Chapter 173: Seething Rage (1/2)

Evie POV:

I had rarely awoken with such a terrible headache before. I wondered why I felt like I had been hit by a train. But slowly, the splitting headache gave rise to another feeling. A feeling that made me want to curl up and cry anew. I was sure I was being watched. In the absolute darkness behind my closed eyelids, I heard the gasping breaths of others. It bounced off the walls and returned to me, piercing me completely.

I knew the sound of emptiness well. I had listened to the screams bouncing off it for months. It seemed like ages ago, yet it was also yesterday. How was I back here?

For a moment, I tried my hardest to focus on the tip of my toes, trying to move them slightly so that the dream would pass. But soon enough, I found myself paralyzed.

It was a dream, I told myself. How could it be anything else?

I couldn't remember when I fell asleep or where I fell asleep, but it had to be that… right?

I sucked in a deep, cleansing breath, willing the monsters away as I fought to open my eyes. Heavy. So heavy that I couldn't even try and squint through my lids to see where I was.

There seemed to be light beyond my closed lids and I was sure I was not blindfolded. Then…

I had to think. I had to think about how I got there. Why couldn't I move my muscles?

Why did my throat burn and my body feel like all the energy had been sucked out from it? I shivered involuntarily despite the heat in the room.

Evie, control yourself. Use your brain. What happened to you?

Piece the clues together and find the right answer, I screamed at myself.

Another deep breath.

Okay, symptoms. What were they? Dry and burning throat. Profuse sweating and shivers. Inability to control the body. Fatigue. Disorientation. Paranoia.

I didn't even know how long I had been there. Or how I had gotten here. So, I added another clue.

Memory distortion.

Adding these two together, I could only think of one thing that could make all of these things happen at the same time.

Cool-down from drug use.

I was not one to take drugs, therefore, I had been injected with it, or somehow forced to have it. But what kind of drug? I didn't know as of yet.

The thing about controlling your mind when your body was rebelling was the greatest struggle. You were lucid, but your brain couldn't send the proper signals to your body. So, I had to focus.

I had to let the effect of the drug completely wear off.

I didn't know how long it took me to come down, but I finally did.

I blinked before I opened my eyes slowly. The room was dimly lit but just enough for me to see the people. Half of their faces were cast over by shadows.

I noticed three others in the room. All bound to the chair very tightly. They seemed to be staring at me. I tried to speak but my voice didn't come out. I cleared my throat and gulped a little bit of saliva before trying once again.

”Hi,” I said calmly. The faces in the room were familiar.

The woman from the video was sitting across from me, tear tracks running down her cheeks. The little girl who had gone missing sat on my right side, looking at me with fear. She had no tears in her eyes, which was good. I looked her over and knew for sure that no one had harmed her physically yet.

I looked to my left and saw the man in the white shirt. His eyes acted out fear well, but my weary yet trained eyes could sense that his shirt was a little too crisp despite the obvious attempts at making it look worn. There was a small gash at the edge of his lips and I wondered how he had gotten it.

”How many people are in the room?” I said in a husky voice I couldn't even recognize as my own.

There was silence.

”Four,” the little girl finally said. Though the room looked small, I couldn't see behind me. I felt like I was being watched but I was not sure if there was someone standing behind me or it was just the drugs impairing my judgment.

”There is no one behind me?” I asked again, just to be sure.

The girl shook her head. I nodded to myself. I took another look around the room.

”How long have I been out?” I inquired. The woman opposite me looked at me with hostility. I didn't understand it at first, but when I glanced around the room, I could guess that she feared she would be killed with new captives entering the house.