Waking Up to Nothing Part 6

They dragged us with our hands tied by a natural rope that rubbed our skin raw. Faint silhouettes of people were visible through the covering as we walked behind our kidnappers. My dry mouth clung to the suffocating material, and the sun blaring against our dehydrated skin did not ease the burning pain.

Initially, we weren't forced to wear these. As we became within miles of their hideout, they covered our eyes to keep us from having any sort of direction. Everything smelled like decay or fire, so it was hard to determine where my anxious feet were traveling. It was terrifying knowing each unwilling step was pressing me closer to my impending death. Blindfolds and the gruesome sounds of flesh-eating monsters created white-hot fear that melted my bones into the icing of our lethal cake.

There was no plan. I was disoriented trying to force my mind on something that could save us, but our current predicament left me with a constant blank. Even if we escaped their clutches, we had to risk being weaponless on an unfamiliar pathway teeming with Zs. Right now, the only logical plan was to follow their orders.

I didn't regret my decision, though I was not sure if there was enough room to feel regret. Gaige was going to lose his children if someone didn't step in. I didn't want any harm to come to him or his children, but I also didn't want it to be at the cost of my life. I pondered if that made me selfish or if it was instinct for self-preservation. I wish I could see Grace for some sort of acknowledgment that she was surviving.

Before the blindfolds, we were able to read each other's expressions and mannerisms, check in with each other. Now we had to trust our guts to get us to their hideout before we could come up with anything. To restrain myself from doing anything rash, I concentrated on my breathing and matched it with my pace. It kept my mind occupied and settled the chaos in my nervous system.

I wasn't sure of the distance we covered. When we finally reached our destination a tiny part of me was relieved. We were no longer aimlessly wandering around in the open with no grasp of our surroundings. The sound of a padlock being removed echoed in my ears before I was ushered inside the building. The dry, rotten air shrunk in my lungs. It was hard to breathe and I had to adjust my breaths so the cloth wouldn't cling so tightly to my chapped lips.

I was shoved forward, barely catching myself, and suddenly the blindfold was snatched from my eyes. There was little light in the dim area, only ignited by the small tears in the blinds. The distorted shadows led me to a vacant wall that allowed me to take in the scenery. The house was primarily vacant with little furniture, damaged wood flooring in some areas, and peeling white paint in others. Broken appliances were strewn across the floor, and the exposed ceiling provided little hope it could withstand another day. A spiral staircase, riddled with debris led to an upstairs with half-open doors to more empty rooms.

My gaze flew to Grace who was shaken but on her feet. Her tan skin appeared pale and sallow. The bruising process had begun in some areas, which only furthered my animosity. I wanted to end them instantly for abusing her, for kidnapping us for this bullshit. Yet, a very dark, sinister side of me that I'd never encountered before wanted to torture them slowly one by one. It bubbled like the hottest magma as I watched one of them smack her so hard across the face, droplets of crimson colored the floor when she spat. Then, the leader, the one who tried to take Gaige's daughter, stood in place for his turn.

His enormous frame made her appear miniscule like a child. He towered over us, everything that screamed intimidation exuded from his pores. I was nearly consumed by the urge to piss myself from the intensity. The burly man sucker-punched her in the stomach, and I inhaled sharply, letting a single tear slide down my cheek. Fear was an understatement. Every impulse screamed at me to run, yet my feet remained planted on the dusty wood flooring.

It was all about authority. The fire in Grace's soul did not fizzle out. She kept her mouth shut, nostrils flaring as she squared her shoulders and stood to her feet. When she lifted her head, a trickle of blood flowed down her face from her nose. The man snickered and instructed our assailants to take us upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms. With our hands still tied, we followed their instructions. The wooden planks that held the steps in place were soft with deterioration. If we weren't careful, we could all slip through with ease.

Since it wasn't as simple to climb the stairs like a normal home, they took their time to berate us with cruel remarks about our bodies that insinuated they wanted to abuse us again at their first opportunity. It felt as if we were making it by the skin of our teeth, but I refused to let any of these men touch us any more than they already had. Teeth sinking into my lower lip, I began to subtly take in the rest of the house, searching for an escape or a weapon. We were spared of their harassment by the time we made it to the top. Though they promised they'd return.

Once enclosed in the room, we were left with armed guards outside. The window was boarded with two thick planks, and just enough space between to see there were more guards at the bottom waiting for us even if we jumped. The ones outside our door spoke lowly, muffled. Grace rushed to me, swarming me in her embrace. We held each other, silently crying and wiping tears for the other. We couldn't allow them to know anything we were doing, so we relished holding each other close knowing the other was alive.

When we separated, I crept to the wall trying to listen to the guards for any clues. Their voices were still suppressed but the tone expressed they were in high spirits. I vowed to kill as many of them as I could before it was all done with even if I lost my life. Though, the bubbling magma would have to simmer before I could put that in motion.

Food was already scarce, so when our bodies started to crave food there was little we could do. Had we not been stripped of our items, we could have each munched on an apple by now. Grace mentioned her sisters and Carmelo more than once. There was no way to reach out to them to let them know we would not be returning as anticipated. We approximately had two days at most before they assumed something happened to us. We needed to come up with something to escape quickly.

Sitting by the window, little sparkles of sunlight peeking through the boards, I let my head fall back against the wall as I tried to manifest an exit route. Except for the bed and debris, there was nothing else in the room. Part of me waited on edge for a critter to skitter by.

"Do you think there are others here, too?" Grace whispered from the bed. She'd been nursing a headache that felt like fire ever since she was hit the first time. The repeated hits that strung along after only ignited the flames.

I didn't answer her question right away. My soul ached for her because she did not deserve any of this. "I'm sorry, Grace."

Her brows furrowed. "Huh? For what?"

My shoulders moved in a lifeless motion. "Everything, I suppose. Maybe if we didn't meet, you wouldn't be here with me. You'd be home with your sisters and Carmelo."

Her lips ticked upward in a show of a small, toothless smile. She pat the space beside her, inviting me to lie next to her. Our faces were close together like lovers, our warm breaths brushing over the other's skin.

Wrapping her delicate fingers around my skull, she brought us even closer. I could see the red, angry marks on her skin. I couldn't help softly running my hands over them, touching the heat that radiated. Searching the rest of the visible skin, I could see that her wounds were raised. The trauma she'd suffered in front of my eyes brought on another round of tears. I covered my mouth to quiet the crushing sound.

Still smiling gently, Grace said, "You cry for me as if you haven't been hurt, too. We've been hurt the same."

I was already shaking my head, sniffling. "Grace, he wants to torture you. He wants to kill us."

"Perris, you are my sister," she said, her tone hushed from the outside world. She curled strands of loose hair behind my ears, lightly cupping my face, the same side where I'd been slapped. It still stung and was starting to swell. "This life doesn't give us many options for a future anymore. I don't want us to cry for each other, but fight for each other. We continue to fight because it's the only way to survive."

I shut my eyes. It was inexplicable trying to understand what this was all for. Jumping in to save Gaige did not make me any less afraid to die. I was facing an extreme internal dilemma realizing I was also getting further away from my goal of finding my little brothers.

Gathering myself together, I sat up wiping my face. Grace followed, keeping her arm around my shoulders. It was an amazing release of what crying could do. The mental roadblock I'd been cursed with since the start had been lifted. The fog was being lifted as my mind sharpened its blade. I swallowed, staring off into the distance fixating my eyes on the closet as the gears in my head formulated an escape.

"Grace, we have to get the fuck out of here."

She smirked, squeezing lightly. "That's fucking right, Perris."