Heartbreak You - T.L. Smith Page 0,53

her head.

“Sydney will check. But, Theadora, where are you?”

I look around the room. No matter what I can’t tell him where I am simply because I have no idea. The lone window in my room is boarded up on the outside and sunlight barely seeps through the cracks in the wood. I can’t see out.

“I don’t know. Chloe won’t let me out.”

Her eyes go wide at the mention of her name. She hangs up quickly, steps up to me, and slaps me again, only this time, it’s more of a punch. I fall backward, my head hitting the floor with a thud. I cradle myself into a ball trying to protect my body as my head screams with pain and things start to go dark.

“You stupid, stupid, bitch,” she screams. She throws my cell on the floor, and I watch as it shatters to pieces. She stomps on it before she picks it up and walks out of the room.

I hear the resounding echo of the click of the lock as she leaves.

I wake to noise.

A lot of noise.

My head hurts, there’s a huge bump on the side, and I can feel the sting on my face from where there is a bruise forming. My stomach grumbles loudly as the door opens and shuts. I watch Chloe as she leans against it, turning to face me and keeping her back on the door as if she’s holding it closed.

“I liked you… I did. But Jesse always said you weren’t good, and that we couldn’t trust you,” she sneers.

I hear footsteps and look at the door behind her.

“They came for you, but I can still win this game. Your sister was smart to avade your bodyguard by taking you out the back door. I’ve beat them at their game once and I can do it again.” Chloe pulls a knife from her pants and walks toward me, the knife coming at me in a swift arc. I crawl backward on the floor until I am pressed against the wall and can’t go any further.

“Chloe,” I scream as she raises the knife to stab me.

My hands instinctively go up to block her, and the knife touches my skin, causing me to scream out in agony as it stabs into my flesh. Chloe grunts and pulls back. I look up at her in shock, the blood from the wound in my arm already trailing down to my fingertips as my hands drop.

Her eyes zero in on me, and she raises it to stab me again. And just as she does, a loud bang echoes in the room, and Chloe’s eyes go wide for a split second before blood begins to bloom on the front of her shirt. She drops the knife and clutches her chest, her eyes sad and shocked at the same time.

“You,” she says, and I watch helplessly as she falls to her knees, blood filling her mouth, then spilling over her lips. She spits it out, wiping it away with her blood-covered hands.

I tremble watching on, my arm stinging and unable to move.

“Theadora.”

I shiver at the word.

Atlas is standing in the doorway with a gun in his hand. He lowers it as he looks at me, and I look back at Chloe who seems to be struggling to breathe.

“Are you okay?” I turn to Atlas as he tries to pull me up.

For some reason my voice doesn’t want to work yet, so I manage to shake my head.

My head hurts.

My world hurts.

What’s happening?

“I need to know if you can stand, I’m too injured to carry you.” His words don’t register, but I shake my head anyway. I feel his touch on my arm, but I don’t look at him, my eyes are trained on Chloe as she continues to gasp for breath.

Rough hands touch my face, tearing my eyes away from her. “Don’t look at her, look at me.”

I nod, but my head unexpectantly tries to turn back to her anyway. Atlas huffs, and I hear more footsteps as they come into the room.

Sydney is standing in the doorway along with my bodyguard.

“Hi,” I croak.

“Theadora, I need you to stand.”

I think about it, but my body is frozen to the spot.

I can’t do it.

I don’t bother telling him that because next thing I know, his hands are around me and lifting me against his chest. He grunts, and then Ronnie, my bodyguard, steps over.

“Let me take her, sir,” he says, reaching for me, but Atlas doesn’t let me go. “I