Discovering Me
Page 22
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I have to gain control over this. I cannot freak out.
You’ve been in this situation before, Piper. Keep calm.
“Jinx,” I whisper in as low a voice as I can. “You have to stop cryin’. Look at me.”
More sniffles. I remind myself to stay calm because if we both are a sniffling mess, it won’t do us any good.
“Jinxie. Look at me, girl.”
All I can see is her silhouette from a little bit of light that streams down through the cracks in the ceiling above us.
“The more noise you make, the more they’ll come and check on us. And when I say check on us, it isn’t in a friendly way, okay?”
She says nothing and I suspect she won’t for a long time to come. If I had time to analyze myself over my calmness, I would, but I don’t have time to freak out. If we are able to figure out how to get out of the situation we are in, at least one of us must stay sane.
“I’m not going to lie to you and say things are gonna be okay. Because I don’t know if they will be, but I can do my best at gettin’ us through this the best I can,” I choke out. “I’ve been through something similar before. First rule, we can talk, but it has to be quiet. Please don’t be loud. If you have to cry, muffle it with your arm.”
Jinx shakes her head back and forth in disbelief as the tears still garble from her throat. I hear voices above us. My head tilts on its own accord, and I strain to listen. Spanish. They are speaking Spanish. So the men who kidnapped us are Hispanic like they looked. I should have learned Spanish, but the people who trafficked me were Russians.
“Jinx,” I whisper yell, and my hand flies to my mouth to quiet myself. When I have my heartbeat back to normal and I am sure I can quiet myself down, I remove my shaky hand. “This situation will not be any better if you draw their attention to us more than it has to be.”
As quiet as I can manage, I stretch as far as the chain on my ankle will allow and wave my hand for Jinx to follow my movement. We meet in the middle of the wet, damp concrete floor with the leaky pipe above us, which continues to drip water.
“Jinx…,” I say quietly as I grab one of her hands in mine and squeeze. “If they feed us, don’t scarf it down, okay? They will starve us. We need to prep our bodies the best we can. Follow my lead with the food, if we get any, okay?”
She says not one word, but the white peaks of her eyes show me she heard me. “If they rape us—”
Jinx cuts me off with a gasp, and I use my free hand to cover her mouth. “Shh…”
When her sobs quiet, I remove my hand.
“They most likely will, and I need you to remember the best memory you’ve ever had and put it on repeat in your mind, okay? It’s important. You can cry about it later, but the more you struggle and the more noise you make… the worse it makes it on you, okay?”
My stomach twists into knots as I recall the past I have done so well at forgetting. I know deep down in my heart that I have people looking for me this time around. Sniper won’t stop until he finds me, no matter if we left things with unresolved issues. He won’t stop. I have to believe with everything in me that he won’t stop until he finds me.
“They’ll come for us. You have to believe that. Sniper won’t stop until he has me back safe, and you, too. When they come in here, don’t struggle. Go with it. It sounds idiotic, but people like the ones that have us chained at the ankle, they feed off of the struggle.”
Her blue eyes are bloodshot red, and the tears continue to stream down her face. “They’re gonna rape us,” she squeaks.
This poor woman should never have had to be in this situation. I shouldn’t either, but you don’t always get what you want.
“Quiet down, Jinx.” I shush her.
She is going to bring them down here faster than I am prepared to deal with them. They want something from the Club, so they’ll keep us alive as long as they can and then kill us when they get what they want. I pray that Sniper and the guys find us before that point comes.
“My ankle hurts,” she whispers as one of her hands pulls at the metal band. “It’s cold, and we’re going to end up sick with infection.”
Infection is the least of our worries, but I do not have the heart to tell her so. Life is unfair. It is positively unfair.
“Jinx, listen to me. Infection is the last thing that should be on your mind. Within the next twenty-four hours, we’ll most likely be drugged and raped. You need to promise me you’ll stay calm. I can’t bear to watch what will happen if you don’t.” I grab both of her arms to shake some sense of reality into her. “Take all your happy moments and use those to survive. Whatever happens to me, close your eyes, and remember I am strong enough to get past it, and I will do the same for you. If we don’t anger them further, it’ll be easier on us. Do you understand?”
Her arms shake and her body starts to convulse underneath my fingertips. “That right there needs to stop,” I screech way too loud and scold myself mentally afterwards. “Calm is your best friend. You need to remember that.”
The situation is going to be tough enough, and her spazzing out is going to worsen our ordeal if she can’t get a grip. I understand she has no idea how to handle this situation. If this was my first time being kidnapped, I’d be freaking out as well, but it isn’t. I know from experience that the key to survival is to stay calm. Calm is and will be your savior if you want to make it out alive.
