*Lucia*
I didn’t want to die. At least not yet. This would be an unjust death. I wanted to at least pay them back. I wanted to pay all those who hurt me back. Who told them they could hurt me and go Scot-free? I tried to lose the rope I was tied with at the back. When his hand rested on my left breast, I felt disgusted. And it was worse when his breath fell on my skin.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see the other guy trying to light up the lamp or something. Once the lamb clicked with the gallon. My chest tightened; I feared for my life. No matter how bold I was, no one was above the fear of death. I had to act and act fast.
I spat on his eyes when he brought his face closer. It covered his vision for a moment. I guess that was my only resort now that my hands were tied. He moved back to wipe his face with the back of his hands. Before he could recover, my eyes wandered around the room. The dim light made it difficult to see across the room.
“You little bitch” he yelled and slapped me hard across my cheeks when he recovered. The slap caught me unaware, and my chair fell to the ground. The dusty smell of the room carried wash through my nose, and I scrunched it.
He raised my chair.
I gritted my teeth. I could taste blood in my mouth. “Yes, I am a bitch. Touch me one more time, and I’d get bitcher,” I threatened. My chest thudded in my ear as my heart beat faster. When I fell, I had picked up a broken bottle, and I was working on cutting off the rope off my hands.
I figured I had to keep them busy for some time before I could successfully cut off the rope. “What? Are you surprised,” I asked as he just kept staring at me.
“You seem to lack manners very much, little girl,” he paused to hold his brother’s eyes for a while. “Girls your age are very obedient,” he continued.
“I am not afraid of you,” I said. “Those girls are weaklings, and I am different,” I said more to myself than to him. As I spoke, my hands kept working at the back. I had to keep them busy.
“Well, I think everyone has that five minutes of boldness when they face death, but when the realization of death hits them, they cower down and crawl at their knees,” he said with pride in his voice as his chest puffed up.
“You seem proud of your foolishness,” I said.
“Don’t mess with me, girl,” he held my chin and warned. I smirked and started to laugh slowly. If he thought he was a psychopath, then he would know what it means to be a psychopath. “I am only stating the truth; why are you overreacting?” I asked him. My eyes held him as I looked deep into his eyes. Fear crawled on my skin, but I tried to hide it in my eyes, and the dim light helped a lot.
When the other guy opened the gallon of fuel, the smell rested in my throat. I took a deep breath. “Let’s see if you can still say that when I have my hands wrapped around your neck,” he turned to look at the other man. His eyes swept the floor, which had a lot of unused stuff. I allow my eyes to wander in the room. I wanted to see in the dark.
My eyes adjusted to the dim light, and with the help of the lighted lamp, the place became a little clearer. “Before we burn her, let’s have some fun with her,” the man said, his ditty teeth coming into view as he smiled to the side. It seemed like he was the boss. I looked between him and the other guy, who nodded and said something I didn’t hear.
“Don’t even think about it. You will end up getting your hands separated from your body,” I threatened, hoping this would work on them and they would take a step back. “My boss is frightening, and I happen to be one of his favorites,” I said. I paused, looking from one to the other as I thought of what else to add to it. “He will find me,” I said.
I wondered how true my statement was.
I had left his house. I ran from him. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after ideas. Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed Sarah to get a hold of me. I kept on regretting and stating the things I’d have done to avoid the situation. “How will your boss find you when you are six feet under the ground?” He asked.
Cold sweat broke out from my head and my back. What if I couldn’t talk him out or scare him? What happens? “You should be grateful. I don’t want to force you as I have been asked to,” I raised my eyes a bit, quite understanding what he said with ease and with so much confidence. “We can have a wonderful threesome,” he said. I almost choke on my saliva in disgust.
He must be dreaming.
“You’d better wake up from that fantasy of yours. Aren’t you too big to live in an illusion?” I asked, and his eyes changed. He flared up. My words seemed to get him. ‘Come on,’ I said as I kept moving the bottle up and down. I was almost down-cutting the ropes. “What? Why do you look so surprised?” I asked, seeing as he no longer spoke.
He didn’t say anything and walked to me, “you leave me no choice,” he said.
“This bastard,” I cursed within.
He extended his hands. I was done with the ropes. The only reason I had not allowed them to fall to the ground was so that I could get him to lose the rope he tied around the chair, and he did. He loosened them quickly. His eyes bulge out as he loses them. He smelled of sweat, but I couldn’t care less about his smell right now. Immediately, he loosened the ropes that were around me on the chair. I froze my hands, and before he could get me, I pushed the chair to the back and stood up.
