Chapter 19

Patricia Flanagan

Ahard groan comes from me as I'm jostled over the arms of some madman before he lands me hard on my back. He pulls the hood off my face, then the tape from my lips, and I suck in a breath as far as my broken body will allow.

Air.

I can breathe again.

It's dark in here, save for a red glow near the door where another shadowed figure stands. The sound of a metal grate closing pings through the air and then the slam of a door, and just like that, it's dark as pitch.

"Hello?" The faint sound of another girl comes through the wall and I lift my head.

"Kim?" Her name comes out more of a moan than anything discernable, but there's a cry on the other end.

"Trish, is that you?"

"Yes," I groan once again as my entire body aches trying to discern the direction from which her voice is coming. It's so dark I'm beginning to feel disembodied. I'd wonder if I were dead, but I'm in too much pain to contest reality. "Kim, where are you?" I strain my voice and bring my fingers to my lips, only to feel moisture. My front teeth feel loose and I'm afraid if I touch them they'll fall right out. My ribs feel broken. My back is battered, and the insides of my thighs feel as if they've been squeezed to a pulp.

Let's just say Archer wasn't in the mood for an unwilling victim. Although when I settled down enough for him to have his way, it only seemed to make him angrier. It's as if he wanted the fight, as if he needed it. And he got just that.

"Trish, what happened?" Kim calls out, her voice faint but clear. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"Yes, but I hurt him back," I pant as I slide to my left until I hit a cold wall. I press my face against the coolness and lean my arm against it as if I were hugging Kim herself. "I bit him. I got him real good. My teeth, I might lose them. But let's just say, he ran off for help holding his junk in pieces."

A howl of a laugh emits, and if I'm not mistaken, there were two voices joining in the chorus.

"Good job, girl," Kim practically sings through the barrier between us. "I'm proud of you. I hope he dies a painful death. In the least, he can never hurt anyone else again. I'm just so glad to hear your voice. I'm so thankful you're alive."

I don't say anything in response. A part of me wants to ask questions about this new level of hell I've found myself in. But judging by the circumstances, it can't be much better than the hell I left.

"There's someone else here," Kim calls out. "Her name is Angel. She's been keeping me company. We're not in the same cell, but we can hear each other. She's on the other side of me. She says hello."

"Hello," I say back. "Why is she in here?"

"She doesn't know. She said someone might have thought she was being disloyal. She says she can't figure it out. But the SL, the supreme leader, he comes in with his red hood. He's taken us both."

So that's what waits for me.

I run my tongue over my front teeth and they give a wobble. They just have to hold on for a little bit longer.

There might be one more man I need to bite into pieces.