Page 64 of Knight
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Gwen
I couldn’t figure out why my eyes felt so heavy. I couldn’t seem to force my lids open. And why did my head feel like it wanted to split wide open? My shoulders were stiff and there was a crick in the left side of my neck.
My stomach rolled and I knew I had to do my best to quell it. I had this feeling in my gut that I shouldn’t move, but I couldn’t figure out why.
I replayed the last memory I could think of, trying to figure out what had happened. Everything seemed so fuzzy like it was there but I couldn’t make out what was going on.
Work.
I remembered being at the coffee shop. I worked my shift and was bored out of my mind and angry at the time. But why? Why had I been so antsy to get my shift over and done with?
There was something important happening. Yes. That was it. Something…that had to do with…
My brain reached and searched but kept coming up blank. I couldn’t put the pieces together and I had no idea why. What the hell was wrong with me? Did I drink too much again? No, I didn’t remember drinking anything.
Wait.
Something was there. Drinking. Yes. I had coffee. Well, duh. I had coffee every time I worked, so why was my brain trying to throw that at me? The picture became clearer in my mind the longer I tried to focus on it. I downed my cup of coffee before leaving Royally Brewed.
I’d been studying after my shift. Not out of the ordinary. Dale brought me my drink. I was having trouble studying because I was anxious about something. I packed up my stuff, went to the bathroom, then downed my drink before I left. I remembered regretting drinking the whole thing down at once right after because I hadn’t eaten anything and I knew the caffeine overload would make me queasy.
Knight.
The thought of him was like a slap to the face and the memories came flooding in. Only they weren’t the ones that would help me at that moment.
We were kids, playing in the back lot of the compound. The scent of hotdogs and burgers on the grill was so strong in the memory that I swore I could actually smell it. A new batch of prospects had just been patched-in and the club was throwing a barbecue to celebrate. Knight, Mouse, and I sat at one of the far picnic tables away from all the chaos. I barely knew Mouse then because he didn’t spend much time at the club. But this was a big party and I knew that was the only reason he was there.
Then I was older, my mind shifting to another memory. This time Knight was holding me as I cried. I felt the sadness of losing my mother all over again right then.
I tried not to linger on that any longer.
A warm feeling spread throughout my body as I felt Knight’s soft lips against mine. Only we weren’t kids. This was recent and as I remembered that night, I wanted to hold onto it and replay it over and over.
Then like a boulder crashing down on me, everything came into focus. I remembered it all. Knight. My dad. The anxious feeling that I had knowing that Knight was going to talk to my dad about us. The fact that there was even an us. He loved me. I could hear him saying those simple yet, beautiful words to me. It was like he was right there whispering them into my ear.
Please don’t let that be the last time I hear them.
My eyes snapped open at the thought because it was then that I realized I was in danger. Very real, very serious danger.
Tara.
Her name alone snapped my mind and body into alertness.
“Well, hello, princess,” Tara said and my eyes skirted around the room to find her.
“Why?” I asked when really I wanted to say ‘what the fuck, you crazy bitch?’
It was then that I felt a cool draft over my skin and realized that I was nearly naked. As my eyes fell on her, I saw she was wearing the outfit I’d had on the last I remembered.
“Because you have it all,” she said with a strange smile plastered on her face. “You’re perfect and everyone around you loves you.”
Um, okay?
I was still lost as to what was going on. Was she truly unhinged? And how did I not see this before? Was I so stuck in my own little world that I missed the signs?
I struggled to sit up and the reality that I was tied up and laying on a dirty, musty mattress became relevant then. I wouldn’t be able to fight her off. Or run. Or even get up at this point.