He was surprised, but he acted quickly. Very quickly. He tried to grab me, but I moved to the side, avoiding him; I ran to the left. The room may be small, but I didn’t plan on getting caught soon. And if I was to die, I certainly won’t be dying alone. My eyes moved to the gallon of fuel. The plan was simple: kick it to the ground and kick the litter lamp in the direction.
I moved from side to side, avoiding them. I fought hard. They weren’t easy to handle with my poor skills. This was one of the times I wished I had taken the training I received from Jason seriously. I had seen a room on the side earlier. “What are you doing standing there? Get her!” The boss yelled at the other one I had kicked and was still trying to recover.
“Let’s just go out peacefully,” I tried to negotiate, “You both won’t gain anything from whatever happens to me,” I said.
One flung his hand towards me; I moved to the side but was not very fortunate, as I still got hurt in the side. I fell to the ground. He moved to step on me with his booth; I rolled on the floor to escape him. I hit his feet with an unused hammer I saw at the side. He screamed. I stood up and flung it towards the other man.
I was now standing next to the gallon of fuel and lamp. Fire blazed out when I kicked them and ran into the room at the side. That was a very risky choice. What if the room had been locked but fortunately wasn’t?
I grabbed the dusty door knob, which had some spider web on it, and pushed the door open.
I stepped into the room. It was dusty with weeds and unused stuff in it. I ran across the room, trying to find the door that led outside. I had been kicked on my stomach earlier, and so I held it with one hand. My back was coached a little while I was holding a dusty table at the side. My nose tingles and I sneezed. I stood for a while to catch my breath.
I looked behind me. Maybe I should have closed the door behind me. That was a big mistake, but I knew it couldn’t be corrected as it was already too late. Smile from the burning room. My skin still burned from the first hit that hit me.
I saw the door at the side, but before I could get there, something hard wiped my back. I screamed and fell to the ground. Before I could comprehend what was happening, someone pulled my hair and dragged me up. I held my hair, “you bitch, you think you can escape,” he flung me on the table at the side. I hit my back on the edge before falling to the ground. I groaned in pain. I guessed he wanted to end me as fast as he could before the fire caught him here. He brought out a dagger, clenched it tightly, and pointed it in my direction, “This is what you get,” I looked down at my jacket, which was now covered with dirt. I closed my eyes as I anticipated death.
Before the dagger got to where I was, the door pushed open, and the next thing I heard was a painful scream from the big guy. I raised my head to see him holding his hand that held the dagger close to his chest with blood gushing out of it. The dagger he held earlier was now close to my feet.
I looked at the door to see two men rush in. I couldn’t see them. I stood up. Before I could make out who they were, something hard hit my head. Everything blurred. I felt a sharp pain in my head and slowly started going down. I fell into the stronghold of a man. His embrace was warm, and his scent familiar. I tried to keep my eyes open and blinked consecutively, trying to make out the face that started with so much worry. His lips kept moving, but I couldn’t hear a word. Slowly, everything faded black.
*****
The next time I woke up, I was lying on a bed. As I rubbed my hands over it, it felt unfamiliar. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I sat in the bed slowly, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands. I blinked slowly as my eyelid fluttered open, trying to take in everything in the strange room, though I could barely see everything.
The room was lit by a dim light at the side. I turned to look at it. I studied it for a while before touching something that looked like a button to see that the light increased. I felt a sharp pain in my head and held onto my head. I noticed there was a bandage around it. I could vividly remember what happened a while ago, but things didn’t add up. Where was I? How did I get here? I kept asking.
I got down from the bed and walked to the door. I was cautious. I could still feel the fear on my skin.
I opened the door to see two bulky men. They were armed and wore black. “Where am I? ” I asked when they noticed me, unsure if I should say a greeting. They studied me for a while before one stepped out. “Follow me,” he said and began walking.
I walked behind him. His broad back kept moving from side to side.
He stopped at the front of a door and knocked gently. I felt that the knock was too gentle for a man that looked like him. After a few seconds, a voice invited us in. He opened the door, and I stepped in.
I closed the door behind me. When I turned, I was surprised to see Bruno. He held a dagger. There were two men in front of him, and before I could tell what was happening, he ran his dagger into one of the men’s chests.