Jessica

 

My arms ache, my head spins, and all I can see is blood tinted fuzz. I blink my eyes rapidly to get my vision to steady and when they do… I want to cry. Phoenix is hanging lifelessly in front of me, his arms above his head the same as mine. My heart sinks in my chest. I knew it was too good to be true. I look around, quickly noting that no one else is in the room right now.

“Phoenix. Phoenix, wake up!” I scream for him now that the gag has been removed. My heart screams for him.

“Please, Phoenix!” I holler once more. His body jolts, almost like he was struck by lightning. His eyes snap open quickly as panic shakes his body. His face is covered in blood and bruises as is his body.

“Jess?” He says my name, his head jerking around the room. He’s confused. His mind is jumbled from what happened at the warehouse.

“Phoenix. I’m right here.” The words come out as a sob, silently thanking God that he’s alive.

“Shit, Jess. I don’t know how he found us,” he says, hurt lacing his tone.

“It’s ok. We need to figure out how to get out of here.” I hiss at the pain in my shoulders. I can’t believe that this is happening. The door flies open and in walks Jake and some other guy…. The asshole that kicked Phoenix in the face at the warehouse.

“Time to play,” Jake snarls. My eyes lock onto Phoenix’s in a silent plea, but for what? He can’t help me. He’s in worse shape than I am.

“What are you doing, Jake?” Phoenix asks as Jake wanders throughout the room. He walks around as if he doesn’t have a care in the world or two hostages hanging by chains. When he turns to face me, my heart stops. I’ve seen him angry. I’ve seen him full of rage, but the look on his face right now is one I can’t even begin to describe. My heart thunders in my chest with the way he looks at me.

“What am I doing? What am I doing? That is the question… I think a better one is, what were you two doing?” Jake asks, running his fingers over my stomach under the hem of my shirt. My entire body quivers from his touch. Bile races up my throat as I try to swallow it back down.

“Do it, Jess. Throw up, and you will eat it like before.” Disgust rolls around inside of me. Phoenix roars like a lion, but there isn’t anything we can do.

“I took her! She didn’t want to go with me. Let her go. Your problem is me, not her.” Phoenix tries to pull the attention to himself, but Jake isn’t that stupid. His fingers dig into my stomach, his nails breaking the skin. I suck my lip into my mouth and bite down. I won’t give him the screams he craves. I won’t let him have another piece of me. Jake laughs, and moves to my ear, and the words he whispers make my heart flutter and race. When he pulls back, our eyes lock. There’s an honesty to what he said. I know… I can feel it in my heart. He watches me, waiting, and when I look to Phoenix and back to Jake, I nod. Jake grins triumphantly. He’s won. I let him win.

“Get her down!” he snaps at the other guy. He quickly moves toward me and releases my arms. I rub my wrists as Jake scratches his chin.

“I had plans for you. Plans change. People change. We rethink the things that we wanted and do. It’s all the circle of living.” Jake walks around, not even worried about me. His eyes stay on Phoenix.

“You should have known I’d fight for her. You shouldn’t have taken her, Phoenix. Why did you?” he asks, his eyes staring holes through him. I can feel the intense tension in the room. It’s eating me alive. I claw at my wrists, needing to feel something. When the scratches I’m making begin to burn and bleed, then and only then, do I feel something. My body shivers. I try to hold onto the feeling just to keep my focus on what’s happening in front of me.

“She deserves better than you,” Phoenix growls. He spits blood from his mouth, all the while keeping his eyes on Jake.

“Better than me? What? Like, you? You’re just fucking like me!” Jake laughs hysterically. He throws a punch into Phoenix’s face. The crackling noise makes me cringe. I want to run to him. I want to help–but what the hell can I do?

“Fuck you! I am better than you. That’s why she screamed my name!” Phoenix taunted him. I hated that he did it because Jake would only hurt him. Jake’s laugh turned maniacal. Spinning on his heel he turned, grabbing me by the hair and hauling me forward.

“She did, did she?” Jake taunts. Phoenix’s eyes lock on mine, a silent apology. Shaking my head, I ignore him and focus on what’s about to come to me. Jake shoves me to my knees, his hand tightening in my hair. I cry out in pain as he laughs louder.

“You screamed for him, Jess? You called out his name? Who the fuck do you belong to?” he growls. I gasp, trying to pull air into my lungs. It burns but I can’t not speak. He will hurt me worse. He will hurt Phoenix.

“I never screamed for him. He’s lying. I’m yours.” I cry as the words leave my mouth. I know what I need to do. I know what he said to me.

“Is that true?” Jake asks me, pulling my hair so that I have to look at him. I nod my head as much as I can. I hate that he has this power over me. I hate that he’s making me, yet again, bend to his sick will. Jake nods at the other guy behind Phoenix. He moves toward him, wrapping a chain around his throat as I gasp. Phoenix fights as hard as he can, but it doesn’t do any good. I lower my head as sobs shake my body.

“Get the fuck up and watch! You let him touch you! You let him fuck you–now, you’ll watch him die for it!” Jake hisses through his teeth. Dragging me up in front of him, tears fall rapidly down my face. Jake holds my head in a harsh grip and forces me to watch as Phoenix’s face turns red. His eyes are bugging out of his head, purple tints coming over his lips. I want to open my mouth, but nothing comes out. No screams. No cries. No… please.

“That’s enough. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Jake yanks me around by my throat and out the door. I fight to get one last look at Phoenix. His lips move–and I swear he said I love you.