Chapter VII

Heavy.

Everything felt so heavy, her head, her bones, her entire body and soul felt like too much to handle. Her eyelids shot open with great effort. She was in a dark room with the windows covered with black curtains. Her throat was sore, her head was throbbing madly and her muscles ached with each breath she took. Aelin then started to remember the previous night step by step. She wanted to move but she was restrained, handcuffed actually and by the time she started to scream for help the door shot open and he came straight for her bed pressing his huge palm on her mouth blocking every sound she made.

- Miss Mercer, I'll be glad if you could shut the fuck up and calm down for a second so I can enlighten you on your situation. Deal?

She wanted to shout even louder but she was too afraid to do so, she nodded her head slowly and blinked a few times so she can spare herself the humiliation of him seeing her cry again.

- Good. Let me tell you 3 things that you need to know. First one is that you don't have to know shit about last night, second is that you don't have to know shit about what's coming next and last is that if you thought that you could handle me and then get away with it, you're dead wrong because right now your precious meaningless life lays in my hands, one wrong move young lady and I'll crush it into oblivion. Got it?

His words were sharp like blades and his aggressive voice was to blame for her upcoming nightmares, yet she was less terrified than she should have been. With all the things she went trough lately she no longer had to be afraid of the unknown because the exact same unknown was standing right on top of her and he was unfolding truths that she was not prepared to acknowledge.

He then got off of her and out of the room without giving her a second glance. Silence crawled at her like a deafening disease and the dark embraced her like a blinding one. She was numb to begin with but the longer she stood in that bed, without moving even an inch, the more she started to feel like a confused corpse, not knowing if death was the answer nor if life was a solid option. It wasn't like she was suicidal or something along the lines but she was truly not aware of her own reality, she couldn't believe she survived all that carnage.

Aelin wanted to go to sleep, her head was heavier than it was before, she was dizzy and helpless so sleep was her only shot to fight them all at once. She closed her eyes and snuggled as best as she could so as to have some comfort. But her wanting to do something and fate actually agreeing to it was quite a lame joke to be honest. Like a bad omen that creeps upon her from the shadows the door opened to reveal the slender yet massive body of a young man. A young man that once held her hand. The same young man that rescued her the night before was the same one that once took a life with no remorse. He stood in silence, stuck in the door frame like he was trapped in a painting. The slim rays of light that were coming from the living room glazed his features showing his clenched jaw, stiff expression and piercing eyes. He looked angry, tired and close enough to snap at her anytime. Aelin closed her eyes not giving a damn about all of him but he had other plans.

He walked slowly yet determined and freed her hands with a small key. All she could feel were his harsh moves. He threw her on his shoulder like she was lifeless. She winced in pain because of all the moving around. She tried to dig her nails in his back to warn him, her thin fingers pulled his shirt like she wanted to rip it off of him but it was useless. He couldn't be bothered about it. The small trip ended in his kitchen on a small table filled with different kinds of fast-food meals. Her mouth was watering and her stomach ached because of her hunger but she couldn't give in so easily.

- Eat now or I'm going to throw all of them out the window.

Silence was her answer and anger was his. As soon as he started to gather all the food on the table she knew he was serious. She jumped on her feet and quickly grabbed his hands to stop him and by doing so she admitted yet again another defeat.

- I'll eat so stop.

His hand was warm, just like she remembered but his eyes were cold and his voice was colder.

- Enjoy.

He slipped his hand out of her hold and he got out of the room just as fast. Leaving her with a soon to be full stomach and an always-there emptiness.

Aelin went to bed that night with so many thoughts spinning in her head leaving her with a few hours for actually sleeping. Not only she had many fears to fight with but her damn self started to feel like her biggest enemy. How could she escape from all this mess was a true mystery. She needed faith, strength and time, the last one seemed like a problem because time was not on her side, the clocks were ticking in reverse, as soon as the time ran out, her life may be as good as gone.

She closed her eyes so she can get some rest, the clock issue kept bothering her, it kept on ticking and it felt like a loud drum. The weird fact was that the clock thing was based on a real sound. The noise came from underground which was odd because she was on the second floor. It was getting louder and louder by the minute. She slowly stood up and scanned the room with fuzzy eyes. She tried to catch the exact spot from which the ticking was coming from but yet again the floor seemed to be the answer. The idea hit her like a punch in the face.

Who the fuck would put a clock under the floor?

As soon as the question popped up the answer came to light. It wasn't just a normal clock, just like this building wasn't a normal house and just as the man that took her here wasn't normal himself nor were his enemies.

She got up so fast running as fast as she could, she saw movies about this and she knew that once the ticking speeds up you're officially out of time. One second, two seconds, three , four and the fifth one brought her to the top of the stairs. The explosion that followed brought her on the ground floor.

What came after was heat, flames, smoke and a huge amount of blood stuck in her throat ready to choke her to death. Some funny thought formed in her head, Aelin could finally go to rest.