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.

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

and to find a way out. The plastic rubs into my wrist, the skin raw and now burning, but

out of

did this all happen so fast? How did Ashton

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

to hold back the

whisper, my voice trembling. The sound is pathetic, barely more than a

know why

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.

that he had brought

I regretted leaving Vincent's place, despite everything he had done, I had landed myself

of the door, faint but unmistakable. My heart leaps

approaching. Seeming

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

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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

though the hope in my voice dies the moment his face comes into view, confirming that he was behind

unreadable. There's no warmth, no sign of the concern he had shown when he'd first pulled up next to

He looks, insane...

hell is going on? Why am I tied up?" My voice trembles, panic bubbling up again as I wince slightly feeling

to show him that I was tied, as if he

unreadable. Then, with unsettling calmness, he steps forward and shuts the door over behind him, flicking on

like a laser, as I take a second to

says quietly, his voice

down?" I nearly choke on the words. "You took me and tied me to a bed! How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!" I wheeze, as he sighs

as I speak, the dread creeping in around the edges of what was yet to

by this point,

out on the sidewalk?!" Ashton says, ignoring my struggle. "I was

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 instinctively shrink back against the

me to consider

Is he crazy?!

After acting like this?!