Page 12 of Unbroken

“I’m so sorry,” I said when they were a few feet away. “Don’t scream. I’ll?—”

The syringe in his hand was long, and it disappeared when he plunged it into the side of Hazel’s neck. Her head lolled to the side before I could finish my thought:I’ll get you out of this.

In one swift and practiced motion, the man scooped Hazel into his arms and disappeared down the hallway once again. Valerie waved at me to follow, and whether I should have or not,I didn’t really consider. I wanted to follow Hazel. To get her out of it, I had to know where they were taking her.

Valerie walked down the hallway with purposeful strides and pushed open the metal door at the end.

The wind was still whipping wildly; the storm had yet to blow through. But by the time we got outside, the man was already duct-taping Hazel’s mouth and binding her arms and legs.

“Valerie, this is insane,” I said. “What the fuck is wrong with you? He doesn’t love you anymore. He is better off without you. We all are!”

She whirled on me and looked like she was finally going to lose it. But she didn’t. Her features morphed from rage to smugness that I should have recognized sooner.

“I can’t take anything you say seriously, B. God, you aresoeasy to manipulate,” she said, then glanced over my shoulder. “Grab her.”

An arm, even stronger than the other man’s, wrapped around my waist while the other covered my mouth. My strength was depleted, but I still found it in me to fight. Kicking and thrashing, I tried to bite his fingers or make contact with his shins, but nothing worked.

The other man tossed Hazel into the trunk and handed Valerie a new syringe. She plucked off the cap and walked toward me. Each step closer made her lips curl up in a cruel smile.

The man holding me tightened his arms even more, jerking my head to the side and offering my neck for Valerie to stab. Tears were flowing freely at that point, and my muffled pleas were punctuated by stuttered breaths and hiccuped sobs.

When she stabbed me, it was more than a pinch. It stung and then burned down my neck to my collarbone and up into my jaw. The whole world tilted, and if it weren’t for the man behind me, I would’ve slumped to the ground.

“That’s a smaller dose,” the other man said as my eyelids grew heavy.

“No problem.” The man behind me spoke for the first time. “I have more in the car.” I didn’t recognize his voice, but I wished I had.

“We already took care of her car,” Valerie said. “So, you should be in the clear. Just be careful when you leave the state.”

“I know what I’m doing, Val,” he said, and their voices grew distant. A thick layer of impenetrable fog was closing in on me from every side.

“What are you going to do with her?” I wasn’t sure who was talking as the edges of my vision blackened and blurred.

“Whatever I want.”

SEVEN

Blakely

Consciousness was so close.It was within my reach yet impossible to grasp, slipping through my fingers each time I tried to find it with my exhausted mind.

I don’t know how much longer I fought until I was finally awake enough to feel the hard ground beneath me and the stench of mildew and mold in the stagnant air. Each breath I took was a shallow, desperate drag of air, but eventually, I was aware enough to slowly open my eyes.

Only there was no change. I blinked again and again, but there was only darkness. Which was when the panic started.

My brain worked overtime trying to come up with the last thing I remembered. As elusive as consciousness had been, my memory was just as out of reach.

My name, I thought. Let’s start with something easy.

My name was Blakely Warrier-West.What else? I asked myself.

I moved around a lot as a kid, I thought, but I spent most of my time in Arkansas. I didn’t have a good relationship with myparents, and I was an only child, although I’d always wanted a sibling.

I continued like that for a while. I remembered the college I went to, my only childhood friend’s name, and even where I worked. The bar, Murphy’s Law, the laughter and the chaos and my friends.

After a few seconds, I was able to name them all—Amanda, Reed, Josh, James, Devon, Luke, and his new girlfriend, Hazel.

I flexed my fingers and found they were stiff. I tilted my head from side to side and winced at the pain that shot down my spine.

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