Page 108 of The Ripper

~ Knock.

Her smile flashed before my eyes.

~ Knock.

Her voice calling my name rang in my ears.

~ Knock.

Her scent lingered in the room, mingling with that of blood.

~ Knock.

She was gone.

~ Not for long. Now let me in.

CHAPTER 21

HELL WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

ARELLA

I was ripped out of unconsciousness by panic, and for a second I thought, and hoped, it had all been just another nightmare, just another uncontrollable figment of my imagination, but when I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by white walls with golden accents, I realized that this was reality.

I sat up, running my finger over the reddish sore spot on my neck, then winced when I felt the tender skin there and realized that they used a needle that was much too large, which was unnecessary, considering the place and purpose.

Uneducated monkeys.

I looked around my old room, noticing that everything was just as I left it ten years ago. They also kept it clean, or perhaps they just cleaned it recently because they were preparing to kidnap me and drag me back to this hell hole.

A bitter smile curled my lips as I looked at the big, mirrored doors of my closet, remembering how my father used to check it every time I told him that there were monsters in there, or under the bed.

He would kiss me on the forehead and tuck me in, telling me that the monsters couldn’t hurt me as long as he was there to protect me.

Little did I know that the monster was the one who read bedtime stories to me.

I slowly stood up and walked to the window, my eyes falling briefly on the nail polish heart on the carpet, which I drew there when I first painted my nails, at twelve years old.

It was almost dark outside, and the sun was coloring the sky in shades of pink and red while it slowly disappeared behind the hills.

My vision was rather blurry, and I rubbed the spot on my neck as I rolled my head around to try and wake up from the effect the drug had on me. I propped my hands on the wooden window seat when I felt my body growing heavy, overcome with dizziness, and I panted, wiping a hand over my forehead to brush off the beads of sweat that formed there only because I took a few steps.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten in my head, trying to steady my breathing before I opened them again and looked out the window.

The backyard was different from what I remembered. The swing set Julio and I used to play on was gone. Our tree house and the slide had also been taken down, and the willow in the corner looked even sadder than it did when I was little. Armed guards patrolled the yard, and I sighed audibly as I realized that my chances of escaping this place again were close to none, and tears ran silently down my face as I imagined how Grimm must have been feeling.

I was safe, but he had no way of knowing that, because I was too stubborn to tell him that the man coming after me was none other than my father.

If I told him, at least he would have known that I wasn’t hurt.

No matter how much I hated the man that helped give me life, how much I revolted against him or how many insults I spewed his way, I knew he would have locked me in a tower before physically harming me, which is why I was a little confused about his approach to getting me back here.

“I don’t know how or when, but I’ll come back to you,” I whispered as I looked at the sky, whimpering as I felt the ghostly touch of his lips over my skin.

A shiver ran down my spine just before my thoughts got interrupted by a knock on the door.

Shit.

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