Malea’s POV
All I could see is black. My head throbbed and I was in danger before I could even open my eyes. I blinked once, twice and adjusted my eyes to the darkroom I was in.
I looked down at my wrists only to realize that they’re behind my back. The sticky feeling of duck tape on my lips made me panic all the more.
I looked around frantically and soon realize that I’m in a cabin. My heart began racing in fear as I thought of all the horrible things that could happen to me right now.
A muffled scream caught my attention. I whipped my head up to see a woman sitting across from me. Her dark head was down and her hands were tied behind her back. A thick bundle of rope tied her down to the wooden pole she was resting on and I could see the outline of duck tape on her lips. I’m not the only one.
She lifted her head and I suddenly realized who she is… Ales. My breath got caught in my throat and I wanted to scream and cry but couldn’t once I heard the sound of heavy footsteps.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm my pounding heart and the feeling of sobbing to no end.
“I know you’re awake now.” That voice. Myra. I looked up at her. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, a black sweater and she held a black ski mask in her hand.
Ales lifted her head and looked at Myra, hatred pure in her eyes.
“Winter!” Myra shouted. “Bring her in.” And suddenly my world turned upside down. Winter was working with Myra all along? Winter dragged a screaming and kicking woman in and tied her to the wooden pole next to me. She had dark skin and the duck tape over her mouth muffled her screams.
The woman shook her head to shake away the dark peices of hair in her eyes. I almost screamed as I stared at Elaine. What did she have to do with all of this?
Winter’s vibrant red hair looked so out of place in this setting. She grinned sadistically and looked down at all of us. “I bet you’re wondering why you’re all here.”
I swallowed down my fear and tried to calm down.
“It’s because you all took something from us that we can never get back.” Winter spat.
Myra began to pace the room, her dark boots clanging against the musty, dark floors. “Malea. You took Levi away from me. What do you have to say about that?” She turned to face me and once she realized that I still had the duck tape on my lips she threw her head back and laughed. “Oh right. You still have that on.” She walked forward and I shrunk back.
I’ve never been as scared of her as I am now, her menacing character bend over me to peel off the duck tape. Without hesitation, she ripped it off and took chunks of the dry skin on my lips with it. I screamed in pain. Myra and Winter only laughed. “There’s more of that coming.”
“Now, Malea. What do you have to say for yourself?” Myra asked again. She grabbed my jaw roughly and snapped my head up to look at her. The hatred in her eyes was enough to kill me on the spot.
“Levi only wanted Gina. That’s why he dated me. To get to Gina.” I spat, suddenly feeling so much hatred towards Myra and Levi and Winter. I tasted the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.
Myra stumbled back as if the words stung. “That’s not true. Levi loved me before you came along.”
“Levi never loved you!” I shrieked, animosity poring out of my words. My head cracked to the side as Myra slapped me, a white hot pain lancing up my cheek. And suddenly another peice of duck tape was pressed against my lips.
Before I could lift my head to see what was happening, something hard and heavy struck my head, breaking the skin and causing pain like none other to shoot through my head. I screamed in agony as the world went black.
***
Lucian’s POV
It’s been a whole day since Malea left for dinner with Myra and Winter and now she’s gone also. I broke down when I realized that the one person I’ve ever loved has been taken away from me.
“Richard. You have to find her.” I said, my voice tight with pain. Oh God, I hope she isn’t in pain right now.
Richard, my personal investigator placed a hand on my shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t worry, Lucian. We’ll find her. I swear to you that we’ll find her and arrest those who took her.”
I’m trusting you Richard. Please don’t let me down. Please hang in there Malea. I’m coming for you
***
Malea’s POV
I woke up with an excruciating pain in my head. Warm liquid trickled slowly down my face and down my neck. I couldn’t take the pain. It hurt so badly and the blood thrown into the mix didn’t help.
I opened my eyes to see that Elaine was still sitting next to me, her eyes wide and alert but Ales was gone. The banging of footsteps made me shrink back against the wooden pole.
This time, Winter, Ales and Myra walked in. My breath got caught in my throat. Ales looked perfectly fine, a smile on her face and her outfit matching the others.
My eyes went wide as I realized that Ales was behind this all. She’d just been acting when she was tied up. What kind of a sadistic person does that?
“I did a good job convincing you that I was kidnapped, didn’t I?” Ales spoke up, an amused lilt to her words.
No. No. Ales. My best friend wouldn’t do this. My best friend wouldn’t make me hurt. My best friend wouldn’t orchestrate her own abduction just to create a dramatic effect. I squeezed my eyes shut but couldn’t help the tear that escaped my eyes.
Ales kneeled down next to me and pouted falsely. She cupped my face in her hand. “Aw don’t cry just yet. This is only the beginning.” Then she peeled off the duck tape on my lips.
“Why, Ales? Why?” I whispered, shudders wracking my body.
“You really want to know why?.” Ales sat back on the floor.
“Malea, you stole Lucian from me. All I wanted to do was settle down with him, have kids and just have his love and attention on me. But no. You’re never happy for me and you decided to intervene. And once you did, I knew that there was no way Lucian would look at me the same way again. His love and his affection was directed at you and only you.” Ales spat with hatred. Suddenly a flash of silver caught my eye. It was a knife. Gripped in Ales’s hand. I swallowed, fear overtaking me.
“I tried to get you to see what you were doing to me but you refused. You were too caught up loving my husband. As soon as I saw those photos of you and Lucian kissing, Winter, Myra and I got together to formulate a plan. Those emails that were leaked, were leaked by Myra. And those pictures taken of you and Lucian kissing, were taken by Elaine. She was our spy. And when you left the office that day with your computer logged into your account, you made it ten times easier to sabotage you.”
I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of Ales’s mouth. I turned to look at Elaine who was silently crying. “She was the one who took those pictures and recorded all of those conversations so it made it only that much easier to ruin you.” Ales nudged Elaine.
“T-Then why is Elaine tied up if she helped you?” I asked through my sobs.
Myra knelt down next to Elaine, a butterfly knife in her hand. “Because Elaine, here, wanted to squeal on us. She said she wanted out of the operation.” Myra flicked open the knife and brought it down in one slash on Elaine’s face, her muffled screams ricocheting inside my head.
“Please stop.” I sobbed. I wanted them to stop. It hurt me to see her suffer. But instead of listening to me, Myra slashed again at Elaine’s face. A vein protruded from Elaine’s neck as she screamed into the duck tape.
Myra ripped the duck tape of Elaine’s lips. “Scream as much as you want. No one is around to save you.” Winter grinned and kicked at my stomach, her solid boot lodging between my ribs. The air was knocked out of me as a shout of agony escaped my lips.
“Girls. Enough.” Ales said calmly. Myra and Winter immediately stepped back from us. “Let’s go. I still want to decide how I want them killed.” I choked on a sob as they left.
Elaine shuddered in sobs, blood dripping slowly down her face. “I’m so, so sorry, Malea.” She said, her voice trembling with remorse.
“I forgive you, Elaine.” But I don’t think she heard me over her sobs. I have to get out of here.
I used my hands to feel the rope and understand its texture. It was coarse and seemed like with enough force it would break. I shook my hands a bit. I still had a charm bracelet on. Good. One of the charms has a mini blade inside. I got the bracelet from my father and he demanded that I keep that charm in case of emergencies. Now it’s going to good use.
I tried to feel around from the charm but since my hands were behind my back, it was a bit hard but I found it. I pulled off the cap and slowly begun sawing away at the rope. I’m my only hope left. If I don’t get myself out of this, then I know I’m going to die here.