Chapter 10: "Oh, All Fucking Pancake's On A Stick"

Walking hurts. Everything hurts. I stumbled through the hallways from the agency. I was somewhat aware of the blood trail I was leaving behind. My surroundings were spinning. My breathing shallow. I didn't know if I'd make it to my Dad's office, and if I did, if I had the strength to confront him. But I had to. I wanted him to know what he did. I wanted him to know that he fucked me up so bad that I'll never going to forgive him for that.

I just wanted to be free. I was just looking out for myself for once in my life. And how did I get rewarded?! By getting tortured to the point, I didn't know if I'd survive. My injuries were horrible. I was bleeding out. Bones were broken. Some kind of poison was running through my veins.

I should really go see Sabrina, but I wanted John to know in what kind of state I was because of his stupid punishment. I wanted him to look me directly in the eyeball and see the hatred and the fatigue behind them. I wanted him to know that he broke me. That he just shattered the last piece of me that still wanted to be here.

I fell on both my hands and knees when I stumbled into the elevator. A cry of pain escaped my lips. I tried to ease my pain by shortening out my shallow breathing. When I didn't have the feeling of passing out from stuffiness, I pulled myself up from the ground through the handrail and pressed the button of the top floor—the floor John's office could be found. My hand was covered with my blood, so the button was now painted in a new modern color.

I rolled my eyes and almost stumbled to the ground again when the elevator came to a stop at the top floor. The doors slid open, and I continued my journey to the office of my Adoptive Father. The anger that was boiling inside me gave me the last bit of strength I needed to arrive at the door.

"But, Sir! Why did you put another agent in our team?!"

"A girl none the less!"

"Yeah! We don't need a girl on our team! She'll only slow us down! We're the best team the agency has. Do you want to mess that up by adding a weak, little girl who is probably unstable from losing her previous team?!"

"Sage is joining your team, and that's final. By the way, you guys will probably slow her down."

"That's impossible!"

I growled when I heard those arguments from two different boys who were arguing with my adoptive Father about me joining their team. I took in a shaky, shallow breath and burst into the office. Everyone went silent and watched me in shock. I just pointed a blooded, crooked, and shaking finger in John's direction.

"I'll kill you for this." I somehow got the words out without a crack in my voice. I looked directly in the eyes of my adoptive father, and all he could read from them was hatred, pain, and exhaustion. I was exhausted from living the life I did. The thoughts that went through my head from the torture session with Aaron hadn't left. They stayed and kept me company when no one else did.

I was tired of fighting each and every day. I was tired of the pain this life brought me. I was tired of my own thoughts. I was tired of trying. I was tired of living. I wanted to be with her again. I wanted to be reunited with her again.

"Who the fuck are you, Lady?!" One of the boys yelled out. I ignored him and took a painful step closer to my Dad.

"Was me being miserable not enough for you?! You had to torture me too?! Torture training?! Really?!" I yelled out. My legs gave out underneath me, and I fell to the ground. I growled in pain when the last stitches of the wound in my abdomen snapped, and blood started gushing out. The pain was unbearable, but I managed to keep looking into those cold, dark, green eyes.

"I already told you that your punishment would be bad. Think about this next time you try to fool me, Sage Darling."

And with that said, I collapsed entirely and let the darkness take over. I hoped that it would keep me in her claws, and I wouldn't wake up again.

***

I growled when I woke up from an annoying beeping sound. I opened my eyes and leaned on my forearms while scanning my surroundings.

"Am I in hell?" I asked, my voice painfully raw.

Sabrina came around the corner and smiled at me. "No, Sage. You're still alive."

"Oh, Gods. I really am in Hell," I growled.

"You took quite a beating there." I snapped my head towards the other end of the room and saw one of the four guys from my new team leaning casually against the wall. I narrowed my eyes and studied the guy better. His black hair was shaggy and messy. His olive-colored skin accentuated his dark brown, almost blackish eyes. This dude gave me a strong Nico di Angelo vibe.

"Who the fuck are you, Mister?" I asked while I pulled out the infusion from my wrist and the oxygen hose out of my nose. Something that caused Sabrina to scream at me. I just glared at her. She rolled her eyes and held both hands up in the air as a sign of surrender. I rolled my eyes at her and turned my attention back to the mystery guy. "Are you the one who brought me here?" I asked, annoyed.

"No." The guy pushed himself off from the wall and walked towards me. "Chief Everly did."

"He did now? Wow, I do mean something to him." I rolled my eyes, annoyed, and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. "He should've let me die there on his carpet; he'd be doing anyone of us a favor."

"You know about the team?" di Angelo asked, surprised.

Is this dude serious? "Of course, I knew about that, you Twathead!"

"Damn, rude much. By the way, the name is Acyn."

"Sage." I introduced myself properly. I hopped off the bed and sucked in a sharp breath when jumping off the bed, hurt like a bitch.

"Want to meet the rest of the team?"

"Oh, heavens, no!"

Di Angelo smirked, "too bad." And with that being said, he walked out the door. I muttered some creative curses under my breath and stumbled after him. "Sage, meet your new team," di Angelo said, smirking.

"You took a nasty beating, Lady," a guy with tan skin, brown eyes, and messy, curly hair in the same color as his eyes chirped happily.

"I didn't take a beating. I got tortured."

"Why?" the overly excited guy chirped again. Man, he and Luca would be best friends. I rolled my eyes at him and started walking away from the group of guys. "Hey! We're not done talking with you, Lady!"

"I am with you guys!" I said, waving. My body started hurting again, and my pass slowed down until I was back to stumbling. I cursed under my breath and leaned against the wall of the agency to catch my breath.

Oh, all fucking pancakes on a stick!

I was still recovering from the bullet wounds, and now I'm back at the very start of my revalidation. Oh, if I get my hands on Aaron, I'll rip that bastard's throat out like I promised I would. A growl of discomfort escaped my lips when a wave of pain rushed through my body. I took in a sharp breath and placed my hand on the wound in my abdomen, which was stitched up once again.