Ryker, please find me. I can’t…I can’t do this. I’m so scared.
The whole time…however long it’s been…I knew I was in trouble. Knew I was hurt. But…I didn’t care. Nothing mattered. And now, my emotions are overwhelming me. Stronger than I can handle. I reach for my bracelet, but it’s gone, and only rough, reddened abrasions from the ropes decorate my wrists. My arms and legs feel…heavy. Something stings all along my neck. Forcing my gaze down, I see deep, red scratches all the way to my breasts, and a keening cry catches in my throat.
“All of your problems…they just go away. You itch. Everywhere. And nothing matters but that next hit. You’ll do anything so you don’t have to hurt again.”
Part of Zion’s recovery involved telling me how heroin made him feel. I don’t want another hit. Or…do I? Drawing my legs in closer, the cuff around my ankle pulls tight, and the reality of my situation crashes down on me.
I’m naked. Locked to a water pipe in Kolya Yegorovich’s bathroom. Beaten and bruised. And he’s drugging me. My fear is an oily, bitter taste in my mouth and the pain grips every muscle in my body, but yet…my anxiety’s almost non-existent.
I try again to sit up, and this time, I manage. The room spins around me, and drying vomit clings to my hair. Water. I need water. Using the sink, I pull myself up, almost fall over again, and force my knees to lock.
It takes me three tries to turn on the faucet, but once cold water flows freely, I stick my whole head under the stream. The chill helps me focus, and after most of the vomit’s out of my hair, I turn my head and suck down as much water as I can without making myself sick before turning the faucet off and sinking back down to the floor.
The door opens, and a blurry figure approaches. Small. Not Kolya. Still, I whimper.
“Wren?”
“Who…are you?” I try to focus, but I’m too scared. And I can’t concentrate long enough to make sense of what I’m seeing. Blond hair. Bruises. Arms so thin they don’t look real. Her voice, though…I know her voice.
“I am Elena.” Cool fingers touch my cheek, and I wince as pain spirals down my jaw. “Zion...?”
I shake my head, immediately regretting the motion as I topple over, rapping my temple against the pipe. “Please…help me,” I whisper.
“Give me the password to your computer,” she says as she helps me sit up and takes my hands. “I can talk to Kolya. Maybe…he will listen. Let you out of here.”
I blink hard and meet her gaze. Blue eyes, terrified, shadowed. “I can’t. He’ll…kill me…”
Heavy footsteps approach, and I shrink back against the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible as Elena darts a glance over her shoulder.
“Did you enjoy your first trip, sweet Red?” Kolya looms in the doorway, grinning at me. “You were a joy to watch. You moaned. Such a pretty sound.”
“Let me go…please,” I whimper, my words slurred. “I’m no danger to you. I just want to go home.”
His snort sends a jolt of panic through me, but the aftereffects of the heroin temper the emotion quickly. “You are much too valuable for that. And pretty. Zion never told me how beautiful you were. I think I will keep you.”
Keep me? Oh God.
“You can’t—”
“I can. Leave us, Elena. Into the bedroom. Strip.” Kolya shoves her out of the room, and she stumbles, a soft sob escaping her swollen lips. As he kneels next to me, he pulls a fresh needle from his jacket pocket, handing it to the goon behind him. “Prepare the next dose, Victor.”
Blondie crouches a few feet away and lights the candle. I can’t look away from the flame as he starts heating the heroin. I’m scared, my entire body shaking, but…then…an eerie calm settles over me. I won’t care about anything once the drug hits my bloodstream. I understand now. How Zion could want this more than anything.
“Please don’t.” My voice is barely audible, and my fingers flex, almost aching for the release he’s promising, even as my heart jackhammers half out of my chest.
Kolya grabs my arm and yanks—hard. I topple over, right into him, and he takes the opportunity to palm my breast and pinch my nipple. “I can do whatever I want with you, sweet Red. And right now, I want to hear you moan again.”
With deft hands, the Groper he tightens the rubber tube around my arm. I start to struggle, but then his massive hand wraps around my throat, squeezing just enough to make breathing difficult as he growls, “Be still.”
I’m numb…I let my body go slack. What good would fighting do me? Blondie—Victor—and the Groper are at least twice my size, and I’m still locked to the pipe. Kolya could carve me up into tiny pieces and I couldn’t do anything to stop him.
“Do you want this, my little red-headed pet?”
Something deep inside my rational brain tells me to say yes. Even though I know I don’t.Trick him. Find a way to survive this long enough for Ryker to find you.
Except…as he waves the needle in front of my face, I think…maybe I do want it. What’s the alternative? Passing out from a panic attack? Screaming until I don’t have a voice left from the pain, the sheer terror of being in the presence of pure evil?
“N-no…I…mean…I…please…” Tears burn my eyes, then spill onto my cheeks. Kolya laughs as he whisks one away with a bent finger.
