Tell Me Lies

Chapter Seven

I sit up in bed wondering what is going on outside my bedroom door. The noises get louder. Thumping, actually. Its thumping and thudding on the floor... footsteps? They grow louder and louder as the seconds pass by. They stop outside my door and before I know it my door is being thrown open and it slams against the wall with a bang. It's a familiar face, with another one emerging. "Nikolai?" My voice comes out in a hoarse whisper. "Issac? What are you doing here?" Again, another whisper, I'm not even sure if they heard me. They stalk closer to my bed and Nikolai pulls my covers back and Issac grabs my foot. He yanks me so hard I fall on my ass out of bed, and he begins to drag me. He pulls me from my bedroom into the hall with Nikolai in tow. From there I my eyes adjust to the dimness of the hallway, and I realize there are no guards around. I scream for help, maybe somebody would hear me. They drag me down endless hallways, a right turn, a left, another right. I don't even know where I am going because all I can focus on is screaming for help and the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears.

As I am being dragged down another hallway, I stop screaming for a split second to catch my breath and I notice something in the dark. A door open and a face I've seen. It's not Quinn. As I am being pulled past, I see. Xavier. He stares at me. "Xavier! Xavier help me! Please!" He doesn't move. I am pulled too far away from the door to see him anymore. I writhe to try and get out of Issac's grip but I can't. It is like a vice.

For all the screaming I have done I am surprised that nothing has happened. Neither one says anything. They're ignoring me. Issac stares straight ahead the whole time and when I twist to look back at Nikolai all he does is stare at me. Never blinking, facial expression blank and never changing.

Issac pulls me towards a staircase and begins to descend. My tailbone hitting every bump on the stairs. I do my best to avoid hitting my head on the steps because on top of whatever is happening right now, I would prefer to not have a concussion along with it. With my free foot I try to maneuver my foot free from Issac's grasp once more. This time I get creative and try to push him down the stairs. The shock from the power of my foot should force him to let my other foot go. I try and kick as hard as I can. My foot misses him entirely and instead causes me to miss a step and fall down two with a thud. That knocks the wind out of my lungs and causes Issac to become unbalanced slightly. He stops for a second to regain his footing, but never turning to look at me. I take my chance and heave all my weight into him causing him to fall forward, letting my foot go and tumbling to the landing on the staircase.

Without another thought I get up trying to ignore the throbbing in my lower back and ass and run down the stairs past Issac on the landing. I run down the stairs as fast as I can and take the first hallway I see. I try to look back and see if they are following me, but I am too far gone to see anything but darkness. At that point it is not worth the risk, so I make another turn at a different hallway to try and throw them off if they are behind me.

I stop and hide beside a suit of armor willing my lungs to catch up on the air it needs. Nothing that just happened made any sense. What the actual fuck. First, we are attacked. Then I am dragged out of my bed by my goddam ankle by two suitors who are like zombies and don't even acknowledge I am there. They didn't once tell me to shut up, or speak to me, or hurt me, aside from descending on the stairs. That was cruel. I rub my tailbone feeling a lump begin to form. There are no members of the guard, my parents are nowhere to be seen. I have no idea where I am because this place is darker than usual. My thoughts are cut short as I hear a noise from somewhere around me. I am up and running in an instant, the adrenaline coursing through me because I am so terrified of what will happen if they catch me again.

I don't understand why this is happening. I don't underst- all the sudden a sharp pain jolts through my head. It is so painful I stop running and grab the wall. I hunch over in pain with one hand on my head. It throbs immensely. In a split second a million voices run through my head with questions and answers to the questions.

Why was the harpoon so large? A man would never be able to load that into a harpoon gun by himself. It's too large. It's too clean. Too new.

Why would they attack you? There are no supporters of Nikolai in Izdora. They don't live here. How would they know he is here? How would they travel so fast? Those can't be rebels that attacked you!

Why would they choose a harpoon that is too big to wield? Why would they throw that in the floor? Why would rebels use it if they support Nikolai? Why would they use it if they don't support Nikolai? Why use it at all? Unless-

What is with the scrap of fabric left in an obvious place? Why leave it there? Why leave it at all? Couldn't have been an accident. Unless-

The voices bombard me. I can't focus on a single one. They keep talking over each other. What are they saying? They are getting louder and louder as I try to focus on a single voice. I can...I can hear bits and pieces of it.

Fraud. Large. Why? Rebels. Harpoon. Scrap. Obvious. Fraud. Large. Why? Rebels. Harpoon. Scrap. Obvious.

FraudLargeWhyRebelsHarpoonScrapObviousFraudLargeWhyRebelsHarpoonScrapObvious-

"ARRGGAAHHHHHHH!"

They won't stop! I scream and cover my hands over my ears. Make it stop. Make it stop! I fall to my knees and a huge force knocks me over. The wind is knocked out of my lungs again.

Gasping for air I bolt up as my hand throbs in pain.

I'm in my room.

On my floor.

And my hand smacked against my nightstand.

My hand radiating pain, but I stand up and look around. My bed was a mess of covers. The moon was still high in the sky. I realize my ass isn't throbbing as I stand here. I move my good hand to my tailbone and whatever bump I thought was there no longer is.

I look at my hands, turning them over a few times. My hand still throbbing and bruising now tells me that this is real life. I sigh a deep, long sigh.

"What a fucking nightmare."