OF THE NIGHT ∘ Seth Gecko

27 | The In Between

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE IN BETWEEN

DISCONNECTED, THERE'S NO better word to describe my state whenever I'm left alone. I lie there like a rag doll, waiting for the next time someone will come and play with me. I'm picked up and thrown back down whenever Dani and Jose get tired of repeating the same questions. They don't succeed in making me talk, but they're good at making me suffer, I'll give them that.

There's frustration and worry inside of me, yet these emotions slip away easily, and I can only feel them hiding in some far corner of my mind. That, at least until the next time that either Dani or Jose will come to interrogate me, and I'll be a bit closer to my usual self for some time. Ironically, some of the words that are being said to me help me keep a connection to the real world, to my life before this. I hear those words so many times that I start to treat them as mere reminders of who I am and where I came from.

"Where is the money?"

"Where is Seth?"

"Who was the other girl with you?"

My body hurts, that's a constant. My hands are repeatedly twisted away from me to stop me from using any magic. It makes sleeping feel like anything but resting thanks to the pain that refuses to leave my body.

"I can do this all day, give you hell," Dani says at some point. Jose is standing behind her, observing me with an uncomfortable look on his face. "See how much your friend likes that when he sees you."

So there's a plan, I note to myself. "Whatever does it for you," I reply with a forced smile. "Especially since I'm done talking, so at least I hope you'll have a good time."

Her face twists into a furious one and I seem to spot a hint of desperation, yet it becomes a distant memory when she slaps me, the force of the hit making me fall onto my side. I don't know how long I've been here, but I can't blame her for thinking this would be easier. Dani yells something incoherent at me. I say nothing. She says it again, a bit slower but her voice is still loud. Nothing. The words fly from her mouth several more times with no result. Unfortunately for her, not only did I mean what I said, but I also feel that speaking would require too much effort from me.

Eventually, I watch as the duo leaves the room once again, and the haziness crashes back into me when the door closes. In an attempt to keep my head above the darkness, at least for a bit, I try to talk to myself internally: Stay here, stay, stay in this moment. I'm June Dawson, I'm taken, I need to get out of here, I'm a witch, I've been traveling with...

The state of my mind plays against me, and I feel like I'm on a fragile boat in stormy waters, about to be crushed by the waves at any possible moment. Get out, get out, out, out, out. Moving feels incredibly slow and challenging. I lie on my stomach, so my hands are more or less directed at the door. Then, I set my gaze on the door and focus.

After however long in here, I'm still not sure whether I'm too weak to use my magic or if it's gone somehow. So, now should be the moment of truth. I try to squeeze my fingers, which takes a great effort and physically hurts. I want to believe that I managed to move, but I don't feel my magic moving through me.

Come on, I beg myself. I have to think that my main way out is by me doing something to get myself out. However, the more time passes, the more hope begins to fade. Nothing's happening. I can't sense my magic and everything about the door seems perfectly normal. If I'd had any effect on it, it would have been up in flames by now.

I refuse to believe that my magic is gone, there's no way, but I still fear this option. The possibility makes me feel like I could lose a part of myself. My eyes swell up with tears from both the tiredness and my thoughts. I keep trying and trying, yet with time the little hope that I have fades, and eventually, my body surrenders back into unconsciousness.