Page 49 of Sacrifice

"Aribella," the rough voice makes me jerk my eyes open. Blinking, I blink at a man that looks vicious. My dang floaters blur everything, but I move quickly away from him.

I get no where. I’m tied down. Crying out, my voice is back to being barely there. It causes me to cough and my throat burns.

"Shh. It's alright. We aren't going to hurt you." Another man comes into view next to the man sitting across from me smiles gently.

"Yeah right," I smart off, but my voice is barely a rasp and my eyes go wide. Oh God, great job Aribella. Afraid more pain is going to come my way, I make myself as small as possible.

The man that's across from me shows me a bottle of water with a straw in it. "Drink slowly," he says, and I see the brownest eyes I've ever seen, looking at me with concern. "You need to save your strength. There's nothing in the water. Drink."

He sounds like he genuinely cares, but I don't trust anyone right now. They could be tricking me and giving me some kind of poisoned water.

"You are in terrible shape," the first man says as he takes the straw and places it on my lips and his smile hasn't left his face. The smile on his face is disarming, to say the least. I notice a baseball bat in his lap and he looks down. "Ah, this is my weapon. Not for you, but in case there was trouble."

Although I don’t recognize these men as Vincent’s, they reek of power. A power that seems chaotic and scary.

"I'm Ayres and the guy in the suit is Hypnos."

I find myself attempting a laugh. With what little voice I have, I ask, "Like the Greek gods?" Sipping the water, it feels devine against my dry throat.

Hypnos sits down and laughs. "Yes. Exactly like the Greek gods. By the way, we are taking you to Vincent." He releases my arms from the retraints. “We put these on just in case you moved and feel from the bench. You are safe now.”

At the mention of Vincent, I perk up a little and try to sit up all the way. I get dizzy and end up dropping back down to the pillow I was laying on.. Holding my head, I lean against the window. I'm going to be sick.

"Please don't move. We had to extract you in a hurry and I'm not sure you are aware of this, but the men were cutting you," Hypnos says and Ayres sighs.

"Sorry," I choke out, and both men look at me. Trying to curl into myself isn't an easy task, but I'm able to get into a position where I'm not so dizzy.

"No need to be sorry. You are safe and as soon as we land this plane, we're going straight to the hospital. Vincent will be there." Ayres says and I close my eyes.

Will Vincent forgive me? Do I want him to?

The silence makes me sleepy, and I yawn. How can I trust them? What if this is a setup? So many questions. I feel a blanket come over me and Hypnos tells me to rest. Getting comfortable, I have no choice but to trust they won't hurt me. It's probably stupid, but as the cool air comes on, I pass out from pure exhaustion.

When I open my eyes again, I see the bright lights and whimper. A beeping sound makes me look around, and I notice the monitor. I'm in a hospital. The smell of alcohol is prominentand I feel the cool liquid in my arm. Tracing the line from my arm, I see the IV bags. They didn't lie to me.

"Hi there," A cheerful female voice says. "I'm your nurse, Carly. Can you see me?"

I turn my head to the right and whimper as I remember the collar. Worry nags at me at the thought of the needles puncturing my skin.

"Everything that was on you is gone. That nasty collar has been off for a few hours now. You are safe." She's calm and looks nice, but so did Marie, and she turned out to be an enemy.

"Mr. Domingo stepped out to get some food. He'll be right back."

Slowly, I move my hand to my neck. I feel for the collar even though she told me it’s gone. My neck has a bandage on it and I take a deep breath. Alright, she didn't lie to me.

I try to talk, but I'm reminded why that's a bad idea when the burn makes me cry.

"Don't try to speak. Your throat has been chemically burned." She comes a little closer to me and I will myself not to flinch. "It will get better with time." Carly's smile is nice. She seems like a good person.

"You may know, Mr. Mossimo." I nod and she chuckles softly. "He's next door to you. Your visitors went over to his room when they heard a loud bang, but don’t worry your room is secure." Carly pats my hand.

"Mr. Domingo has been crazy mad, but when they brought you in, we all thought we might have to sedate him. If it weren't for his brothers and friends, we might have had a third patient," she chuckles, and my mind conjures up an image of Vincent.

Once Carly is done checking my vitals, she holds a cup of water with a straw in it for me. "You've got to drink, Aribella. Your throat needs water to heal."

As I drink, the door opens, and a man walks in. He's tall and walks like Vincent. But I don't know him and my heart rate spikes. "Hey, it's alright. This is Kronos Powers. The woman behind him is Charlotte, his wife. They have been watching over you."

"I promise I'm not here to hurt you." He keeps his hands up as a short woman comes in behind him. She smiles and comes over to me.

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