Deciding to forge ahead, I take a moment to gobble down a granola bar and
chug half a bottle of water, determined to eat and drink sparingly. I want to throw these stupid water bottles for nearly getting me caught, but I have no idea how long I’m going to be stranded for, so I need them.
When I dropped in here, I hadn’t really given much consideration on how I was going to get out. And now, I really regret that decision.
I look around, hoping to find something that will give me a boost, but there’s
nothing in here.
Shit.
God? Can we barter or something? If you help me get out of here, you have
my permission to knock off ten years of my life. That’ll leave me with like five years left with all this stress, and I’m content with that.
Now that my head is clearer, I can say with absolute certainty that I don’t, in
fact, want to die here.
But it looks like I’m going to.
Another bout of tears floods my eyes, and my throat tightens.
Just as I’m about to start hyperventilating, I hear voices outside of the trailer.
Inhaling sharply, I’m paralyzed with terror as I listen to two people speaking.
I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I do hear the distinct noise of a radio.
Oh, my fuck, that’s them.
Hyperventilating commence.
I slap a hand over my mouth, suddenly paranoid that they can hear me breathe
through thick steel. Glancing up at the hatch door, my heart drops when I hear a
muffled voice say, “The hatch looks open.”
Absolute terror consumes me, and the only thing I can think to do is quietly
grab both of my knives, fisting one in each hand, and head towards the far corner
of the trailer where most of the shadows are converged.
Obviously, that’s going to accomplish absolutely nothing when they open the
door and look inside, but there’s literally nothing else I can do. Not until they come down here.
The sound of someone jumping on the side of the trailer reverberates
throughout the metal and along my body, sending my heart flying into my throat.
I grip the knives tightly, shaking violently as I hear the man crawl up the trailer.
“Hey!” a voice calls loudly. The man pauses, and with him much closer to the
door, I can hear him better.
“Who the fuck are you?”
I can’t hear what the person’s response is, but whatever it is, the guy doesn’t
like it.
“The fuck did you just say, asshole? You have no business being here.”
The other person is closer now, though I still can’t make out what they’re saying.
“I don’t give a fuck if it’s not private property. Who the fuck are you to question me?”
Confused and relieved, I hear the man climb back down the trailer,
assumingly standing off with the intruder.
I try to listen past the loud heartbeat in my ears, but I can’t make out a damn
word.
Their shouting increases, though most of it seems to derive from the man who
came very close to finding me.
Just when it seems it’s about to get physical, it goes deadly silent for a beat,
followed by a sharp sound of metal pinging off of metal. A bullet? I didn’t hear a
gunshot, but it’s so hard to hear past my roaring heartbeat.
It sounds like a man says, “Fucker,” though I can’t be sure.
Eyes wide, I stare up at the hatch, my nerves in tatters as I hear someone jump back up on the ladder of the trailer.
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no.
He’s back.
A sob rackets up my throat, muffled by my hand as I hear the man loudly approach the hatch.
If he wants me to come out, he’s going to have to come get me, and there’s no
way I’m going without a fight.
I would sooner slit my throat than go back to that house. Go back to Xavier.
The hatch creaks open, and vomit rises up my throat. I’m on the verge of fainting, until I see his face.
My eyes widen further, the fear quickly replaced with disbelief.
One blue eye so light, it’s nearly white, with a wicked scar slashing straight
down through it. And one brown eye so dark, it appears obsidian. I can still see his features clearly, even with the black hood drawn over his head. And right now, utter relief is staring right back at me.
“Zade?”
“Fuck, baby, stay right there. Don’t you fucking move.”
“She’s in there?” a female calls out urgently, her footsteps climbing the trailer
now as well. But I’m too blinded by shock to pay attention. Zade drops down into the trailer a second later, his weight reverberating throughout the heavy metal.
A whimper bursts from my throat, nearly choking on relief as I stumble
towards him, colliding in a tangle of limbs.
He immediately lifts me into his arms, my legs circling his waist before he collapses to his knees, holding me so tightly that I can hardly draw in a breath.
Total disbelief has me in a chokehold and I’m heaving around the sobs
pouring from my throat. They rack my body so profoundly that my bones rattle
from the force.
“I’m here, little mouse, I’m here,” he chants. “Fuck, you’re so cold.” His voice breaks, and he rocks us both, vibrations rolling through him as he fights to keep it together.
Piece by piece, we both crumble, the chips falling around us in a waterfall of
anguish. And I just know that when Zade picks up our scattered pieces and stitches us back together, we’ll be forever entwined.
He places soft but urgent kisses on any surface of my body within range. My
head, cheeks, neck, and across my shoulders, while his hands roam mindlessly,
heating my chilled skin, though it feels more like he’s worshiping.
I don’t know how long we stay there, but eventually, my weeping dies down,
yet Zade never stops holding me.
“Addie?” a voice calls softly. My eyes widen, and my head snaps up, seeing
Daya’s face peering down in the hatch. Her smooth dark brown skin is wet with
tears, and her sage green eyes are flooded.
“Oh my God, Daya,” I croak, once more overcome with disbelief.
“Let’s get you up, baby,” Zade urges. “It’s cold, and the place is still swarming with people looking for you.”