I glance around, shivering from the cold, dankness of the room. Everything in
here is gray and diluted, and the light fixtures whirring above are corroded with
dust and bug carcasses. There isn’t anything here that gives this place… life.
Jesus, how does he operate in here? It looks like we’re in a morgue rather than a hospital room. I’d hate to die here, though it seems like many have.
It reeks of sterile death.
We pass by the table littered with instruments, several of them sharp. If I stab
him in the jugular, he won’t be able to scream and will be dead within minutes.
Then, I can make a run for it. I’ve no idea what the fuck I’m going to do once I
get out of here, but there will hopefully be somewhere I can find help.
With one quick glance, I note that his focus is straight ahead, intent on his mission to take me for his own. I snatch the scalpel from the metal table, but he hears me coming and turns right as I go to plunge the knife into his neck, slicing
his nape instead.
Blood spurts onto my face, and I turn away in an attempt to avoid getting any
in my eyes.
He screams loudly, turning and backhanding me once more, sending me
crashing into the unforgiving ground.
I land awkwardly on my tailbone, and I yelp from the impact. Agony shoots
up my spine, taking my breath away, and he’s on me before I can think of what
to do next, let alone breathe.
“You bitch!” he shouts, his hands circling around my neck and roughly
banging my head into the concrete.
Stars explode in my eyes, preventing me from seeing anything for several
seconds. It feels as if the back of my head has been cracked open, but the hands
constricting my windpipe bring me out of the pit of agony.
Panic takes over, so intense it feels like poison in my veins. I claw at his hands, leaving bloody scratches in their wake, but they don’t deter him. Dr.
Garrison’s face is contorted into pure rage, his pupils dilated until they’re nearly black, and his teeth bared, every single yellow, crooked tooth on display.
I thrash and fight, but his hold doesn’t lessen. And it’s then that my life flashes before my eyes like an old movie reel.
My mother, gracing me with one of her rare smiles when I say something
ridiculous. My father, lounging on his chair and yelling at football players on the
TV—the most excitement he’s ever shown in his entire life.
Daya, with her head tipped back and laughing loudly at something I said or did, displaying the tiny gap between her front teeth. Something she’s always hated, and I’ve always loved.
And then Zade. The fucking wrecking ball of a man who has brought out such
a burning fire within me that I crumble like ash beneath him. Yet, he made me
feel so strong. So brave.
He made me feel so damn loved and treasured.
Just like a diamond.
Although, Zade would never call me something as trivial and common as a
diamond. He’d call me the rarest jewel on earth.
I should’ve told him that I…
Just as darkness overwhelms my vision, only a pinpoint of light remains, his
hands loosen and something wet and warm floods over my face. Instinctively, I
open my mouth, gasping desperately for oxygen as my lungs expand.
The taste of copper invades my tongue, and I suck in so deeply that my eyes
bug from my head. It takes a few moments to process that only half of Dr.
Garrison’s head is suspended over me, a mere second before his body topples onto mine.
A mixture of coughing and a gurgled scream fights for dominance over my
throat. My eyes widen impossibly further as the mangled mess of the doctor’s head rests on my shoulder, the pool of crimson seeping into my gown. I nearly convulse from the coughing fit still seizing my throat, and the swirl of emotions
of being trapped under a corpse with blood dripping in my mouth.
More of his brain matter is on me, than in his head. Or what’s left of it.
“Stop freaking out, you’re fine.” Rio appears above me, staring down at me with annoyance and a tinge of anger.
“Get used to the sight of dead bodies, princess. You’re going to see a lot of
them where you’re going.”
Grabbing the scruff of Dr. Garrison’s collar, he lifts him up and suspends him
over my face again. Immediately, I’m drenched in even more bodily fluids and
brain matter. Barely closing my eyes in just enough time, I cover my face as Rio
laughs and wrenches the body off of me, dragging him to the corner of the room.
Finally, the pressure eases, and I am able to breathe without coughing, but then a low whimper leaks past my lips.
My body curls in until I’m a tight ball, trying not to think about how blood is
in my mouth yet thinking of nothing else.
I gag, my stomach revolting from the thought.
Something hard nudges my shoulder harshly, halting my retching. I lift my head enough to see Rio's boot, and then proceed to spit on it, pure red splashing on the black leather.
Two birds with one stone—a fuck you and an attempt to rid my mouth of Dr.
Garrison's blood.
Rio doesn't appear bothered by it, though.
“You’re going to be fine. The dude was trying to kidnap you.”
“Just as you did. So, you’re saying you deserve the same fate, right?” I hiss,
my body beginning to go into shock. I’m trembling violently, and there’s a numbness crawling up my arms and legs.
Stay calm, Addie.
Breathe.
Just breathe.
Rio laughs while I close my eyes and work not to freak the fuck out.
His presence closes in on me. I know that he’s crouched down, and hovering
above me. Warm breath fans across my ear as he continues to chuckle.
“You have a smart mouth on you, but in this world, it’s not so smart. My advice? Dumb it down until the only words you’re capable of speaking is yes, sir. You’ll last much longer that way.”
A tear drips from my eye and I feel the beginnings of a sob forming at the base of my throat.
“Isn’t that what I’d want? To not last long? Better than suffering forever, right?”
He sighs wistfully. “You’re right. You’re going to die here anyway. I guess it’s not a matter of how long you last, but rather, how bad it hurts when it’s over.”