𝙏𝙀𝙉𝘼𝘾𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎 » 𝙅𝙒: 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 ✓ [2]

XII

CHAPTER TWELVE
WHAT'S PASSED IS PRESENT

'Laura...? Laura?'

Light filters into my eyes fluttering ajar, accumulating my senses to the hard, cold concrete underneath me. I bolt upright, disorientation pulsating through my temples and limbs.

'Hey hey hey, easy,' says a calm, low voice.

Owen was knelt beside me, a concern expression knitted into his face as he held my shoulder. Claire was next to him, her face flooded with guilt as she studied me with the same expression. I was, for the second time in a day, being shaken awake from unconsciousness at the aid of Owen and Claire.

Talk about deja vu.

'Oh, God,' I whine, shaking my head in annoyance.

There was a sharp sting wedged in back of my head, my hand instinctively reaching to tend the spot. I lightly touched my fingers against it, wincing in pain. My bottom lip was stinging, the aftertaste of blood resting on the tip of my tongue.

'Are you okay?' Claire asks with concern, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. I left the spot be, running a hand through my hair.

'I think so,' I answer with uncertainty, sitting myself upright with shaking arms.

Alex was beside me, also looking as though he had just been shaken awake from a state of deep unconsciousness. Faint dark circles were painted underneath his eyes, however, a large, purple bruise had already begun swelling upon his left cheek.

'What the hell happened to us?' Alex asks the pair.

Owen shrugs. 'You tell us kid,' he replies. 'We woke up right after the ship had docked and you two weren't there. Zia said you'd been gone for hours but she couldn't leave Blue to go and investigate. When they brought us in, you two were lying on the floor in here out cold.'

As my vision cleared with his words, our surroundings came more prevalent. Green tiles and brick walls enclosed us into an empty room littered with straw. An eerie yellow light hung over the room, illuminating everything in a strange shade of gold. A few feet in front of me, large iron bars were bolted into the ground. I pursed my lips.