CAPTIVE - Sweet Darkness #1

The night was dark and the lonely street brought back bad memories, the freezing rain was like needles against her skin, her hair was a sticky misshapen mass against her neck, the sound of howling wind hurt her ears. he could barely feel his face from the cold, his hands felt limp at his sides and his teeth clicked together in an attempt to find warmth, but his clothes were too sodden to allow him any kind of comfort, the only lights that indicated that there were people living in the area were miles away, and she was still walking on the path by the woods, too slow to get anywhere, her legs too shaky to bear her weight, her feet too sore to hold her, she walked almost by inertia, or perhaps by force of will, whoever had seen her would probably have thought she was terrifying, her makeup had faded long ago, leaving black spots on her face, and the red of her lips was now thanks to the blood that covers them from blows.

Every step felt like torture, she didn't even know if she was still being followed, but she wasn't going to risk it, she had tried so hard to escape and she had succeeded, but her freedom had probably cost her a broken arm and a couple of days of been unable to sleep because of fear.

The sound of footsteps approaching her managed to make her will, already completely weak and a mere fright from breaking completely, falter, she tried to run, but only managed to make her legs lock together and she fell face-first against the icy and wet pavement, her heart sank with her and her cry of pain was drowned out by thunder in the distance.

The light from the lightning had simply allowed her to see the ground before falling, she cried like she hadn't in years, feeling like a defenseless little girl in need of comfort, but the hands that took her didn't seek to appease her pain, on the contrary. They twisted her injured arm and forced her up.

“Did you really think you could escape?” a male voice asked, whimpered in response. What else could she do? Open her eyes and look back at death itself, right in her face?

Pain shot across her face in a quick and completely surprising wave, she felt her brain jump inside her head and her body move in the same direction as her head, it was a strange feeling to be slapped after she had thought her face was gone. numb from the rain, this time definitely felt something, but in the same way the sensation had arrived, everything else disappeared almost instantly, her body fell completely inert into the arms of her captor, a massive man with dark eyes, the same guy who had beaten her before she could escape.

Her head was pounding, as if her heart had decided to find a new place to beat other than her chest, each beat sending a wave of pain through her body, her face feeling heavy and swollen, opening her eyes or at least trying, she felt nauseated and the weight of her own head managed to make her fall, she wasn't sure if she was standing up or lying down, she felt almost as if she were floating, and her surroundings were spinning too much to allow her to orient herself.

“Shhhh” a big and warm hand landed on her neck, causing her to freeze in place, her heart beating wildly and trying to escape from her chest, the lump in her throat prevented her from even complaining of the pain when the hand pushed her hair away, still wet,  then she noticed that her eyes were blindfolded, and she was lying on a hard surface, her head slightly tilted, and a deathly silence in the background, the hand on her neck began to move, the smell of cigarette smoke invading her nostrils she sniffed, making her aware of her body, sending a shiver through her body, her hands were tied in front of her, she couldn't feel her fingers and her broken arm ached, where the rough fingers brushed her skin, she tried to hold back a gasp of pain.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as the pain subsided, the terror of not being alone clung to her like a clamp on her ribs, pressing and suffocating her completely, twelve hours ago she had been perfectly comfortable in the comfort of her home, completely at ease and protected by her father's men, but she had been stubborn and had decided to piss off her father, now she was who knows where, about to have things done to her that she didn't even dare to name.

The sound of a door opening made her jump in fright.

“Everything is ready boss”

Klaus put his cigarette in the ashtray and with a flick of the wrist, he asked his men to leave the room, he took his jacket from the sofa and put it on while he watched the woman in front of him cry, she looked horrible, her arm was swollen and bruised, like her face, she was awake and scared, but he didn't even have time to comfort her, at least not yet, he would have to find a way to approach her naturally, make her trust him, so he had meticulously planned out every detail of their encounter, except of course, the part where the woman had nearly killed one of his men and had evidently been beaten in response.

He was not happy with the state in which the woman had been brought to him, he had been completely clear about his requests, he wanted everything to seem as natural as possible, the woman had to be the one to reach him, see him as his savior after they tried to kidnap her, take her home…if things were working he could still do it, he just had to make sure the woman didn't recognize him.

He left the room, making sure to leave the door open, they were in a hotel on the other side of town, far enough from anywhere the woman could communicate with her father's men, they had taken her phone and paid Enough money to make sure she didn't run into anyone on the way but him down the hall.

“Do you really think it's a good idea?”  Igor asked, as he opened the door of the room at the end of the corridor for him, Klaus sighed, giving a nod to his men to withdraw completely, they entered the elevator, stopping it only to wait for Igor .

