“Kelsey.” The invisible currents of the emotional storm between Kelsey and
her attacker buffeted me. Even as a warning chittered away in my brain, an idea
of what was needed to get more information formed. Something tightened my chest. “Kayden?”
“Yeah?”
“Remember what I said about using pain to bring me back?”
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“Don’t leave a bruise.” With no more warning, I dropped down into the
maelstrom of Kelsey’s residual emotions and left Kayden behind as my anchor.
Like a churning sea, fear rose first, swamping me and then sucking me under.
Shoving it away, I worked to clear my mind until I could bob to the surface and
ride the storm as the real world disappeared and the memories washed over me.
The annoying low buzz slowly cleared, and words began to echo in hollow
bursts. At the same time my perspective shifted. Now I was on the floor facing
the entryway, the couch behind me. A large presence loomed over me while the
buzz faded in and out, slowly shifting to actual words. A low, evil taunt filled my
head, “…want to play…tle girl? Fin…but…rather play…sister.”
“Fuck you!” Stuck inside Kelsey’s fear and fury, her response came through
loud and clear. When he struck her, there was no way to avoid the stinging lash
of pain or the faint taste of blood blooming in my mouth.
“Dammit, stop pissing him off, Kels,” I muttered. Rattled, I tried focusing on
the face above us. The static morphed into a nightmarish blur of ever-shifting waves of black and gray. My stomach lurched at the nauseating motion.
“… one more time…she…?” What I could catch of his voice was pitiless
and turned my blood to ice.
Kelsey’s terror spiked, pulling me a little deeper into the past. The line between Cyn and Kelsey blurred, then my sense of self disappeared until all that
was left was a petrified Kelsey.
Our mouth was dry, but it didn’t stop us from sending blood and spit at the
cloud of static.
A vicious yank dragged us backward over the floor. Our hands scrabbled
against the grip tangled in our hair. Our nails gouged material and skin, tearing
skin as we tried to get our feet under us for leverage. But we were being dragged
too fast and our heels skidded across the floor. Then the pressure at the back of
our head disappeared.
Before we could scramble away, a large, calloused hand clamped around our
throat, cutting off our air and dragging us up to our knees. One hard shove slammed our head against the wall, sending starbursts across our vision as the edges grayed. Then the grip disappeared.
We sucked in air. Desperate, noisy gulps. Our vision began to clear.
Somewhere a deep voice tugged at us, leading us away. “C’mon, Cyn, breathe,
you’re okay.”
Kayden. Like a sliver of wood wedged under the skin, the spark of recognition allowed me a chance to pull back from Kelsey just a tiny bit. Enough
so I could rise above the shared panic and remember that I couldn’t change what
had already happened.
