Spectrum (On hold)

Chapter Eight

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     Eight 

     The pain wasn't really all that bad. After a few hours of being beaten and kicked, you kind of just grow numb. That's how I felt. Numb. Freezing. Hopeless. Defenseless. 

    RJ and the men stood in the center of the room, occasionally glancing back at me, chained up with shackles in the corner. At first, when they chained me up, I had been terrified. Then they had started questioning me about Alec and Andreale; of course, I said nothing about either of them, which resulted in some pretty brutal beatings. By now, I already had a bloody nose, a black eye, most likely a broken ankle and the skin on my wrists was rubbed raw from trying to yank out of the shackles. RJ turned and stalked up to me, flanked by two other men, breaking me out of my trance. 

     "Now. I'm going to ask you one more time," RJ purred. "Who are the Nephilim you've been spending so much time with?" 

     "And I'm going to ask you one more time. Who the hell are you and what do you want from me?" I retorted. RJ bent down, giving me an impish grin before clasping his hands around my throat. As air started to escape from me, my head started feeling heavy. But I wouldn't say anything. He couldn't make me. Even if Alec was trying to kill me, nothing in the world would make me intentionally put him in danger to save myself. I was here to protect him. I would do my job. 

     "Tell me!" RJ screamed, digging his nails into the sides of my neck. It stung, bad, as I felt warm liquid run down the length of my neck from underneath his fingernails; blood. I could feel my heart flailing wildly as my lungs struggled to intake air, and my whole chest began to burn. Then it was over. RJ let go, stood up and kicked me hard in the stomach, causing me to double over in pain. I gasped, trying to get back the oxygen that RJ took from me. 

     "Fuck you," I whispered as audibly as I could manage.

     "Fuck you, you good for nothing, worthless bitch," RJ spat, turning on his heels to rejoin the other men, his little minions following close behind. I wanted to demand what my father had to do with them at all. Even though he had betrayed me, he wouldn't do this to me, would he? 

     I leaned my head against the concrete wall, tears escaping the corners of my eyes silently. My neck was still throbbing, but the blood had stopped, starting to dry down the left side of my neck. Staring out the large windows, I could tell that the sun had set long ago. It must've been two in the morning, at the earliest. I was supposed to be at school, protecting Alec and killing Andreale, in less than six hours. It was supposed to be the day that I got Vanessa out of this whole mess, away from Andreale and the world of angels and demons. And, yet, here I was. Maybe RJ was right. Maybe I was completely worthless. 

     After a couple more hours, and a few more interrogations that resulted in beatings, I saw the sky outside turn from black to the lavender color of dawn. I'd been here all night. No change. The fear that was twisting in the pit of my stomach started to shift. Suddenly, I wasn't fearing for my life. I was fearing for what they would do with me if they didn't kill me. How long would they keep me here? What would they do to me if they did get the information they wanted? Surely they wouldn't just let me go. Would they keep me forever, as some kind of bait or bargaining item? Would Alec even care if they did? The thoughts whirling around in my head made me sick to my stomach and I was afraid that I was going to have to throw up.

     "I'm starving. I'm going to go get breakfast. You can all come with me," he called over his shoulder. The men started following until RJ turned around. "Except you, Dwayne," RJ pointed out a large, burly man with a bald head and nearly black irises. "Make yourself useful and stay here to watch the girl."