At the Tone

Chapter 16

  My blood ran cold. Fingers trembling, I pulled away and hastily withdrew my phone. The dreaded number flashed across my screen and I tapped the “answer” button with my thumb. It was physically impossible for me to force words past my shaky lips, but he spoke first, voice icy and menacing.

          “You think I don’t know where you are, bitch?” he barked into the phone, “You think you’re too fucking smart for me, yeah?”

          “N-no,” I managed to stammer, nearly dropping my phone from my tremors. “I-I was just—“

          “You think I’m fucking stupid, whore?” he plowed right through my attempted defenses, each syllable stabbing a fresh knife of pain into my chest. “You think I just let you run around without knowing where the fuck you are? I’ve had trackers on that phone since I bought it for you. I know where you are every second of every fucking day. I know you didn’t come home last night and I know you aren’t there now.” he paused, relishing the terrified silence that greeted him from my end of the phone.

          “Mia, who is it?” Harry hissed, resting a hand on my shoulder to try and coax out a response. I jerked away, his touch burning my skin like hot candlewax. “Mia!”

          “Tell that little shit to shut up before I pop him one, yeah?” I waved my hand angrily in Harry’s direction before jerking a finger to my lips to silence him. “And I want you home in an hour. I’m out of town until Sunday, but if you aren’t back in an hour you’ll regret it for the rest of your miserable life, got it? You broke too many fucking rules, whore.”

          Click. He hung up. The phone fell from my fingers and crashed to the floor, fresh cracks stretching across the screen. I couldn’t catch my breath; I felt my throat constricting and my knees buckled until I collapsed to the floor in a shaking heap.

          “Mia…Mia, what happened?” Harry was beside me in an instant, his arm twisting around my waist to try and comfort me. It didn’t work. I wriggled away, a dry sob tearing from throat.  His shoulders slumped and his brow creased into a worried frown. “Mia, what’s wrong?” he insisted, his hands knotting uncomfortably in his lap.

          I shook my head, clutching my sides to try and regain my ability to breathe. I felt like the small studio’s walls were closing in on me, getting tighter and tighter until they were pressing against me on every side, squeezing the life out of me before The Bastard had a chance to take it himself. Blood roared in my ears and my heart raced a million beats a minute, fear seizing every inch of my body; I almost didn’t hear what Harry was saying.

          “You’re okay, love, you’re okay, just tell me what happened,” his calloused fingers ran over my hair and down my back, trying to soothe me.

          “No, Harry,” I spat, “I’m not okay.” My tone was more harsh than I intended and he recoiled slightly, but I didn’t stop. “He knows where I am, he always knows where I am! He knows every rule I’ve broken and that I didn’t come home…Harry, he knows everything and I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared…” my lips were quivering too badly for me to finish and I broke down, tears pouring from my eyes and sobs wracking my body.

          I’d cried more in the last few days than I had in weeks. Nothing had changed to bring on the onslaught of tears, but then again everything had changed. I was still a whore, still sleeping with men for money, but I’d met Harry. I’d spent the past four nights with Harry and I’d felt more like a real person than I had in months…maybe that was the problem. Maybe finally feeling something was what was tearing me down. In my former emotionless bubble I was unable to even fathom breaking the rules, nothing tempted me to do so and everything scared me into place. Harry changed it all. He gave me reasons to break the rules, ripped back the curtains to let in the sunlight I’d cowered away from for nearly a year…