Tracy's POV
The words wouldn't leave me.
"You shouldn't be the bride."
They ran circles in my head, louder than the throbbing pain at the back of my skull. My chest rose and fell too fast, panic clawing at me.
I tried to breathe, but each breath felt too shallow, too sharp- trapped inside the suffocating cloth covering my face.
I couldn't see a thing. The world was nothing but heat, fabric, and my own panicked breathing bouncing back at me. Every sound felt sharper, crueler.
Then I heard it— footsteps. Heavy. Steady. Coming Closer.
The door burst open, and even through the fabric over my head I felt the shift in the air — cooler, sharper, disturbed by movement and sweeping over my clammy skin. The footsteps drew nearer, thudding against the wooden floor, stopping right in front of me.
"She's awake. " a man's voice muttered. Deep. Rough.
"Good. Time to move her. " another replied.
My stomach twisted. Move? Where?
Before I could even scream, strong hands grabbed me and yanked me upright. My legs buckled beneath me, ropes biting deeper into my wrists.
"Please— wait, don't!" My voice cracked, weak and desperate. "Let me go!" I cried, thrashing.
But they didn't care.
Hands grabbed me before I could finish. Big, strong, merciless hands yanked upright so fast my knees buckled. My legs gave out instantly, too weak, too numb. The ropes dug deep into my wrists, burning my skin. I twisted, tried to kick, but my legs were useless— tied too tight, too long.
"Let me go!" I cried, thrashing, kicking blindly into the air. "Please! Someone help me!"
"Stop fighting." one of them hissed.
"No! Let me go! Please!" My scream tore out,
"Let me go!" I cried, thrashing, kicking blindly into the air. "Please! Someone help me!"
"Quiet." The word was low, sharp, and close to my ear. A warning.
But I couldn't stop. I couldn't. My screams tore out, muffled inside the hood, swallowed by the rough fabric pressed against my lips. The smell of it— old, dusty, sour— clung to my nose until I gagged.
They dragged me forward, my feet stumble- scraping against the dusty floor. A door creaked open- my body knocked against a doorframe, and suddenly evening air rushed against my skin— cool, sharp, filled with the faint smell of gasoline.
Then I heard it.
A car engine, low and steady, rumbling like some waiting beast.
My heart stopped.
"No!" I shook my head violently, my cries breaking into sobs. "No, no, please, don't take me—"
But they didn't listen.
"Move! " the man snapped, shoving me hard.
Cold metal pressed against the back of my thighs, and in one brutal shove, I was forced inside. My body hit the seat hard, leather slick and cold beneath me. My shoulder smacked the door. I whimpered, curling instinctively, but a hand shoved me down further.
"Stay down. " one of them hissed.
The door slammed shut, sealing me in.
The engine growled louder, and seconds later, the car jolted forward. Tires screeched against gravel before smoothing onto asphalt. We were moving. Faster and faster.
"No! Please!" I thrashed, the ropes cutting deeper into my wrists. "Let me out! Help!"
"Shut up," one of them barked from the front.
I froze, my body trembling so hard it rattled my teeth. I tried to calm down, tried to steady myself, but my chest wouldn't stop heaving.
All I could hear was the car. The steady roar of the engine. The faint static of a radio somewhere in the front seat. The rush of passing air through the tiny crack in the window.
I tilted my head, straining to listen, to catch anything that could tell me where I was going. But there was nothing— no voices, no signs, just road. Endless road.
Tears slid down my cheeks, soaking into the fabric over my face. My breath grew hotter, wetter, fogging inside the hood. I tried to calm myself, to think, but all I could hear was the steady roar of the engine, the wind rushing past the windows, the faint buzz of a radio in the front seat.
I pressed my bound wrists against my lap, desperate to loosen the ropes, but they only dug in deeper, cruel and unyielding. My skin screamed with every twist.
Images of the morning flashed through me— Just this morning, I'd been laughing with my friends, my father holding my hands with a proud smile, my mother's gentle hands all over adjusting the veil.
I was supposed to be walking down the aisle right now, light catching on my white dress, a new life waiting at the altar. I was supposed to be saying "I do."
Instead, someone else was there.
Someone else in my gown.
Someone else saying my vows.
Someone else living my life.
Someone else standing beside him.
And me? I was here. In the back of a car with strangers- faceless, nameless, erased. My life slipping further and further away with every mile.
I pressed my forehead against the inside of the hood, trying to focus, trying not to fall apart completely- breath rattling, heart slamming against my ribs. But the thought kept stabbing at me, sharp and merciless. Then the truth hit me like ice.
By the time this ride ended… I, Tracy, the bride, would no longer exist.