Page 51 of When Sinners Rise
My hands still as I grasp the handle. Why should I get to flee, and the rest of the girls have to endure the torture of whatever is next for them? Is Naja still here? They never answered that. What if she’s one of the screams I’ve heard?
My conscience attacks me, paralysing my body from doing the only logical thing – opening the door to leave. Just run. That’s all. And never look back.
Something is stopping me, though. Something is holding me back, and I can’t do it. Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I become bereft at what to do next.
Footsteps.
Faint, but there.
What if I’ve wasted my only chance?
I dash the barely shed tears away and will my arms into action, turning the handle on the door. It creeks, but moves, and the door cracks, letting in a shard of dull light.
As I push the door, more light floods into the tunnel, but it looks dark outside.
“What are you doing? Go,” he says from behind me.
I don’t turn around; I stand, looking out into nothingness. “I can’t.”
“Fucking can. Move your feet. Go.” He sounds cross, but I don’t care. He’s not going to kill me, so the fear inside no longer has a hold over me.
I pause, unsure about so much. “Where am I? What am I meant to do? You took my passport, my money. Where am I going?” My mind starts to race. How do I get out of here with no help?
“Not my problem.”
I spin on him. “Yes, it is! And you know it. It’s why I’m standing here and not dead on the ground.”
He starts to pace again, passing in and out of the gloom surrounding this place. “I’ve done my bit. The rest is up to you. Do you even realise what I’ve done?”
His eyes are bloodshot, and now, in this light, I can see bruising over his face. Flashes of our first date hit me, of the confident, sexy guy that knocked down every defence I thought I had. But that shifts to the man who dumped me in an abandoned building and then forced himself on me. And finally, all I can see is the face I attacked and wanted to hate.
“Fuck you, Shaw. I’m as good as dead if I run, and you know it. Don’t try to sell it any other way. You think you’re doing the right thing by helping, well, help.”
The words taste of stale coffee as I speak, their bitterness spilling over my tongue. I heave in a breath, suddenly full of the confidence, or maybe the realisation,that this is what it’s come down to, and I have to stand up to him.
We both hold our ground, waiting.
And I feel a strange pull towards him, as if our actions here, now, more than anything before, are binding us together. My fate is literally in his hands, and he’s offered me an escape. But making sure that chance turns into a reality is my goal.
“Shaw?” A deep male voice sounds from the direction we came from, still somewhere in the shadows.
I step back, away from the sound, and watch Shaw’s eyes roll. His head drops back on his shoulders, shaking it. “Fucker.” He frowns and looks at me. “Miri, listen. Go. Now. Or you won’t have another chance.” The tone’s more pleading than I’ve ever heard from him. “Just go and don’t turn back.”
“The fuck is she doing out of her cage?” The voice grows as the shadow of a huge man emerges from the dark. He’sdressed in a smart jacket and suit, not what I’d expect from the place we’re in.
The fear I’d just gotten over shoots back with only a look from his cold, hard eyes. And Shaw moving, positioning himself between me and the man, intensifies that.
It’s quiet for a few moments. No noise at all. I want to bolt at the eerie sensation creeping over me. It’s like the beginning of a storm, one laced with doom.
“Haven’t already taken enough of a beating,” the big guy says. “You want more?”
“Well, you do keep telling me that’s all I’m good for, Abel.”
“Keep pulling shit like this, and you’re proving me right. What’s the plan? Run?” He moves a step closer and looks at me edging closer to the outside. “Where you going, little girl?”
I glance out the door to a deserted car park. There are no streetlights or roads I can make out from here. Could I run?
“Miri.” There’s a warning in Shaw’s voice.
