Page 12 of Lucky 14

Getting busy, I start putting the groceries away as my breathing evens out. I can’t wait to get out of my slacks and blouse, but I got sorbet, and I don’t want it to melt. Thank god I wore my nice sneakers today, or I definitely would have lost a shoe in the mix.

There’s a soft swish from my bedroom, and I blink, glancing over. For a second, I don’t register what I see: a man with a mask stalking up to me.

A man? No man lives here.

Then, he’s right next to me and is swinging something at my head. A blast of pain explodes under my skin. White light flashes in front of my eyes, but on instinct from way back when, I duck and swing around, stepping into the person.

Our bodies collide, and there’s a grunt. There’s another strike to my back, but it doesn’t have as much force as the first hit. All I can see is a faceful of clothes as I protect my eyes, my mind realizing before my body does that I’m in danger. Slowly, like I’m digging through mud, I reach up to claw at the other person’s eyes.

I don’t fight fair. Connor never taught me to fight fair. He taught me to win. But I’m out of shape. I feel it as I struggle to accomplish anything other than standing upright.

Suddenly, they’re gone, and I stumble forward, catching myself on them. I see the hit before it comes. The man raises an object above me, and I realize too late that I can’t dodge it; my mind moves while my body struggles to catch up.

There’s another hit, and as I crumple, an odd thought crosses my mind: my sorbet is going to melt.

I wake sluggishly. There’s a roaring sound and the ground vibrates. It feels like my head is full of cotton and I can’t form a thought. What’s happening?

The cotton gets thicker, and warmth moves down around me. Then, I feel nothing.

My body is moving. I blink my eyes open, trying to look around, but the light is blinding. I’m moving, and it makes me feel like throwing up. Why is the world moving? Did I get drunk and fall off the bed?

My eyes are closed, but I force them open. At first, all I see is pavement.

Pavement. Not carpet.

Then feet appear beside me. Four of them. I’m…walking?

No, my feet aren’t moving. They’re dragging.

The other people are walking. They’re walking me somewhere. And my arms? I try to connect to my body. My arms are behind my back.

There’s a prickling of something that goes up my back. Something that tells me I should run. But my legs won’t work.

Squinting, I look up.

“Eyes down,” someone barks. I groan, the bright light making the world spin even more. They keep walking.

What the hell is going on? Am I dreaming again? Panic seeps into my muscles. My shoes skip on the pavement behind me. Run, run, run, thrums through my veins, but instead I’m frozen. Frozen, frozen, stuck, limbs locked in a fuzzy, dreamlike grip.

The pavement transitions to concrete with lines running through it. A sidewalk. It’s so bright it’s hard to see. I try to get my legs to move, but it’s like trying to move an inanimate object with just your brain. Oh my god, why don’t my legs move?

I realize with a sagging sense of relief that this is a dream. Only in dreams does your body not move when you want it to.

Then, the all-consuming brightness is gone. I damn near sigh, but then something slams behind me and my body jerks in surprise. I don’t go anywhere, because the dream people are holding my arms.

Holding me, but not hurting me. I’m numb.

“Fucking wake up.” I’m shaken so hard my head snaps back and forth, and that makes me feel sick.

Sick?

I blink my eyes open again. I’m in a hallway with no windows and cement walls, almost like a basement.

Then, I’m being yanked toward a set of double doors and pushed through. The room is long and wide, and there are men sitting down, lined up against the walls. They’re all spaced about five feet apart, and there have to be at least thirty. An odd feeling settles in my gut.

I dig my feet in, but of course, I have no control over whether they obey. I’m yanked to an empty spot on the wall and thrown down against it.

“Save your fight for tomorrow, dumb bitch.” There’s movement at my back, a zipping sound, then both men are standing up and stepping quickly away from me. Their movement is so quick that I get dizzy.