I waited for Ryan to return. My hands were still bound behind me, my ankle was throbbing. I was distracted about what he said to me earlier, that Pete was training me to be an assassin. I've never killed anyone. Sure I know how to, and I've hurt plenty of people, but I don't know if I could take another life. William called me the secret weapon... and I still don't know the secret. Were they using me as some sort of toy in their operation? No, of course not. Pete has been taking care of me for ten years, he wouldn't be doing that just so I could be a murder weapon. The door clicked and Ryan came back in with a sandwich and some carrot sticks on a Styrofoam plate.
"It's peanut butter and jelly." He said coming up to me and taking the sandwich in his hands. He held it up to my mouth for me to take a bite.
"Claudia, you have to eat." He said after I wouldn't do what he asked. My stomach grumbled as the bread approached my mouth again.
"Your body is telling you to eat. Please." Ryan said again. I opened my mouth and took a bite, swallowing quickly so that I could eat more. He fed me carrot sticks like I was some sort of animal. His fingers brushed my lips while feeding me, causing him to blush and pull away.
"You know that it takes the same pressure to bite into a carrot as it does to bite off a finger." I said to him. He looked at me worried and I let out a little laugh.
"I'm not going to bite your finger off, but you're funny when you look all scared and shocked. Your eyes get all big and you get paler." I said to him.
"Very funny." He said rolling his eyes.
"Ryan?"
"Yeah?"
"I think my ankle is broken." I said to him. He looked down at my feet and gently grabbed my leg.
"Yeah it's really swollen and bruised."
"It really hurts." I said to him. He rolled up my pant leg and gently removed my shoe and sock. I tried to hold it in, but let out a whimper.
"I'm so sorry, I'll get some ice and try to get someone to take a look at it." He said and let go.
"Thank you." I said to him. He looked up at me from his spot on the ground and his cheeks turned pink.
"You should try and get some sleep." He said standing up and heading to his backpack again. He took out a knitted blanket and draped it over me.
"Pretty blanket." I said.
"My mother made it, it's the last thing I got from her before she took off." He said avoiding eye contact.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine, don't worry about it." He said with a little smile. Ryan turned off most of the lamps and got comfortable leaning against one of the walls. The warmness from the blanket followed by the dimness of the room made my eyelids heavy and soon I was asleep.
...............................
She laid on her back on the bed next to my father, foam in both of their mouths. I called out her name again but neither moved. I crawled on the bed and there were two needles on the bed along with a metal tray and some cotton balls. I grabbed my mother's shoulders and shook her as her eyes rolled back, I started screaming.
"Wake up! Wake up!" I yelled over and over through my sobs. A man quickly entered the room and looked at me.
"Hey little girl, get off of there." He said and went to grab me. I swung my fist as hard as I could against his face. He stumbled back a little.
........................................
"Claudia?" A gentle voice said to me. My eyes opened quickly to see Ryan watching me with intent. I was sweating and breathing heavy.
"Are you alright?" He asked coming closer.
"Yeah, just a nightmare." I said shaking it off.
"What about?"
"My parents." I said to him.
"Want to talk about it?" He said fixing the blanket on me and offering water. I drank a little and calmed down.
"They died about ten years ago." I said to him.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, what happened? Oh shit I'm sorry you don't have to tell me. I just get curious and it often gets me in trouble." He said shaking his head. I giggled a little.
"It gets me in trouble too. They died of a drug overdose, heroin to be exact. They'd been users for years, but the doctors haven't found anything wrong with me yet. We were in Los Angeles for my birthday, they were going to take me to Universal Studios. And they were there to score. I found them in our hotel room, eyes blank of expression, the air was silent. Pete found me and when he tried to get me away from them, I hit him in the face. He said that's when he knew my potential, so he took me in." I said to Ryan as he listened intently.
"Wow." He said after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah. So here I am. Captured."
"Again, I'm sorry about this." Ryan said to me while putting his hand on my knee for comfort. I looked down at his hand and he quickly pulled it away.
"Sorry!" We both sputtered out at the same time and blushed. The door opened on the other side of the room and Brendon entered.
"Shifts over, my turn." Brendon said shooing Ryan out.
"No don't leave." I asked him. He looked at me then looked at Brendon.
"Go." Brendon said to him, so he left the room.
"Just me and you now." Brendon said with a smirk.
