Page 186 of Gift from the Stone

When he finally stops walking down the last set of stairs, my heads lulls to the side, with my nose pressed right to his armpit.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

I can only see solid stone now as we walk through a threshold. The lighting in here is blindingly bright and the chill of the room is fucking freezing, like I’ve been placed in a cooler.

Suddenly, Gish tosses me off him. Time seems to slow as I stare at the oncoming brick floor. I try to command my arms, my air, something to burst free, stop this fall, but nothing responds.

My head bounces off the stone floor brutally. The pain on my body is minimal because of the drug coursing through my veins, but my mind seems to be completely aware of it all.

My brain feels like it’s rolling around freely in my skull and my vision blurs to the point I can’t see straight. Closing my eyes tightly I attempt to breathe through it, fighting to keep myself from going to sleep like my mind is trying to force me to do.

Peeling my eyes open, I see red. Not in the sense of the rage flowing through me, but actual red. There’s blood pouring from somewhere and it’s coating my lid, making my right eye burn and water.

Gish pinches my chin between his fingers, lifting my head up slightly to get a better look at his handiwork. Letting my face fall back into the puddle of my blood, he stands over me.

“You’ll survive. Get some rest while you can, bitch. You’ll need it.” He smiles a demented and sick fucking smirk, turning and leaving me in this cell.

Between the freezing temperature and the pounding in my head, I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. I know I have a concussion. There’s no doubt and I know I’m supposed to stay awake, but I can’t. My eyes drift shut, locking themselves up tight, and I fade into darkness.

“Wake up, filia mea.”

That voice penetrates my mind in the darkness, and I try to hold onto it. I have no clue how long I’ve been out, but when I try to peer out of my eyes, it’s no use. I don’t have the strength, and the lashes on my right eye pull tightly from my dried and crusted blood.

A small glimmer of hope pulses through me when I attempt to move my knee and it twitches slightly. Or fuck, it might just be my hopeful imagination.

“It’s no imagination, Willow. The drug is starting to wear off. You need to burn through the rest of it so you can heal.”

“CC?” I ask mentally.

“I’m here.”

“How can you hear me? I’m not talking out loud.”

“So many questions. Always.” CC chuckles.

Although the sound calms my racing heart, it also lights an inferno inside of me, like a match being thrown in a puddle of gas.

“Yeah, and never any answers. Now look at me, where I’m at, with no clue what to do. Look at where you and Elementra’s non answering asses have landed me,” I scream. The anger, the hurt, the fear bubbling up through me.

There’s a tense moment of silence and for a split second, I regret my outburst because although I’m shitten, rightfully so, I wasn’t alone. Whether I’m hallucinating or not, I could hear their voice, and I wasn’t alone.

“I’m so sorry, filia mea. I never wanted any of this for you. I searched and searched for ways to make it so this would never come to pass. But that was futile. It was always going to be you. I’m so sorry.”

The sincerity in their undistinguishable voice calms a little of my anger down, but it’s still not enough. I need more. I need more of an explanation than that.

“How can you hear my thoughts? Do you have a gift like me?”

“Yes, and your Memoria stone is helping,” they answer vaguely.

“What is—”

“Please, Willow, listen. I know this is hard and I know you want answers. Answers you deserve. But we don’t have time for that right now. When I say it will all make more sense soon, please just believe me. They’re going to come here and get you soon. You need to be ready.”

“The guys? They’ll be here soon?” I ask hopefully, hanging on to that thought by a thread.

“No, filia mea, not the guys,” they say mournfully.

A shuddering breath falls from my lips and the blood clinging to my eye grows sticky as my tears try to force their way through.

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