that this warmth would make everything better. The warmth spread through my skin, giving me a sense of safety. I suddenly wish I could see what it was that gave me warmth.

"You're safe with me," a familiar voice said.

His voice was deep and rich with concern. Who was this person and why did I hold on to him this much? There was no way it was the boy I was with. Did someone find us already?

"Nicole, you need to wake up," the voice said. "Come back to us,"

I wanted to go back, but I didn't know how. If I was going to see that terrible man every time I closed my eyes, I'd rather not fall asleep. I fought my body hard until my eyelids opened and gasped for air.

"Oh my god. Oh my god," I cried out.

My eyes searched through the room as I tried to remember where I was. The warm body I leaned into was still holding me firmly.

"Nicole! You're safe. I'm here," the voice said.

The voice was too familiar, but I was too confused. This was obviously my room, but I don't remember climbing into bed. I looked up and my body froze when I saw who it was.

Aiden?

My hands shot in front of me and I pushed Aiden away. What the hell was I doing in his arms? My body was still shaking in fear, so it was hard to realise I was crying.

Did he hold me while I cried in my sleep?

My vision grew hazy as I heard a loud ringing in my head. Afterwards, I started hearing different voices at once. It was too hard to know which of these were from my nightmare or memories.