21,751 Words, and Dark Times for One of Our Heroines

Just finished for today, so I thought I'd post an excerpt. Very dark time for Hope, not much fun I'm afraid. I think things will be coming to a head very soon, and the sisters are going to be brought together. I am looking forward to having them in the same room together. I think hilarity will ensue.

I have no fun pictures, because, really this isn't a fun scene. Wolf is Hope's enormous German Shepherd, just so you know. So maybe I'll post a cute Pixie picture. Here it is:

Rough hands seized her, grabbing her arms, squeezing until it hurt. She opened her mouth to scream but fingers were shoved into her throat, triggering her gag reflex. As she vomited, she opened her eyes. Closed them again. The light hurt. She threw up again, gagging and choking. She could still hear Wolf barking and she wanted to ask whoever was torturing her what was wrong with Wolf, but she couldn’t stop throwing up.
“What the fuck did she take, AJ?” she heard a voice asked, and opened her eyes again. Through blurry eyes, she could see Felix, their surfer drummer to her right. The hands, still holding her in a vice like grip must be AJ’s.
“I don’t fucking know, man. I came home, she was sleeping. Go check the bedside table.” She heard Felix’s footsteps as they retreated to the bedroom. She didn’t want to be left in there with AJ, but she hadn’t the strength to speak. So she threw up again instead, wishing AJ wasn’t holding on to her so she could turn and throw up on him instead of into the toilet. When Felix returned with the pill bottle, AJ finally let go of her arms, taking the bottle in his hands.
“Ambien,” he said, considering. Felix had left again, but returned with a glass of water. It was like heaven against her throat, which felt bruised and swollen. AJ and his thick fucking calloused fucking guitar playing fingers. God she hated him at that moment.
“Thanks,” she murmured, her voice sounding like sandpaper. She reached for the toilet paper, tore off several squares, and wiped around her eyes, then her mouth. She stood on legs that trembled, and glared at both men as she exited the bathroom, planning on heading back to the bedroom. AJ stopped her, grabbing her by the arms again. She didn’t want to speak again, her throat still hurt too much, so she settled for looking at his hand, and then his face with as much disdain as she could muster. It was a considerable amount, but AJ was used to her contemptuous glares, which he often referred to as her ‘perpetual stare’.
“Get in the shower, or I’m putting you in the shower myself. We’re leaving for our gig in 30 minutes,” he said, completely unfazed by her obvious hatred for him. He turned back to Felix. “Do you have anything to get her going again?” he asked. Felix paused for a moment, seeming to consider refusing, but he thought better of it.
“Yeah,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two little pink pills. He handed them to AJ. “Get her some fucking food, though AJ. Fuck.” He left the bathroom. AJ handed Hope the pills, then her water. She swallowed the pills, sipped the water, then glared at AJ until he left the bathroom.
“And let Wolf out of the fucking closet, you cretin,” she called after AJ, then immediately regretted using her voice. She climbed into the shower, wondering how in the hell she was going to manage to sing 3 full sets when she could barely speak.