Define Normal

Chapter Fifteen

I'm dedicating this one to chooseitwisely because I feel like it lol.

She's quite cool haha and if you haven't read any of her stories yet, I suggest you do :)

Enjoy!

Chapter Fifteen

I woke up slowly, stifling the urge to groan as pain wracked my body. Everything hurt and it wasn't just from the fight. Whatever Reed had given me was still running through my system, making my brain move much more slowly than usual. Silently, I cursed him for a good two minutes before I could summon the strength to open my eyes.

The room was filled with a soft light that landed on the cement walls and floor and as my gaze traveled around me, the metal bars made my throat clench. I was in a prison.

Judging from the crumbling concrete and chipped paint, it wasn’t a regularly functioning prison.

“Jade?” I heard Reed say and I lifted my head slightly to see him outside of the bars looking in at me with a concerned expression on his face.

“You,” I snarled, trying to stand but I couldn’t because there were leather bindings tied around my wrists and ankles strapping me to the bed that I was currently on in the middle of the room. “What the hell is going on, Reed?” I hissed, shooting pain going through my head and body as I struggled with my bindings.

The key turned in the lock and he entered the cell, looking down at me with concern in his dark brown eyes. His hair seemed to have even more gray in it than it had the last time I saw him and the strain in his features was obvious. “I’m so sorry, Jaded.”

“I’ll forgive you if you let me go,” I said, pulling on my shackles and wincing when the movement jostled my broken fingers.

“I can’t do that Jaded,” he said sadly, frowning down at me.

I sighed, letting my muscles relax again. I was in too much pain to keep moving around anyway. “I thought we were friends, Reed. I thought I could trust you. I need an explanation here.”

He nodded, sitting in the metal chair that had been next to my bed. “Okay,” he said quietly, his gaze level with mine now that he was seated. “I made a promise to your mother just before she died. She knew that Lemon was getting closer and we agreed that it would be safest for you to get out of the business and go live a normal life with your father.” He gave me a sad smile, memories flashing across his eyes. “She always wanted you to have a normal life, Jade.”

I swallowed hard, my heart lurching as I thought of my mother. “How about we skip to the part where you chain me to a bed and lock me in a holding cell,” I said harshly, making him wince.

He shook his head lightly, looking away from me for a second before meeting my gaze again. “I promised your mother that I would do whatever I could to keep you safe once she was gone.”

I blinked, looking at him like he was crazy for a moment. “So you locked me in a jail cell?” I half shouted, wincing as my throat protested, remembering that I’d been strangled a couple times recently.

“Would you have listened to me otherwise? You would’ve killed yourself getting to your friends and it’s best if you make a clean break.”

My heart stopped beating for a second as his words sunk in. “A clean break?”

He nodded. “You can’t go back, Jaded.”

“Stop calling me that,” I said, pulling on the bindings on my wrists angrily and glaring at him.