If it were at any other time in my life, something like this would probably make me want to leave the crime world behind for good, but now, I was only able to acknowledge how well I was able to hang on. I didn’t feel the fear creep back in while I tried my best to nurse my injuries, while I waited for an opportunity to get out of here, because I realized then that they couldn’t kill me until they got what they wanted, so it was time to do a little acting of my own.
I closed my eyes, removing myself from that room completely until I heard the door eventually swing open. My head had been leaning over to one side, so much that the blood had begun to trickle off of the corner of my head onto the floor. I couldn’t open my eyes, because I had to make them believe that I was slipping away. I had to make them believe that their one ticket to getting the painting back was soon going to be lost to them.
“Annika, I need you to wake up,” said Natalia, and I could feel her inching closer to me until she was close enough that I felt her breath on my face.
“Annika!” she screamed at me, and I held it together, feeling her hit me with every ounce of strength she had, hoping I was going to come to, but I didn’t so much as flinch. I didn’t have to look at her to know that she was already worried, scared that she was about to disappoint her family for losing the one asset she had.
“Fuck. You can’t do this, Annika! Wake the fuck up!” she screamed again, slapping me across the face hoping to get a reaction, but she didn’t. I heard her stagger back, her fingernails clicking away at her cell phone while she dialed a number. I waited patiently, hanging onto every word she said when she spoke to the person on the other end of the line.
“Hey, I need you to get a doctor down here right away, we have a problem,” I heard her say.
“No, you can’t tell father about this. If he finds out, he’s just going to get on my case about not being careful with our little hostage. She’s dying on me, and I need someone to make sure she can hold out until her little boyfriend shows up, got it? Good.” She left the room, slamming the door behind her, and I let out a soft smile the minute I realized she was gone.
It wasn’t long before they were untying me, and Natalia had left the doctor and I alone in the room. I heard the doctor walk away so I opened my eyes a little and I saw that he was in the far corner of the room with his back to me. As he turned I closed my eyes again and waited until I felt his presence at my side, leaning over me.
I thought of Stephan at that moment, making sure I didn’t give myself the chance to hesitate, as I lunged up at him, throwing him off balance. I grabbed the little incision knife from him, and I jammed it into the side of his throat. He stared back at me in horror, while I smiled, removing it. The doctor collapsed, bleeding out on the floor, while I opened the door into the hallway, peering out to make sure the coast was clear before I started moving through the quiet mansion.
I stopped in my tracks and hid the moment I heard any one of the mansion staff come down the corridor, making sure that I remained undetected while I kept moving. I couldn’t deny how terrible my head had begun to hurt, pulsating in a way I never thought possible. I held the side of my head, trying to stay focused while I quietly took the back stairs down to the kitchen, so I could take the back door out of their home.
It was so strange to be sneaking out like this after being captured when this was a place I used to come to when I was younger. It was a place that once felt welcoming, that Natalia and I spent quality time together when I thought we were friends. It was quite possible that we were in the past, but something had to change along the way.
She outgrew me, and her priorities changed. Now, I’m running from her and the rest of her family, hoping to escape with my life.
I heard footsteps approaching me so I hid as best as I could, waiting until whoever was walking towards me had the chance to pass before getting up to the back door and grabbing a hold of the doorknob. I felt a sudden wave of relief wash over me while I held it until I heard a soft click behind my head, which caused me to let it go.
Fuck. You have to be kidding me.
“Now, where do you think you’re going,” Natalia said, pressing the gun into my skull.
“Apparently nowhere, Natalia. Apparently nowhere,” I said, giving up because I knew there was absolutely no way I’d be able to make it out with her pointing that handgun at me. I had to accept defeat, and let her tie me up again, otherwise, I knew I was going to have to pay.
“Let’s go, Annika. I suggest you don’t try anything like that again.”
