Chapter 79 Dreaming - Miguel POV
There are fifteen hostages. All underage girls. Every time I encounter a situation where underage children are being exploited, the focus I tried very hard to practice, starts slipping.
Lucille says children are my kryptonite.
I get really mad and extremely violent when children are being harmed.
She thinks I slayed her Dragon.
She doesn't know I slayed hers, because I could never slay mine.
The operation is risky. I'm by myself posing as a buyer for the underage girls on the human trafficking scene.
I have "guards" who are armed, but I myself only have one handgun, meaning if things go south, I can't miss.
I'm not wearing a vest either, establishing trust with my "customers". But I'm not dying today, so I need things to be going very smoothly here.
But of course, in this line of work, things bound to become volatile very quickly, and it becomes evident that we have a fucking snitch when they start shooting at us as soon as we arrive.
I'm not leaving those girls behind.
So I grab two more firearms from the guards who all tell me we should leave, but I had a mission.
Save those fifteen girls.
"Abort!" Lucille screams in my ear. "You motherfucker Cargill! I said abort!"
I go in guns blazing.
Alone.
I shoot everyone in the head that I can see. Scum like them don't deserve to be on this earth.
I find the girls in a filthy backroom reeking of urine and feces. They look at me like I'm God themselves, and it seems like they don't understand any English, so I try to demonstrate that I will walk out first, they stick together and keep huddled behind me.
I almost make it.
I have all the girls in the back of the van when my fucking ammunition runs out.
I don't even feel it. All I feel is a burning sensation in my chest, and the screams of the girls. Then someone is pulling me into the van while it takes off with speed.
I don't feel anything.
I don't hear anything.
All I see is her.
She's the most beautiful sight in the world.
The sun is shining on her dark hair, and we're on the beach. I went for a swim, and she's waiting for me on the shore in a white dress that billows in the wind.
She's laughing, her green eyes even more ethereal in the sunlight.
She's holding her hand out for me to touch it.
But it's not her hand that grabs me.
No!
It's the clutches of the demon woman, the one that demands and demands, the one that blackmails me into doing things I have no desire to do.
"Fuck me, Miguel."
"You're such a handsome boy."
"You're so much better at this than your father."
"You were sent to me, weren't you? You are mine, you belong to me."
Her manicured claws are pressing down on my chest like a boulder, and I'm back underwater, only my limbs aren't working.
I kick, and kick, and try to push the boulder off my chest, but nothing is working.
I'm going to drown.
I'm going to die.
"I'm here, and I want you to breathe."
The angel is back with the white dress.
She's whispering in my ear.
She wants me to breathe.
But how do I breathe if I'm underwater?
I don't want to breathe anymore. I want to just let go. If I let go, she won't be there to torment me anymore. I will finally be free of her.
"You better not die on me."
The angel doesn't want me to die, but I don't know if I want to live. There is too much pain in living, too much longing.
I can't have what I want. I want the angel. I want her for me. I want to take her out to dinner, ride with her on my motorcycle. I want to fight over what to watch on TV.
"If you don't want someone else fucking me, you better wake up."
No!
Nobody touches her but me. Only my hands should run over her shapely legs and slim arms. My lips are the only lips that should kiss hers.
I will kill and maim another man if I have to.
I want to breathe.
I have to breathe.
For her.
I feel her now. I feel her hand in mine, her lips on my forehead.
I want to hold her, I want to pull her into my lap and hug her. In her arms, there are no demons.
The words drowning me when I get to touch her, go away. She makes me feel better.
I can't die.
I won't die.
I have to protect her from the monster.
He wants to take away her light. I can't let that happen.
I take a breath, but the monster is strangling me. I try to pull his hands away.
I have to breathe.
"Nurse! Doctor! He's waking up!"
My eyes fly open, and I have to blink several times, because the light is sharp and bright.
I'm choking. There's something down my throat.
"Easy, easy." A soothing voice is saying. "You have a breathing tube in, we will take it out, try not to panic. Sir, please step back and let us work."
My eyes dart frantically around the room. Where is she?
Where is Madison?
Or did I imagine it all?