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I lifted my fingers and prodded against my temple, sliding along until I felt the cut just above my eyebrow. I hissed in a breath at the sting and Yuri’s head twisted at the sound, his jaw clenched. I let my hand drop but the spot still throbbed.
Instead, I focused on the surroundings. If by some stroke of luck I was able to shake Yuri and the terrifying man to his right, I wouldn’t survive long unless I encountered someone. My eyes strained against the dimming skyline, in search of any sign of civilization— a house, a building, a car, hell, I would have taken anything.
But the further we drove, the more of the same whipped passed the window. No signs, no mile markers, no traffic.
It was like some sick perfect storm— perfect conditions for a flawless kidnapping.
Eventually, Yuri slowed and turned up an unmarked road and I sucked in a breath when I saw them. Hidden within the sunscorched weeds were countless men. Some laid in the grass with their guns trained to the road– others walked along the dirt border of the road with an assault rifle slung over their shoulder like it was nothing. My eyes widened. There were too many to count. Dozens? Hundreds? They scattered everywhere when just seconds ago, there was nothing in sight.
Winding and slowly treking uphill, I started to wonder just how far off the highway we would go. Every second in that car, every mile, took me further away from safety. We bumped along, the silence thick, until a pointed roof peaked over the hilltop and expanded to reveal a sprawling estate that stood out like a fish out of water. The men had doubled, and all along the perimeter they were dressed in black, fanned out with masks covering half their faces.
It was like whiplash compared to the gorgeous home.
Against the colorful sky, the white brick looked pure and extended to show just how large the home really was. It bloated out in both directions, to the right spanning down the hill. Yuri kept a slow pace on the meandering road until I got a clear view of the front of the house through my window and my breath caught. Archways led to an outdoor courtyard shaded with overhanging vines and greenery that clung to the walls, among then were sporadic pops of color that brought depth and richness to the milky exterior. How in the hell these plants had survived through a dry summer, I wasn’t sure— but then again, going by the size of the house, I was sure the yard upkeep was an affordable priority.
We ambled on until the road opened up onto a brick driveway and the beastly man flicked a mechanism on the sun visor. Of the six garage doors, the farthest one opened at a glacial pace and absorbed us out of the evening and into the darkness.
Both men exited the vehicle and all at once I was waiting to be plucked from my cage. The terrifying one opened the door and after narrowing his eyes at my hesitation, I slowly slid out to stand in front of him.
“Bind her,” Yuri bit out.
Clutching my hands in front of me, he pulled a rope off the work bench against the wall and began wrapping it around my wrists. He ripped tight and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from reacting as the itchy material burned against my skin. The last thing I wanted to do was get on this guy’s nerves. When finished, he shoved me toward Yuri who grabbed me once again by the arm and led me through a false door.
My nostrils burned with the stench of bleach. It was so strong I was surprised there weren’t puddles of it along the dark concrete hallway. At the first open door to the right, we turned and I was finally greeted with exactly what I had expected. For lack of a better imagination on my own part— it was a torture chamber. In the middle of the room was a steel chair bolted to the floor with a harness along the back and shackles on the arms and legs. The room echoed with my soft footsteps and the clacking of both men’s boots as they led me to the chair and my legs trembled until they connected with the freezing metal.
Feeling my breathing pick up, my eyes wandered to the table against the wall. It was multi-tiered with tools and torture devices covering every surface, some even hanging off rusty hooks in the concrete. I could only imagine the sick and twisted things that took place in this room. I swallowed hard as the beast stepped toward the table, my mind imagining all the cruel and inhumane things he planned to do to me.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway until a stocky, beady eyed man rounded the corner. He was also dressed in a suit, albeit more disheveled. A sickly smirk spread across his cheeks when he saw me. “She’s even prettier in person.”
“Darya,” Yuri spoke, snapping my attention to him. He stepped forward and pinched my chin in between his fingers, his eyes roving over me. I jumped when he pulled out a phone and took a picture, the flash burning my eyes before he stepped away. “I will only ask you this once.”
His voice was silky— unfitting for a criminal.
“You can cooperate with us and make things easier on yourself, or…” his eyes darted to the deadly man picking around on the table, tools clanking in his hands. My body temperature chilled as my whole body trembled. It was obvious what he was getting at. Comply or be tortured. I was sure he meant both physically and psychologically— the latter had already begun. The throbbing in my head vied for my attention in favor of doing anything these men said, just to keep myself in tact, but my lips parted with a mind of their own.
“Fuck you,” I spat. I turned my head away from the both of them, craning it so far away that there was no question I was rejecting any olive branch they were pretending to give me. I may look like someone who would cower in the face of pain, and a part of me wanted to, but dammit if I didn’t want to maintain a shred of my own fucking dignity in the face of whatever plan these psychos had.
“Suit yourself.”
The beady eyed one erupted into a cackle and approached the chair. He poked at the tender spot on my temple and I hissed as a pain shot down the side of my face. “This your work, Matteo?”
My eyes flicked between the men until the beastly one turned around. Matteo. Another name to file away. He shook his head.
“Take her to her cell,” Yuri commanded. His eyes were as dark as ever as he looked down at me, a hint of an uptick in his full lips. He looked… entertained? As if the answer I had given was exactly what he wanted to hear and another wave of nausea rolled through me. Was I playing exactly into his hands?
The unnamed one groped at my arm and yanked me from the chair. “Vamos.”
Once in the hallway, I let out a breath. Just being out of that room alone was a relief. We padded down, passed a few doors with keypads next to them until we arrived at one that was already open and I was dragged inside.
I wasn’t sure what I was expected, but somehow calling it a cell was a perfect description.
More gray concrete. It covered every surface except for the shiny metal toilet and sink that was tucked off to the left. It was small but bright, the slight flicker of the fluorescent lights not pairing well with the headache that I was convinced would never go away. A meaty hand pushed me forward, further into my very own prison.
“He’s glad you decided to be difficult. He likes things better that way.” I whirled around and backed into the corner, desperate to get away from him. “So do I.”
“Denis,” a voice yelled from the hallway. The man in front of me let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.
“Be good. I would hate to have to come in here and discipline you,” his lips pulled up in a buttery smile. “Actually, I think you would hate it more than me.”
