Page 68 of Hear Me Roar

“Same as always,” I whispered, shrugging ashoulder.

“Would you hate me if I left you with them for anotherten?”

“It’s fine, seriously. Go get Hazel. I’ll have them wait for me outside the bathroom in themeantime.”

“You sure?” he asked, stopping us just before thelobby.

“I’m positive,” I smiled. “Go.”

With another soft smile, he disappeared through the top section of the arena to the locker rooms, leaving me with the men in black again. I turned my head toward them, their eyes on me expectantly, no emotion displayed. Asusual.

“Bathrooms,” I said, rolling my eyes as they trailed behind me the shortways.

They took their post at either side of the opening as I made my way inside past a few straggling fans on their way out. I went about my business fairly quickly, though I wasn’t in any specific hurry to get back out to them. I took my time washing my hands, then drying them. I also combed my fingers through my dark hair, and swept it all to one side, pinching my cheeks to give them a little colortoo.

Stop it, Maya,I chastised myself, because primping should’ve been the last thing I was worried about, especially when I wasn’t primping forme.

Little did I know the effort I put in would never been seenanyway.

As I rounded the corner back to the lobby, a strong arm came around my waist while a needle was pushed into my neck. I gasped, fear rising in the pit of my stomach, and struggled against my assailant, but within seconds, the world around me started fading away into this heavy black hole. All I remember after that was being thrown over his shoulder, and faintly hearing him say, “I've gother.”

Then another voice, this one very familiar, answered back with, “Don't forget the little blonde onetoo.”

The smellof saltwater dragged my eyes open to nothing but darkness. I gasped and shot up from the soft, creaky surface beneath me, cringing immediately as a shooting pain lanced through my head. My groan of protest echoed off the walls around me and it was only then I realized just how silent it was. All that could be heard were sporadic droplets of water as they dripped to the floor, one byone.

Where the hell amI?

My heart raced into overdrive, jackhammering violently in my chest as panic seized me, my breaths coming out fast and strained. The lack of light was screwing with my head. If I could just see where I was, perhaps I could calm myself enough to remain levelheaded. My hands shook as I reached into the back pocket of my jeans where I usually kept my phone, but it wasn't there, rising panic to fear in seconds. The danger this situation presented was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, especially when everything began rocking from side to side. I inhaled a deep breath, and again the smell of saltwater attacked my senses, leaving no doubt I was on a boat or a ship of somesort.

Fuck, fuck,fuck.

I scrunched my eyes by default and hugged my knees up to my chest, trying my hardest to think back on what happened earlier in the evening. But I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember exactly what happened, much less how I got here. Everything was an ambiguously blurred and I wasn’t sure if the bits and pieces Icouldsee were real or just a figment of my imagination. But then it hit me like a bucket of ice coldwater...

Dimitri.

It had to be. There was no other plausible explanation. That's when the images flickered in a horrific reel; Me leaving the dressing room. A strong arm pulling me back into the hallway as the sting of a needle pierced my neck. I felt weaker and weaker, unable to defend myself as everything faded to black. Then the backseat of a sports car faintly came into view, along with mumbled conversation I barely heard amidst the fog. I was so tired, my eyelids heavy. The last thing I saw before succumbing to the darkness once more was Maya passed out besideme.

And then, I woke uphere.

Maya…

Another frightful gasp escaped me. What the hell had he done with Maya? As afraid as I was for my own life, every burning instinct within me told me I needed to find her before it was too late. But how? Aside from being on the water, I had no idea where I was, what was around me, if she and I were even on the same ship... What if he’dalready…

No.

I couldn’t bring myself to finishing thinking it. She couldn’t be dead. She justcouldn’t.

I need to findher.

Swallowing down the terror that engulfed me, I swung my legs over the edge of what I presumed was a bed, expecting to set my feet down, but they immediately touched the ground. Therewasno bed, no box spring...just a mattress. That’s what he’d thrown me on, a mattress on the floor of an obscure room. This place had to be a dungeon of some sort, deep in the hold where the light couldn’t touch. Where it'd be easy to forget someone, and let themdie…

If I couldn't find a way out, is this how I was going todie?

I don’t want todie.

Tears stung my eyes as a shiver jarred me. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want anyone to die. But how the hell were we going to make it out of herealive?

I had no clue. I wasn’t even sure it was possible. My only plan was to find Maya. Find Maya and keep usalive.

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