Chapter 103
*****Sofia's POV*****
I wake up to more pain.
It's sharp and bruising
a heavy throb that pulses from behind my eyes, spreading like wildfire throughout my head.
My whole body feels numb and sore, like I've been through something terribly violent...
For a long moment, I can't even remember where I am. The darkness presses in around me, wrapping itself around my chest and squeezing the breath from my lungs.
I blink back slowly, trying to push myself up, but... something's wrong. My wrists.
They're tied.
Wait... I've been here before...
I'm tied up, again.
I freeze.
A sickening weight settling in my stomach, heavy with the realisation of where I still was.
I struggle, my heart starting to hammer in my chest as I yank at the restraints, but the plastic digs deeper into my skin, and the pain only intensifies.
I gasp loudly, panic rising up fast, the world tilting around me as I thrash against the bed and start to scream hysterically.
I can't breathe. I can't think. My body trembles uncontrollably as the overwhelming feeling of being trapped presses down on me.
Everything was blurry after... after Ashton. Passing out. The car. The conversation. The slap...
I shudder, remembering the coldness in his eyes.... his face coming in to my mind like a crazed stalker.
I blink again, slowly this time in an attempt to calm my breathing, forcing myself to take in the room around me properly.
It's small. Barren. White walls that feel sterile and unwelcoming. A door that's slightly ajar, the faintest sliver of light spilling in from the hallway, but nothing else. No windows, no sounds from outside. Just suffocating silence. This is a nightmare.
I must be dreaming?
the pain in my wrists, the overwhelming sense of being completely, utterly powerless... it's
let me go, but how will I do that
again, harder this time, desperation making my hands shake. It's useless. There's no escaping these stupid little
my head, looking
I hear
could help
door closing and locking somewhere in the distance before -
freeze,
know what to say. What could
breath catches in my throat as the footsteps come closer, nearer,
creaks
Before there he is....
yell at him, cuss him out, but I can't get the words out. Not yet. My voice is thick, suffocating with growing fear. "Ashton," I whisper, my voice shaking. But it feels hollow, like I'm barely here at all, barely
his figure
as I pull my knees up to my
And I don't know why,
like he's speaking to a child. "You need to calm down
for a
Calm down?!
you just slapped me!" I state, the words falling out in short pants, coming to terms with the reason for
the pit of my stomach, a reminder of all the stress and fear I
adventure continues. Join us for the complete
Stop freaking out! If you calm down, then I'll untie you, how about that?" Ashton tests, dangling the carrot of my freedom in front of me, as
loose then I'll at least be free to find an escape... but I have to play my
was prepared to be violent and I couldn't risk hitting
all I knew, especially with the lack of windows in the room to help
had I been passed out for in total I wonder? Between the
gone by now? Were
assume that I had left town?! Surely not when Emma knew I was supposed to
back pocket, before retrieving a pair
minute?" Ashton continues on, taking his time to round the side of the bed in which I
would have no chance out
He demands through his teeth, leaning down to face me at eye level
I recite, and with that, he smiles slowly -
same hand that he had just slapped me with
the silent moment for a few minutes longer -
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