Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Alone in the world.
Overwhelmed, I can only nod.
“What happened to you?” she asks.
Everything, and I mean every single moment, passes through my mind like a horror movie.
My throat strains, and my muscles tense. The trauma is too much, and I fight to put up a mental wall.
My voice is still hoarse, but this time it’s because of the fragile state of my mind. “I can’t remember.” My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “When can I leave the hospital?”
“The doctor has to check you. He’ll decide when you can be discharged.”
Needing to call the hotel to hear about my belongings, I ask, “Is there a phone I can use?”
“Who do you need to call?” she asks.
“The hotel I was staying at.”
“Give me the details, and I’ll call for you,” she offers.
Her kindness makes tears well in my eyes as I give her the name of the hotel and my details.
If I can get my belongings, it will be one thing less to worry about.
“Thank you,” I whisper, giving her a grateful expression.
Her smile is warm. “You’re welcome. Get some rest. I’ll check in on you when I do my rounds again.”
I watch as she leaves the room, then turn my eyes to the window. It’s dark outside.
It’s always dark.
Pregnant?
God.
I’m carrying Alek’s child.
With a trembling hand, I place my palm over my abdomen.
Did Alek survive?
The thought of him being dead is too much, and I quickly shove it away.
He’s strong. He survived.
He probably thinks I’m dead.
My heart cracks down the middle when it sinks in that I won’t be able to contact him. Not if I want to live.
Tears begin to fall down my cheeks because I don’t know how to let go of Alek. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.
I don’t know how he’s doing. He must be heartbroken from losing Vincent.
God, I wish I could hug him.
For an insane moment, I wish I was back in the dark room with him.
I cover my face with my hand and cry because I don’t know what else to do.
I can’t deal with everything that’s happened to me.
I can’t deal with being pregnant and alone.
I can’t deal with never seeing Alek again.
I wish I had died in the field.
Chapter 18
Alek
It’s been a month since my world came to an end.
This time I’m a prisoner in my bedroom because every time I lay eyes on my father, I lose my mind.
I begged Misha to go to the field. I at least wanted Everleigh to be buried so she wasn’t just lying out in the open.
Christ. My heart.
I grip the fabric over my chest, the pain too intense to breathe.
Misha didn’t find Everleigh in the field, which means someone already discovered her body. It’s not comforting at all. Strangers are handling the body of the only woman I’ll ever love. She didn’t even get a funeral.
I can’t. I can’t deal with this. It’s too much.
Standing in front of the window, I stare at nothing as my mind is tortured.
I have no will to live.
“Alek,” Misha whispers behind me.
“Hmm.”
“Talk to me.”
“About what?”
He takes hold of my shoulder and turns me so I’ll look at him. “Anything…everything.”
Everything.
The beating, the whipping, the knife through my hand. The starvation and hunger pains. My body withering away. Watching Everleigh fade away.
The darkness.
Making love to Everleigh.
Kissing her.
Whispering for hours on end as we got to know each other.
Vincent. His broken body and the look of acceptance in his eyes.
They’re gone, and I’m still here.
Like always, when I think about them, my breathing speeds up, and my heart beats uncontrollably.
Rage overwhelms me, and unable to kill my father, I let out a roar as I start to trash the room. I grab the bedside table and throw it against the wall. I rip the sheets off the bed and flip the base over.
I need to destroy everything the way I’ve been destroyed.
Misha grabs me from behind. “I’ve got you, brother.”
A broken cry is ripped from my destroyed soul, and as I slump to my knees, Misha tightens his hold on me.
“We’ll get through this. I’m here.” His voice is loaded with emotion. “I’m still here. You still have me.”
My grief and trauma are too much to handle, and I break down.
With my best friend holding me, my voice is hoarse as I say, “I lost them. After everything, I still lost them.”
“You have me,” he says again.
I grab fistfuls of my hair and shake my head.
Misha lets go of me and comes to sit in front of me. His eyes carry a world of worry and pain. “Talk to me, brother. Tell me what happened.”
Again I shake my head.
He just watches me for minutes.
I shift onto my ass, and pulling my knees up, I lower my head. “Everleigh,” I whisper, my voice filled with unbearable loss. “We were locked in a dark room.”