Shadows In Durango

Chapter 101

*****Sofia's POV*****

My eyes flutter open, but I'm met with darkness.

For a moment, I'm suspended in a state of half-consciousness, drifting somewhere between dream land and reality. The room around me is unfamiliar - and far too quiet, too still. It's not the cafe, not Emma's house...

I shift slightly, trying to push myself up when a sharp tug holds me back.

My wrists... they're stuck.

Panic begins to bloom in my chest, like icy fingers creeping up my spine. I try to move again, this time jerking my arms harder, but it's useless.

My heart starts to hammer in my chest as I twist my head, trying to make sense of my surroundings as I blink profusely.

The bed beneath me is soft, too soft. The sheets are cool against my skin, but there's something wrong. My pulse races as I finally make out the feeling binding me - it's plastic, biting and digging harshly into my skin. A cable tie. I'm tied to the bed!

A wave of nausea hits me as the panic fully sets in, my chest tightening painfully as my breath comes out in short, frantic bursts. My hands are restrained, tethered to the wooden post of the bed, and the more I struggle, the more the cable digs into my flesh.

Where the hell am I?! What is happening?!

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm the rising hysteria, but flashes of memory come back to me in disjointed pieces.

The dinner... the gut-wrenching betrayal of Vincent... meeting his parents... the marriage trap that had twisted so deep I could barely breathe afterwards. Then, leaving his house, leaving the cafe, walking alone in the cold towards Emma's house...

And then Ashton.

I freeze.

Oh my god.

I remember now. The car pulling up, the window rolling down, Ashton leaning out, his face lit by only the streetlight. He'd looked concerned at first, his voice soft as he asked why I was out alone. He'd insisted that I get in his car, said he was just trying to help...

I didn't want to believe that he could be trusted. I had hesitated, hadn't I? Something about him being here in town had felt off... yet, instead of running from him, I had still stood there and engaged in the conversation with him... all before I remember becoming dizzy.

I must have passed out...

And now, here I am. Tied to a bed, with my wrists bound like some kind of captive.

as fear surges through

must be behind

Was I back home? No, I didn't recognise this room. But what if he called my father and he was on the way to get

desperate to get free and to find a way out. The plastic rubs into my wrist, the skin raw and now burning, but it doesn't

to get out of here. I need to

to steady my breathing, forcing myself to think, to focus. How did this all happen so fast? How did

door that's slightly ajar. There's nothing distinct about it, nothing that tells me where I am. No windows,

to hold back the rising wave of panic threatening to

trembling. The sound is pathetic, barely

don't even know why I'm saying

eyes as I pull at the restraint again, the plastic biting harder with each movement. My throat feels tight, choked with panic as I scan the

force myself to yell louder, irritated that he had brought

had done, I had landed myself in a far worse situation this

somewhere outside of the door, faint but unmistakable. My heart leaps into my throat

approaching. Seeming

cracks as I call out again, louder this time,

the joy of reading with others

my stomach clenches with dread. I instinctively pull at the cable tie again, yanking so hard that the plastic digs deeper into my skin. I grit my teeth against the pain, trying to free myself, but it's useless. I'm trapped. The door creaks open. My breath catches in my throat as I see a shadowed figure step

voice dies the moment his face comes into

no sign of the concern he had shown when he'd first pulled

He looks, insane...

up again as I wince

to show him that I was tied, as if he wasn't already aware.

silently for a moment, his gaze unreadable. Then, with unsettling calmness, he steps forward and shuts the door over behind him, flicking on the

me like a laser, as I take a second

quietly, his voice

bed! How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!"

hear the hysteria rising in my own voice as I speak, the

bleeding by this

says, ignoring my struggle. "I was just trying to help. You're better off here, with me. I'm keeping

him, disbelief and fear battling in my chest. "S-Safe? You think this is keeping me safe? Ashton, this is insane! You didn't have to tie me up! You need to let me go-" I reiterate, reminding him that he still had me bound to the bed. He cuts me off, stepping closer, and I

me to consider

Is he crazy?!

After acting like this?!