I eat the soup, the chicken and the green beans, but I’m still hungry. I guess Iwilleat the cake after all. I don’t know why the quiet woman was so insistent about it, though.
I’ve eaten a few bites when my fork hits something hard. I frown, intrigued, then carve away at the slice until I’ve reached the hard object. It’s a small metal box that’s been darkened, as if it’s been subjected to high heat. Baked in the cake, I guess.
I open it and find a key around which is twisted a piece of paper. I peel it off and read it.
Not all men are bad.
We don’t abduct girls, or beat them, or pass them to our friends.
We protect them.
If you want our help, unlock your apartment door tomorrow at midnight. We’ll handle the rest.
Angel
I stare at the piece of paper, my heart hammering in my chest. Is it possible that I will finally escape? Moments after resolving to do whatever’s necessary to leave, the opportunity appears before me, falling into my lap—or rather, in my cake—as if by magic.
If I believed in God, I’d be on my knees thanking him right now.
The problem is, I don’t. I haven’t since the first time I noticed that stain of humidity on the ceiling and willed it to protect me.
If God were real, my life wouldn’t be such shit.
So, I can’t help the unease that pervades me as I read the note again, my mind full of suspicions.
Who is Angel? And how can they possibly know what happened to me last night?
Clearly, whoever wrote the note is some other powerful group that’s managed to get intel on Devil. Which means Angel and Devil must be rivals.
I feel a pang of compunction at the thought that my escapemight be aided by Damien’s enemy. But I bury it under cold satisfaction. I can’t think of a better way to end whatever relationship I had with him. To show him exactly what the woman he so derisively callspetis capable of.
Still, even now, after all that’s happened, weakness beats at my throat. If he came right now, if he kissed me and stroked my hair… I have a feeling I’d melt right back into his arms.
I’m such an idiot.
It’s lucky it won’t happen. Damien’s abandoned me, and this time, it’s for good.
-
These last two days of captivity are the hardest ones to bear. Idleness is no longer possible. Reading is too closely associated with Damien.
My captor may not be watching me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t derive some satisfaction from breaking his stupid rules. Sitting down on the couch, I turn on the TV.
All the channels are still talking about the Cole murder. I don’t want to hear about it, because it reminds me of the time when I thought Damien cared. But there’s nothing else on, so I sit back, close my eyes, and let the words drone on around me.
“… A promising politician, who swore he’d wipe out widespread corruption in Astley and Oakdale… Jenna, let’s talk about the new breakthrough in the case. We’ve just heard about the nanochip that could have brought down the most powerful people in the state. Only now, it’s missing.”
“That’s right, Hannah. A tiny piece of plastic with a hugeamount of power. Its disappearance is being investigated on a federal level. Now, Hannah, I want to make clear that what I’m about to say is just a rumor. But where there’s smoke, sometimes, there’s fire, and the gossip about this is getting louder. We’re hearing that Devil is being investigated…”
I bolt up, my heart thundering in my chest.
For just a moment, all anger melts and cold panic nearly strangles me. Damien is being investigated. If they uncover what happened, he could go to prison.
This could even be grounds for the death sentence.
The ache that has continued to hum beneath the layers of anger morphs into something far more potent, something I’ve experienced once more, but never this strongly.
I want to protect him.
