Flight 118

Chapter Twenty

~Emilia~

My head was pounding so hard I could swear there was ringing in my ears. I groaned in pain as I shifted a little to try and raise my head. Quickly I stopped as the pain increased, sending sharp slashes of bone-aching pain throughout my body. Obviously, that was not a smart thing to do. I tried to open my eyes next.

Oh, geez. I must have lost some brain cells because why do I keep moving? I thought to myself as pain once again shot through me.

Simply cracking my eyes resulted in my head protesting the movement and all for nothing. I could not see anything at all. At the realization panic shot through me. Where was I? What happened? Why couldn't I see?

Slowly, I began to remember. Clarisse snapping, or was it not snapping when she had just lost her mind? Following her into the woods and straight into a trap. Something hitting me.

Whoever was with Clarisse probably was right next to me. Which meant I had already, inadvertently, let them know I was awake. Since I could not see or lift my head with pain shooting through it, I strained to listen. Attempting to hear anything that could help me. Who was working with Clarisse? Did I know them? How many were here? Were they saying anything I could use against them or let me know what I was dealing with?

There was nothing but silence.

As panic once more filled my body, I tried to remain calm. My mind immediately went to Jonah. Was he still helping with whoever had seemingly attacked the pack? Was he okay? I had to believe he was. Mates and everything about them passed all laws of nature, as I knew them. Or used to know them. I was sure I would know if something bad had happened to him, whether we were fully mated or not. Was he out there looking for me right now? Did he even know I was missing yet? As panic began to seep back in at my inability to suppress it, I was also filled with regret. Regret I had continued to hold him at arm's length where anything mating was concerned. Regret I had been thinking more with my head than with my heart.

I realized it was all based on a place filled with uncertainty and fear; of the unknown and our differences. But what if he never finds me? What if I never escape whatever situation I am in and find my way back to him? The idea I would never have a relationship and life with my soulmate because of my own insecurities was something truly worthy to panic about.

I banished that thought. No. I'm not going to think like that. Think of a way to get out. What did my research for my one book and all of those crime show reruns teach me? When you're kidnapped you need to assess the situation. Figure out your surroundings, your kidnappers, their motivation. Think like that and when I get back to Jonah, I will make sure I don't hold myself back any longer.

With that motivating thought, I tried to open my eyes once more. At first, everything was still black and a small amount of panic came filtering back in. Was I blindfolded? Was I blind? Then I relaxed when I finally began to see a few things as my eyes adjusted and some of the blurriness I was experiencing faded away. My eyes were just a bit blurry from being hit and it was still dark. No wonder I had only seen black.

From the corner of my eye, I saw movement; just barely noticeable in the pitch-black of the night with the forest blocking any potential light.

My head whipped around to figure out what I saw and then I groaned. I had already forgotten about my head. Ignoring it as best I could, I tried to focus on the spot I had seen movement; willing myself to see. There was a shape I could not distinguish, other than knowing it was a person sitting on the ground watching me. I could not see their face to know their eyes were watching me but I could feel it just as certainly as any prey feeling the eyes of a predator on them. Chills spread across my body.