“Kill the idiot who slapped her” he asked, opening the bedroom door “Tomorrow morning I'll take her to the Penthouse, and by the weekend, we should be in Moscow”

“Should I stage an accident at the cabin?” asked Igor, Klaus thought about it, the woman seemed to be quite stubborn, so it would probably require a little more time to subdue her.

"Be creative, and make it convincing," he requested before closing the door behind him and turning on the lights in the room, sitting down in the dark. Now all that was left to do was wait.

Anika woke up scared, not knowing where she was, she felt disoriented and her body was heavy, she had trouble breathing, she wanted to vomit and her head was pounding so hard that she felt like it could break at any moment, she didn't know where she was, only that she was lying on a hard surface and that she was hurt, her fear had subsided slightly, after they had left her alone, at least she felt that it had happened, she had stayed quietly still for so long that she must have passed out at some point .

She tried to open her eyes again, the place was dark, and the cloth over her eyes did not allow her to see beyond a couple of shadows of what seemed to be furniture, the pungent smell of cigarettes was still in the room, surrounding her. completely and nauseatingly, she tried to listen around her, but the only sound was her breathing, so finally, her heart pounding, she tried to sit up, the pain making her scream, though she tried to contain herself, her body had finally decided that it was over, it had suffered enough.

Internally she cursed the moment she had decided to party, it had been her attempt to forget the past, and there she was, in a situation probably worse than the previous one, her arm ached and she could barely move it, but the tie in her hands it was limp and it was the only part of her body that was completely immobilized, carefully, and suppressing a cry of pain as she moved her arm as best she could, she managed to remove the blindfold, although they hurt even in the dim light, she looked around her, afraid, but she did not recognize her surroundings, it was a hotel room, horrified, she got up as she could, a woman being kidnapped and waking up in a hotel room, she whimpered, touching her crotch, trying to assess herself mentally, there was no pain, there was no blood staining her pants, which were still in place, her hands trembled and she sighed with relief, but she didn't have time to distract herself, maybe she hadn't been abused, but if she didn't she was sure, maybe the man from before would be back soon.

Despite the pain, she knew what she had to do, but she knew that her injured arm wouldn't allow her to get too far, she looked at the room, there was a bed, a reclining sofa, a wooden table with an ashtray…she saw a cigarette in the ashtray, extinguished and half consumed, so perhaps the man had retired long ago and could return at any moment, she staggered to the table, feeling dizzy and near fainting, but the rope in her hands could easily break with a piece of glass, so with some effort she grabbed the ashtray and flung it onto the icy floor.

Freeing herself and leaving the room, it took her exactly seven minutes, although she had thought she was alone, there was a man asleep on the sofa in the room's anteroom, she had felt her heart sink, thinking that she had lost any opportunity to get out of there with life, but the man hadn't heard the glass break, the smell of alcohol filled the room, he was unconscious, and she didn't even bother to look at his face, she went straight to the door in search of freedom, and to her surprise, it was wide open.

The outer corridor was wide and lonely, Anika was relieved to see the elevator at the end of the corridor, and she took a hesitant step forward, afraid that her kidnapper would try to come back for her, after a couple of seconds of complete silence, she started running. Her legs ached and every step felt like the carpet under her feet was stabbing her from below, but she managed to make her way, the door of one of the rooms, the one closest to the elevator, opened, a man came out but he was busy looking at his phone absentmindedly and Anika froze, scared, she looked around, looking for a hiding place, but she didn't know what to do, but finally, she heard a curse behind her, and terror ran through her again.

"Help," she asked, in a frightened whisper, "help please," she implored, the person who had left the room, a man probably in his thirties, looking tired and confused, turned to Anika.

“What…?” The man started, but Anika practically collapsed in front of him, who took her just before she fell to the ground “ Shit, miss, are you alright?”

“Hide me” begged Anika, looking back, terrified  “please, I'll pay you, I'll give you whatever you want, please, just help me escape”

The man seemed to hesitate, but luckily for her, he agreed, without even saying a word the man lifted her up easily, he was a big man, that was good, he could protect her if necessary, she thought, she looked scared towards the room which had come out, and just as she saw the door begin to open, she was inside the new room, clinging with all her might to the strong arms of the man who held her.

She heard footsteps on the other side of the door, the man holding her close, turning and leaning down to peek through the peephole in the bedroom door. Anika was crying with relief from her as she clung tightly to the man's shirt, who had unknowingly agreed to help her.