Page 6 of Ramshackle
Chapter two
Raegan
I jolt awake, sittingupright and gasping for air. A twinge of pain stabs the back of my neck, and I reach for it subconsciously, rubbing the area as I wrack my memories for what was real and what was just a dream.
I remember being on the island with Jackson and escaping through the window. Gordon found us, and then…
My eyes sweep around an unfamiliar room. It’s plain and basic, as any bedroom can be. It has white walls and a hardwood floor with a massive rug covering most of it. There’s a single upright dresser, an attached bathroom, and the simple twin bed I’m in.
And nothing else.
It’s reminiscent of the room I’d once shared with other girls back on the island, but just my small corner’s worth of furniture.
What’s strikingly different is the glass wall on the side opposite the bed. The only privacy I’ll have is my time in the bathroom. I shove the blankets down and drop my feet over theedge of the bed until they touch the scratchy rug. I move around the room, inspecting it for cameras or anything else I may have missed in my cursory glance.
The bathroom is tiny. It barely fits the toilet, sink, and a standing shower that’s only three feet across. I know my elbows are going to hit the walls while trying to wash my hair, but I’ll take the private bathroom. It could be worse.
I do a double-take in the mirror when I see myself. My hair tie came loose in my sleep, leaving my hair disheveled. Blood smears my face and neck, and when I look at my arms, the left one has dried blood cracking off like a dead second skin.
My chest tightens, and I can’t breathe.
Jack.
Is he okay? Did they get him back to Cassandra in time? Will I ever see him again? Or the others?
I shake my head and slap my hands to my cheeks to stop that train of thought. I have to believe that they’re all okay. I’ll do my best here so they can get Vera back and keep working to take down GE. I’ll just have to stay strong until they get to that point. I can help them from the inside.
The initial pain in my neck looks like an injection site where Gordon probably had me sedated as soon as we stepped through the portal. I can’t remember a single thing after walking through it. The rest of my neck is aching from the collar still around my neck.
My fingers poke and prod at the skin underneath, testing its soreness from a combination of its uncomfortable fit and being shocked in it.
This thing better be waterproof, because I need to wash this blood off me. I turn on the sink faucet and test a drop of water on it, waiting for a shock. Then I touch my wet hand to it slowly, again waiting for pain to follow, but nothing happens. Once I’mthoroughly satisfied that it is, in fact, waterproof, I return to the room and check the dresser for a change of clothes.
My options are a black workout outfit with the GE logo or a gray workout outfit with the GE logo.
Wonderful.
I grab the black and bring it with me into the bathroom, where I get to work on cleaning my hair and body of the previous day.
I roughly towel dry my hair and return to the room to inspect the glass wall and the only other door. I rap my knuckles against the glass, but the sound is muted. Tempered glass? Now Ireallyfeel like a pet trapped in a cage. I try the door for shits and giggles, but of course, it’s locked from the outside with no keyhole for me to attempt picking it.
Sighing, I step back from the door and then jump when I see someone standing on the other side of the glass.
“Shit!” I curse, slapping my hand against my chest to keep my heart from bursting out of it. Recognizing them, I take a step back, my next curse spilled on a breathless exhale. “Fuck.”
There’s a good reason why I didn’t recognize him at first. Because while the major characteristics are there, they’re also…not quite right. His skin is ashen in color, no longer a solid peach that made him appear…well, human. He has dark, sunken eyes.
His ears don’t sit right on the sides of his head, which is made all the more obvious because of his short hair that does nothing to hide it. And there’s a thick white scar wrapped around his neck where Jackson sawed it in two.
“Thorne?”
He sneers at me, revealing perfect teeth behind bloodless lips. “This is your fault, you stupid bitch. I should have just killed you when I had the chance. Now,look at me!” he roars, banging his fist against the glass.
I startle. A zombie is yelling at me. What’s more terrifying than that? “Um…I see you. Why aren’t you dead?”
Thorne’s fist slides down the glass while his one good eye glares at me with pure malice. “I’ll never die until he’s done with me. Even if all that’s left are my bones. I should do the same to you.” He pauses as the words leave his lips, his expression turning thoughtful. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do.” His mouth stretches to a wild smile that has dread dropping in my gut like a sack of rocks.
“I’ll kill you, make him bring you back to life as another of his puppets, and then Jackson will do anything that’s asked of him to keep you alive. Well, you know. As alive as I am,” he amends.
