Chapter 69: What A Delightfun Treat!
Chapter 69: What A Delightfun Treat!
Ebony Winters POV:
"Well, what a delightful treat I have here indeed," the older man stated, his voice so raspy and deep that I couldn't help but shudder when I heard him speak up this time.
His words were spoken slowly, so slowly that it was almost as if he were hoping it would intensify my fear, as I could feel it coursing right through me. Well, there was no doubt as it did that very thing. That's when he stopped walking, standing there right beside me. I could hear him breathing. His breath was even raspy with each breath he took in, and when he exhaled, it was very evident, as I could hear a raspy vibration emanating from deep within his chest.
Was this guy sick or something? Did he not have a doctor to go and see to help him get over that? He didn't say anything as he just stood there for a few moments. At this point, I was glad that I couldn't see what he was doing. Or where he was looking at, either. In a way, it made me think he was waiting patiently as I was taken over, even completely frozen with fear, as I held my breath with the uncertain notion of what he was going to do next.
'Nic, where are you?' I asked deep within my mind in that very moment. I was ever so fearful that he wouldn't make it here in time before they did something drastic. 'How far away are you that it's taking this long for you to get to me? Can you even find me?!'
I couldn't hold back my silent tears as I didn't get a single reply from him. Where was he at? What was taking so long? That's when I knew whoever this man was, as he was standing there right beside me, I could tell that he finally started to reach forward. I could feel his eerie presence hovering over me as he started to untie the string that held the hood around my neck.
That's one thing that I never understood. Even before I came here, I could always tell when something was wrong. It was like I knew it before it would even happen. I always brushed it off as that could happen to anyone, right? Anyone could have that ability by knowing what was going to happen before it did, but I didn't have the luxury to talk with many others. I just went to work and back to my little hole-in-the-wall apartment.
As I lay there, I wanted so much to move, but I was fearful of the other man grabbing a hold of my wrists again. I didn't want them to try to imprint my hands into the surface of the wooden table I was lying on, as the one man had already tried that just before this. The tops of my feet and lower legs were already sore, and no doubt, stinging as well. I could also feel a cool sensation on my skin from being dragged along and scraped by the gravel and rock paths the two men took. There was no doubt that I was lightly bleeding, but I couldn't see anything.
Would I really want to, though? Would I want to look down and see the pain that they caused me from the fact that my legs felt raw from being dragged here nearly the entire way? I mean, why not carry me? Wouldn't that have been faster? Or were their actions trying to break me to such a point that I wouldn't want to fight back when the time came?
I was nowhere near capable of doing such a thing, so why try to break me in the first place? I was far from strong, and anyone could tell that just by getting one look at me. So, why go through all these various lengths to hurt me when they could obviously tell there was nothing I could do in return?
There was so much about this that I didn't understand. I was already in a tremendous amount of pain, and I didn't want to make it any worse. On top of that, the last thing I wanted was to have splinters embedded in my soft skin on the tops of my hands.
"However, to simply tell if she is the real deal, there is one thing you must do first," the older man spoke up, breaking the silence as I gasped upon hearing his words amid the sound of dripping water in the distance. This time, I could feel the string start to loosen around my neck. "The only way for me to know that, is if I get a good, long look at her eyes. Her eyes will tell me all I need to know."
What was that supposed to mean? How was looking into my eyes going to tell him what he wanted to know? I wasn't anything special, so what makes him think that looking deep into my eyes would change anything?
That's when I felt him reach his hands around my neck, and I couldn't help it as I shuddered. I was somehow thinking he was going to choke me, but he didn't do anything of the sort. Instead, he grabbed hold of the trim of the dark black hood that was positioned there, still covering my face, and started to pull it up, letting in the first bit of fresh air. The air was anything but fresh.
The air was even more musty as I inhaled sharply, which caused me to start coughing harder than I anticipated. This time, I tried to move so I could cover my mouth as I was coughing rather hard. When I tried to move my arms, I was grabbed again. The two men who brought me here were standing on either side of the table I was lying on, and they both reached up and gripped my arms above my wrists, making sure to keep them in place. They even placed their other hands on my upper arm, right by my elbow, which prevented me from moving freely.
I tried to move my legs, but cried out in pain as they were so sore already, which didn't help the fact that I was still coughing. All I wanted was to breathe in some fresh air, but the sudden and unexpected change in air quality triggered this response in the first place. All it did was get worse with each breath I took, but they didn't seem to care.
By this point, my face was about halfway uncovered, as my eyes were still closed and my head was rolled to the side, as I was trying to get used to the stench in the air that was starting to burn my nose. Never have I smelt such musty and dirt-filled air before in my entire life. Even when I went past the ruined buildings in the Forbidden Zones, the air was old and dirty, but nothing like this.
Where were we? I tried to think, but my thoughts dwelt on my current situation. I didn't know what to do.