Cassie shuddered; she wrapped her arms around her legs as she pulled them against her chest. She hugged them tightly to her, hating the situation that had caused her this confusion and misery. That had caused Julian this misery. Tears rolled down her face as her thoughts turned to Devon. She ached for him constantly; she missed him more than she would miss the loss of her own arm. And yet she was sitting here, confused, uncertain, and in turmoil because of her growing feelings for Julian. Biting on her bottom lip, she tried hard to keep her sobs down, tried hard to keep her tears from Julian, but she knew she had failed miserably when his palm suddenly pressed against the glass.
Cassie knew that she shouldn’t touch it. She knew she should start to sever the tie between them, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so, not now. Not when she was so alone, and frightened, and in need of his strength and love. And not when she knew that he needed this even more than she did. She was being selfish, and she hated herself for it, but she couldn’t stop herself from pressing her hand to his.
She buried her face in her knees; her tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she pressed her hand tighter to the glass. She needed to get them the hell out here before she destroyed all of their lives by crossing a line she had never thought she would. She knew where her heart belonged, knew who owned her soul, but things were so different in here. They were confusing, scary, and she had grown to love Julian in a different way than Devon.
Julian was going to be hurt if they ever made it out of here, and Devon would not understand her strange new feelings for a man that had been their worst enemy, before she had been thrown in here. No, Devon would not understand it at all, and he may never forgive her for it.
She didn’t know if she could forgive herself for it.
She curled up against the wall, keeping her hand tight to the glass. She allowed the drugs to pull her under, grateful for the escape from the world she so desperately needed. An escape from the hell she had been forced into and could not escape while awake.
***
Cassie started awake; she blinked rapidly against the drug induced sleep that tried to pull her back under. It took her a moment to figure out what had woken her, but when she did, confusion and fear took hold of her. An alarm was blaring somewhere, red lights flashed through the small window in her door. Her forehead furrowed as she tried to puzzle out what was going on, what all the commotion was about.
Shouts filled the air, feet slapped against the tiled floor. Cassie watched as two people raced by, their heads bowed as they sprinted past. Shoving herself up, she struggled against the drugged stupor clinging to her. She swayed slightly, the flashing lights doing nothing to help her disorientation and dizziness.
Moving slowly, she turned toward Julian’s room, but it was dark in there now and she couldn’t see him. More shouts rang out as a siren began to wail. Fear curdled through her as she rose slowly, stumbling slightly as she staggered toward the door. She fell into it. Standing on tiptoe she watched as another group raced by, heading in the opposite direction of the people she had seen earlier.
A pain filled scream rent the air. Cassie’s eyes widened, terror poured through her as that scream continued wretchedly on for a few more seconds before ending abruptly. She took a small step back from the door, a fierce shaking wracked through her as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She didn’t know what was going on out there, but she did know that it was not good.
Stepping back to the door, she rested her hands upon it as more shouts rang out, reverberating loudly through the concrete hall. She turned back to Julian’s room, but it remained dark and empty. The siren grew even louder, becoming nearly unbearable. She took another step back as fresh screams rent the air. She placed her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the horrendous noise as she backed up a few more steps.
Panic filled her, confusion and horror swirled through her as another tortured scream rebounded through the halls. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying hard to stay calm. Maybe this was another form of torment that they had designed for her? Maybe they wanted to see if this would finally break her? Another scream echoed down the hall and she knew instantly that this was not some new form of torture, but very real. No one could scream like that, unless they were in very real, very agonizing pain.
She turned and fled over to Julian’s window, climbing onto the bed she began to pound against the glass. She needed Julian right now. Needed him to explain to her exactly what was going on. Needed him to wake up and help her figure out a way to get out of whatever disaster was occurring right outside their doors. She beat hard against the glass as she screamed his name, but he didn’t respond to her.
What if something had already happened to him?
True panic began to fill her as she turned swiftly back to the door. More people ran by, their feet squeaked on the floor, their footsteps echoed. She needed to get the hell out of here, and she needed to find Julian. She crept slowly back to the door, straining to see out the window again.
A face suddenly appeared before her. Cassie gasped, jumping back in surprise as it peered in at her. Its red eyes were filled with rage and insanity. Its face was twisted and disfigured, its lips pulled back from its teeth as it hissed at her. Long fangs cut into its lip causing blood to pour down its chin, but it seemed oblivious to that fact as it stared hungrily at her.
She recognized what it was instantly. She knew immediately that it was one of those things stuck in between, a monster with no soul and no rational thought. It was the same thing that lurked inside of her. Nausea and disgust twisted through her, and for the first time Cassie was truly grateful for the thick metal door that held her within this room.
It continued to watch her, drool slipping down its chin as it sniffed the air at the edges of the door. She remained unmoving, frozen in place without the strength to even pick up her feet and get away from it. It continued to sniff at her door, moving slowly over the window. Cassie’s breath froze in her lungs as the door handle rattled. She stiffened, waiting to see if it would get in. Waiting to see if it could break into the room she hadn’t been able to break out of.
The knob rattled harder, the thing began to jerk hard upon it. Excitement radiated from the creature, along with hunger and rage. Cassie braced herself for a fight, positive that this thing would get into her room. It was only a matter of time before it succeeded. The monstrosity ran on pure bloodlust and destruction, but she sure as hell was not going down without a fight. Its head suddenly snapped around. Cassie’s mouth dropped as a bolt of electricity shot down the hall, slamming into the creature and knocking it back.