Page 41 of Reclaiming Adelaide

“Jake?” my voice shook, laced with weakness and vibrating with my increased pulse.

How long had I been out?

How long had he kept me here?

My chest tightened as a bright, knifelike pain hit me centermass and held me captive in the nothingness before me.

“Jake?” I called out again, this time desperation moving my legs.

I sat on the makeshift bed, metal bars making up the frame digging into the backs of my thighs. My hip ached as I stood, my shoulder throbbing and the pounding in my head worsening.

I put my hands out in front of me and scuffed my feet against the cemented flooring until my hands touched a padded wall.

No-no-no-no.

Am I in a mental institute? Did he have me committed? How?

My chin trembled as I cried out, slamming my fists against the wall with a muffled thud.

He’d never hear me.

I was alone.

In a box where I couldn’t see, and the only sound around me was my labored breaths and tinnitus ringing in my ears.

My lungs burned from the constant rush of oxygen, setting fire to them with each expansion.

I tilted sideways, my head swimming.

How did my head spin when I couldn’t even see which side was up and which was down? I slunk to my butt and wiped my hands through my hair. This was it. I’d lose my mind if he didn’t come for me.

Is that what he wanted?

I got up and walked the perimeter, my hands moving up and down the walls until my feet struck the bed.

Where was the door?

Where was the fucking door?

Tears soaked my cheeks as I bit my lip, fighting the fierce concentration of pain in my chest, and picked up another lap around the room until I stumbled upon the cot again.

I never knew darkness could be so asphyxiating. It stole the breath from my lungs and set my heart on a rampage in my chest.

It was thick like fog, infiltrating my lungs and taking over, preventing me from pulling in a lungful.

How was this possible?

What did I get myself into?

As I slid down the cornered wall of my prison, I gripped my chest and drew my knees up, wrapping my arms around them for comfort. I closed my eyes and took a staggered breath.

“He’ll come for me.” He always did.He wouldn’t leave me here.

I leaned my head against the padded wall and focused on my breathing, letting the calm take over my insides like a black leech crawling through my bloodstream.

A muffled metallic jiggle had me tuning my other senses to the impending threat. I tilted my head, listening for anything.

Another rattle and my body congealed.

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