"You know I can't let you go, right?" The man asked, voice gentler than I was expecting it to be. I looked up and he was staring right at me, eyes uncharacteristically kind.
I nod slowly, whispering, "Go ahead."
~~~
Ava Williams is just trying to l...
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My eyes opened to darkness. I tried to sit up but my movements were sluggish and I hardly made it a few inches before collapsing back onto the soft bed. I didn't remember drinking after I got off work, but this is the worst hangover I've ever had. I buried my head in the pillow, inhaling the sweet lavender scent. Wait, lavender? I hated lavender. The memories rushed back to me and my eyes snapped open. I renewed my efforts, feebly lifting my body up. My arm gave out and I toppled over the edge of the bed, the sheets tangling my legs. Something jerked hard on my arm as I hit the ground hard and I heard a loud pop from my shoulder. I let out a low groan, clutching my shoulder and trying to pull my arm free. Metal smacked against metal and I realized that I had been handcuffed to the bed. Abandoning my efforts of bursting free, I tried to climb back into bed, but that didn't work either. My legs were unsteady beneath me, and every time I tried, they buckled under my weight. Whatever was in the syringe, the effects hadn't worn off entirely yet. So I sat.
I craned my head to look out the single window beside the bed, but my view was mostly blocked by a set of curtains. I could barely make out the stars in the night sky. That shocked me. It was almost sunrise when we left the diner. So a whole day already passed?
What little light shone through the window allowed me to see only shadows in the room. It looked twice as big as my apartment. A large king-sized bed, the same one I fell out of, took up the majority of the room. I could make out the outline of three doors and I wondered where they could lead.
My fingertips started going numb and I tried to reposition my aching shoulder, the handcuff jangling against the metal headboard. The feeling was starting to return to my legs, but still not enough to get myself off the damn floor. I rested my head against the soft mattress and curled up against the side of the bed.
My mind wandered back to the alley and the strange men. Chicago had a reputation of being dangerous. All big cities did. But I had never encountered the dark side until last night. The three men that came in for coffee were jerks, but I would never have thought they would be killers. But they didn't kill that guy.
True. I nodded along to the voice in my mind. But why have a gun out if you didn't intend to use it?
My legs were still numb when the sun started to rise outside and I wasn't sure whether it was still from the drug or from sitting on them for hours at a time. I was drifting in and out of sleep when the door creaked open. An older woman peaked her head around the door, brown curls sitting haphazardly on top of her head. When she saw me still sitting on the floor beside the bed, she quickly retreated, leaving the door cracked open slightly. A few minutes later, I heard muffled voices outside the door before it opened to reveal none other than Tall, Dark and Brooding. His eyes glanced around the room before landing on me.
"Why are you on the floor?" He questioned, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows raised.
