Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“How would they know we were on our way, though? It all happened so fast.”
“Let’s look around,” I said, a solidifying determination taking hold. I had to keep the dark thoughts at bay. Keep my mind clear. I wasn’t going to give up on Tristan. There was still a chance of saving him, and discovering the Midnight Chemist’s lair could possibly push the timeline. He’d have to look for a new place to hide, and that would take time, giving us more in return.
Eric started in one corner of the room, and I went to the other.
I didn’t even get started with my search before my phone started to buzz. I was close to ignoring it, but a tug in my gut told me to at least check who was calling.
It was a random number. Again, I was close to denying it, but I tapped the green button instead.
“Hello?”
“Gabriel, oh Gabe, I’m so fucking happy to hear your voice.”
I nearly dropped the phone. “Tristan?”
17
TRISTAN HALL
The taste of copper woke me up. What was that? Had I fallen asleep with some kind of face mask on? I couldn’t remember what I was doing before I went to bed.
I tried opening my eyes, but everything was still dark. Why weren’t my eyelids working? And why did that metallic taste seem to get more intense? And why did my head hurt so bad?
Realization hit me like a lightning bolt crashing down from a clear blue sky. Shock and fear flooded through me.
The Midnight Chemist had me. I’d been knocked out, and now I was blindfolded and tied down to a stiff bed, the binds around my ankles and wrists cutting into my skin. My nose must have been bleeding at some point, directing a flow of blood straight into my mouth.
No, no, no. How did this happen? It had to be a dream. A nightmare. A break in reality. It had to be—
A trailing touch against the inner part of my leg made me jerk upward. I tried to shout, but the gag in my mouth stopped me from getting any noise out. It tasted like dirt and blood. I struggled harder against my binds, making the bed teeter back and forth.
“Shhh.”
It had come from my left. I froze. Like a lamb who had stumbled into the lion’s den, hearing its heavy breath inches away, hidden in darkness. Wait… Were those footsteps to my right now? He couldn’t possibly have moved that quickly…
I started to plead, the words blocked by the nasty rag stuffed in my mouth. Tears wet the blindfold.
No, please. Please. I had so much more to do, so much more to see. I was just starting to get my inspiration back, doing what I loved, finding someone I could love. I didn’t want to die. Please.
Please.
Please.
A series of vibrations made me freeze. Was that my phone? Maybe Gabriel was on his way. My knight in shining armor. He’d save me. He’d get me out of this.
Another touch fluttered around my neck, fingers closing around me. I stopped breathing. The fingers slowly climbed up, leaving a tingling sense of disgust against my skin as they softly brushed against my cheek, my nose. The fingers went up, over my hair, rubbing against my buzzed head. The breathing became heavier, the hand moving to cover the front of my face, as if he wanted to sculpt my face out of bloodstained clay.
I had to fight the urge to throw up. I’d drown in it, the gag working like a dam. No. I had to stay strong. I had to stay clear-minded. I was going to get out of this.
As the hands moved down to my neck again, going under my shirt, I focused on everything but the hands. I tried to smell for anything unusual but only got the stench of body odor and dried blood. I listened for any sounds that could tell me where I was, hearing nothing but rotten breath.
But wait… no. There was something past the breathing. A bubbling. Like a filtration system in a fish tank. But it sounded like there was more than one. I heard a heavy door slide open. Like it was rubbing, brick against brick.
I filed that away, trying to ignore the hand that was now gliding over my chest. It made me want to rip off my skin. I wanted to shed it like an exoskeleton, leaving the contaminated pieces behind. Everywhere this monster touched burned. Like his fingers were iron-hot brands, leaving permanent marks wherever they touched.
More vibrations. The touch of the hand (I imagined claws at the end of those fingers) disappeared. A shuffling noise as the vibrations grew further. Footsteps that appeared to be climbing a creaky set of stairs.
A door closing. This one sounded different, further from me than the last door.