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He flips us and groans loudly. Now everyone knows what we’re doing. I catch an older woman shaking her head as she glares at us. But it doesn’t matter because I feel him get his tools out. A few moments later, I hear the click of the door, and my pulse jumps.
He kisses me hard and rests his forehead against mine.
“Darion, I know how hard this is going to be, if you want me-”
“No! I’ll do it.” I say and kiss his chin. “I’ve got this.”
“I know you do. Just bring back our Omega and remember that we’re all here.”
I nod and blink away the tears in my eyes. “I love you, too, Lukas.”
“Ready?”
“Keep them off my back.” I whisper.
He reaches for the door handle, turning it slowly. The door opens. My own personal hell. I feel sweat break out across my body and turn icy. I step back inside the room and carefully push the door closed behind me.
I turn and exhale, going completely still. Memories of the past drag me down into a strange maelstrom where past and present combine. I pant as I fight to stay present. I reach into my pocket and draw out the small torch that is masquerading as a lighter.
The walls are smaller than I remember, the gap narrower, but it’s just as dark. It’s so cold here, I wonder if that is a memory or if it’s real. I walk into the darkness with fear strangling my throat. What will I find? Will it send me back into that space that held me hostage? Am I strong enough for this? Fear makes me waver, makes me want to turn back, get someone less broken like Seb, someone who can feel properly like Lukas. Someone better than me. Someone that isn’t so messed up and broken.
Missy…
I remember how she loves me. How she’s always loved me. Those words that got me through. I’m enough for her. She’s seen all of me, and I’m enough.
She needs me now. I push myself forward on stiff legs. With each step, I have to force myself not to scream. I find a heavy wooden door. It seems so small, but under the torchlight, I can see fingerprints on the door handle. Lots of them.
I push it open and peer inside, my breath freezing in my lungs. I’m on a platform made out of metal. The railings are cold to the touch, and the flight of stairs is another vicious memory.
Anger rushes up, drowning out the fear. I have a scar on my knee from when I fell up these stairs. I never knew that, but I know it now. The flash of memory is unwelcome.
The stairs groan and creak under me as I move down them. I cling to the rail and take them as quickly as I can until I find myself on the dirt floor of the cellar. My eyes find the spot where Sebastian and Lukas fought and then travel to the place where my mattress lay against the cold, wet walls.
Where I was chained and drugged. Where things were stolen from me. My hands tremble.
I turn and vomit. I stand there panting and spit, before I wipe my arm on my sleeve. Steeling myself, I push deeper into the room. Huge beams stretch up, supporting the upper stories. It’s so dark down here, barely any light comes through. I shine the torch around and see chains and shovels. Cages line one wall, but they’re all empty. I turn, moving slowly, one foot after the other. Flashes of memory keep returning, trying to shred my control, but I hold Missy in the front of my mind.
I can hear breathing, but I can’t see anything. I half expect to turn the torch on and find two boys struggling against three powerful men or catch a glimpse of a groggy, thin boy standing up from a piss-stained mattress.
My torch hits on something, and I quickly send it back. In three large cages that span from floor to ceiling and from one end of the giant space to the other are several women. I approach them, seeing the dead light of people so withdrawn they are barely present in their eyes.
The abject misery that hangs off them makes me choke. I flick the torch around and find the men and boys in a cage not far away. They flinch when they see my torch and huddle together.
I’m breathing so hard, so rapidly, that my chest is aching. I squeeze my hand tight enough to make the knuckles ache.
Someone looks up and runs to the cage bars. Her fingers grip my tux.
“Darion!”
My name draws me back, and I blink rapidly before I crouch, reaching through the bars to grip Elise’s shoulders.
“Elise, no, no, you shouldn’t be here.” I pant and force myself to focus. “Where’s Missy? Is she here? Is she okay?”
“They took her.” Elise bursts into tears. “Trin was helping them, but they took Missy away. She was shouting and fighting, but they just stuck a needle in her, and she went all limp and funny.”
“Where? Where did they take her?” I force myself to loosen my grip so I don’t scare her.
Elise bursts into even louder hysterical sobs.
