Fear took a stranglehold on her throat, squeezing tighter with every passing second as she sat frozen to the ground at his feet.
He glanced at a scrap of paper clutched in his right hand and then at the girls, and Celine realized with a start it was aphotograph. Then he licked his lips, hidden by a disgusting beard littered with a week’s worth of food scraps, leaving her skin crawling with revulsion. His stench, even worse than her own, overpowered the room.
He spoke, his accent unintelligible, and gestured to the photo. Neither girl moved, they just sat there in the shadows, clutching each other. What did he want?
He yelled then, spit flying, their lack of response infuriating him. Before Celine could tense, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and drug her from the room. She screamed, kicking out her feet and clawing at his hand. He’d never done this before.
Caroline dove for her waist, trying to pull her back, but he was too strong. He ripped them both from their prison cell into the light. When he finally released her hair, throwing her to the ground, he squatted in front of them and held up the picture once more.
He compared it first to Celine and then Caroline. When his dark gaze landed back on Celine, her breath caught. The man tossed the photo to the side and grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet. Smashing her against his chest, he slammed his slimy lips to hers. Bile clawed up her throat and she gagged. He shoved her back. She lost her balance, arms flailing, and he grabbed her shirt, easily ripping it in half.
His eyes landed on her chest, lust exploding on his face. He launched forward and tackled her to the ground. Pain shot up her shoulder, taking the brunt of the fall. The self-defense training Aaron taught her rose up and she tried to kick out a leg to sweep knock him off balance, but her weakness had control of her body. Her attempted kick just bounced off his leg uselessly.
He got to his knees with a leer and grabbed her now bare breasts, twisting them until she screamed in agony. Pushing past fear into full-blown panic, Celine clawed at his arms and his chest; anything she could reach.
He backhanded her. Pain burst across her face, leaving her stunned and immobile. This was really happening. He was going to rape her. She felt him shoving at her pants, felt his bony fingers digging into her thighs. As if from a distance, she watched him fumble for the string holding up his pants.
She had to fight. Had to find herself, get control of her body, but she couldn’t move. She could only watch. He shoved his pants down and grabbed her thighs.
Caroline screamed and launched herself at the man, throwing him sideways and off of Celine. The burst of movement snapped her back to the present and Celine scrambled backwards on her hands and feet, yanking her pants up with shaking hands.
Caroline straddled the man and swung, her fist connecting with his nose. Blood spurted and he screamed and grabbed his face. Caroline went on the attack, throwing wild punches, only this time their captor swung back, his fist connecting with Caroline’s face. She flew through the air and landed in a heap next to Celine, unmoving.
Caro had tried to save her from the savage now stumbling to his feet and clutching at his bloody face.
Rage erupted, driving her adrenaline to heights enough to overcome her weakness and she launched at her attacker, driving her shoulder into is stomach. He stumbled backwards and she went with him. He tripped and fell back, his head connected with the 0corner of a low wood table. He fell limp and unconscious to the floor.
Celine pulled back her fist, ready for him to spring. Seconds passed with her arm back and ready before her brain connected the events and she lowered her hand. He was out cold.
She’d knocked him out. Euphoria, sweet and heady, swept through her. She’d won. But Caroline…Celine scrambled across the room, diving at her friend.
“Caroline?” She shook her gently. When Caroline didn’t respond, Celine shook her again. This time she groaned.
Relief left her weak. She reached out and touched Caroline’s now swelling cheek with a trembling hand.
“Are you okay?”
“My face hurts,” Caroline said, her eyes closed.
“It doesn’t look so bad.” It looked terrible, but she wasn’t about to tell her friend that. They had a small window of opportunity to figure a way out of there. Dirty adobe walls surrounded them, too bright sunlight spilled through cracks in shuttered windows. A larger open room lay to their left, faded couches and rugs littered about in a mess. But that wasn’t what held her attention. What got her was the thick wooden door separating them from the outside world in the center of the wall.
Her heart tripped over itself. “Can you move?”
“I think so. Where is he?”
“He’s knocked out. Hit a table. We have to get out of here before he wakes up.” Because she had no doubt that he would kill her. Her captor had been comparing a photo to the girls to see which one was expendable.
Celine was expendable.
Celine shot to her feet, looking for anything to tie his hands together. All that greeted her was dirt, a ripped couch and a thick blanket. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Caroline asked.
“I don’t see anything we can tie him up with.”
Caroline groaned as she pushed herself up on her hands. “Forget that. Let’s get out of here,”
“What if he wakes up?”