You’ve been in this situation before, Piper. Keep calm.
“Jinx,” I whisper in as low a voice as I can. “You have to stop cryin’. Look at me.”
More sniffles. I remind myself to stay calm because if we both are a sniffling mess, it won’t do us any good.
“Jinxie. Look at me, girl.”
All I can see is her silhouette from a little bit of light that streams down through the cracks in the ceiling above us.
“The more noise you make, the more they’ll come and check on us. And when I say check on us, it isn’t in a friendly way, okay?”
She says nothing and I suspect she won’t for a long time to come. If I had time to analyze myself over my calmness, I would, but I don’t have time to freak out. If we are able to figure out how to get out of the situation we are in, at least one of us must stay sane.
“I’m not going to lie to you and say things are gonna be okay. Because I don’t know if they will be, but I can do my best at gettin’ us through this the best I can,” I choke out. “I’ve been through something similar before. First rule, we can talk, but it has to be quiet. Please don’t be loud. If you have to cry, muffle it with your arm.”
Jinx shakes her head back and forth in disbelief as the tears still garble from her throat. I hear voices above us. My head tilts on its own accord, and I strain to listen. Spanish. They are speaking Spanish. So the men who kidnapped us are Hispanic like they looked. I should have learned Spanish, but the people who trafficked me were Russians.
“Jinx,” I whisper yell, and my hand flies to my mouth to quiet myself. When I have my heartbeat back to normal and I am sure I can quiet myself down, I remove my shaky hand. “This situation will not be any better if you draw their attention to us more than it has to be.”
As quiet as I can manage, I stretch as far as the chain on my ankle will allow and wave my hand for Jinx to follow my movement. We meet in the middle of the wet, damp concrete floor with the leaky pipe above us, which continues to drip water.
“Jinx…,” I say quietly as I grab one of her hands in mine and squeeze. “If they feed us, don’t scarf it down, okay? They will starve us. We need to prep our bodies the best we can. Follow my lead with the food, if we get any, okay?”
She says not one word, but the white peaks of her eyes show me she heard me. “If they rape us—”
Jinx cuts me off with a gasp, and I use my free hand to cover her mouth. “Shh…”
When her sobs quiet, I remove my hand.
“They most likely will, and I need you to remember the best memory you’ve ever had and put it on repeat in your mind, okay? It’s important. You can cry about it later, but the more you struggle and the more noise you make… the worse it makes it on you, okay?”
My stomach twists into knots as I recall the past I have done so well at forgetting. I know deep down in my heart that I have people looking for me this time around. Sniper won’t stop until he finds me, no matter if we left things with unresolved issues. He won’t stop. I have to believe with everything in me that he won’t stop until he finds me.
“They’ll come for us. You have to believe that. Sniper won’t stop until he has me back safe, and you, too. When they come in here, don’t struggle. Go with it. It sounds idiotic, but people like the ones that have us chained at the ankle, they feed off of the struggle.”
Her blue eyes are bloodshot red, and the tears continue to stream down her face. “They’re gonna rape us,” she squeaks.
This poor woman should never have had to be in this situation. I shouldn’t either, but you don’t always get what you want.
“Quiet down, Jinx.” I shush her.
She is going to bring them down here faster than I am prepared to deal with them. They want something from the Club, so they’ll keep us alive as long as they can and then kill us when they get what they want. I pray that Sniper and the guys find us before that point comes.
“My ankle hurts,” she whispers as one of her hands pulls at the metal band. “It’s cold, and we’re going to end up sick with infection.”
Infection is the least of our worries, but I do not have the heart to tell her so. Life is unfair. It is positively unfair.
“Jinx, listen to me. Infection is the last thing that should be on your mind. Within the next twenty-four hours, we’ll most likely be drugged and raped. You need to promise me you’ll stay calm. I can’t bear to watch what will happen if you don’t.” I grab both of her arms to shake some sense of reality into her. “Take all your happy moments and use those to survive. Whatever happens to me, close your eyes, and remember I am strong enough to get past it, and I will do the same for you. If we don’t anger them further, it’ll be easier on us. Do you understand?”
Her arms shake and her body starts to convulse underneath my fingertips. “That right there needs to stop,” I screech way too loud and scold myself mentally afterwards. “Calm is your best friend. You need to remember that.”
The situation is going to be tough enough, and her spazzing out is going to worsen our ordeal if she can’t get a grip. I understand she has no idea how to handle this situation. If this was my first time being kidnapped, I’d be freaking out as well, but it isn’t. I know from experience that the key to survival is to stay calm. Calm is and will be your savior if you want to make it out alive.
