Beneath The Blackwood Sky | ✓

Chapter Thirty-Four: Dark Abyss

SHAY COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING. THE FIRST THING she was aware of was the darkness she was plunged into, which seemed never-ending. The second thing she was aware of was the pounding headache and the sparks of pain emerging from her ankle, threatening to turn into a fire.

She closed her eyes, then opened them again. Her heart sped as she realized there was no difference. Am I dead? Her terror and fear mounted with every second, not being able to comprehend what happened to her and where she was. What about the others? Mom, Nick, Will, Jade, Theo, and Kai?

The day's events came rushing back to her and Shay gasped. They had breathed in some gas and fainted. Her heart lurched with panic as she tilted her head, wanting to see something. Anything. But her eyes just met pitch-black surroundings.

As seconds ticked by, her heart clenched with uneasiness. She assumed that her eyes would soon adjust to the dark surroundings around her, but it didn't seem to happen. Is something wrong with my eyesight? Did I go blind because of the gas I breathed earlier?

She heard a muffled sound. Someone groaning. Shay immediately looked in the direction of the groan, even though she couldn't see anything. She recognized the source of the sound immediately: Rose. Rose. She's here, she's safe. Nothing happened to her. Shay's relief only lasted till a few seconds till the crushing weight settled down. Yet. Nothing happened to her yet. Something else might happen now that we're caught. We've angered James by our presence, and we will be the ones paying the price.

There was something sticky on Shay's mouth. A tape. Her next instinct was to try her hands though she knew they would be bound together. Her wrists were tied tightly behind her back, the thick rope biting into her skin which caused a burning sensation. She tried to stretch her legs and immediately whimpered. Something was restricting the movement of her legs, Shay guessed that it was the same thick rope.

The rope was tied around her ankles, and her bad one wasn't doing very well. Shay gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain centred around her ankle. It was bent at an awkward angle, and she tried to adjust it to reduce her pain, doing her very best to not upset anything in the process.

The pressure of pain increased as Shay changed its position. She gave up. Shay let it lie limp and tried to set it down gently but instead, she heard a crack. Pure pain ripped through her ankle. Shay whimpered. If she thought the pain she had been going through was bad, this was twenty times worse.

A muffled whimper comes out of her mouth and Shay gritted her teeth in pain. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against a cold hard surface she was pressed against, hoping the pain would go away or diminish slowly.

The word ligament tear pops into her head. That or a broken ankle.

The next few minutes were agonizingly slow, and the pain wasn't showing any signs of reducing. A ray of light crept into the room as the door opens. Shay flinched as someone stepped inside and shut the door with a bang. "Enjoying the view, I see?" An overly cheerful voice calls out.

"Ooohhh, I forgot. My bad. All of you can't speak because of those tapes. Too bad I don't plan to remove them this quickly. Oh wait, this darkness is blinding. Just a sec," He said, his voice chirpy. There was a clicking sound and a lighter was lit. They had been without light for so long that the small flame was almost too bright to look at.

Bright blue orbs danced in her vision and Shay shut her eyes, opening them slowly so that her eyes would adjust to the flame. Attached to the lighter was a hand that belonged to the same person who they met outside Vyper's headquarters. James. The guy behind all the suicides and kidnappings. Someone who brought a lot of sadness and destruction into others' lives. He killed her father.