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 me, cold

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 free and to find a way out. The plastic rubs into my

need to get out of

think, to focus. How did this all happen so fast?

nightstand, a door that's slightly ajar. There's nothing distinct about

the rising

trembling. The sound is pathetic,

know why I'm saying his

of my 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 room for anything — anything that could help me get out of this. I have to get out. I have to figure out how to get

yell louder, irritated that he had brought me here against my

regretted leaving Vincent's place, despite everything he had done, I had landed myself in a far worse

My heart leaps into my throat as I stop breathing for

were approaching. Seeming slow and

My voice cracks as I call out again, louder this time, but it's laced with

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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 into the

his face comes into view, confirming that he was behind this,

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

He looks, insane...

going on? Why am I tied up?" My voice trembles, panic bubbling up again as I wince slightly feeling a pain rush to my head - reminding

him that I was tied, as if he wasn't already aware. "Let

with unsettling calmness, he steps forward and shuts the door

brightness nipping me like a laser, as I

quietly, his voice eerily soothing, as if this situation

to a bed! How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!" I wheeze, as he

speak, the dread creeping in

wrists felt like they were bleeding by this point, and

my struggle. "I was just

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 instinctively shrink back against the headboard. "You don't understand what's going on, Sofia. I want another chance." He states, catching me

As in he wants me

Is he crazy?!

After acting like this?!