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.

surges through me, cold

must be

I? Where would he take me? Was I back home? No, I didn't recognise this room. But what

frantic, desperate to get free and to find a way out. The plastic rubs

to get out of here. I

to steady my breathing, forcing myself to think, to focus. How did this all happen so fast? How did Ashton go from faux concern to...

make sense of my surroundings. The room is small, plain — white walls, a nightstand, a door that's slightly ajar. There's nothing distinct

to hold back the rising wave of panic threatening to

voice trembling. The sound is pathetic, barely more than

even know why I'm

the back 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.

louder, irritated that he had brought

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

comes from somewhere outside of the door, faint but unmistakable. My heart leaps into my throat as I stop breathing for a moment, straining to

Seeming

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

story. Share the joy of reading with others and

closer, and 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

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

sign of the concern he

He looks, insane...

hell is 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 me that I

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

a moment, his gaze unreadable. Then, with unsettling calmness, he steps forward and shuts the door

the harsh brightness nipping me like a laser, as I take

down Sofia," he says quietly, his voice eerily soothing, as if this situation was

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

by this point, and my mind races with worst-case

Ashton says, ignoring my struggle. "I was just trying to help. You're

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 instinctively shrink back against the headboard.

As in he wants me to

Is he crazy?!

After acting like this?!