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That was my first thought as I shivered. My body was cold and all I could focus on was the immense pain that was circling around my skull. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to my temples, intense throbbing behind my heavy eyelids as I opened them.
It took a moment for my eyes to focus and I was swamped with nausea, my stomach rolling as I tried to move. My arms were heavy as I tried to lift them, heavy to the point where I couldn’t move them at all.
But that was when I realized I couldn’t, in fact, move my arms.
At all.
Pain bit into my wrists as I tugged, slowly becoming more aware as I took in my surroundings, trying desperately to remember what happened.
The blizzard. Driving home. Wanting to tell Logan I loved him. And then Conlon pulling my hair so hard it brought tears to my eyes. But then… nothing. Everything went black and now I was…
Tied to a chair.
In a cabin.
The wooden structure was relatively small as the wind howled outside, shaking the windowpanes. My shoulders ached and the room was cold, so cold that I could see my breath puffing out of my mouth.
Stay calm, I thought to myself. Get your bearings. Breathe. Stay calm. I looked around. It looked as though the cabin was, essentially, one giant room with an unlit stone fireplace on the far wall. A dimly lit lamp sat on a rickety looking table and the furniture was scarce. All that w
as really there was an old area rug that had definitely seen better days and a faded green loveseat. I could only assume there was a bed behind me because there wasn’t one in front of me. The place looked dusty, old, and worn down. I could feel a draft coming from somewhere and I shivered, tugging on my restraints.
A soft groan next to me caught me off guard and I turned my head to the side, dizzy and on the verge of throwing up from the small movement. My mouth was paper dry and my tongue felt heavy as I tried to speak.
“Is someone there?” I croaked, the dim light not giving me much assistance as I spotted a dark, hunched figure in the corner, tied to a chair that looked similar to mine.
There was the groan again as the figure moved, turning their head to the side to face me.
“Who…” I trailed off and squinted, trying my best to focus as the stringy blonde hair and pale face came into view. “Nicole? Oh my God.”
My heart plummeted as she fully came into focus. Her face was battered and bruised with a large, swollen gash across her left temple. Around the area was purple and and dark and I feared that it was infected. She had twin black eyes and dried blood under her nose, her blonde hair a ratty, tangled mess. The jeans she wore were torn and I could have sworn I saw fingerprint bruises around her throat, but maybe it was just shadows playing a trick on me. Her lips were blue from the cold and she looked barely conscious, eyes drifting shut or rolling back in her head.
Nicole looked something awful.
“Hey,” I whispered and cleared my throat, hating how painfully scratchy it felt. “Nicole, wake up. Honey, come on. Please, please look at me.”
Her head lolled and her eyes opened. Unfocused, but I didn’t care. “Who… who are… wait. Wait, I know you, right? Logan’s friend. Jaime.”
“Juliette, but yes. Yes, I’m Logan’s friend. I need you to focus, okay? I’m going to get us out of here. Do you know where we are?”
How I was going to get us out of there, I had no clue. But I would. Logan would. He had to have known something was wrong when I didn’t come home. He would have gone to look for me, or maybe that kid from the convenience store heard me screaming. Someone was going to come for me, for us.
I hoped.
Something, I’m assuming a box spring, squeaked behind me and my spine straightened. I knew that it was Conlon before he appeared in front of me, his tall, lanky frame still reeking like cigarettes.
He crouched down in front of me and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, hey there, sleeping beauty.”
I didn’t say anything, only gritted my teeth and tried not to let my fear show.
“So brave.” He smiled and I wanted to headbutt his big ugly nose. “How pissed do you think Logan’s gonna be when he realizes you’re gone?”
I stayed silent and was satisfied when he shot me a hard glare. I was getting to him. Good. Little did he know the reason I wasn’t speaking was because I didn’t want my voice to shake, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he scared me. But he did. I was absolutely terrified.
What if I didn’t get out? There was a chance I wouldn’t.
What if Logan showed up too late? There was a chance he would considering I didn’t even know where I was.
What if this was the end? I never told him I loved him.
