Behind the Marquess's Mask (The Lords of Whitehall Book 1) (29 page)

C
hloe stared at the blank
, white wall in front of her bed, still clutching the jacket Amo had draped carefully across her shoulders earlier that night. Something about his jacket was keeping the demons at bay. Maybe it was the fact that it smelled like him, or maybe it was the warmth making her feel as if his arms were wrapped—

Crack
!

The sound of broken bones greeted her ears as a baseball bat slammed down on a limp body, the image flashing on the wall in front of her for a split second.

Coming back to reality, she almost forgot where her thoughts were heading. If she hadn’t inhaled Amo’s masculine scent coming from the expensive fabric, then that was where her mind would have gone. She started to think the jacket might have been soothing her, but she hadn’t experienced that feeling in a long time. The only reason she believed it was because her thoughts should be consumed right now by her horrors, making her watch the replay of tonight’s—

Snap!

Another flash of the bat making contact with the man’s leg, the man who lay practically lifeless on the floor, before the wall turned blank again.

She ran her thumb over the fabric, not understanding why her body wouldn’t stay motionless like the million times it had before when her nightmares had played in front of her eyes.

Gliding her thumb over the soft fabric again, she came to the conclusion that it felt as expensive as it—

An evil pair of blue-green eyes stared back at her from the white wall, making her blood run cold. She watched him grip the neck of the bat with a force so intense she was positive it was going to shatter before the bat was brought down for its final time.

Crunch!

Amo’s jacket was no longer going to bring her out of her nightmarish dream.

The demon had come to get her.

T
he stinging pain
on her face and her sore body woke her, making her want to scream, but her throat was too dry. Not only did the room feel unfamiliar to her, but the sterile smell, as well. She couldn’t recall anything nor figure out where in the world she was, which made her feel as if she were heavily drugged.

As she groggily tried to open her eyes, she saw everything in a blur. Then a figure moved into the space over her.

“Chloe,” a male said before he laid his hand over her arm.

The moment his masculine hand touched her skin, memories flooded her mind of the horrific crimes she had just endured, like she was going back in time to endure it all again.

She tried desperately to scream, but it sounded weak, coming out as a hoarse whisper.

When the pressure from the hand on her slightly increased, she began to kick and hit uncontrollably, unsure if she could survive the brutality she had just experienced once more.

“It’s me, your father. Chloe, you’re safe now,” her father kept repeating quietly, trying to keep her calm.

All she could think about was the hand on her arm, as if she were still experiencing the torturous touch from before.

Only wanting it to stop, she was finally able to scream, “Let go of me!”

Her father only held her down harder, using both hands.

“Shh! You are safe … in the hospital,” he began, trying everything he could to keep her from drawing attention to the room.

Hot tears spilled down her cheeks before the sound of shuffling feet echoed throughout the room, and even more hands began to hold her down.

“Please, I can’t take anymore!” she cried.

“She’s having a panic attack. Give her something!” her father quickly spit out before Chloe could say another word.

Feeling a slight sting in her arm, Chloe started to lose the fight against them. Unfortunately, as her body became numb, her mind didn’t. She still felt her torturer’s hands on her instead of the people in this room.

Looking past the nurses, she stared at the blank, white wall through the blur of her tears.

Please, I don’t want to be touched anymore.

* * *

“
S
-Stop
!” Chloe choked out for what felt like the hundredth time as hands held her down once more.

The prick of the needle into her sore skin felt like nothing compared to the hands that gripped her. Her cheeks burned as tears fell, bringing her to the realization that she must have been crying in her sleep as she was never even awake for a full five minutes before they knocked her out again.

As the drugs took over her body, her last thought was to wish they understood.

The nurses, along with her father, thought she was screaming for them to stop drugging her, but she was just screaming for them to pull their hands off her body.

* * *

T
he fuzziness
in her brain started to ease as she woke. Chloe regained consciousness once more, having no idea how long she had been at the hospital or how many times she had woken up, only for it to end in screams and pain. This time, she lay unmoving, afraid to even open her eyes.

The pain on her face had her wanting to relieve it.

Don’t move.

The memories of the man …

Don’t cry.

Chloe had to fight her instincts and to think smart about how to keep them from continuing to drug her.
Otherwise, there will be nothing left of me … if there is anything left.

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel a presence in the room, and considering her father had been there every time she had awakened, it was safe to say he was that presence. She wasn’t even sure if he had ever left the room, but the question was, why?

Her father had wanted to talk, but the moment she’d become hysterical, he wouldn’t even give her a chance to cry it out, making her feel as if she were crazy.

Why?

Hearing a movement come from the far corner of the hospital room, she knew he was awake, so she decided to take the distance between them to her advantage.

Chloe didn’t open her eyes as she began to open her mouth, afraid if she did, her hysteria would take over, and the cruel cycle would start again.

“I-I don’t like to be touched anymore,” she whispered as best she could.

She heard what sounded like her father starting to get up.

A face flashed in her mind as she felt invisible hands wrap around her throat.

“No!” Her eyes shot open to reveal the dim hospital room. Chloe took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice even, to remain calm. “Don’t come closer … please.”

After a moment, her father sat back in his chair.

The room was eerily quiet. She didn’t understand why he wasn’t asking her questions, wondering what had happened or, more importantly, who had done this to her.

Does Dad already know? Is the man locked up forever?

She figured she would start with that first.

“You know what happened to me, don’t you?”

The look on his worn out face gave her the answer.

Her father held up his hands and slowly stood. “I’m not going to touch you. I just want to come closer. Is that all right?”

Trying her best to stay strong, she nodded her head, holding her breath as he slowly walked toward her. She only slightly relaxed as he stood by the bed, making no attempts to touch her.

He looked down upon her, taking in this new sight of his daughter.

When her silent questions still went unanswered, she forced herself to whisper the words, “Did you catch him?”

A bushy eyebrow rose as he stared at her blankly. “Catch who?”

Shocked, Chloe blinked a few times, wondering if she were in a dream before the stinging on her face told her it wasn’t.

“Who did this to me?” she choked out.

“Chloe, you were in a car accident.” It sounded as if it were rehearsed.

“There was no car—”

“You were in a car wreck; that’s all you know.” His voice was calm and collected.

Chloe began shaking her head violently, her eyes brimming with tears. “No, I wasn’t. He hurt—”

“You were in a car wreck. No one hurt you.”

“N-no!” she screamed as her cheeks started to burn again from the tears.

“You were in a car wreck; that’s all you know. You were in a car wreck. No one hurt you.” He was beginning to sound hypnotic.

Not only her head, but her body began to violently shake. “NO! NO! NO!”

This time, a lone nurse came in the room with a needle, closing the door behind her.

Her father stepped forward, holding her down, as Chloe tried to scream as loudly as her throat allowed, fighting off their hands as much as she could before the needle pricked her skin in the sore spot of her arm.

He spoke over her with the same, melodic sound in his voice. “You were in a car wreck; that’s all you know. You were in a car wreck. No one hurt you …”