Chapter 5

The cold water was a suffocating blanket. I clawed my way to the surface, my lungs screaming for air, only to be pushed back under by a heavy hand on my head. Alexander.

He held me there, the pressure immense. Bubbles escaped my lips, my last pockets of air. Panic, primal and absolute, seized me. My limbs thrashed uselessly against the weight of the water and his strength.

He pulled me up just as black spots started to dance in my vision. I coughed, sputtering water, greedily sucking in air.

"Karlee is my savior, Addie," he rasped, his face inches from mine, his eyes wild. "She saved my life. And you tried to harm her. You are nothing. Do you understand? Nothing."

Before I could answer, he shoved me under again. The cycle repeated. Drowning, surfacing, his venomous words, then drowning again. My strength was gone. My consciousness was fraying, the edges of the world blurring into a dark, watery haze.

The last time he pulled me up, he let me cling to the side of the pool, my body trembling and weak.

"This is your final warning," he said, his voice a low growl. "If I ever see you or hear of you again, I will destroy you."

He turned and walked away, leaving me a shivering, broken heap in the chlorinated water.

I don' t know how long I lay there before I managed to drag myself out. The world was spinning. I stumbled through the house, leaving a trail of water, and out into the night.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up somewhere else. The ceiling was unfamiliar, a dark, oppressive wood. The air smelled of metal and something acrid, like burnt wires.

I tried to sit up and discovered my hands were tied to the posts of a large, industrial-looking table. Fear, sharp and cold, shot through me.

Alexander stood in the corner of the room, his back to me. He was talking to Karlee, who was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"She' s a monster, Alex," Karlee whimpered. "Look what she did to me." She pointed to a tiny scratch on her arm.

"I' ll handle her," Alexander said, his voice flat.

He turned to face me. His eyes were devoid of all light, all humanity. This wasn' t the pool. This was his drone workshop, his inner sanctum, filled with his metallic pets.

Near me, tied to chairs, were a few men, their faces bruised and bloody. They were the security guards from the party, the ones who had watched him slap me.

"Addie," Alexander began, his voice dangerously calm. "You' ve caused me a great deal of trouble. You embarrassed me. You upset Karlee. And you refuse to learn your place."

He walked over to a glass case. Inside, resting on a velvet cushion, was his prize possession. A drone unlike any other. It was sleek and black, shaped like a monstrous insect, with sharp, metallic mandibles. He called it 'Viper.' It was said to contain a potent neurotoxin in its 'bite.' A rumor I prayed was just for show.

"You claim to be an art restorer," he said, taking the drone from its case. "You mend broken things. Let' s see how well you mend yourself."

He activated the drone. It whirred to life, its red optical sensors glowing. It hovered in the air before him like a loyal, venomous pet.

He gestured to me. "Viper, bite."

The drone shot forward. I screamed, trying to pull away, but the ropes held me fast. The metallic mandibles clamped down on my shoulder.

A pain unlike anything I had ever known exploded through me. It was fire and ice, a searing agony that raced through my veins. My vision blurred, the room turning into a kaleidoscope of light and shadow.

I heard Karlee gasp, a sound of genuine shock this time. Perhaps she hadn't expected this.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Alexander' s face, cold and impassive, as he watched his creation poison me.

"Leave her," he told the guards. "Let her rot."

He and Karlee left, the sound of the heavy door slamming shut echoing in the vast, silent workshop. The other men were untied and they approached me, their intentions clear in their leering eyes. One of them touched my face. My body was numb, paralyzed by the toxin. I was helpless.

I closed my eyes, succumbing to the encroaching blackness. This was the end. Cathi, I' m sorry.

Time ceased to exist. There was only pain and darkness.

Then, a sliver of consciousness returned. I was on the cold floor. The men were gone. The silence was absolute. I tried to move, to call for help, but my body wouldn't respond.

A memory surfaced. A fire. The smell of smoke, the heat. A man trapped under a fallen beam. Alexander. I had pulled him out, my hands raw, my lungs burning. He was unconscious. Someone else had found us, a young woman who had been hiding nearby. Karlee. She had taken the credit. And I, wanting to avoid his world, had let her.

A tear slid from the corner of my eye. What a price I had paid for my silence.

The heavy door creaked open again. A tall silhouette stood framed in the doorway, blocking the light. My heart seized. Alexander was back.

The figure moved closer. My vision was blurry, but it wasn't Alexander's sharp, cruel outline. This man was broader, his presence felt... safe.

He knelt beside me, his face coming into focus. A face I hadn't seen in fifteen years, but one I had never forgotten.

"Addie?" he whispered, his voice thick with disbelief and horror. "My God, what did he do to you?"

Faron Freeman. My childhood friend. My first friend.

"Faron," I breathed, the name a faint puff of air. It was the last sound I made before the world went completely black.