Page 47 of Psychological War

Tossing the blanket to the side, my body protested from the sudden movements. But my bladder screamed at me more. Shoving through the pain I shifted to the bathroom, flicking the light on. My eyes squeezed shut at the bright overhead light.Why does someone need such a bright light?

Shaking my head, my eyes finally adjusted. Walking to the toilet, I relieved myself, hissing in pain as the tip of my dick burned. Small amounts of blood dripped into the toilet bowl.

What the fuck?

Scanning the bathroom, I saw a double sink, white countertops, brown cabinets, and two single mirrors above the sinks. To the right of the toilet was a large walk-in shower, with a waterfall shower spray, and a glass shower wall with two frosted windows inside the shower. There was a black honeycomb tiled floor, with a brown ceiling, and white walls. Against the wall right next to me was an oversized clawfoot tub.

Deciding to shower, I turned the water on, waiting for it to warm up. Stripping off my clothes, my eyes snapped to the bruises littering my midsection. No wonder my ribs ached; my whole stomach and ribs were black and blue. My arms were a little better, but still bruised. I took in the bruises covering my entire face. I looked like shit. The cuts and bruises looked like someone used my whole body and face as a fucking punching bag. My lip was split open pretty badly, and my nose was nearly broken.

Stepping into the shower, the warm water soothed my beaten body a little bit.

Washing my severely bruised body, I tried my best to wash my hair but ended up giving up when I could barely lift my arms up. I could get Mila to was—

Salem.

I couldn’t believe I completely forgot what happened. The dinner. Dimitri wanted to murder her on the spot. Salem killed those men in the dining room. Running downstairs… I jumped.

“Leave him alone!”Her raspy voice broke when she screamed. As though it pained her to see me like that. I can’t believe I forgot. I woke up in a strange room and didn’t think twice about it.

Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped the towel around my hips before I realized I had no clean clothes, and I didn’t even know where the fuck I was. Opening the cabinet, I found a good amount of medical supplies, gloves, and urological equipment, used for catheters. Gauze, medical tape, strips, even wound cream, along with bandages for wrapping ribs and such. Opening the other side, there were even more medical supplies, including needles and syringes. On the other side held a small basket of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and some other bath toiletries.

Thank god. Grabbing the toothpaste and brush, I cleaned my teeth more forcefully than needed. But my damn mouth was disgusting. Once I felt my mouth was clean enough, I set the brush down. Opening the middle drawers, I couldn’t stop myself from snooping. I found a hairbrush, hair ties, and a few headbands. I was about to close it when, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the pill bottle. Picking it up, it readSalem Gray, March 30, 2001.

Salem was young, a lot younger than I thought. I winced, thinking about the fact that I’m eleven years older than her. It’s not a huge age gap, but eleven years… Fuck.

Glancing down at the clothes on the floor, I don’t remember wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. Someone must have put them on me at some point. Taking more time than I cared to admit, I finally got the pants on. I could barely lift my arm, but I managed to get the shirt on after a few tries, finally letting out a breath I was holding. I can’t remember the last time I was this sore or let someone get the upper hand on me.

Finally making my way to the door, I opened it carefully, peering outside. Turning left since it was the only way to go, I followed the hallway down. The walls were off white, with a few pictures hanging of random art. Two more doors on the left-hand side, but both were closed. Rounding the corner, I took the set of stairs.

Groaning as I took them down, the bottom of the steps led me to the living room. A large black sectional couch sat in the middle with two similar recliners on either side. A flat screen TV was mounted in the middle of the wall, along with a few art pieces.

Low voices sounded to the left through a doorway. Inching closer, I could make out Mila’s and Tobias's voices.

Stepping into the kitchen, I found Mila and Dimitri sitting at the blue gray island. Dimitri sipped on his coffee while Mila began cutting a piece of a pancake up.

Mila looked up as I stepped inside. “Oh, Zane, you’re finally awake!” she squealed a little too loud and high pitched.

Groaning, I slowly made my way over to the kitchen table on the left side. There was no way I’d be able to get up on one of the barstools.

“Want me to get you some coffee?” she asked putting a plate of bread in front of me.

“Uh, please,” I mumbled, looking down at whatever she put in front of me. It looked weird.

“It’s banana bread. Salem and Tobias made it yesterday,” Mila again cheerfully said, setting

a steaming cup of coffee in front of me. “Be careful, it’s hot.” I rolled my eyes—like I couldn’t see the steam from the cup.

“I’m confused,” I blurted out. What was I confused about? That would be everything.

“Where are we?” I asked, pausing to take a sip of coffee and immediately hissing. Yes, it was hot, but the goddamn sugar. “Mila,” I growled out.

“Nope, no sugar promise,” she said, holding her hands up in surrender. “Salem just loves anything sweet, even more than me.”

“Uh, what?” My eyes flickered between them. Scanning the room, the kitchen was basic, farmhouse style. Tall ceiling, large kitchen island in the middle, dining table to the side, back door on the far wall.

“This would be Salem's house,” Mila spoke with uncertainty.

“Salem’s house?”

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