CHAPTER 30
Noah
My entire body feels heavy. I can barely move. The pressure in my mind whispers to me, tells me to stay under. To remain in the same oppressive darkness from before.
Before I woke up and realized we’d been taken.
The thought is enough to send another bolt of awareness through my brain. Groaning, I shift on the bed, forcing my unbelievably heavy lids to part. My entire body feels like it’s encased in cement, impossible to move.
Ivy. Need to check on Ivy.
I drag my body over to her side of the bed, hand on the surface as I search for her—
She isn’t here.
She.
Isn’t.
Fucking.
Here.
Pure, wrenching panic blasts through me. I shoot up into a seated position, vision blurry, turning to where she was last night.
Gone.
FUCKING GONE.
A scream builds in my chest, clawing its way up my throat. Just as I’m about to lose my ever-living shit, the yawning, empty chasm in front of me registers.
The main wall is open. Nothing but darkness can be seen on the other side. No outline of soldiers or anyone. No sound. Just nothing.
They’ve taken Ivy.
An image flashes in my mind. A fucked-up memory. Jamie, bound, semi-naked, abused. Cut up.
Oh God, what are they doing to Ivy?
I scramble off the bed, legs tangling in the bloody covers. It takes me a few tries to free myself, but once I do, I’m running straight at the empty entrance. I know the remote is probably still on the floor, that anyone can come in here while I’m out and take it.
But there’s no worrying about that. Fuck no. Ivy is all that matters.
Like a bullet, I fly out of the room—
And straight into nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see. I stumble a few steps, heart pounding, squinting to try and see in front of me. I spare only a few seconds to that endeavor, before taking off in a run again.
The sheer rage of my hatred for Valerie paralyzes me for a moment. “Where the fuck is she?” I shout into the darkness.
Nothing.
“Answer me!”
Finally, the bitch responds. “She’s alive and that’s all you need to worry about at the moment.”
Can this cunt sound any more displeased by that fact? She wants my Ivy dead more than anything.
Red begins tinting my vision.
“Ivy is being detained and not your biggest concern at the moment . . . you should be more—”
“Bring her back or I’ll burn this entire place down.” My jaw aches from how hard I’m gritting my teeth. Even I can’t deny the volatile danger in my voice.
“Is that a threat, Mr. Barker?” You are in no position to—”
“It’s a motherfucking promise.”
No response.
Still can’t see what’s in front of me for shite, but can’t let that stop me. “Ivy . . . baby, I’m coming for you!” Please let her hear me. God please.
Blood rushing in my ears, I push my body to its limits, pumping my legs harder. A weird feeling is falling over my mind. One that makes it even harder for me to register anything in the darkness. Each hard pump of my heart seems to amplify the odd sensation in my veins.
More drugs. When they slipped them to me, I don’t know.
Can’t let that stop me either.
Out of nowhere, I slam straight into a wall. “Fuck!” Groaning, I brace myself, straining to hear anything above the roar of my own heart.
Still nothing.
Desperation is a sharp, agonizing presence. “Ivy! Baby where are you?” I scream at the top of my lungs, knowing they probably won’t let her answer but too frantic to stop myself nonetheless. Deciding to stick with my right, I start running in that direction again. “Ivy!”
I run like my life depends on it, because it bloody does. Losing Ivy will be the end of me. There’ll be no reason to live after her death. I pump every single bit of strength into running, survival demanding that I find her.
That I kill anyone laying a hand on her.
Suddenly, red lights flash on, momentarily blinding me, and I almost trip over my feet. The light is bright, so bright I have to close my eyes for a moment to adjust. When I open my eyes, I see the vastness of the hallway I’m in.
Concrete, smooth walls.
Shiny, black floors.
Those red LED lights overhead.
No windows. No doors. Nothing but the long hallway stretching before me.
“Ivy! Baby, wherever you are, I’m coming for you! I won’t let them hurt you!” It’s probably a lie, God help me they’ve probably already hurt her.
Can’t think like that. I’ll go fucking mad.
I run even faster, eyes bouncing everywhere, looking for an opening. The lights flash on and off repeatedly, maybe four or five times, confusing me even further. The drugs are gaining steam, too, making my vision blurrier.
My emotions crazier.
The lights stabilize, remaining on, but still no opening. Still no . . . Out of the corner of my right eye I see a turn.
And a figure at the end of the next hallway.
Her.
The fucking nun. Agnes.
