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Even with a rotation of men that attempt to beat me into submission, there’s a part of me that still hasn’t given up all hope. I can’t die in this place. I refuse to believe that this is my destiny. I haven’t been through everything I have in the last month for my life to end like this.
I might not have a fairytale in my future, but I’m going to find happiness if it’s the last thing I do.
One saving grace is that not all of the attackers have been as brutal as I expected. I can rarely tell who is who, but one hits just a little less than the rest, and none of them have commented about my thumbs trying to blind them that first night. Nor have they used the name Raven.
At this point, I half wonder if I imagined it, but I’ll never really know.
The lights dim again, and the stomp of heavy feet comes my way. When they stop, I tense, expecting a boot to greet my ribs as it so often has lately, but the hit doesn’t come. I try to see who’s there, but between my swollen eyes and the lack of light, all I see are shadows.
Though, I don’t miss it when the man bends closer, shoves a piece of plastic into my palm, then whispers, “Are you ready to fight, Raven?”
The breath catches in my throat. Is this the same man from the first night? The one I’d just been wondering if I imagined? It has to be. None of the others have used that nickname. Yet, my hackles are still up, because only Luca has ever called me that and I need to know who this stranger is.
I try to get a better look at him, but he grabs me by the back of my neck, turning my body as he lifts it. “You’re going to use that shiv to stab me and then you’re going to run. Do you understand?”
“Run where?” I match his whispered tone, holding the plastic tighter as my heart begins to race, fueling the adrenaline I’m going to need to force my body to move in ways it’s not going to want to.
He shoves me forward, and I nearly end up stabbing myself as I’m thrown against the wall. Though, my body isn’t jarred as much as I would have expected before he handed me a weapon.
His grip on my hair guides my head until his face is close to mine. I still can't see his features clearly, but I can feel his intensity. When there’s a tug at my pants, panic surges within me, but he stops whatever he was doing before I can react fully. "Out the door, turn left, go up the stairs right in front of you. Once you're at that door, go right and don't stop running, Olivia. This is the only chance you're going to get. Nobody is coming for you."
My heart hammers in my chest, and my skin tingles. Fuck. I can hardly breathe and I’m in danger of passing out, but I force myself to calm down. I have no clue if I can trust this guy, but I haven’t had any other options in however long I’ve been here, and his use of “Raven” gives me the slightest hope that he knows Luca.
But then again…if he knew Luca, why didn’t he tell him where I was? Why wouldn’t anyone be coming for me?
Damn it. If I make another wrong choice like I did with Vin… I can’t.
My potential savior squeezes his fingers around my biceps and snarls. “Are you fucking listening to me? One chance. That’s all you have. Tomorrow you die. Now, fight back unless death is what you’ve been wishing for.”
I’m out of time. I have to make a choice, and I choose to live. To keep fighting.
He moves me in front of his body and grabs the front of my neck. His chest and stomach are completely exposed, and the weapon in my hand grows heavy as I consider where to stab him.
If he’s truly helping me, I don’t want to kill him. Then again, he’s beaten on me at least once and he chooses to stay here with Titan. Maybe the world would be better off without him.
I nearly snort. I’ve been spending too much time with the mafia.
His grip gets tighter, and my throat burns. With one glance behind him, I see the door to my cage has been left open and decide to take a leap of faith.
I’m getting the hell out of here.
My arm moves forward as hard and fast as I'm currently capable of. The tip of the plastic shiv cuts into his side, and I swear he twists inward to hurt himself further.
“Go,” he snarls, grasping at my wrists, but not really holding on.
I don’t hesitate this time. I repeat his earlier instructions. Left at the door, up the stairs, then right and run. That’s all I have to do. I just need to run.
My legs move, but every time my feet connect with the floor, a shock of pain shoots through my body and tears threaten to spill from the agony. Still, I don’t stop, focusing on getting to safety and praying that I can muster enough adrenaline to even make it past the stairs.
I yank the door the rest of the way open, dodge left, and see the stairwell. The thought of climbing them already has me wanting to give up, but I refuse. They’ll have to shoot me in the back before I quit. I grip the railing and force my body to keep going. To ignore the raging anguish coursing through me and to keep fighting just a little longer.
All I have to do is make it out of this place, get help, and find Luca. Nothing more and nothing less.
An alarm starts to blare as I reach the top of the stairs, making me freeze for seconds that I know I don’t have.
I hear shouts, but with the pounding in my head, I can’t tell where they’re coming from. Instead, I brave whatever I’m about to find beyond this door and pull it open.
My eyes burn from the bright light. I can’t tell where I am, but I go right, listening to the stranger’s instructions. The shouts get louder, but I don’t stop moving my legs, even if they are getting slower.
