Tears well in my eyes, and as more loud BANGs sound from outside the cabin, my heart races. Were those gunshots? I’m not sure. It could be anything. The sounds are so loud I feel them right through my chest. They have to be gunshots. What else could it be?
Fear sinks heavily into my gut. I figured it was just me and Elias on this ship, but for there to be that much gunfire, he must have a whole damn team. But why? What is their purpose? Are they here in anticipation of Knight’s team coming to get me? Are they here to slaughter them one by one? Or does Elias just need a cheer squad to tell him he’s a fucking hero every time he beats me?
Fuck. Elias has his fingers in so many cookie jars that it could honestly be anything. I’m just one person. He could have stashed me anywhere. Why go to the effort to get a big-ass ship just for me? There has to be something more to this. Is he transporting something, smuggling drugs? Women? Using it as a drug lab? Who fucking knows.
As the gunfire seems to ramp up, my panic soars.
Is this Knight’s team causing all that havoc? Has he figured out Elias’s sick plan and come to get me? Or is it nothing more than unrest between Elias’s hired muscle?
Shit. If it’s the SWAT team, then I need to do everything I can to help them locate me. I need to get my ass out of here and into the arms of one of Knight’s men. But if it’s not, and this is a wild shootout between Elias’s fucked-up men, then heading out there is going to do nothing but get me in more trouble than what I’m already in.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The one thing I know for sure is that if I don’t try to help myself, I’m fucked either way.
Reaching down to my bound ankles, I pick at the industrial tape, doing what little I can to roll it away from my skin, but it’s impossible. My nails aren’t strong enough, and my body is already so weak from Elias’s beatings.
Tears well in my eyes as the desperation consumes me, and just as I start making some progress, the door bangs open and Elias appears. His face is barely lit up by the small oil lamp on the bedside table.
I shake my head, already able to see the look in his eyes. This is different from the last few times he’s come to visit me. There’s a finality in his eyes. A wicked evilness. He’s come to take everything from me, and he’s not going to stop until he gets exactly what he wants.
He kicks the door closed behind him and locks it before turning that vile stare on me again.
He doesn’t wait or bother with bullshit conversation or threats; he just comes for me as though he’s running out of time.
I try to kick out, but with my ankles and wrists bound, my attempts prove futile.
“NO,” I scream as he reaches down and braces his arm around my waist, effortlessly lifting me off the ground into his arms. He immediately buries his face into my neck, deeply inhaling as I frantically try to pull free, only his grip tightens, not allowing meout of his arms. So I rear back with all that I’ve got, and slam my head against his face, cracking his already broken nose.
Elias roars and throws me down on the bed, my chest slamming against the hard mattress as my head rockets off the wooden headboard. “You little fucking whore. You’re going to pay for that,” he spits, stepping into the edge of the bed and leaning over me before grabbing the back of my head and pressing my face into the mattress, trying to suffocate me.
I squirm beneath him, trying to turn my face to take a breath, but it’s useless.
“And to think your little boyfriend is out there risking his life, but little does he know, while he’s taking out my men one by one, I’m in here destroying the one thing he’s ever loved.” Elias laughs to himself as he reaches between us, violently grabbing the waistband of my pants and trying to yank them down. “When I’m through with you, there won’t be a damn thing left to love. You’ll be tossed aside like yesterday’s garbage.”
Fuck. Knight really is here.
My chest heaves with desperation, and after getting my pants down over my knees, Elias pushes his hand between my thighs, but with my ankles bound, his access is limited. It doesn’t stop him from trying, though, but despite his abuse, a newfound fire begins burning through my veins.
Knight is here. All I have to do is survive long enough, and I’ll be free. He’ll save me. I know he will. He won’t let me suffer like this, even if he has to destroy himself to make it happen.
My eyes fill with tears, and as Elias’s fingers push inside me, I frantically try bucking him off, desperate to be anywhere but here. “That’s right. Keep fighting me,” he grunts, pushing his fingers in deeper, the overwhelming smell of stale sweat seeping through the filthy mattress. “See how much I like it?”
No. No, no, no, no.
His nails are sharp and scratch me from within, and as he laughs, he finally pulls back, roughly, yanking his fingers out of me. He eases up on the back of my head, and I take the moment to turn my face and take a deep breath, the oxygen burning through my lungs.
His hand completely disappears from between my thighs, and before I know it, a blade rests in the palm of his hand. He grabs my ankles and violently tears through the tape, the blade slicing straight through my skin.
“This dirty little cunt? All mine.”
I cry out, the agony coursing through my veins, but there’s no time to dwell on it as he tosses the blade away and reaches for my pants around my knees before starting to drag them down to my ankles. But I can’t let him do it. I can’t let him get between my legs. I can’t let him pin me beneath his weight again.
I have to fight. I have to get out of here no matter what. This could be my only shot at freedom.
Desperation eats at me, and I kick frantically, my feet slamming against his chest and winding him as I try to turn away. But he’s not here to play. He grabs my knees, pressing down against me to try and pin me again, but my need to survive keeps me fighting. I buck, kick, and fight just as Knight had begged me to do.
“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!”
