Page 72 of Sergei
Or worse.
What if I was simply the bait?
The fear that climbed up my spine was colder than anything Alek had ever made me feel. It led me to lean forward and ask, “Where are you taking me?”
One of them glanced back over his shoulder, then looked to his friend and laughed low and sinister. A feeling of dread and helplessness washed over me, and for a moment, I feared I mightcry. But that’s what they wanted, and I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction.
We hadn’t been driving long when the SUV turned into a neighborhood of houses. The houses weren’t exactly mansions, but they were close. They pulled into one of the coves and started down the drive of one of the more secluded homes. It was two, maybe three stories with old English cobblestone throughout and a porched entrance with subtle lighting.
It looked like any other house. You wouldn’t even give a second look unless you knew what was going on inside. I didn’t want to know what was going on in there, but unfortunately for me, I was about to find out. One of the men opened my door, and I refused to look at him as I got out.
He didn’t touch me. He just walked toward the front door, and knowing I had no other choice, I followed. His friend was behind me, watching as I stepped inside the house. I took a quick glance around, and my heart stopped when I saw the living room, only it was no longer a living room.
Instead, it was some kind of showroom.
There were long, red curtains circling a round, wooden stage, and there were lights and cameras above, pointing directly at the center. There were monitors lined up on the side wall, and speakers in the corner of the room. I didn’t ask what it was for. I already knew.
This was their showroom.
They brought the women they abducted here and auctioned them off online. I’d heard of places like this before, but I never truly believed they were real. Now that I knew the truth, it brought bile to my throat as we walked past it. But I kept walking with my head held high, pretending that I wasn’t terrified out of my mind and that every breath didn’t feel like the weight of it was crushing me.
We continued through the side door and down a hallway that led to a stairwell. The air changed as we made our way down to the basement. All my senses were screaming at me that this was a bad place, and I should run. But I just kept going, step after step.
I counted them, echoing against the concrete. Not because I thought it might help me with some grand escape, but to help keep my mind from spinning.
Once we reached the bottom, the tall one led me down a long, dark corridor. There were ten doors, maybe more, and each of them was exactly the same. A white door with a singular black knob, and they were all closed. If I had to guess, I would say they were locked, too. There were no numbers. No windows. Just the doors, like a hall of sealed tombs.
I didn’t ask what was behind them.
I already knew enough to imagine.
We stopped at the fifth door, and the man pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking it. He swung it open, and my stomach turned when I saw the small room with bare walls and a narrow cot in the corner. There was a camera above it, a stainless-steel toilet in the corner, and a tiny sink. Nothing else.
No mirror. No trash can. No TV.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I spotted the chain that was set into the concrete floor and the cuff that was attached. Panic washed over me, but I didn’t dig in my heels or make them drag me. I knew fighting wouldn’t change anything. I was doomed one way or another.
The second man grabbed my wrist and put on the cuff, pressing it tight against my skin. He gave it a yank, testing it before turning and starting for the door. “Sleep.”
I stumbled back and dropped onto the cot. The mattress was thin and smelled like bleach mixed with rot, but I didn’t move. I just sat there and watched as they walked out and closed thedoor behind them. The lock clicked into place with a finality that settled into my bones.
I leaned back, and the chain rattled against the floor as I tried to get settled. I stared up at the ceiling, and it felt too close, like it was purposefully closing in on me. I didn’t get up and check the door. I didn’t tug at the chain. I didn’t have it in me. All the fight in me was gone.
I’d spent it all when I left Alek. It took every ounce of my strength, but I was clawing my way toward a freedom that was never really mine. A part of me wanted to ask why. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t have some small sliver of happiness. What had I done that was so wrong? What sin had I committed? Why didn’t I deserve peace, or love, or him?
But maybe this was how it was always meant to end.
Maybe some of us just aren’t meant to be saved.
23
SERGEI
It had been two hours since they took her.
Two hours of being out of my mind with anger and panic and everything in between. Lina had only been with me for a couple of months, but in that time, she’d gone from a girl I’d once known to an absolute obsession. She invaded my dreams, my thoughts, and with every breath, I longed for her.
Fuck.
