Page 51 of Hiding Secrets

You have, and will always be,myEden.

Shit.

I open my eyes to see the edges of my vision tunneling, becoming hyper aware of the way my lungs burn with every inhale and exhale.

“Elliott?”

I slam my hands over my ears and rock back and forth.

“Hey!” Hands land on my cheeks and my eyes are met with dark brown hues. My hands fly to their hold to remove them but they won’t budge. “Elliott, keep your eyes on me.”

Marcus?

His words sound far away with the pounding of my pulse in my eardrums. Why is he here? I don’t need him to see me like this.

“I have to go.” I stand and he parrots my motions.

“Come with me.” He grabs my hand in his before I can protest.

Whore. Whore. Whore.

Offer a sacrifice for your sinful ways.

The moments blur as Samuel's voice keeps reverberating in my skull, but when Marcus stops, I let my eyes scan to see where he brought me. It’s the gym I saw him in a few days ago. He lets go of my hand and walks to a shelf in the back before returning to me.

I step away from him, “I need to go.”

I need to get out of here before he sees me absolutely lose it. Where’s Hunter?

“Just humor me.” He grabs my hand and wraps what looks like a gauze around my palms, I flinch as he tightens it. “Your mind racing?” He asks me as he continues his work, not looking at me. “Your heart is pounding out of control? And you want to run? How’s your breathing?” Only then do his eyes connect with mine again.

“I–I can’t breathe.”

“Yes, you can. Take a deep breath.”

“I–” He finishes with my hands then drops them out of his hold, walking to the side of the room and stopping behind a punching bag.

“Come here and punch this.”

I shake my head, “What?”

He rolls his eyes, “I don’t know how else to tell you to punch this thing. Come punch it.”

“Why?” I say with a shaky breath.

“It will help. You're spiraling and having a panic attack. I know them all too well.”

My head tilts, wanting more from him but of course it’s Marcus and he doesn’t providemore. And in all honesty, I don’t have the energy to push him for it.

I walk up to the bag and he pats a spot, egging me to try it out. I give him a small jab and it barely moves.

“I know you got more than that, princess.”

“I don’t need to punch something, I need to go.”

“You need to punch something…someone. Picture this bag as whatever you need it to be.”

“And how do you know Ineedthis?”

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