Page 313 of The Heart You Kept

“Then it’s just more people to guard. Get some sleep.”

“You’re right.” I nod. “Call me if anything happens.”

“Of course.”

I hang up and walk out into the deck, I watch the lights of Monaco twinkle in the distance. A deep anxiety swirls deep in my psyche and I feel so unhinged without her by my side. One night without her and I feel like I’m falling apart.

Who even am I?

ALORA

Swish, swish…. Swish, swish…swish, swish.

Metal clangs in the distance, a hard sound, familiar and yet unknown.

Swish, swish…. Swish, swish…swish, swish.

I doze, somewhere between reality and hell. It’s dark but the area appears to be lit by a flashlight, where am I?

My heavy eyelids battle to open and I gag, whatever is in my mouth is so big that I can hardly breathe.

Help me….

I look around as I try to get my bearings. I go to wipe my face only to realize I’m tied down; dragging my eyes up to my wrists I see huge bolts have been drilled into the floorboards and I am spread out and tied down by my hands and ankles.

I pull to try and loosen them but I can’t move an inch.

Swish, swish…. Swish, swish…swish, swish.

What the fuck is that noise?

Where the hell am I? My eyes dart around, suddenly panicked. What’s going on here?

I look to the side of me and there on the floor is a blue cloth tool kit rolled open and in it a set of stainless-steel hunting knives.

Swish, swish…. Swish, swish… swish, swish.

What the hell is that noise?

I look over to the corner to see a person dressed in black, wearing a black balaclava and some kind of goggles. Sharpening a knife on a honing rod. They swipe it back and forth making the swish sound as they stare at me blankly.

Oh my god….

My breath hitches in fear as tears roll down into my ears.

No.

Panic screams through me and I struggle to break free. I try to yell around the gag in my mouth but no sound comes out.

Help me! Help me!

Swish, swish…. Swish, swish…swish, swish.

I screw up my face as I fight and struggle and pull on the ropes and try my hardest to break free.

The person in black calmly kneels down beside me and seemingly studies my face.

I frantically shake my head.