My Immortal

Chapter 3
“...and if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
your presence still lingers here
and it won't leave me alone..”

Honor shook her head violently, as though she could dislodge the painful memory from her mind. She was kidding herself. Even the pain coursing through her body wasn't making those memories of Murphy fade. The year she had spent trying to forget him had done nothing to help her eradicate him from her heart. Now, as she sat, still bound to the chair, still surrounded by the dark, it had come tumbling back into her and the onslaught of memories took her breath away.

She had no sense of time. No inkling of how long she had been held by these men who foolishly thought that she could help them get their hands on the saints. They were so far from the truth that Honor would have laughed if she had been physically capable of it. She had no idea how to get out of this situation alive. She could tell them that she knew nothing of the saints until she was blue in the face, but why would they believe her? They thought that she was the key to finding them. That Murphy was in love with her and therefore his weakness. They were so very wrong. He had never loved her, and the thought of telling them that hurt worse than any of her injuries. She had never voiced that knowledge aloud. Her heart had known it the second she heard their apartment door close behind her the night she walked out – and the silence that followed indicating that he wasn't going to walk through it to bring her back. Her mind, however, had shut down the information and refused to process it.

The door burst open and Honor was startled out of her thoughts as the lights flooded the room and two strange men came to stand before her. There was a resounding crack as the first man struck her across the face with no warning, causing her left cheek to burst into a hot and burning pain. She let out a strangled gasp as her body tried to deal with the pain.

“You are going to tell us where your saints are” the man barked as he pulled the material that forced her silence away from her mouth. Honor managed to control her breathing enough to raise her eyes to him.

“I can't tell you...” Honor began, but another backhand cut short her response. The hit landed hard across her cheekbone, replicating the first slap perfectly and doubling the pain that coursed through her. This time she was unable to keep the tears from slipping down her cheeks.

“Do not lie. It will not help you. Where are your saints?” the man demanded again. His voice was harsh but controlled, no doubt from years of experience with this very kind of interrogation.

“They're not my saints” Honor muttered, and tried to shake the extra tears that clung to her long, dark lashes. She looked to the floor as the admission left her lips, but she could hear the man standing before her scoff.

“Lies il mio angelo custode”

“Don't call me that” Honor demanded, her voice coming out in a pained whisper instead of the angry hiss she had hoped it to be.

The man laughed heartily at her, as though she were nothing more than a trifle amusement. “Why? Does it remind you of your saint?” He asked, his tone taking on a cruel edge that had Honor looking back up at him.

“How did you...?”

“Enough. How stupid do you think we are? This is very important to all parties involved. Our research is extensive. We know the saints love you.”

“You know nothing” Honor muttered, lowering her gaze once more. There was that word again. Love. The most deceiving word in the dictionary. The most crippling emotion of the human condition. The reason she was here. If she had only been more sceptical. More careful with her heart. She sighed before a rough hand grabbed her face, forcing her to look back to the man who held her captive.

“We know more than enough. We know you have been helping the saints since their first encounter with the Russians. We know you are Murphy MacManus' weakness and we will use you to end him. As he deserves.”

“I cannot help you” Honor replied, forcing as much confidence as she could muster into her statement, all the while trying to keep the memories of that day in the hospital at bay.

“you think you won't help us. But you will, I can ensure it” the man sneered before pushing her roughly away from him. The force of the impact sent her backwards, the rungs of the chair she was bound to sinking painfully into her back. Before she could adjust to the new pain coursing through her body, the room was once again plunged into darkness. She was once again left alone, in the dark, with nothing to stop the memories coming to her once more.