A Rainy Day [COMPLETE]

Chapter 29

"Do you understand?" Her voice fades back into my ears and I snap my focus back to reality.

"Yes," I answer, wishing I could be in bed with everyone else right now. Her red hair boldly outlines the border of her face as I drop my body back into a fighting stance. My body is sore and I can't take any more training.

"Was that the truth?" she spits out.

"No," I retort swiftly, narrowing my gaze toward the ground. My palms become sweaty as the hairs on my neck stand on edge.

"Run a mile," Scarlett's harsh tone scares my feet into picking up speed and eventually sprinting around the humongous training arena. It was late. I wasn't sure how late, but late enough for us to be the only two people awake.

"Remind me why you're here again," Scarlett drinks from her water as I pant and struggle to catch my breath.

"My parents sent me here—"

"Why is that?" she catechizes again, her patience shrinking. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead as she steps closer to me.

"Because I got pregnant, but it was an accident. I didn't expect—" my words are torn away as I crash land on the ground. After wincing in pain, Scarlett orders me to get back up.

"I'll go over it once more. You go to this school to be taught that teenage pregnancy is not acceptable in your family. Now, remind me who got you pregnant?"

"It was Luke, but it was my—"

"Stop making up excuses," her coarse voice mandates as she kicks the back of my leg and causes me to fall back to the floor.

"Again." I stand back up on my feet and lower my gaze away from her.

"Look me in the eyes Dannielle and tell me who got you here in the first place. Who's fault it really is." I seize a glance of her eyes but feel too afraid to keep them locked on.

"It was my fault," I respond. Pain spikes throughout my vital organs as I endure a hard blow to the stomach.

"No, again," she instructs with a more stern voice. I stand to my feet and answer again with tears welling in my eyes.

"I—" without having the opportunity to finish my answer, I'm slapped in the face and kicked to the stomach. A tear abandons my eye, but I squeeze them shut hoping no more will escape. My legs are starting to shake. Everything feels like it's on fire and all I want to do is fall over and die. All I want to do is stay on the floor.

"Who's fault was it?" she clarifies firmly and presses her foot into my side to roll me over. I lie defeated on the ground without any response.

"Get up." I do as she orders but still refuse to answer. "Time's up," she speaks up for me and before I know it, I'm tumbling across the floor. A sharp pain slashes through my side as I hold it with my hands.

"Who?" she queries once more and I shut my eyes ready to scream. After taking a deep breath and calming myself, I chose to give the same answer until the stabbing pain exponentially increases. My eyes ignite and without a second thought, I give my answer.

"Luke! Luke's responsible!" I cry and she lifts her heel off of my abdomen. I glare at her as her body towers over me.

My lungs gasped for air as I realize I'm no longer being abused by Scarlett. Relief pours over me like warm water as I sit up and try to rub the memories away. After catching my breath, I bring a hand to my forehead, wiping off the sweat dripping down my face.

I thought after being free from my parents that I was done having dreams like those, but I guess I was wrong. An uncomfortable lump forms in my throat as I try swallowing it back.

I knock my head up and take a glimpse at the room around me. My legs are draped in soft bed sheets on a large bed, centered in the middle of the wall behind me. Everything was white. The sheets were white, the walls were white, and even the door and bed frame was white. Everything except for the floor. It looked like the floor was a nice fluffy brown. Is this a joke?

"You're awake," a voice emerges from the corner of the room. I was so distracted wondering where the hell I was, that I didn't even hear him come in.

"What-what's going on?" My voice sounds panicky as I feel the pounding of my rapid heartbeat. "Where am I?" I demand to know with a slight struggle to process my words. The man steps forward and a smirk appears on his face.

"That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is what you're going to do for me for the next oncoming days."

"Is this some joke?" I ask, trying to look for hidden cameras.

"You're Luke Blake's primary assistant, are you not? I've been assigned to give you orders and make sure you do as we say—"

"And what's that?" My voice appears strong, but inside my confidence is slowly withering away.

"My boss would like for you to extract some important files from his office tomorrow evening."

"No," I affirm. Our eyes cross as I look over his figure. He's fairly tall and well-built for his age. Silver rings sit on his fingers as he crosses his arms. I can't tell if he's arrogant or if this is his actual personality. My sight falls to his pitch-black outfit, drenching him from the opened buttons near his chest to his Oxford shoes.

"Let me rephrase. I will make you get those files," the man declaims while dragging out a rectangular object. One blink is all it takes for him to point the lethal weapon at me and smirk. "Understand?" I hesitate for a moment and struggle to move my focus away from the threat. My heart pounds through my ears, begging to be let out as I try to push away the distraction.

"No—" An ear-piercing sound tears away in the air. I duck for cover, praying the bullet won't hit me. My eyes open to follow a few of feathers gliding down to the covers wrapped around my legs. Suspense builds and builds in my mind as the tension of my suspended body condenses.

"The next one goes in between your eyes. Do you understand?" I sit on the bed paralyzed from the neck down. Fear rattles through the entirety of my spine as I try to stop my shaky hands.

"Yes."

"Good. Let's try and keep it that way." His words puncture their way deep into my brain as I quietly nod.

"W-Why?" I stutter as his body gravitates towards mine.

"That's not important." His stern hold on the gun causes me to lower my eyes.

"If it's not important then why are you making me of all people do it in the first place?" I question, keeping my voice to a minimum.

"You're smart, but don't think that attitude is what's going to get you out of this." He lowers the weapon and makes his way to the door. All I can do is stare at his shoes. My head won't even return to its natural state. Just the thought of him leaving the room brings me indescribable relief.

My heart stops when I realize he hasn't left. "Tomorrow evening we'll arrive at the company building. Some other members of this operation will be joining us to obtain the files. The rest will be explained tomorrow."

"What makes you think I won't just run to Luke and ruin your plan?" I question out of true curiosity.

"If you make any interaction with him whatsoever, a sniper shooter, located in a nearby building, will kill you. Understood?" I sluggishly nod my head as the man finally saunters out of the room and locks the door with the sound of a click.

My mind goes to Luke. I couldn't imagine the things he must have been thinking. Was he worried? Scared? Was he pushing himself down for not being able to protect me? The thoughts flood my mind as I recline back in bed. 

All I could do now was wait for tomorrow to come and hope everything would be okay.