Whirling around, I face her—
Just as everything goes dark again.
Fucking hell. “Ivy! Can you hear me love? Give me a sign! Anything!”
Of course, I get no reply. Out of breath, I struggle to run faster.
Everything goes red again.
Out of my left peripheral, I see Agnes again, standing at the end of the corridor, rosary beads in hand. Even from this distance, I hear her chanting. Praying again.
A fucking mockery.
Without a second thought, I chase after her, even as everything goes dark once more. “Come back here, you fucking cunt! What have you done with Ivy? Ivy!” My voice breaks on the last yell, a perfect echo of my frantic fear.
I run for an eternity it seems, down a straight line, expecting to ram into another wall but not caring enough about that to stop. Eventually, my heart starts to struggle and I have no choice but to pause for a few seconds, gulping in mouthfuls of air. “Ivy! Please baby, where are you?”
The lights turn back on for a split second. Long enough for me to see Agnes yet again.
The bloody bitch is only ten feet away from me, standing perfectly still, that white rosary clasped in her hands. “What’s the matter, child? Afraid we’ve done away with her already?”
Her words are acid. Pure acid. Logically, I know they’re meant to be a taunt, but they play too closely to my own fears. Rage like I’ve never felt before blows up inside me. “I’m going to fucking kill all of you if something’s happened to Ivy!”
Agnes laughs softly.
I run right at her, but of course, as soon as I start doing so the lights go out once more. These fuckers are watching this on their feeds. Using me as entertainment. Probably laughing their arses off at my out of control, emotional state.
Agnes’ laugh drifts down the hall again. Desperate for air, I have no choice but to stop for a few seconds.
Suddenly, a light comes on next to me. I jump back, realizing I was leaning against a plexiglass-window. On the other side? An all-black room, just like the one Robert was killed in. And just like Robert, there’s a woman strapped to a gurney, her face turned away from me. Blood leaks out of multiple wounds on her body, and a man in a black full-body latex suit is rutting between her legs.
But her hair.
Fuck, those red lights distort the color but I’m sure it’s strawberry blond.
He’s raping her. Breaking her, hurting her, and his cock is inside what’s fucking mine.
I throw myself against the glass, punching at it frantically. “IVY! Get the fuck away from her, you low life asshole!”
Neither one of the inhabitants turn to me.
The man thrusts deeper into her, rotating his hips, the knife in his hand coming down to slice deep across her abdomen. Blood wells instantly, like a thick, dark torrent that slithers down her side.
I throw all my weight into the glass, punching at it until my skin cracks and my hands start to bleed. “Stop hurting her you fucking arsehole! Ivy! Oh God, baby, I’m so sorry!”
The man raping Ivy throws back his head and suddenly a very male laugh fills the space around me. Reaching for her face, he jerks it around—
Dark, tear-filled eyes focus on me.
God forgive me, but I stumble backward in relief at the realization that that isn’t Ivy. I stare into the dark room through the blood-stained glass, watching as the man in the latex bodysuit thrusts inside the woman one final time, his body tensing as he comes.
His dick is still inside her when he reaches down and slices her throat clean open with his knife.
A rush hits my head and the world spins around me, becoming distorted. Dizzy, I fall back against the glass as the lights go out once more. The rush remains, and everything feels like it’s spinning. Closing my eyes, I try my best to hold back the vomit climbing its way up my throat.
Futile. My jaw unhinges and I can’t help but throw up a few inches away from my own feet.
It only takes a few heaves, considering we’ve only eaten once in a few days. Shaking, I straighten. Hands on the wall, I make my way down the hall, my entire body in a state of flux. The relief I feel is only momentary. All I can think about is that Ivy is somewhere, that they took her.
That the very same thing that happened to that woman just now can be happening to her.
Tears prick my eyes. I swear to everything holy, before we get out of here, I will end Valerie for doing this to us. For being such a waste of skin. I can’t believe the entire time I thought she was just a nasty little cunt, she was a part of this behind the scenes.
A part of this operation that kidnaps people for sexual and murderous gain.
As soon as most of the nausea recedes, I start jogging again, mentally forcing myself to ignore the dizzying effect of the drugs. I run for another five, maybe ten minutes, before the red lights blaze on all around me.
And there, at the end of the hall, is Agnes again. She laughs softly and motions for me to follow her before taking a left turn.
This time, the lights remain on.
Not sparing a single second, I take off after her, my heart screaming for Ivy the entire way.