Bria POV:

The first thing I  noticed was the beeping. Slow, steady, intrusive. The second was the smell of antiseptic, sharp, sterile, suffocating.

My eyelids felt heavy, mu limbs even more so, as if my body was wrapped in chains I couldn’t see. I tried to shift, but pain rippled through my  skull, a dull ache pounding at the back of my head.

Where…?

Then it hit me

Caius. The knife. The lessons and then, darkness.

My breathing hitched as my eyes flew open, my vision blurring before slowly coming into focus. The white ceiling. The IV in my arm. The warm, trembling hands wrapped around mine.

My mother and I was in a hospital.

" oh thank yuh Jesus! Bria ! Bria yuh wake up" , My mother’s voice cracked as she cupped my face, tears streaking her cheeks.

" how yuh feel? Yuu know which part yuh deh? Bria ! Thank yuh Jesus! ".

I barely had time to process before I  was pulled into a suffocating embrace.

I  could feel my mother’s body shaking.

" mi daughta ", she choaked out, pulling back to look into my face as if making sure I was real.

" mi swear think wi neva aguh find yuh alive enuh Bria . Wah happen to yuh ? Which part yuh did deh ?"   , the questions poured out of her and the only thing I could think about was how the hell did I get from Satan's hell to a hospital?

Why him let mi guh? Mi nah seh mi nuh  glad but, sumuh off bout everything. All of a sudden him attitude had changed and him teach mi how fi stab people wid knife and then him just let mi guh suh despite knowing seh mi cah tell eh police and everybody wah happen ? No man sumuh nuh right.

My heart pounded. I  turned my head slightly, taking in the rest of the people that was inside the room.

My father, standing stiffly near the door, his expression unreadable. Why him neva seh nuhun to mi ?

The police officers, their sharp eyes already assessing me , among them detective Perterson whom I immediately reconized and Mickayla who was holding back tears, her hand covering her mouth as if she were afraid to speak. She came over to me and held my other hand as she said ,

" Bria mi just glad dem find yuh . Eh mawning when mi hear bout Romero murdah and then hear seh nuhbody cah find yuh mi nearly drop dung . Yuh have yuh whole life fi live . Wah happen to yuh Bria ? Which part yuh did deh and a who responsible?", she asked wiping the tears away from her eyes .

" Wait ...." my voice was hoarse my throat dry and I realised how thirsty I was . "How mi reach in here suh?"

My mother brushed my hair back, her touch desperate, frantic, like she was afraid I would disappear again.

" smaddy find yuh inna wah half finished house inna bush Bria . Nuhbody nuh know how yuh even get in deh suh . Eh police dem a questioned everybody who live close to eh area but, dem a seh dem nuh si nuh body carry yuh come deh . A eh owna fi eh property find yuh when him guh fi check sumuh and him call eh police".

I frowned. What? How him even....

That wasn't even the most important question.  Why had he so suddenly decided to let me go? Because with all the absolute hell he had just allowed me to endured,  why the sudden changed of heart?

Detective Perterson stepped closer, the confusion also evident on his face .

"Miss Tomlinson" , he said, his voice calm but firm.

"Can you tell us where you’ve been for the past few weeks?"

I paused .

Every eye in the room was on me. Waiting. Expecting.

My gaze flickered to my father for a brief second. He stood still, his jaw tight, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.  I knew he was furious at the person responsible for my disappearance .

My stomach twisted.

I swallowed hard, my throat burning.

I  could tell them. I should tell them.

Tell them about the dark museum. The glass enclosure. The Polaroid room. The twisted games. The way Caius had invaded my  life, my mind, how he had done the whole thing starting from the night of Romero’s murder.

I  opened my mouth.

And hesitated.

My fingers curled into the hospital blanket, the phantom feeling of a knife still in my  hand. Telling them was what I should do but, I wasn't able to shake the feeling that something about this whole thing was off and if he had found me before then what was to stop him from finding me again ? and someone like him , I had no doubt inside my mind that he had connections.

What if this was part of his twisted manipulative mind games?

I decided that for the time being I wasn't going to say anything.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

"…I don’t remember" I said.

Silence.

Mickayla frowned . My mother froze, staring at me like she had misheard.

Detective Perterson  frowned also confused ,

“Miss Tomlinson, are you sure? this is very important in finding the person responsible for your disappearance.

If its the case that your life was threatened if you spoke please tell us so we can help you. This person has no power against the JCF".

"I don’t remember" .I  forced myself  to meet his eyes.

"I woke up here. That’s all I know".

The lie sat heavy in my chest but, I wasn't going to say anything not if it meant he was going to find me again.

Detective Perterson eyes narrowed  and I knew that he didn’t believe me.

"miss Tomlinson a young man's life was taken the night you disappeared. You don't recall anything about that?"

My mother clutched my hand tighter, "Bria, if yuh know … if somebody hurt yuh .... please just tell eh police suh dem cah find whosoever responsible fi this".

"I don’t remember", I said again, firmer this time.

My father spoke for the first time since I had awoken.

" Bria this a wah serious investigation enuh . Mi nah accuse yuh a nuhun but, if yuh know wah gwaan just do eh right thing and corporate wid eh police suh dem cah carry out dem duty and help yuh".

Detective Perterson paused waiting to see if I was going to say anything but , then he sighed , scribbling something down. "If anything comes back to you, contact us immediately".

I  just nodded.

Mickayla, who had been silent this whole time I was being questoned, squeezed my hand tightly,  her eyes boring into me.

"Bria ..." she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

" yuh sure yuh alright?"

I simply nodded and then my mother said ,

" Bria there is something yuh need fi know " , and I looked at her and saw the sudden tiredness in her eyes and the way my father looked stressed.

" what?"

" Celine , Celine deh here to . She did have kidney failure but, eh hospital get wah kidney fi har because mi neva suitable fi dem do eh transplant and yuh fada only have one suh she a tek time recover".

My eyes widen as I looked from her to my father and back again .

" what? Kidney failure? How ...." , I trailed off as my mind went over everything,  my mother was still talking but, it was as if I had spaced out as an insane thought went through my mind .

Caius suddenly letting me go . Had he known about Celine? and then my eyes widen as I remembered the questioned he had asked me that night while we had dinner .

if yuh have eh choice fi save yuh sista life or yuh mada who fah life yuh woudah save?

" who donated the kidney fi Celine?" , I asked cutting my mother off as she spoke and she shook her head.

" wi nuh know,  the hospital seh a did wah anonymous donation and eh person who dweet neva give nuh name but, mi grateful because dem save mi daughta life". My stomach dropped but, I pushed the thought away . It couldn't be , that Satan wondah neva do that , him nuh know eh fus thing bout caring but, I couldn't shake the feeling that somehow he was connected .