OF THE NIGHT ∘ Seth Gecko

29 | Sunrise

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

SUNRISE

SOMETIMES IT FEELS like time is dragging, and other times it feels like sunrise and sundown happen quicker than usual.

I get fewer visits, but even when those occur, I'm barely awake. Dani has left me weak and tired, and I no longer see a point in fighting to stay up. There's some comfort in this state of surrender. The floor is not the best place to lie on, yet I've grown used to its hardness by now and my body gives in to this familiarity.

Santanico is supposed to come, I remind myself every now and then. Since I can't heal myself, I hope that I have no broken bones and that my body will heal on its own with time. And hopefully, whatever Santanico is planning doesn't depend on my health or on my awakeness. I might get better on my own before she'll come for me. If she will, that is. I do start to get better gradually, but there's no denying that I'm still weak.

I'm half asleep when José and Dani walk in. They're fighting, or at least close to it judging by the tone of their voices. I open my eyes. They're both looking right at me, watching me sit up. Whatever they want, at least it might make some time pass by quicker.

Dani reaches for me and I flinch away so quickly that I accidentally put pressure on the parts of my hands that are still aching after that time. She doesn't give up even though I can hear José objecting in the background. It's a mess of limbs, made of awkward movements, and even though it's very much a losing game, I'm fueled by my urgency to avoid more abuse. All the parts of my body that haven't recovered yet quickly remind me of how much they can hurt.

Eventually, she gives up and releases a loud, annoyed sigh. We stare at each other as I try to catch my breath, and wait, wondering what's next. At this point, I don't think that they even have a purpose for holding me here. Their questions stopped and considering the information I concluded from Santanico, it doesn't seem like they were able to get to Seth.

When Dani speaks, it's directed at José and they argue. He's annoyed, she's angry; the usual. I let their words come in from one ear and slip out of the other, used to hear them talk about me as if I was not there. I would rather stay somewhat alert, yet my body hurts and I just want to close my eyes for one moment–

My hair is yanked back. The pain makes me gasp and my eyes snap open. "You know," she says, followed by a juicy curse word, "what's funny about you, is that you the biggest loser here. You and Seth take everything from us, all of our work. Where is he? Huh? He's enjoying that money. And mira (look)," Dani pauses to make me look at them. "We are fine, we make it work. But you? I can clean this floor with you. Patetica."

I can't listen to her, that's all I know, can't let these words sink in. This is not about Seth, it's much deeper than that. Dani wants to break me mentally, and if I let her do it, it will hurt every possible chance to get out of here. She's staring right at me and still holding my hair, and this forcement to keep my attention on her makes it more difficult to push away the venom that she wants to poison me with.

"Dani," José urges.

"Lo sé (I know)," she says sharply, before looking at me again. "Things will change, Jane. You see, we need money. And we take money from someone. Bad people. And then we don't need you anymore, and they... they will like the idea of going after Gecko when they have you."

That gets my attention. It takes me longer than usual to get what she's implying, mostly because of how foggy I feel, but then the realization dawns on me. It could be a lie, a psychological trick to make me talk, or who knows what. Nonetheless, the thought of me being passed around not only to god knows who, but also to use against Seth makes my heart drop.