Destruction - The Oasis Project Book 2 (Complete)

Twelve - Linkin

I had myself barricaded in my room with the coffee table pushed up against the door in case anyone tried to open it. At first, I was productive, pacing around my beautiful cage as I tried to think. I managed to stop the bleeding from where my IV came out and I was even stupid enough to remove my NG tube by myself.

No one ever tried to enter and the longer I was alone, the deeper I became lost in my thoughts. There was a constant stream of people knocking on the door. I quickly ended up losing track of how many showed up. Everyone seemed concerned, but not enough to try the door.

I curled up in my red bubble chair and just stared off. When I first got here, the only thing which kept me going was the idea that Thierry and Stuart were free. I was foolish enough to believe that they were coming to rescue me. I never found out what happened to Stuart, but when I refused to cooperate, one of the people in hazmat suits brought me a picture of Thierry. The first day was a picture of him walking down the street, hood up. I couldn't tell where he was, but that's when the threats started. If I didn't cooperate, they'd kill him.

There was no reason for me to trust them, but the risk was too high to not cooperate. Then one day they brought me in a girl. She couldn't have been older than 14, she was crying. Her face was swollen and a large black bulge sat just under her neck. I was told the girl was a subject, a failed one. She had cancer and was going to die soon. Her larynx had been removed when it first developed, but it was too late to save her.

I never knew her name, but evidently, she had convinced a guard to help her escape so she could get treatment for her cancer. She failed and was caught, but never gave up who was helping her. My job was to get the information.

There was a lot of things I could do, but that was a line I couldn't cross. The girl was taken away and I never saw her again, but the next day they brought in a TV. That's when things started to get hard to remember. I remember my head being strapped to the headrest, my eyes taped open as images rapidly flashed across the screen. Some were random, others weren't. The more I thought about the images I saw, I could remember them all individually to the point where my brain hurt, but I couldn't remember the image of Thierry dead. I remembered flashes of him followed by splatters of blood, guns, fire. The more I concentrated, my head only hurt more.

That process felt like it lasted for days, weeks even. By the time it was over my brain was mush, in a complete overload. Even now, thinking back, I could only handle a few minutes before I got lost in my own memories, more images flickering through my mind.

To top it all off at the end of everything, they brought in an envelope. One of the faceless hazmat people opened it and made sure I could see the ring they took out of it. I would know that ring anywhere, it was from our first robbery, Thierry's and mine. Neither of us were present, but we played a role. When the score was brought to us, it was all jewellery.

Thierry and I had known each other for maybe a month at that point. We had quickly grown close, even a bit romantic. It was the beginning of the honeymoon phase, he didn't know anything about the island and I didn't know much more than his name. His drug addict past was just as much as a secret as my past.

There were two rings, both gaudy. They were matching engagement rings, his was silver and looked like an oversized bolt. He found the matching for me, it was a teardrop diamond which was large enough to span to where my ring finger bent. I never wore it, but I also never sold it. Thierry joked that they would be our wedding rings and until I saw that ugly bolt shaped ring again, I thought he had sold it. That was how I knew Thierry was dead, that was when I lost all will to fight.

I cared about Ira and Stuart, but I couldn't fight alone. Thierry was my hope to get out if he didn't make it I knew Stuart wouldn't have either. There was a void in my chest that wouldn't go away and the longer I sat curled up in the bubble chair, it only grew larger.

After so long of being tortured, one eventually forgets how it all started. I had forgotten until I saw Mato and once I started thinking about Thierry, there was no way out of that hole. Depression washed over me like a tsunami and I found myself staring down at the broken chain around my wrist, wishing I could forget the one he got for me. Thierry told me his tattoo was to ensure I knew he was always there, that I was never alone. Now seeing these chains made me feel more alone than ever.

The knock on the door made me jump and I brought my knees closer against my chest as silent tears fell. "Linkin, it's Emma." Her voice was hesitant as she called through the door. "I-I wanted to apologize about what happened. I swear I didn't know. I'm so sorry that you got hurt."

I closed my eyes and more tears fell at her apology, with my mind at where it was, it felt like she was apologizing for my loss. "Linkin are you okay?" Pushing myself from the chair, I sprinted across the room, shoving the coffee table out of the way as I opened the door. "Linkin-?" She started to ask but stopped as she saw my tears and I had my arms around her neck as I just broke.

"He was my fiance... Or he would have been if they didn't kill him because of me. It's my fault he's dead."