“Love is not love
Which alters when it alterations finds.”
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116
Chapter Fourteen
Veronica
Iwake up to the sounds of shuffling, my eyes flutter open, and slowly they adjust to the darkness. Everything seems foggy, and then it hits me like a freight train at full speed. We’ve been kidnapped. My eyes scan the area, and there’s nothing but shadows. The scent of mildew and humidity is heavy in the air, filling my lungs with its odor. The cold concrete bites into the palm of my hand, and finally, I realize that I’m not waking up from a nightmare in the comfort of my bed, but a cold and damp basement.
My heart hammers inside my chest, my stomach churning.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Isaac,” I call out, more like a sob, but he doesn’t stir. Panic surges through me, and I pull on the chain bound to my ankle. “Fuck… fuck… fuck.”
My blood roars through my body so loudly I can only hear the sound of my heart. Where is he? Fear settles into my heart. Though I’m alone, all I can focus on is that Isaac is missing. Nothing else matters.
“Iz,” I whisper as tears begin to cloud my vision. The last thing I can remember is Iz, that weird-ass couple, and fuck, he was shot.Where is he? Where is fucking Isaac?I can feel the dread crawling beneath my skin, tightening around my throat like a sick vice. When the familiar sound of a door and more shuffling catches my attention, my body reacts immediately. The fear of losing him kicks me into action, only to die the moment I hear theclinkof metal. I register the cold biting into my wrist and ankle. The heaviness settles into my bones, making me shrink into myself… Fear grips me tight, making me scatter back into the concrete wall as if it would absorb me into itself. You wouldn’t believe how quickly your fight-or-flight response kicks in when you’re in danger. Well, I didn’t know either, but I do now.
But I didn’t fight. I didn’t flee. I only froze.
A creaking noise interrupts the silence, and a sliver of eerie light shines into the dark room from the door above the stairs. My heart races as I squint my eyes to see through the blinding light. The sound of heavy footsteps echoes down the stairs, each one hitting the floor with purpose. By the grace of the sudden rush of adrenaline that surges through me, I move. Frantically tugging at my chain, fear pulsing through me like an electric shock.Come. On. Come on. Come on.My heart beats wildly in my ears as I strain to catch a glimpse of who, or what, is approaching. The chain slips from my fingers, and darkness dances in my vision as the glow illuminates him, slumped between the couple.
Iz.
They support his weight as his head hangs forward. Quickly, I scan him for any more wounds, but find none, only the one on his leg. They must have taken care of the wound, given the fresh white bandage around his leg. My lungs cease to expand. The room seems smaller.
I don’t move… I don’t make a sound.
My eyes remain fixed on them as they bring Isaac closer. He’s out of it for sure; otherwise, those two wouldn’t be standing. My gaze moves to the man responsible for his injury, engraving his features into my brain. No matter how much my mind screams to look away, I don’t. He looks about my stepfather’s age, if not older. His nose is full of broken capillary veins, his forehead wrinkled, and his eyes are dark and dead. There’s no emotion behind them when he looks at me before flicking on the light. Brightness spills into the room, forcing me to squint.How long have I been here?My mind is a maze of thoughts, the main one screaming.Is Isaac okay?
They walk past me, without saying a word, placing Iz on the other side of the room. There’s so much distance between us, it physically hurts. Without anycare for him, the man drops him to the ground as the woman begins to tie a chain around his ankle. Working a cuff around the bone, the chain connects to the ground, and then she walks around him and grabs the longer chain. I lift my arm involuntarily, noticing the matching one he has around his own wrist. They work in silence as they finish securing him. I know I shouldn’t say anything, but I need to know.Why? My eyes track them as they walk away without even acknowledging that I exist, which has me shaking with anger, and before I can stop myself. The question spills from my mouth.
“Why?”
The man is the one to stop in his tracks, his hand falling to a small spot on the woman’s back. “You’re both here to make us a baby,” he replies matter-of-factly, with such normalcy and audacity that it takes every bit of control not to lose my shit on him. But that wouldn’t be wise, not when I’m chained up alongside Iz, who is also injured and unconscious. The odds aren’t in my favor; however, they never were. And still I survived. I swallow my words, the bitterness seeping into every corner of my mouth. I glance over at Iz, still slumped over, his golden hue dull and pale against the cold floor, and my fear becomes something else entirely.Survival. I don’t know how, but I know I will get us out of here.
The woman turns to look at me for the first time since coming down to the basement. Unlike the man, her gaze is not as cold as his, but rather warm—too fucking warm considering what they are doing. Her hand caresses his chest, and she nods, as if silently asking for permission to talk. Then his hand falls from her back, and he leans in, kissing her forehead with affection, just like I’ve seen our parents do. The woman turns to me, her eyes sad, and walks over to a small chair in the room. She grabs it and brings it closer to me. I don’t say a word… fuck, I can hardly even move. My fight-or-flight response has officially left the building, and all that’s left is more paralyzing fear.
“I’m Priscilla, and that’s my husband Harry,” she begins, crossing her leg over the other.
“Why?” I ask again, not caring about introductions.
She frowns. “As my husband stated before. A baby.” Priscilla sighs before leaning back into the chair, her gaze growing distant as she begins to speak. “We had a little girl once, her name was Madeline. She died in her sleep, with no warning.Nothing. She just went to sleep one night and never woke up. No disease, no accident. Just one moment alive and the next gone,“ she continued, her voice becoming a whisper. “There was nothing we could do. The autopsy concludednothing, just sudden infant death.“ She snaps her fingers. “In the blink of an eye, our little angel just… left us.” She looked towards the man standing by her, his large form silhouetted, casting a shadow over her. He remains silent, pretending to be uninterested, but I can tell that his eyes are fixed on us, filled with the same sadness as hers.
“We’ve tried again,” she confesses in a whisper. “But every attempt… every time… it ends the same way. A life that begins and ends within me. We can’t…I can’t…“ Her voice trails off as tears pool in her eyes. I feel a pang of sympathy, but it’s quickly quelled by the reality of our situation.Who could do this?I want to cry, scream, fight—but I know that now isn’t the time. It’s time to think, plan, and survive. More importantly, to keep her talking to learn. To use that in any way that can help us through this.
“We’re too old now, it seems, and our bodies continue to fail us. We can’t conceive on our own anymore.” Her voice is soft, layered with a sorrow that seems out of place given the circumstances. “We can’t have one. I’ve tried everything—every procedure, every witch doctor, every prayer. But nature has decided no child will grow within me besides my little angel. So, we did the only thing we could think of… We found a solution.”
A solution…
The words bounce through my head, echoing like an empty room. “This isn’t asolution. It’s illegal and a complete farce.”
She gives me a weak smile. “Desperation and agony brought out the ugliest parts of us.” I watch her cautiously as she blinks away the unshed tears, giving hereyes an unnatural shine in the dim room. Her hands shake slightly as she smooths an invisible crease in her navy dress.
“But you two… You are young and healthy. A beautiful couple. We didn’t want it to be like this, but there’s no other way. You both are oursolution.”
