Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Suddenly my breathing slackened, and my limbs wilted. As if I recognized her energy entering the room. I turned my head sideways, my smile fading from my lips. My eyes locked onto hers and confusion warped my vision slightly.
“Brooke?” I whispered, confused. “What are you doing here? You are supposed to be dead!” Everyone turned to see who I was speaking to. Brooke was a friend I partied with when I was going through my party days, one of them when I met Bryant. She and I had caused mischief and chaos all over the country, going on benders. She occupied a chunk of a dark part of my life. When she took me and drugged me, I almost died. It was her or I.
“She can’t have everything!” she roared, and it’s that moment I took in what she was wearing. Worn rags and bloody arms. Her face looked sick, her eyes sunken in. She continued to walk down the aisle. Did she break out of a hospital?
“Brooke!” Bryant roared back. “Get the fuck away now before I put a bullet between your eyes.”
Brooke laughed, her gaunt shoulders shaking beneath her worn shirt. “Fuck you, Bryant.” She lifted the pistol in her hand and aimed it at Bryant. “I’m sorry, Isa. This isn’t—”
I stepped in front of him instantly, my fight and determination to protect those I love kicking in. “No!” I screamed, closing my eyes.
Bang!
I flinched at the sudden crack of the bullet exiting the barrel. When I felt nothing, no pain, I slowly opened my eyes, my hands going to my stomach. Everything slowed as people started rushing around behind me. Bryant shoved me out of the way and ran to the front seating where Brianna sat.
Blood pooled around her feet as her curdling screams ripped through my mind. I took a step forward slowly, and that was the exact moment Bryant took Harper from her, turning to face me with tears pouring down his face.
My eyes fell to Harper in his arms.
Her body seemed limp.
Her blue eyes unfocused, was it just my paranoia or was her skin turning an unnatural shade of purple?
Blood fell from her blankie.
“Shit!” Brooke screamed. “That—no—no—”
My heart snapped, my vision peaked, and everything went black.
Max’s hands are gripped around my shoulders, shaking me on the cold wood floor.
Tears streak down my face, but I swipe them away angrily. “Who are you?” I feel defeated. I remember everything from that day, and like some strange timer inside my brain, it’s as though everything has clicked into place.
Brooke was my friend. I thought she was my friend. Until she kidnapped me. Parts of the kidnapping are still fuzzy, fuzzy and blank, but I know she kidnapped me.
Max sighs, leaning back against the wall near a window.
He runs his hands through his hair. “I’m Max Barrack. I was your doctor when you first came in.” I remain silent, hoping it gives him the floor to speak. “I stepped out of line bringing you here, but I had to help you.” He brings his brown eyes to mine. “You’re not broken or sick, Isa. You’ve had horrible events happen to you.” When he pauses, I bring my legs under my butt and tuck my hair behind my ear.
“You were my doctor? At the facility?”
His Adam’s apple bobs past his swallow. “Yeah.”
I lick my lips. “When was that? When did you bring me here?”
“Last week.” He kicks up, and I quickly follow his lead as he heads into the kitchen area. “I didn’t exactly do it legally, but I needed to get you out of there.”
“Why?” I ask, leaning my hip against the counter. “And how have I been asleep this long?”
“You haven’t.” He shakes his head, reaching above into the cupboard to take down a ceramic teapot that looks too out of date to be living in the year we are in. “You come and go, drifting back to sleep. You’ve never come to as clear as you are right now, but you have drifted in and out.”
“God,” I exhale, shaking my head. “I’m crazy.”
“No!” Max snaps, turning to face me while holding two mugs. They’re both made from stone, only fitting with the Viking-like feel this cabin exudes. “You are not, Isa. You need to understand—” He blows out a deep breath. “You’re not crazy. People have been feeding you drugs for six months, since the wedding. These pills, they’ve made you think you’re crazy. See things, hallucinations. You’ve been fed a cocktail mixture of pharmaceuticals that you most definitely should not have been fed.” He turns back to continue his tea making. “Shit, that isn’t even fucking legal.”
My eyebrows cross as I warily make my way farther into the kitchen, slowly dropping down onto one of the bar stools. “I don’t understand, Max. Can you tell me anything that will help me understand? I was used like a lab rat?”