“Ryanne, focus on me,” Liam tells me. “Forget everyone else; just focus on me.”
He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand what this feels like. Whimpering, I lean forward and rest my head against the cool floor. “I can’t. I can’t, Liam. I can’t do it.” I gasp when the pain spreads to my head. A blinding headache lingers there and settles. Nothing makes sense anymore. “Make it stop. Please make it stop. It hurts,” I cry. I feel my body shaking, but I can’t control it.
A wave of coldness spreads through me, offsetting some of the pain, but it makes my body react more violently. Pulling my knees under me, I fist my hands in my hair and pull, trying to feel something else, but nothing works.
“Adam, you need to leave,” Liam says. Though he’s trying to remain calm, I can hear the waver in his voice.
“But she’s…”
“She can feel your panic. If you can’t control your emotions, you need to leave. She’s only going to get worse if you stay.” I can’t handle it anymore. I scream. “Ryanne,” Liam grabs my shoulders and pulls me up, but my eyes are closed, so I can’t see anything. “Ryanne, look at me.”
I hear a door close, but the pain doesn’t lessen. I can’t open my eyes. The room is too bright; it’ll just worsen the headache. I can’t do it. Shaking my head is the only response I can manage. I’m not screaming anymore, but I can’t seem to form any sentences. I’m not sure I could even speak if I wanted to.
“Ryanne,” Liam pleads with me again.
“Move out of the way,” a deep voice says.
“No,” Liam says. “This is all your fault. She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you!” he shouts; his anger rising. I lean forward and rest my head on the ground again. There’s too much going on right now. I can hear Liam and Dravin yelling. I can sense the pain of the men in the hallway who are fighting. I can feel the anger pumping through everyone. I can still feel Adam’s concern as my condition worsens. Someone in the cell with me throws a punch and I feel the anger rise even further as the pain spreads through someone’s jaw.
I open my mouth to scream again, but nothing comes out. I don’t see how this could be any worse. The pressure inside me keeps building up. A loud buzzing fills the room as if a thousand bees just swarmed the area. I can’t control anything anymore. I can’t do it. Please make it stop.
Everything continues to build up. Though my eyes are closed, it’s not just darkness I see. A bright ball of white light in the distance starts flying toward me, and I can do nothing but watch.
The light overwhelms me until all I see is white…the soothing white light. The pain stops. The anger stops. Everything stops until all I’m left with is serenity. I’m alone with my own thoughts and emotions.
For the first time in a few days, I’m at peace.
The light dims until I’m surrounded by the dark again. I’m always surrounded by the dark. I can sense one other person in the room with me, but I can’t pick up on anything specific which tells me that Liam near. His control of his emotions is impeccable. He’s able to fully control his feelings, so it doesn’t affect me like everyone else’s does. Reluctantly, I open my eyes and look around the cell.
My eyes don’t travel far before I meet a pair of gray eyes. I don’t really know what happened, but based on the slight lingering headache, I know something did. My back aches as I try to sit up; I must have been in this position for a while. Liam shifts slightly and helps me up.
“What happened?” I groan when I’m able to stay up on my own. Liam removes his hands from my shoulder and runs a hand through his hair. Turning slightly so that I can see him, I gasp when I see the bruise along his jawline. “Who did that to you?”
“Dravin,” he whispers as he reaches out and fixes some of my stray curls. “Are you feeling okay? You’ve been out for a few hours.”
“A few hours?”
“Yeah, the pain of everyone’s emotions proved to be a little too much for your body and you passed out. Dravin came in and I think he was going to try and help you, but I kind of snapped when he came in and I swung at him. I did hit him, but not as hard as he got me. His guards rushed in and pulled me back before I could do anything else.”
“Liam…” My eyes linger on the bruise on his skin. I don’t know what I want to say to him, but I hate that he keeps getting hurt because of me.
“I’d do it again,” he whispers.
“Liam, I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but please don’t do anything that’ll separate us. When I was first thrown into a cell like this, I hated it. Being surrounded by all these Gadramicks, I’m glad I’m stuck in this cell, and I’m glad I’m with you. I don’t feel as lonely, and I feel safe with you. Take it from someone who’s known to push buttons: this is one situation where you want to listen. Something is happening here, and I need you with me.”