Unbroken

The knob turns but not by much.

And just like that, my voice drops. “It’s locked.”

Shit. Fuck. Dammit.

Exactly as I expected, but it still feels soul crushing.

From what I hear, the girls find one another, and they seem relieved, crying into one another as they try and hug it out, managing only to bump shoulders. I’m slightly envious they’ve got each other, while I have no one. I slide down the door and focus on rubbing my face against the edge where the wood meets stone.

“What are we going to do?” Brit cries now.

“I don’t know,” Fay answers. “We have to get out of these ropes. You have to untie me, Brit.”

But they’re not able to. It’s too hard, and Brit isn’t able to focus. She’s falling apart, sobbing louder.

“Stop shaking,” Fay tells her, voice breaking. “Babe, you have to be strong.”

I tense, as a memory slams into me full-force and his voice floods my mind:You have to be strong for me, Skye.Emotion wells up inside me, and for a moment, I go completely still to breathe through the pain.

“What a mess,” I whisper to myself. “I should have looked to you…”

That’s a regret of mine. The domino effect of it can still be felt all these years later. I saw what it did to him. I hated that it festered inside him—

“What the fuck are you saying?” Fay asks, but her voice is absent of all aggression.

“Nothing,” I mutter.

As they try to untie one another and fail, I’m forced to shake off the memories as they fire off inside me. This abduction really is different, I realize. I think that’s why I’m starting to panic. I may very well be fucked this time. Not that I wasn’t fucked last time, or the time before that, but I always had someone in my corner.

I’m supposed to have someone in my corner now, but this…

This is unfamiliar.

I think I’ve been deceived…

“Calm down,” I tell the girls now as they fall apart. “You have to breathe. Save your energy. I promise it’ll help.”

I need them to focus, to be calm. We still have use of our fingers, and if we can all work together, we might be able to get out of these ropes.

They cry and cry. It’s fucking me up and making me want to cry along with them. I keep telling them to calm down, and after what feels like forever, they stop altogether, and the room falls silent.

Think good thoughts, Skye. It’s the only way to be calm—to fight the fear.

“Let’s give the birthday girl what she wants.”

I still shiver when I remember those words. My skin prickles, like he’s whispering it in my ear right here in this shithole.

“Let’s give the birthday girl what she wants.”

“I’m sorry,” Fay whispers now, her voice muffled, like she’s pressing it against something. “I didn’t mean to call you a slut.”

“That’s okay,” I whisper back, feeling the blindfold shift slightly as I continue to run it along the surface. “I get it—I do. I hear the rumours.” Been hearing them my whole life. “I know what people think about me.”

“You don’t care?”

“I’m used to it.”

“I don’t even know your story, have only been around a couple years, but I would have fled town a long time ago if those rumours were about me,” Brit says next, sounding sympathetic. “I get enough shit working the streets.”