Page 82 of Splintered Memories
Amos pulled his phone from his pocket with his free hand. He stared at the screen, frowning. He watched the screen until it stopped ringing. His mouth puckered as he typed something.
Amos glanced back at me. “I’ll be back.” He swiftly stood, pocketing his phone. He pointed the sharp end of the knife at me; my blood glinted on it. “I have a rather interesting guest, it seems.” His brows rose, and a ghost of a grin returned to his lips.
He turned, pressing his thumb against the pad on the door until the thick vault unlocked. He pulled it open and disappeared, securing it closed behind him.
I stared at the door. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but my pulse was still roaring in my ears when I heard my brother faintly calling my name.
My gaze shifted to him.
He was up on his knees on top of the mattress, pulling on his chains to no avail as he called for me. “Emy, are you okay?”
His words finally burst through the fog in my brain. He looked so scared as he stared at my thigh.
The pain was dulled by the adrenaline, but as I looked down at my wound, I sucked in a breath. A shallow puddle of blood had formed on the concrete floor beneath me. The bleeding was gradually slowing. The cut wasn’t deep enough to be life threatening, but it was gruesome anyway…my skin flayed apart. I would probably need stitches to heal.
If I even got the chance.
My head snapped back up to Jake. “I’m okay,” I assured him.
He looked doubtful. “There’s a lot of blood—”
“I’m fine.” I didn’t want to talk about the cut anymore. There was something more important I wanted to tell him. “Jake, listen,” I said to him, keeping my chin high. “No matter what happens when he comes back in this room, I want you to promise me that you will not go down easy.”
Jake gaped at me. “Emy—”
I shook my head. “I don’t care what happens to me. Promise that you will put up the best fight that you can. Go with a fight, Jake. Promise me.”
He looked like he was going to vomit, but eventually, he nodded. “Okay,” he breathed. “I promise.”
“Good.” I leaned back against the wall, taking a few steadying breaths.
We sat there in silence for a while. The wound on my thigh burned, but the blood was less and less with each passing minute if I didn’t move.
Then, a strange noise sounded through the door.
My head snapped toward it, thinking that Amos was back. But this noise had been different from the door unlocking. I frowned as it happened again, two more times. It was barely audible, but in the quiet of the tiny room, I heard it. They were dull, muffled bangs. A sound I would have missed if it wasn’t so quiet in here.
My heart started to race. That door was too thick. Whatever that noise was, it was loud. And close.
I shifted carefully, my cut thigh twinging as I glanced at Jake. He looked as confused as I was.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
“You’ve never heard that before?”
He shook his head.
We fell silent, listening for the noise again. It didn’t come. Instead, the door unlocked. I jumped as it was pulled open slowly. I prepared myself for Amos’s eyes to meet mine.
It wasn’t Amos.
I let out a strangled cry as my father stepped through that door.
His gaze went straight to me. “Emersyn!” He rushed toward me, falling to his knees before me.
“Daddy?” I croaked, barely able to comprehend his presence.
My father’s eyes bounced around my face. “Are you okay?”
