When I came to, I had no idea where I was. I felt groggy and confused. Wherever I was now was dark and muggy, but slightly damp, which made me uncomfortable as I started to sweat.
I instantly moved to get up, but went nowhere. Panicking, I looked down to see that my wrists and ankles were tied to a heavy chair, not allowing me to escape. Once again, I tried to calm down a bit and think about where I last was. I was at the Shadowclaw Library. Yeah, and then... and then Ryland showed up.
In distress, I tried to look around whatever confines that I was in and see if Ryland was here. The room was horribly dark save for what looked like a trapdoor on the ceiling that was cracked open to reveal the outside world.
As I looked up and saw that it was light outside. I furrowed my brow as I tried to think back. Wait, wasn't it getting dark when I left, and wasn't I at the library? I shivered at the realization that Ryland must have abducted me. When I tilted my head a bit to see if I could get a better look of the outdoors, I saw that there was a bunch of grass by the door. I'm underground.
It was no secret that I needed to find a way to get out of that door, to get out of this room. Still, it was futile to try to get out of this rope around my limbs, and I couldn't see anything around that I could cut it with.
I tried to scoot the chair so that I could get closer to the other side of the room and see if there was anything around that I could use to get myself out of here. After getting barely halfway there, I felt a pressure gripping onto the back of the chair and I turned my head around to see what was stopping me from moving any further.
"I see you're awake now." It was Ryland, who wore an unimpressed smirk on his face. I whimpered slightly. I didn't even hear him come down here; how did he sneak behind me so quietly? "What do you think you're doing?"
After a moment of initial panicking, I finally settled on a response and hoped that I hadn't taken long enough to look suspicious. "I was trying to, um, find a light switch. I-It's dark in here."
Ryland scratched his head nonchalantly. "There are none, unfortunately. Also, that was a good lie, but it'll take more than that to trick me."
Before I could respond to him, he dragged me back to where I was initially. My breath hitched as he stopped abruptly and leaned down to look me straight in the eye.
"Don't fucking try me again. You're not getting out of here." I flinched as he spoke but nodded in fear at his words. "I left the door open so you could at least know what time it is. If you want to be stuck in the dark with no light at all, I can make that happen."
Ryland began to walk off and climb back up to the entrance, but before he could leave I hollered out to him.
"W-Where am I?"
He paused but then decided to answer me still. "In an abandoned bunker in the middle of No Man's Land, so don't bother screaming for help. It's useless."
With that, Ryland continued climbing up and out of the bunker, leaving me alone in the near darkness. I was strapped in the chair with my only company being the thoughts running through my head. As far as I knew, it had been less than a day since I'd been gone. Luca would have to have noticed, right? I pursed my lip. I hated all of this, making him worry so much lately, and all because of Ryland.
My eyes widened suddenly as I had another thought: Xander. Even though I couldn't touch my cheeks with my hands to check their temperature, I could still feel them heating up. I wondered if he cared that I was gone, if he would try to find me. I shook my head at that. I can't get my hopes up. Even if we're connected through the mate bond, it doesn't mean that he's going to try and bring me back.
Somehow, even though our hands only grazed twice, I felt myself missing him and his touch. I wanted to see him, to know if he was feeling what I was. Xander had always been cold and distant towards me, but I felt myself wanting to know him more. I sighed, knowing that wouldn't happen anytime soon as long as I was stuck here in the middle of vast forest.
Before I knew it, it had already gotten darker. Even though I tried to stop thinking of Xander, I couldn't. I wanted to see him because then it would mean that everything was ok, that he cared about me. The feeling that I had about wanting to touch Xander again wasn't something that I'd ever felt before, but I wanted to experience it more than anything in the world.
A stray tear slid down my cheek and another one came soon after. Who knew what more Ryland would do to me, especially since he'd gone to such lengths to kidnap me. I just wanted to be safe again, but I had a feeling that this was only the beginning of my punishment.
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I can't even BEGIN to tell you all how sorry I am 😭 life hit me like a truck (my school and personal life) and I just couldn't handle it. I am still extremely busy and posting chapters won't be regular for a while, but thank you all so much for being patient with me! I'll try not to go this long again.
Also, poor Elias ♡ Maybe he's right about it only being the beginning... What will Ryland do next? If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote and comment what you thought! - D