53. VANYA

The door opened, and a moment later, our kidnapper stepped into plain view. I instantly recognized him. He was the man my father had introduced us to at the Christmas Ball and the one that had nearly started a fight with Obsidian and Devrim.

Mike Rhatt.

“It’s time for the fun to begin,” he said as he pulled the door closed behind him.

Fear filled me as my eyes dropped to the baseball bat he carried in one hand.

“Bastard won’t pay me until I deliver,” he sneered. “Might as well have some fun while I wait for the right time.”

Mike’s eyes locked with mine and his lips slowly curled up into a smile.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” Obsidian roared.

He glanced at him, but immediately focused his attention on me again. Stopping in front of me, his beady eyes darted over my body. The way he licked his lips made repulsion wash through me.

“If you weren’t so tainted by their filth, I might actually have used you for my pleasure.” The smile turned cruel. “Maybe you’ll rethink your choices as I play.”

What he said made me think that he might be planning to rape me, but it turned out that he had other plans.

“Use me,” Obsidian called out. “Take your anger out on me!”

Mike turned slightly to look at him. “It wouldn’t be that fun. You heal too fast. Then there’s the fact that I heard some birdies whistling that you’re used to the pain. It’ll be easy for you to block it out.”

My eyes locked with Obsidian’s. He was staring at me with his cat eyes. His eyes darted to Mike and then locked on mine again.

“Focus on me, sweets,” he growled. “Block everything else out except for my voice.”

“How disgusting.” Mike chuckled as he raised the bat.

A scream fell from my lips when it made contact.

“Listen to me, Vanya,” Obsidian yelled.

I tried. I tried to keep my eyes on him and my mind focused on his voice that filled my ears, but it was hard to focus on anything but the pain shooting through my body every time the bat made contact.

Mike raised the bat and slammed the top of it into my stomach, sending me swinging backwards and hitting the wall.

He hit my hips, legs, my stomach, any spot he could reach until all I knew was pain. Until eventually, it was too much to handle and I passed out.

***

I was lying on the dirty ground, my arms and legs free of chains and my whole body throbbing in pain. Forcing my eyes open, I blinked at the bruised and cracked skin of my legs.

Every breath hurt. It felt like I just couldn’t catch my breath properly, no matter how many times I sucked air into my lungs.

In some spots, I could feel my clothes clinging to my skin because of the blood oozing from the broken skin.  

Swallowing, I tried to block out the pain as I slowly sat up and leaned back against the wall. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, making me feel sick. Licking my lips, I finally raised my head to look at Obsidian.

It was like that first time I met him. He looked about ready to kill me.

Something had happened while I was unconscious.

Movement had my eyes snapping to the left. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach when Mike entered, carrying a bag. I knew exactly what was inside it.

Walking to the center, he placed the bag down and crouched. The sound of the zip was too loud in the silence that surrounded us.

“So,” Mike muttered as he straightened. “Long story short, Vanya works for her father. I don’t know what he promised her, but I do know what he wanted her to do.”

I held my breath as he dumped the contents of the bag onto the floor. The few pieces of clothing were still inside, the cameras and audio devices and bottles I had never seen before.

“Her job was to plant cameras and the audio shit everywhere she could,” he explained. “He wants enough evidence to take all of you down.”

“It’s not t-true,” I whispered. “It’s not true,” I said a bit louder.

“It is and I have the evidence to prove it.” Mike pulled his phone from his pocket and moved closer to Obsidian.

I couldn’t see anything, but I heard everything. It was a conversation I had not so long ago with my father and Chief Curry at the main house.

“N-not true,” I croaked. “I d-didn’t.”

Mike chuckled and played a recording next, followed by another and another. Without a word but a glance in my direction, Mike left.

“You said you’d never hurt them,” Obsidian rasped after a few minutes of silence.

Tears filled my eyes as I looked at him. “I-I meant what I s-said,” I croaked. “I—”

“You said you’d never do anything to hurt them!” he roared.

I flinched and lowered my head. He was silent for a while before he spoke again.

“Why did your father want to see you?”

My eyes dropped to my shaky hands. I should’ve told him the truth from the start. But back then, I was scared of stabbing my father in the back. Back then, I thought that he was a different man. Back then, I thought that my father was showing his love for me like only he knew how.

“Answer me!”

I jerked in fright. “T-they showed me a video about o-one of y-you killing a human.”

He hissed. “And you believed it. You believed every-fucking-thing he told you.”

 I shook my head as a sob fell from my lips. The truth always came out sooner or later. His silence made me look up at him again. Obsidian was staring at the bag.

Would he believe me if I told him the truth now?

“He g-gave it to me that day I had to sign m-my statement.” I sucked in a breath, but it broke off in a gasp as pain shot through my chest. “Obsidian, I was n-never—”

“What did he promise you?”

I hesitated. “That he’d pay for a trip anywhere I wanted to go.”

“Off the island?”

I nodded. Obsidian let out a humourless laugh that quickly died down as his lips curled back into a sneer.

“I told them! Humans are not to be trusted,” he growled. “You’re all the fucking same!”

“P-please. I—”

“I’m going to kill you! I’m fucking going to kill you!”

I stared at him with silent tears streaming down my cheeks as he cursed and thrashed as much as he could. The curses died down, only to be replaced by his roars.

And then, Obsidian suddenly fell silent.

Cautiously, I raised my head to look at him. He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were no longer focused on me. Obsidian was staring down at his feet.

I heard it then—a soft click.

There was a few seconds of silence before it was followed by another soft click.

My eyes widened and fear hit me when I realized that the cuffs securing his wrists and ankles to the wall were being unlocked.

Obsidian slowly lowered his arms and then took a small step forward. His dark eyes darted around the room, but snapped to me when a whimper fell from my lips.

As I watched, fur sprouted along his arms and his nails changed to deadly claws. His lips parted to reveal his lethal teeth.

“You betrayed us,” he hissed.

“O-Obsidian, p-please, listen to me,” I begged as I tried to move away from him.

I screamed when he suddenly lunged at me. Claws dug into my biceps at the same time as his teeth sunk into my shoulder.