Page 19 of My Little Doe
My throat went tight. He'd known exactly who I was the whole time. He always knew.
“We were only friends, and I wouldn’t defy my father, especially if I want to lead one day,” Benji said.
“Yeah… right,” Quinnlyn said.
“You always act like you’re smarter than me, like you’re an elder. You're only a year older than I, but I still trump you every day,” Benji said.
“Technicalities… Anyway, you want to drive, sure, but I’ll be sitting in the back with her,” Quinnlyn said.
“And what about us?” the second voice said.
“How did y’all get over here?”
“In my Supra,” Benji said.
“Good, then, Daniel can drive my truck, Joseph can ride with either one of us,” Quinnlyn said.
“I’ll ride with Daniel,” the deep voice—Joseph—said.
“Good, let’s move, my father is expecting to meet us at the house,” Benji said.
My stomach instantly turned, and nausea came over me. Heat rushed to my head, suddenly feeling like I was in a hot shower for too long. I slowly slid down the wall—
The door opened, and I gasped for air before turning my head to look at the four of them.
“Oh my god!” Benji said.
“How’d you expect her to look? She’s been in a cell for weeks,” Quinnlyn said barely above a mumble.
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to settle my beating chest. I knew I was having a panic attack, and having the four of them staring at me wasn’t helping.
“What about all the stuff in here?” Joseph asked.
“You can come back and get it after we get her to the house,” Benji said.
“All exceptForrest Gump,” Quinnlyn said, before locking his eyes with mine.
I inhaled deeply again. “No, that comes too,” I said.
Benji narrowed his eyes at me, then he twisted his head to the side and gave Quinnlyn furrowed eyes. After a few seconds, he turned back and looked at me.
“Let’s go,” Quinnlyn said.
Benji reached his hand toward me, and I reached up and grabbed it. He pulled me to my feet and then immediately dropped my hands. I was confused. Part of him seemed concerned, but his eyes held something close to disgust. He turned back toward the door.
“Don’t try anything,” Quinnlyn murmured to me.
“I won’t,” I said.
He watched me intently before shifting his eyes and tilting his head slightly toward the door. I followed Benji out, and Quinnlyn was right behind me. He was so close, I could almost feel his breathing.
The other two followed behind as we walked down the hall. Before we reached the end, Benji turned right at the last door andpushed it open. Bright light hit me immediately, and I stopped cold, blinded. Quinnlyn ran into me hard from behind.
Everything burned. It felt like soap had been poured directly into them, tears streaming down my face without permission. A pulsing pain radiated behind my brows. But the warmth that washed over the rest of me felt like bliss. With each passing second, the burning eased, and I was able to hold them open a microsecond longer than the time before.
“Let’s go,” Quinnlyn said, before pushing his hand into my back.
“I’m sorry, but you haven’t been kept in near darkness for months.”
