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There’s nothing smooth or impressive about the way he’s twisting my words. It’s painfully immature, and I wonder how he even managed to build anything at all on the south side ofthe city. Who would follow a man who stinks of cheap caviar and body odor? His jokes fall flat, and his threats are just as shallow.
Anatoly grabs my arm, his fingers wrapping around me like an angry python. “Come, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying until you’re ready to sleep in the master bedroom.”
Part of me was expecting him to attack me on the spot and ruin my life in the hallway, so the fact that he’s allowing me to take my time and adjust to living with him is a huge relief. I’m still suspicious of where he intends to put me, but anywhere out of immediate harm is better than having to endure a night in his bedroom.
I need to stall as long as possible to give Pasha time to find me. Either that, or I need to plot out an escape, but so far I have noticed any weaknesses in Anatoly’s security. There are locks on the front door, and guards all around the house.
Getting out isn’t going to be easy.
As Anatoly leads me through the lounge and down another long hallway, I notice that it’s getting darker. There are less lights this way, and it’s almost pitch black by the time we reach a door at the end of another long hallway.
“This is it,” Anatoly announces as we come to a stop in front of the door. In the darkness, I can make out a large iron lock hanging from the handle, and there’s a narrow slit where food could be pushed through, like a prison door.
“If you’re a good girl when I come to visit, you’ll be allowed some food,” Anatoly explains as he pulls a key from his pocket. “Until then, I’ll give you time to think things over. Get hungry… Then we’ll talk again.”
He pulls the door open, and it’s pitch-black inside. “There’s a bowl of water waiting for you inside, my pet. Careful not to kick it over on your way in. That’s all you’re going to get for the next forty-eight hours.”
“You’re going to pay for this,” I say, shooting him a look of pure disgust.
He smiles, but then his face grows serious as his cold eyes wander over my body again. They come to a stop at my chest, and he grabs my necklace, pulling it so hard that the chain breaks. “I’ll be taking this,” he growls as he pushes me into the darkness.
I fall backward, making impact with a smooth concrete floor.
“Stupid bitch,” I hear him mutter as he closes the door.
In an instant, I’m encapsulated in total darkness. I can’t see anything, nor can I hear anything that’s going on outside. I don’t even hear Anatoly lock the door, so it’s probably soundproofed.
The sound of my rapid heartbeat is my only company. Pasha, Anatoly, and even Julia now is gone. It’s just me with my own racing thoughts.
I curse under my breath, trying to take mental control over my ominous situation. Anatoly has granted me time, which is a precious resource. Forty-eight hours is long enough to think of something.
My first instinct is to find a weapon. It’s rudimentary impulse, but it’s a start. If I feel safe, I’ll be able to think better about how I’m going to get out of this mess.
I control my breathing, holding it and letting it out slowly as I wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. There might be a lightswitch in here, but I doubt it. Anatoly wants to torture me into complying with him, and then he’ll act like it was all consensual.
What a fucking sicko.
I feel along the floor, staying on my hands and knees to reduce the risk of tripping over anything and falling again. The floor is cold and hard, but it isn’t that uncomfortable. Rough concrete would be much worse.
Anatoly mentioned something about water, so I have to be careful with that.
Slow and steady. I have plenty of time to scope this place out.
My eyes haven’t adjusted, and I’m starting to doubt they ever will. There has to be light in order to see, and there’s absolutely nothing, not even a faint glow from under the door.
I’m sure Anatoly did all this on purpose. It’s psychological torture, but I have a strong mind. I’ve been through much worse things than being locked in a dark room for a few days. This is nothing compared to my horrific past.
I gain strength and confidence through that realization, and I start crawling a little quicker. Perhaps too quickly, though, because my hand knocks against a metal bowl on the ground, water sloshing out onto my arm.
“Shit,” I mutter, grabbing the bowl to stabilize it before I lose more of my only sustenance. It’s a medium sized dog bowl, judging by the feel of it. Anatoly is such a fucking prick. Everything he does is meant to humiliate me. I bet he has an infrared camera in here, watching me crawl around like an idiot.
I stand up, throwing up a middle finger to the darkness before returning to my hands and knees. I don’t want to knock mywater over again. It’s all I have to get me through these next forty-eight hours.
One good thing about this dark prison is that it’s cold. Uncomfortable as that is, it also prevents me from sweating and becoming dehydrated faster.
Small blessings. I have to be grateful for something.
I move along the floor with the bowl until I find a wall. It feels like I’ve been crawling for a while, so this room must be big. I’d be surprised if there really wasn’t anything else in here. Even a loose screw or a piece of metal would help.
