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10
Bianaca
Iblinked at him wordlessly.
The sky continued to fall apart around us, but Tanner held my entire attention. My mind was a hurricane of emotions, not one of them pleasant.
But was there any storm that was?
“What?” I whispered. His words replayed in my head. I tried to focus, tried to understand, but the meaning repeatedly slipped through my fingers. Half of me wondered if he was crazy while the other half wondered ifIwas crazy.
“Well, it’s not technically hell—at least, we don’t think so.” His face turned contemplative. “We don’t really know where we are. Hmmm, I should probably ask Kace to research this stuff. He’s smarter than me. Not as smart as Aiden but—”
“Cut the shit, and tell me what’s going on,” I snapped. Trembling, I forked my fingers through my hair. My wet curls clung to my scalp, incapable of being tamed at the moment.
Tanner didn’t spare a glance at Beau. His attention was fixed on me, eyes locking with mine in a silent battle.
“Short story, little gymnast, is that none of us fucking know what’s going on.” He paused, straightening himself from the wall and stalking toward me. “Let me guess? You have a vague memory of being handed a pamphlet by someone you love, probably an authority figure, before being shoved into a taxi. Next thing you know, you end up here. Am I right? You barely remember anything else from the last few weeks besides that. Did I hit the mark?”
His words paralyzed me, cementing my feet to the ground. The sheer absurdity of his statement combined with my own hammering heart made me suddenly dizzy.
I staggered, only being kept upright by Beau’s hand on my arm.
“I can see in your eyes that you know what I’m talking about,” Tanner said. “For me, it was my grandma. What about you?”
“My mom,” I stuttered out. Her face flickered in my mind, that small, sympathetic smile she wore as she handed me the pamphlet. Her soothing voice. The gentle nudge on my back as she placed me and my luggage in the taxi.
Forgotten.
For the first time in my entire life, she made me feel forgotten. Unwanted. Unloved.
I brought my fist to my forehead, attempting to regain some semblance of control. The more I tried to think about my acceptance here, the fuzzier the thought became. It continually trickled through a filter until I was only left with large, confusing pieces. Not enough to make sense of this puzzle, but enough to make my mind wander.
I wouldn’t have believed him normally. A part of me refused to, clinging to the hope that there was some rational explanation.
But one look at Beau’s stricken face confirmed my deepest fear: Tanner was telling the truth.
“I can see the wheels turning in that pretty head of yours, little gymnast.” Tanner leaned once more against the pillar, propping his chin onto his hand. Was his nonchalance an act, or did he really not give a damn? “Care to share with the class?”
“Oh fuck off,” I mumbled.
“We don’t know for sure what, exactly, is happening. It could be an experiment. Could be hell. Could be something else entirely.” He leaned closer suddenly, hot breath stirring the hair by my ear. “Or, we could just be fucking with you.”
I pulled away, body rigid.
“What exactly do you mean?”
“There are some drugs that cause hallucinations.” This was all said apathetically accompanied by a shrug of broad shoulders.
“Drugs…” I whispered dizzily. I recalled Aiden stepping up to me in the cafeteria. Walking me back to my seat. He had stood so close that the heat he emitted was almost palpable. Was it possible he had done something to me? Placed a drug in my spaghetti?
Beau had gone still beside me. His muscles flexed, jaw clenching.
“You son of a bitch!” I pounded a fist into Tanner’s shoulder, but he merely laughed. The sound was not jovial.
“I never said we did that,” he pointed out. “I’m just saying it’s a possibility.”
My brain fired at a rapid pace, desperately trying to cipher through all the information I was given. Anger, blistering hot, pooled low in my stomach, threatening to burn me from the inside out. I had been so damn stupid.
