I wake up with a pounding headache and a fresh bruise in the shape of a fist on my left cheek. I look around the dimly lit basement and feel a sense of deja vu wash all over me. I haven't been here since I was sixteen, too many traumatising events keeping me away from this room. I would rather risk the wrath of my stepmother than step into this moment, but look at me right now, lying on the same floor with no way to leave. I get up from the floor and almost fall back down from the bout of dizziness that hits me. I lean on the wall until I'm strong enough to move towards the door. "Please open the door!" I scream while banging on the door, almost bursting into tears when, after a few minutes, nobody responds. I feel around my back pocket for my phone, and when I find it, I almost die from relief. When I take it out, however, my mood turns sour at the total lack of network, almost as if my dad had installed a cellphone jammer in this room. I turn on my phone light and look around th
"I seduced the professor." I say the moment I'm back in the dining room. My dad looks at me in shock while both Kate and her daughter Mia are looking at me with poorly hidden smirks. "Are you sure of what you're saying, honey? There's no need for you to cover up for that vile evil professor." Kate says in a very caring tone, successfully hiding her evil plans and intentions. "I watched the security tapes, and I saw that man put his hands on you over and over again even after you told him to stop. There is no way you seduced him." Kate says in a tone that leaves me stunned. She buries her face in her hands, sobbing softly, like just the thought of what I went through was traumatising her. I finally understand her plan when I take a look at my father's face. She was literally setting me up for a fall. She was trying to act like she had too much faith in me to believe that I would do something as cheap as seducing a professor. She was doing it to stoke the flames of hatred my father
"Roman?" I ask beneath the gag."Yes, baby?" Roman asks in response while pulling the strong duvet off my body. "Get this off me!" I scream beneath the gag in words that I'm sure come out in incoherent mumbles. "I will remove the gag if you promise not to make a sound." Roman says in a patronizing tone. "Nod if you understand." I nod my head angrily, willing to do anything to get him to take the gag out of my mouth and off my face. He takes off the gag slowly, watching my face for any signs of defiance. Satisfied with what he sees, he takes it off fully, giving me a lopsided grin that almost melts my resolve. Almost. "What are you doing here?" I whisper yell at him while trying to get my hand out of the loose rope he has around my wrists. "To see you of course. What do you think?" Roman says giving me a dumb look while sitting up in the bed. I wiggle once more, trying to get my hands out of the ropes binding them together. "Why would you want to see me? You made it painfully
"Why? What happened?" I ask, wondering why I was concerned about the life of someone who was ready to sell me to a killer. "He's not answering his phone and when I tried tracking his phone, it's showing that he's tracker is disabled, and that's not possible because he had no idea that there was a tracker on his phone." Kate rambles. "Why is there a tracker on his phone?" I ask, my interest piqued at the absurdity of her statement. "Of all the things I said and all you heard was the tracker on his phone. I knew you were selfish, but I didn't think it would be to the extent where you wish your own father death." Kate says in a defensive tone, successfully diverting my attention from my earlier question. "Have you reported this to cops?" I ask, thinking of what to do in this situation. "No. Why would I? What if his kidnappers reach out to us? Won't we be putting his life in danger by contacting the cops? Do you really want him to die?" Kate asks in a cruel tone. "I really don't kno
A shiver runs through me for what seems to be the 100th time since I hid under this table. I wait and wait for what seems like hours but is probably just minutes for the door knob to turn and for the door to be pushed open but neither happens. The footsteps that seemed to have been coming towards the door could not be heard anymore. I refuse to step out from under the table to lay on the bed, even when my neck starts hurting and my back starts aching. After an hour or two, I start to doze off, and the first few times I wake up with a start, banging my head on the roof of the table. I really don't understand why I can fall asleep in this kind of dangerous situation. With my head on my knees, I eventually give in and fall asleep right there. I don't wake up till I feel myself being lifted from under the table and placed softly on the bed. "Stubborn girl." A voice says from beside me, but before I can decipher who the voice belongs to I'm lulled back into a deep dreamless sleep. Whe
I read and reread the contents of the message sent to me and I wonder what I can do to save Ashley. The message which was sent by Roman contained a link to a school publication which explained that Ashley, my best friend, might face expulsion for the amount of drugs found in her possession l. The strange thing was that there was no mention of me as her roommate. Normally according to the school rules, if drugs are found in any room, both students staying in the room will be implicated, irrespective of who owned the drugs. My suspension was already over, and seeing as this was the weekend, I knew I had to return to school tomorrow. Even if right now no one is saying anything about me, I know by tomorrow they will because then I will be in their line of sight. I bite my lips in anger, before texting Roman; "what do you want me to do?" "I don't know. What do you think you should stop doing, princess?" His reply came in very fast like he had been holding his phone waiting for my respo
"Hey!" A voice calls from very far away. "Hey!" The voice calls again and this time it sounds closer. I try to respond but find out I can't. I know I shouldn't just give up like that, but it's damn hard not to. I'm tired and exhausted and just at the brink of totally losing consciousness, the janitor's closet is pulled open and air comes rushing into my lungs. I breathe in very fast as though if I pause for a moment, the air will be taken away from me. I feel someone's arms on me, the person pulls me out of the closet and towards a room at the edge of the brightly lit hallway which seems to be affecting my eyes. The person softly pushes me to lay on the bed and places a light blanket over me before offering me water. After some time, I start to regain myself, and I start to look around my environment. I take stock of the room which is so prettily designed in pink and I sigh dreamily. I turn towards the girl who had saved me and I almost fall on my knees in gratitude. "Thank yo
"Congratulations then on your engagement." I say with a really cold smile.Trisha lets out an annoyed huff when, instead of fawning over her, I pivot and settle down on the chair in front of me.I tune their conversation out, nursing my broken heart with my glass of wine. I feel Roman's arm on the back of my chair, but I refuse to acknowledge it or him for that matter. I sip my drink in silence, nodding and smiling with the guests when necessary but never indulging in any form of conversation with them. I was there as a secretary, and I will damn well make sure I do only my job description, which in Roman's words was to sit there beside him and look pretty. I wonder how it works. I wonder how a person can treat me like a princess, and even call me exactly that but still has a fiancée and doesn't tell me. Could this all be a joke to him? Does he even care about my feelings?I recognise some people from the last ball I had attended with Roman at his father's house, not that it could b