Hot Summer Night

28 - Seraphine

I must be dreaming; all I see is darkness, which makes me feel like I am back in the home of death. My chest felt tight and smothered. I was lacking oxygen, and I felt suffocated. It almost seemed like I was locked inside a coffin or that one room I hated so much—my wooden overcoat at Chadwick's. But I was also rocking up and down, forward and back, swaying from side to side, like I was inside a box floating on water.

The constant rocking, swaying, and rotten stench wafting in the air made me sick. I try opening my eyes, but they refuse to. It's like they've been nailed shut. Same with my mouth—that won't open either. And I was dying of thirst.

My neck was throbbing. When I tried to rub the area to ease the pain, I couldn't move my arms. I was numb—completely numb. I couldn't move my legs either. I literally felt paralyzed.

What the heck happened? Why do I feel like I am? Like I'm dead?

I tried forcing my eyes to open again but had no such luck. Since I feel paralyzed, sick, and unable to open my eyes, I thought back to what I was last doing that got me where I am now and why I'm in the state of confusion I am in.

I tried thinking about where I last was, but nothing came to mind. The more I thought, the more my mind got irritated and tired, and I drifted off to sleep, hoping to sleep off whatever nightmare I was apparently in.

Suddenly, I was awoken and realized this wasn't a dream. It was a real live nightmare. When I felt both sides of my face sting, and a familiar angry voice shouting, I knew I'd been kidnapped, "Wake up, you stupid cunt."

Then a child screamed, and my heart froze, "Leave her alone!" Everything suddenly came back to me—I was with Declan and Everly at the fair, and she and I were mice wandering through a maze, trying to find our way out. He kidnapped us both.

My eyes flew open, but all I saw was a blur. The only clear thing I noticed were the eyes of a devil.

"There she is," the devil gloated, an evil smirk stretching across his face, turning my stomach even more. "It's about time you awoke. I was beginning to think I over-sedated you, ending your pathetic life before you got to watch and experience your life end before your very own eyes."

"You won't get away with this," I croaked out, my voice scratchy and strained.

"My Dad will find us! Just watch, he will find us, and he will kill you!" Everly shouted.

"Shut the fuckin' kid up," Chadwick barked out, his devilish eyes still holding mine. An evil laugh left his lips. "Never did I think you'd get along with that kid. I was so sure once you knew that low-life scum had a child, you'd never want anything to do with him—or her. The plan was for you to hate him with all your being and despise her."

"Leave her alone," I whispered, growing dizzy with confusion about what he was saying. "She's just an innocent kid," I pleaded after seeing a man head over to Everly and secure her mouth.

His lips twitched, and then he evilly laughed, snapping his fingers, summoning for someone to come to him. "Innocent, she is. But not for long."

I swallowed the vile that suddenly built in my throat. What the hell is he talking about?

A dark-haired woman appeared at Chadwick's side. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her where I'd seen her before. "See to it that Everly and Seraphine have food and water. I need them hydrated and fueled for what's ready for them when we reach our destination."

She nodded, then turned on her heel and quietly disappeared.

His gaze returned to mine, and the next thing I saw was a gun when he brought it to my face. My stomach twisted into knots, and the vile I swallowed down earlier quickly returned when he slid it along the side of my face, jaw, and lips, saying, "You will eat and drink everything you're served. If you refuse what I'm offering as you had back home," he paused, shoved the barrel past my teeth, into my throat, and threatened, "I won't hesitate to pull the fuckin' trigger. I don't need the money I'd been offered for that dirty pussy, anyway."