Path To Redemption (Fighter's Den, #1)

Chapter 36 - Emily

I've had enough hangovers to recognize what a really bad one feels like. It's all the same.

A pounding head that feels like a hammer was taken to it one too many times. A mouth that feels like dry cotton and tastes even worse. A body that feels like it weighs a ton and the inability to lift it up even an inch. It's everything I'm experiencing right now. Though, oddly enough, I don't recall drinking last night. I actually don't recall anything from last night and I will myself to remember.

It takes maximum effort but I'm eventually able to peel my eyes open. The glaring light in the room goes straight to my headache and I close my eyes with another wince. What the hell happened to me?

I decide to test the mobility of my body instead since opening my eyes is not a possibility for the time being. With a wiggle of my toes and fingers, I'm able to confirm all ten of each are intact. I can discreetly feel something carpeted beneath my body so I know I'm lying down. I try to lift myself up but the second I try a tremendous ache runs through me. Holy shit, it feels like I've been through a meat grinder. My wrist and head hurt the most. I...I think my wrist is broken. I attempt to jerk it and a pulsing pain shoots up my arm with enough intensity to emit an unintentional cry. I suck in a deep breath and try to breathe through the pain, letting the throbbing in my wrist subdue. It's definitely broken. But how?

"Great, she's awake." I hear muttered from somewhere.

And then it all comes rushing back to me so quickly I can't help but gasp. Flashes of my kidnapping run through my mind in rapid speed and it spurs a deeper headache than before. Oh, god. Someone attacked and kidnapped me. It's like a bad dream but I'm awake to experience every last bit of it and I can't escape. Suddenly it's hard to breathe and my throat closes quickly. Tears threaten to spill over as my vision blurs with wetness. I want to go home. I want to be in the safety of Jaxon's arms. Why is this happening to me? How do I make it stop?

Without thinking I let out a scream so loud it rings my own ears. My throat feels scratchy and parched but I don't let that stop me. Maybe someone will hear me if I'm loud enough and this may be my only chance.

A sharp pain on my right cheek cuts me off and turns my scream into a cry. A stinging sensation takes over and I blink as I realize I was just punched. Fear causes my adrenaline to spike and the pain in the centre of my head to dissipate until I'm able to finally open eyes. At first I think my mind is playing tricks on me when I see where I am. It's beyond bizarre and I even shut my eyes once more to make sure something isn't wrong with me. I reopen them and surely enough I see the same thing.

"What the hell?" I croak out.

Before I can say anything else, my body is suddenly lifted into the air with minimal effort and deposited into a seat. I can't even fight back and I sag against the backrest because I'm too weak to sit upright. A pair of hands curves around each crook of my elbow and lifts my arms to the back of the seat. Something long and narrow, maybe rope, presses into my wrists and I scream out from the pain.

"My wrist is broken. Please." I cry to whoever is doing this.

A grunt is the only response I get but the rope moves up an inch above my wrists. I shouldn't breathe a sigh of relief when my hands are clearly being tied up but at least I'm not experiencing any more of that bone-biting sensation. My eyes widen when a hand comes around from behind my head and a strip of tape stops in front of me. The strip is pressed to my mouth tightly and I struggle against it. Oh, god. I should've screamed more when I had the chance. The panic of my mouth being restrained is making it harder to breathe, like breathing properly at this point isn't already a struggle. The harsh exhales through my nose mix in with the creepy ticking of the clock. As much as I try to stop it, tears trek down my face fiercely and I begin to cry silently.