Page 73 of Splintered Memories
I crouched down. Nausea pitched in my stomach as I reached to touch it. I knew what it was the moment my fingertips touched that red-tinged liquid.
It was blood.
28
Emersyn
Icamebacktoconsciousnesswith a gasp, my heart in my throat and my mind a heavy bog of confusion.
I frantically tried to clear my blurry vision, stared around the dim space. My surroundings came to me in pieces, sinking in like nails through a coffin, one by one forming a picture of absolute terror.
It was a small room. Nothing more than a narrow box with a bucket in the corner and a small mattress with a blanket piled on it. I was sitting on a cold floor, so cold it felt like ice against the bare skin of my thighs. I was still in my party dress.
The party.
I tried to move, but the sound of chains rattled ominously. My arms were restricted as something hard bit into my wrists. Bile burned up my throat, and I swallowed, steeling myself before I looked up.
Heavy metal chains were bolted into the wall above my head, secured to a pair of handcuffs around my wrists.
I stared at the chains and the cuffs for a long time, trying to make sense of them. I pulled on the restraints, the metal handcuffs cutting into my skin. None of it was budging. It was solid and strong.
What the hell was going on?
As tears of panic sprang to my eyes, something shifted in the room. Another pair of chains rattled that were not my own.
My head snapped toward the mattress against the wall opposite mine. What I thought had been a heap of blankets moved. I flinched away from it, tucking my legs up against my chest. A low groan sounded, a familiar noise that had my wild heart constricting in my chest.
He lifted his head, slowly turning it in my direction. His dark hair was messy and matted, sticking to his sallow skin. Eyes that I knew so well fluttered open, but they were unfocused and glassy as they met mine.
Jake blinked once; his thin, pale lips trembled. “Emy?” he croaked, and the weakness in his voice shattered my heart. “Is that really you?”
Tears welled in my eyes. My brother looked awful. The blanket fell back as he moved, revealing his thin body. His hands were handcuffed in front of him and connected to chains bolted into the wall beside him, with just enough room to lay on the bed.
“It’s me,” I breathed, terrified and hurting for the state my brother was in. But under all the panic and fear, anger began simmering. “What happened to you?”
Jake’s eyes widened. He tried to sit up, but he winced halfway and fell back.
I didn’t know what was wrong with him; maybe he was too weak to move that much.
The sharp bones of his jaw clenched as he looked helplessly at me. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said, his voice thick. “I—I’m so sorry.”
I frowned at him, wishing I could wipe away the stupid tears from my face, but I couldn’t. My chains didn’t reach that far. “What’s going on? Where are we?” I had to focus. I had to push back all the new emotions I had let surge to the surface andthink.
Jake shook his head. “He’s crazy, Emy,” he rasped. “He’s been pretending this whole time. I didn’t think that he would actually take you. You were always his favorite, but—but he’s truly a monster.”
My blood went cold. The hazy memory surfaced in my mind. Alex Cohen had held me at gunpoint, but Amos had saved me… At least, I thought he’d saved me. The last thing I remembered was being in his vehicle.
My hands began to tremble, and it wasn’t from the cold.
Alex could’ve regained consciousness and come and taken me, but even as I entertained the thought, I knew it wasn’t true.
I pulled in a breath. “Who, Jake?” My voice shook. “Who’s a monster?”
Weariness enveloped his dirty, thin face. His eyes closed briefly before he cleared his throat. “Amos.” He said our uncle’s name in a low whisper, as if the walls were listening as he spoke blasphemy. “Amos is the Shadow Stalker.”
29
August
