All Chapters of Kidnapped by the Russian mafia: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

CHAPTER ONETHE BRUTEAURORALife is full of unknowns.At least, that was what I used to believe.I used to think unknowns were exciting.Adventures.Blood-pumping experiences that made your heart race for all the right reasons.Mountain climbing.Bungee jumping.Traveling somewhere without an itinerary and figuring everything out along the way.I used to dream about those things.About freedom.About waking up one morning and deciding where I wanted to go without having to answer to anyone.Sometimes, when I was younger, I even imagined the stupid fairy-tale version of it.A handsome prince would arrive one day, sweep me away from the dreadful little life I had grown accustomed to, and show me the world.Pathetic, maybe.But everybody needs something to dream about.Mine was freedom.I just never imagined that when freedom finally disappeared completely, it would be because of a monster.There is always a monster in the fairy tales.The beast.The villain.The creature hidden in the

CHAPTER THREETHE ROOM UPSTAIRSAURORAThe first thing I did after Aleksandr left was search his room.Not because I was curious about him.I wasn’t.I didn’t care what books he read.Didn’t care what kind of clothes he wore.Didn’t care what he kept inside the drawers beside his bed.I searched because I needed a weapon.A phone.A key.Anything that could get me out of this place.I waited until I could no longer hear his footsteps in the hallway.Then I counted to thirty.Slowly.One.Two.Three.My hand remained wrapped around the lock.By ten, my heart was beating faster.By twenty, I had convinced myself he was going to come back.By thirty, the hallway remained silent.I turned around.His room looked different without him in it.Bigger.Less threatening.Still dark.Everything about Aleksandr seemed to be dark.Black furniture.Gray walls.Charcoal bedding.Dark wooden floors.Even the curtains were nearly black.There were no photographs on the nightstands.No family pictures

CHAPTER FIVEWHAT NIKOLAI DOESAURORAAleksandr didn’t speak to me for the rest of the afternoon.I wasn’t sure if that was because I had bitten him or because I’d announced my intention to escape directly to his face.Probably both.Either way, I preferred the silence.Mostly.He sat at the desk with his laptop open while I occupied the couch with one of his English books.I wasn’t reading.I’d been staring at the same page for at least ten minutes.My mind was somewhere else.Outside.The driveway.The front gate.The forest.The kitchen door.Every time I closed my eyes, I reconstructed the estate.Aleksandr’s bedroom was upstairs.Three floors, I thought.The main staircase led into the foyer.Security station to the right.Front entrance directly ahead.Kitchen down the western hallway.Side delivery door inside the kitchen.At least three guards downstairs during breakfast.More outside.Cameras near the stairs.Camera facing the front door.Probably cameras outside too.The gat

CHAPTER SEVENON HIS KNEESAURORAFive minutes.That was what Aleksandr had said.Five minutes.I could handle five minutes alone.I sat on the couch with my legs tucked beneath me and stared at the bedroom door.The lock had clicked when he left.I had heard it.Electronic lock.Deadbolt.The new system Aleksandr had installed after Sergei and Pavel got inside.Nobody could enter except him.That was what he’d told me.His fingerprint.Emergency release.Manual deadbolt from inside.Safe.Or as close to safe as anything could be inside this house.I looked at the clock.Two minutes.Ridiculous.I forced myself to look away.I picked up the book I’d been pretending to read yesterday.The Count of Monte Cristo.I opened to the page I’d abandoned.Read one paragraph.Didn’t absorb a word.My mind kept replaying Aleksandr’s phone conversation.Roman.Nikolai wanted Roman to take me downstairs.Aleksandr had refused.Why?Another room.That was all he’d told me.Nikolai wanted me moved.A

CHAPTER NINEI’M ALIVEAURORAI dreamed about the gun.Not the basement.Not Roman breaking through the door.Not the first two days with Nikolai.The gun.Aleksandr was on his knees again.Exactly where he’d been earlier.Middle of the dark room.Hands behind his back.Blood running from his mouth.Long black hair hanging around his face.And the gun pressed against the back of his head.Except this time, the room was empty.No guards.No Roman.No men along the walls.Only Nikolai.Aleksandr.And me.“Nikolai.”My voice echoed.Nikolai smiled.“Aurora.”Aleksandr lifted his head.His eyes found mine.“Go.”I shook my head.“No.”“Aurora.”“I’m not leaving you.”“Go.”I started toward him.One step.Two.Three.He was so close.Ten feet.Eight.Five.I could reach him.I could get to him.I didn’t know what I would do once I did.Didn’t know how I would stop Nikolai.Didn’t care.Aleksandr was right there.His eyes stayed on mine.“Don’t.”His voice was different.Afraid.I’d never h