Verbatim [h.s]

Forty-Eight

// I'm not too sure if I need trigger warnings but there is going to be a lot of violence, blood, torture in this chapter and the coming chapters so please be aware of that. Enjoy! \\

Zuri's POV

My head hurts.

My head hurts a lot. Way too much. My neck aches too. I try to open my eyes but everything feels so weak. I try to lift my head but I groan out in pain. Nope, too heavy. Only then do I realise that my head is hanging low against my chest, and- and my arms, I try to turn my head to the side and open my eyes but it not use, so I relax my body and that's when I feel like I'm hanging.

My whole body feels like it's hanging.

I find the strength the move my legs and I can feel the floor with the tips of my toes but that is about it. This wakes up my body, flying into panic mode as my legs begin thrashing about trying to find something to stand on other than the tips of my toes.

"No, no, no." I cry out, shaking my head even though it hurts. My neck is stiff, like when you've slept funny. How long have I been like this for? I try my eyes again but they sting in protest.

Fuck, fine then.

No sight for now.

So I really on my other senses. I try to calm my racing heart so I can hear past the thumping- I hear a trickle of water coming from the right-hand side as if coming from a leaky pipe perhaps. There is a damp smell filling my nostrils which is making me feel sick. Even sicker than I did when I woke up. thinking about it, I can smell sick.

"What the fuck?" I whisper.

I move my legs about going and then I hit a wall behind me, not far behind me. I crane my neck to the side, groaning in pain and try to open my eyes once again.

No luck.

"Fuck sakes, just open," I tell myself. I hang my head low and take some steady deep breathes. I work on blinking my eyes, fluttering them, slowly feeling them loosen up. I just want to move my hand and rub my eyes, but when I try that I hear what sounds like chains rustling together. The jingle of them is loud and fills the room, leaving an echo in its place.

It's cold down here.

Freezing actually.

I hadn't realised straight away, my body in panic and the heat of my struggles warming me but now I'm focusing on trying to open my eyes, I can feel the cold. A draft, in particular, comes from behind me. There must be a window or a vent, something that's bringing that cold in. Just as then, a wind blows through and makes me shiver, trying to curl my body up but to no luck.

And it is then that I realise I'm no longer wearing the joggers and jumper I had been wearing before. This makes my eyes fly open, they sting and I cry out a little whimper but I look down. I'm in only my underwear.

Black lace bra and panties.

Heat rises in my cheeks at the embarrassment of being stuck here half-naked but also growing even more nauseous at the thought of someone undressing me. Without consent.

Who the fuc- What the fuc- Where am I?

I blink my eyes several times, easing the sting away the more I blink. I can feel some crustiness around the inner corner and the waterline as if I had been crying but I don't remember anything. Not yet anyway. Only when my eyesight focuses, do I now notice where I am.

A basement.

Or what looks to be a basement.

I spin my head from side to side, my neck still causing me pain but the more I move it, the more it eases. 4 concrete walls, a concrete floor and ceiling, one iron door in front of me apart 12 feet away and a single yellow light hanging from the ceiling. I see pipes running along  the ceiling, one of them in fact leaking which is the source of the water drops. I manage to look behind me to see the wall that is about a foot away and a tiny window right at the top. It's a rectangle shape, small, I could probably squeeze into it but it is also about 10 feet off the ground.