is one heck of a farm.”
His parents' place? A farm? Dang, I wish we were still at that traffic light. I have about a dozen questions.
“I can hear you overthinking, darlin’,” he says. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. Everything is going to be alright.”
I try to take some of the strength radiating off of Brick and relax. It isn’t long before I fall asleep.
It’s dark. So dark that I can’t even see my hands in front of my face.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” I call out.
Where am I? This isn’t my room. It’s never this dark in my room.
“Hello?” I call out a little louder. “Where am I?”
It sounds like my voice falls flat as soon as it leaves me. There’s no echo in here.
I feel light-headed but manage to stand up. Trying my best not to freak out, I hold out my arms and slowly walk around. After bumping into some walls, which feels like they’re made out of concrete, and tripping over what I assume was a thin mattress, I feel like now is a great time to freak out.
“PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
Just then, a small light appears toward the ceiling, and a silhouette of a person stands there.
Am I in a basement? I don’t remember feeling any stairs. But there must be because the silhouette slowly descends until he’s standing right in front of me.
“Please,” I whisper. “Can you help me?”
The person drops something
“Food and water,” a male said. “Make it last. Hold still. Boss wants to give you a little present.”
My fight or flight instinct kicks in, and I try to run toward the light only to be stopped by a chain attached to my ankle. How had I not noticed that before?
“No sense in fighting, little bunny. Might as well give in.”
Something sharp pierces my arm right before I’m tossed onto the thin mattress.
My body feels like it’s rejecting whatever it is they injected into me. My stomach turns, and I can feel that at any moment, I’m going to throw up. But, just as suddenly as it happened, the nausea stops. My body feels light. Like I’m floating. Every worry and fear that I felt only moments before vanishes like it was never there.
“Have fun,” the man laughs.
I look up and smile at the silhouette. Nothing matters anymore. Not even when he shuts the door, leaving me alone in the darkness.
“Jessa, wake up.”
Brick’s command pulls me out of the same dream that I’ve had for the past week. I keep dreaming the same dream, but I can’t ever remember any faces. It’s so dang frustrating.
“You okay, darlin’?”
I nod my answer.
We pull into the driveway of a large white two-story house. I look around, and all I see is land. Brick wasn’t kidding. This is one heck of a farm. I wonder where the…
“The barns out back,” Brick says, reading my mind. “It was my favorite place to play as a small child.”
I look over and smile. I’m finding it extremely difficult picturing Brick as a small anything.
“Your cheeks just turned a lovely shade of pink, baby,” Brick smirks. “What could you be thinking about in that head of yours?”
I write what’s on my mind and hand over my notebook.
I was having a hard time picturing you small.
Brick laughs. “The truth is, I wasn’t very small at all,” he admits. “Before we go inside, you should know something.”
His voice went from humor to seriousness.
“My mother is a freaking hurricane,” he says.
I’m so confused. I take off my sunglasses and wait for him to continue.
“She’s a very wonderful woman,” Brick continues. “But she… how do I put this… she loves in a way that is extremely loud and smothering.”
I can feel the laugh tickle my throat begging to be released. The breath rushes from my lips, but the sound stays buried.
Brick is worried about his mom caring too much. Silly man.
I take my notebook back.
I think it’s pretty cool that your mom loves that much. I write. Before we go in, I have one more question. What is your real name?
Brick reads what I wrote before handing me back my pad.
“You think that now, baby. But, when she’s looking over your shoulder to make sure you brushed your teeth properly, we’ll have this conversation again.”
I smile at the image.
“My name is Adam Parker,” he tells me. “My parents are Jim and Sherry Parker.”
I mouth my thanks before he exits the truck. I take a moment to gather my thoughts. My body still feels extremely weak. I