SWRS Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I woke slowly, my eyes fluttering, and adjusting to the dark. As they adjusted I found my kidnapper leaning against a door. I was in a small room, the lights flickered as they began to die. It was cold, my bare feet were touching cold linoleum as I sat in an uncomfortable chair. He had tied me to the chair with rope around my torso and the back of the chair. My kidnapper’s black hair looked grey in the lighting. Smoke drifted into the wind, the end of his cigarette bud glowing red with each intake. His beady black eyes scanned across my body, taking in each curve of my skin. Slowly he took his cigarette between his index and middle finger. His teeth were yellow when he smiled, chuckling to himself quietly. This scene looked exactly like the one I had seen connected to Juni.

I glared at him, my hands were bound behind me, the zip tie cut through my skin with each failed attempt of escaping. Over my mouth was a cloth tied firmly, some of my hair was entangled in the hasty knot. My feet were secured together as well; the zip tie was so constricting that it was cutting off the circulation to my feet.

My hair was matted to my face, greasy and limp from the humidity. Sweat was trickling down my back and along my collarbone. The air around me smelled sharply of mildew and urine. If the cloth was not gagging me, I would have gagged anyway from the stench.

The room I was sitting inside was not decorated and made out of colorless bricks. There was only one window; it was behind me letting in the morning sun or maybe it was the final light of day. My kidnapper was leaning against the only door still laughing at nothing like the lunatic he was.

Someone on the other side of the door knocked once. The kidnapper jumped, his cigarette flew out of his hands and he tried to grab it before it fell. He fumbled with it and caught it, yelping as it burnt the inside of his palms. I let out a snicker but stopped, noticing that someone new had entered the room. I did not care who it was, I glared at him. I could still feel the drugs coursing through my system, restricting my powers.

“This one has some spunk,” a cool voice echoed in the room. He was the leader in this heist; he smiled as he turned his head slightly to the left and flicked a lamp so the flame brightened the entire room. At least he was smarter than the kidnapper, I thought.

I shut my eyes, for the sudden light blinded me. I opened my eyes slowly and, through slits, I watched leather shoes walk closer. Each step the man took made my eyes grow wider allowing his full figure to enter my sight.

His brown hair shined gold in with the flames flickering around him, it appeared to be an almost red color. A smirk graced his face, a face so flawless, so handsome, that it left me breathless. I held onto his penetrating eyes, they were a mocking hazel brown. So this was Nergal, I thought.

I chuckled nervously behind the cloth. Nergal bent down in front of me, keeping his eyes on mine as he came to my level. His horridly beautiful face left my train of thought as remembered where I was. I glared at him, narrowing my eyes with as much venom as I could.

His eyes made a chill run up my spine. Where a second ago his eyes were a light brown, they were now a fiery red. He seemed to drift closer to me without moving. His breath on my face made me shrink away, delicately for the monster he was, he quickly ripped the cloth off my face with it still tied.

A muffled shriek came from my lips, my eyes watered with pain that coursed through my body, the drugs doing nothing to combat pain. Nergal’s hand was warm across my face as he covered my mouth with his hand. I tried to glare at him but it was hard to do with the tears that threatened to spill. I blinked the tears away, he watched me, waiting a long moment before he spoke.

“Do you know why you are here?” His hand still held my face so lightly that it felt as though nothing was there. I shook my head, afraid to answer. Maybe he wanted to kill me, telekinesis was common, I would be of no use to him. I did not know but right now, I would rather be sitting in Mr. Galvin’s piano practice than to be here, and I hated piano practice.

Nergal’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he dropped his hand and smirked. He lowered until he was crouched in front of me; his eyes were only a little lower than mine. With a quick snap of his finger, the kidnapper, his minion, moved until he was standing behind me. I could hear him shift his weight.

“What in the…” with just a look from Nergal the minion had his sweaty, smelly hand covering my mouth. Nergal’s eyebrows rose and his smirk formed into a grin.

“Do not speak, only nod or shake your head. Is that clear?” I nodded now even more afraid of what was going to happen. The minion’s hand left my face and Nergal watched me closely as I shifted my hands in the zip tie. With another look towards the figure standing behind me, the minion shuffled with something in his pocket. Nergal’s red eyes never left mine; I heard and felt a quick thrust. My hands regained the lost blood slowly. The minion had cut the zip tie binding my hands to the chair.

As slowly as I could, I brought my hands in front of me and flexed my tingling fingers. My wrists were red and bleeding from trying to escape, the zip tie clearly etched where it had lain. The color in my hands was an off white, discolored from the strain. Nergal grabbed my hands with his; they were warm and soft, not what I was expecting. If not for the look in his eyes, I would have snapped my hands out of his as quickly as I could. His soft fingers measured my hands and carefully touched my red wrists.

“I am sorry for that. I would not have had to tie you up if you wouldn’t have been so aggressive,” he watched his hands as he continued fingering my cut wrists. For a long time, he stayed quiet just manipulating my hands. He did not flinch when another burly man entered the room and set a silver tray beside him. It had a glass with some type of liquid in it.

“Ah, my sweet,” I flinched and he felt it. He continued toying with my hands, holding a bit more tightly, but his ever present red eyes stayed on mine. “You are a strange one,” one of his hands left mine and his eyes fell onto the glass. He picked it up with his free hand and swished the contents around. “You kick, you scream, you cry, and you laugh. But who am I to judge?” He placed the cold glass in my hand and ordered me to drink it. I shook my head fiercely denying the liquid. I knew it was more of the drug to suppress my powers. He sighed grabbing the glass from my hand. “Same as ever I see,” he muttered under his breath.

He took a mouthful of the liquid, and grabbed my chin with his hand. His eyes sparkled with an emotion unknown to me. The last thing he did was smirk before his lips were on mine. I gasped from shock; he took that moment as an opportunity to make me swallow the drug. It was cold as it trailed down my throat, I spit out what I did not drink once his lips were away from mine.

I had never hated anyone more than I hated the god in front of me. He leaned in close to me again, snapped his fingers, ordering his minion out of the room, and let his breath become hot on my face.

“Sweet dreams, Echo,” the last thing I saw was his taunting grin before I faded out of consciousness.