The Ritual

“Yeah.” I open my eyes to see a blurry shape in front of me. “Blake?” I reach out for it, but my hand misses touching nothing but air.

Beep … beep … beep …

“Turn it off!” I snap, the sound of my own voice making me flinch as it echoes in my head.

“We can’t. It’s the only thing telling us you’re alive,” I recognize as Gunner say.

“I’m talking, aren’t I?” I growl.

“You haven’t spoken in a week,” he states.

Pressing my palms into my eyes, I rub them once again. They’re a little more focused now. I see Gunner on a couch, Prickett standing by a window, and then Sarah sitting on the side of my bed.

“Where’s Blake?” I ask, looking around.

The room falls silent.

Beep … beep … beep …

The sound of the machine picks up its rhythm when I don’t see her. “Where the fuck is she?”

Sarah looks away from me, and I hear her sniff. She goes to stand, but I grip her forearm, yanking her back down to my hospital bed. “Where the fuck is she?” I shout.

“She’s … gone.”

“Sarah!” Gunner snaps at her.

She covers her face with her hands and begins to sob.

“What the hell do you mean, she’s gone? Where did she go?”

“Matt …” Sarah cries. “He took her.”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I release her, and she runs out of the room bawling. Sitting up, I ignore the head rush and blurry vision. I start yanking wires off my body and arms.

“Ryat,” Gunner begins. “You can’t leave. You were shot four times …”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Prickett argues. “You need rest. Your body needs to recover.”

“I need Blake!” I shout. “Where is she?”

Gunner sighs while Prickett runs his hands through his hair.

“Where is she?” Panic grips my chest like a vise. This can’t be happening. Did he say I’ve been here for a week?

“We don’t know.” Prickett speaks softly. “We pulled up to the cabin just as another vehicle was leaving … we walked inside and found you lying dead in the foyer. Gunner performed CPR while Sarah called 911, and I went after the car. By then, it was too late. It was gone. After we searched the house, we realized she had to have been in the car. We figured by the smear of your blood on the floor that she was dragged away.”

Throwing my two legs off the side of my bed, I try to stand, but my knees give out. I fall but catch myself on the side of the bed.

“Ryat …” Gunner runs over to me and grips my arms to help me stand.

I shove him away. Well, I try but he doesn’t budge. “I need my phone. I have to go get it…”

“No.”

“Yes. I can’t be here.” Not while she’s out there. Somewhere alone. Lost. Terrified. I should be with her. I should be protecting her. “My phone …”

“Ryat!” Gunner snaps as Prickett runs out of the room.

I yank the IV out of my arm, and blood squirts onto the bed.

“Ryat, get back in bed!” Gunner demands.

“No. I need my goddamn phone.” Why aren’t they listening to me? “It was in my jeans …”

The door bangs open, hitting the interior wall, and Prickett enters with a couple of nurses. They don’t even give me the chance to explain.

Prickett shoves his elbow into my back, forcing me to bend over the side of the bed when I feel a pop in my hip. Then my eyes close with her name on my lips.

_______________

“WHAT …?” MY HEAD is foggy once again. The light blinding. I blink, tilting my head to the side. I go to rub my eyes but realize my wrists are restrained to the hospital bed.

Sighing, I mumble, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I’m afraid it’s the only option you left them.”

Opening my eyes, I see my dad standing next to the bed.

“I need to leave,” I say, feeling my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth.

“You need to recover,” he argues.

“Why does everyone keep saying that. Blakely …”

“We’ll find her.”

I open my eyes to see my father-in-law entering my room with two cups of coffee. He’s the last person I want to see, but he might be the only one who will want to find her as bad as me. “I know where she’s at,” I growl. “If anyone would let me get my goddamn phone.”

“I have it.” My dad pulls it from his back pocket. “After they sedated you, Gunner ran back to the cabin and pulled it from your jeans. I guess when the paramedics arrived, they had to cut them off you. It was still in your pocket.”

I go to reach for it, but the damn restraints stop my actions. I throw my head into the flat pillow and grind my teeth to keep from screaming. I don’t want them to sedate me again.