Their Thief

Fifteen

Damaris Rana

My head throbbed and felt groggy. My eyes were still closed, but I can hear voices near me, confusing me because they don't sound like anyone I recognize.

I feel sparks of pleasure beginning at my hand and on my left side, spreading from those points to the rest of my body. Like electricity, they jolted me as everything came back to me. The three brothers, the torture, the escape, the motel, the two men, and Simon.

Simon!

My hand twitches as my mind races with worry for him and what they may be doing to him. I dragged him into this, it's all my fault. I can't live with myself if something happened to Simon, especially knowing that I'm the cause of it.

My heavy eyes slowly flutter open, fighting against the grogginess in my head. I'm momentarily blinded by sunlight before taking in the fizzy looking white ceiling above me. My eyesight is blurry and unfocused for a moment before it adjusts and I can scan my surroundings. My eyes immediately lock onto cold blue ones that are at the foot of the bed that I am lying on. My heart starts beating erratically as I look to either side of myself in a panic, locking eyes with green and grey eyes.

I jerk my hand from Jace's hold while pushing Luca away from me as I crawl backwards until my back meets the headrest of the bed. I pull my knee up to my chest trying to put as much distance as I can between myself and the three monsters surrounding me. My movement brings my attention to something cold and hard wrapped around my ankle. Looking down I realize I'm chained to the bed I'm on. I wrap my arms around my legs tightly and keep my head down, my hair curtaining my face as I shake in fear.

My hair...

My eyes widen as I realize I'm not disguised as Leo at the moment. Suddenly, waking up surrounded by the three monsters while chained to a bed sends a whole new level of terror through me. I hug my legs tighter as my shaking worsens and a whimper of fear involuntarily slips through my lips. I slightly look up and flinch as I see movement coming from the bothers on either side of me.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay, we aren't going to hurt you," Jace says as he and Luca back up with their hands raised in a surrender motion. "Never again," he whispered.

Lies.

I'm not stupid enough to believe such blatant lies. All I've know from them is hurt, it's the only thing they have done to me. It's the only thing anyone ever does to me, hurt me.

Except for Simon.

I open my mouth to ask about Simon, to make sure he's okay, but I snap it shut immediately. I can't let their attention go to him. What if they want to hurt him too? If I ask about Simon, they will know I care for him. What if they want to hurt me so bad that they would use Simon to do it? I can't let that happen.

While I'm in my head preoccupied with my dilemma, the three brothers simply watch me. Luca and Jace have expressions that are a mixture of guilt, sadness, and longing that I don't understand while Alec has the same cold, emotionless expression that I've become accustomed to seeing on his face.

"What's your name, Love?" Luca asks me in a gentle voice. "And don't lie to me this time," he continued, a slight threat laced in with the gentleness.

I don't reply. I keep my eyes locked on the metal cuff that's locked around my ankle, holding me captive. I need to follow my rules. I don't want to upset them, they have a new way that they can torture me. One where I would rather die fighting than let them succeed.

Realizing that he's not going to get a reply from me, he lets out a disappointed sigh. No one says anything. After a few minutes of silence, Luca and Jace snap their heads towards Alec, aiming glares at him.