*Lucia*
His hands fell on the side. He ended the call before Bruno could ask for the location. I struggled on the chair where I was tied. “How did it feel to see your love? I know you’ve missed him, but don’t worry, I’m sure he does too and will soon come to pick you up,” he said. His voice rang in my head.
“I never knew your voice could be so irritating. Do you think Bruno is stupid? He will come for me, and you better be prepared,” I said, one side of my lips lifting to the side as I stared directly into his eyes.
He didn’t react to what I said. He tilted his head to the side and then straightened it. He burst out laughing, his laugh piercing the air. He flung his head from side to side, a big, wide smile on his lips. He was indeed a psycho. “You are being delusional. I wish there was anything I could do to help you. You think Bruno will come for you?”
“He will. He always has,” I said, puffing my chest out despite the rope he tied me with. “Don’t tell me you are scared of him coming.”
“Why should I be? It would be foolish of me if I didn’t see the mask you are putting on. You think I don’t know you have already accepted your fate?” He asked, walking towards me.
My body shook with each step he took.
“And what fate might that be? Because I don’t seem to follow along with what you are trying to say,” my voice sounded lower than I intended it to.
“That you know you won’t be going home. You won’t be leaving this place alive, and believe me when I say I very much love the fact that you have come to an understanding.”
“You are sick,” I said, glaring at him as he placed his hands on both handles of the chairs. My heart beat faster with him this close. I could tell he could sense my fear, which gave him so much joy.
“And I’m not disputing that. I am sick of revenge. You will be surprised to know how much I have prepared for you and this man of yours.” My chest heaved up and down.
He reeked of dirt. Having him this close, I almost stopped breathing. He smelled just like the dungeon he had placed me in.
“If you could do me the honor of moving back, I am sure you don’t want me to die from your smell. I can’t stand how bad you smell.” I said.
The smile in his eyes seemed to disappear immediately after my words left my mouth. He didn’t like being addressed as smelly. I felt satisfied, and I could finally give him a bit of what I’d always wanted. I didn’t have enough time to celebrate as his hands came down on my face.
My head fell to the side.
“Ahhh!” I groaned. I felt my head hanging on the side. I licked my lips as I slowly straightened my head, my eyes moving around the room, which looked like an abandoned sitting room, before settling on his face.
He had a small smile which didn’t reach his eyes and he stared down at me with hate, I didn’t mind whatever he stared at me with. “You should learn to control your mouth,” he said.
“And if I don’t?” I asked, pausing to read his reaction, which didn’t hold much. I clenched my hands behind my back. If only I weren’t tied, maybe I’d have slapped him back, maybe I’d have not, but either way, I wasn’t going to give it a rest.
“You seem to have a problem with someone pointing out how bad you smell,” I said despite feeling a rising tide of fear from head to toe. “Must have been a long time since you took a shower,” I said.
He scoffed. His hands ran through his hair. “Don’t push me bitch,” he growled, “I don’t know what I’ll do if you keep this up, you may not be alive before Bruno gets here,” he said. I could feel his underlying threat, and I was very much afraid. After discovering the type of psycho he was, I didn’t want to push it.
But I couldn’t hold it in.
“I would like to see what you can do; beat me? Sew my lips together like you threatened? The highest you can do is kill me and maybe feast on my body.” I said.
He grabbed my hair, pulling it down. My eyes were up, staring at the ceiling before he brought his face into my view. “how about skinning you alive? Limb by limb and using your skin to make a chair where Bruno would be tied like this,”
Mentioning Bruno sent a different type of cold down to me. And I am sure he noticed.
“You can do whatever you like. But just know that you will have to face the consequences. I used to wonder where Sarah got her sickness from,” he furrowed his brows. His eyes were brimming with anger, and I could tell he was trying hard to control himself, “you know, this mental problem, she was a psycho, just like yourself. Okay, maybe a bigger psycho. But I guess I don’t need to wonder anymore. Seeing you, it’s clear it runs in the family.” I saw.
He yanked my hair down further, earning a little groan from me.
“Don’t you dare mention my sister’s name with those lips,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Wow. It’s a joke how you think you can tell me what to do,” I said.
“I can do more to you than you can imagine,” he said, his hands still holding my hair and pulling it roughly. Any more than this, and my brain might be out of my skull.
“You mean pulling my hair like a lady, is that what you are bragging about?” I asked, my voice broke. My head was aching, and it was hard to keep eye contact with him.
He released my hair.
My chest rose and fell. He walks forward, and backwards. He turned to look at me from time to time as if making sure I was still there. I let my mind trail as I sat. What was Bruno doing? I wanted Bruno to come for me. I knew he would. But at the same time, I didn’t want him to come.
I couldn’t help but feel that Steve had other plans; he wasn’t just keeping me here to kill me and get revenge for his sister. He wanted more. Something more than just revenge. “you say Bruno would come, right?” He asked.
I didn’t reply and just glared at him, but I couldn’t hold his gaze for long and moved my gaze to his legs. “answer me, bitch,” he said.
“You heard me the first time. I’m not a fan of repeating myself.
“How about giving him a clue of where you are? At least let’s put an end to the game as quickly as we can; it’s getting boring,” I said nothing. He brought out his phone and called Bruno. He placed the phone on the loudspeaker.
After a few rings, it connected.
“You must be worried. Bet you don’t know what you owe this pleasure. Well, your woman is worried that you may not be able to save her. I want you to reassure her that you are on your way cause I want you guys to reunite with each other.” He spoke to the speaker but kept his eyes fixed on me.
“Where the fuck are you?” Bruno asked.
“The fact that you think I’ll tell you.” He paused then continued, “Rumors had it that you have a very high IQ so I won’t say. I want you to figure this out yourself. Where do you think I’ll be? I’ve always wanted to test you, this could be the moment I’ve been waiting for.” Steve said.
“Why didn’t I hear about you, oh, I forgot, you are not important, are you trying to steal the spotlight with your show? You must want my attention so bad, well, I’ll give it to you. The love you lacked will soon be served,” Bruno said, sounding more like a psychopath than Steve.
“I’ll give you a hint; for some reason, I want to meet you as soon as possible,” Steve said. “You know where it is. But come on time, who knows if I can stand Lucia for the next hour.” He said.
My heart froze with fear when I heard his last statement. What did he mean by that? I trusted Bruno; he would find me.
“And let me warn you. You better not touch a single hair on her head, else I’ll make you count them, and God save you she isn’t still tied to a chair by this time.” Bruno said.
“See you in an hour or less,” Steve replied and ended the call. “I am not the only one feeling excited about this, right?” He asked me.
He walked towards me.
“Let’s untie you. Let’s listen to Bruno on this,” he says.
“I never knew you feared him this much,” I moved.
“I would have been long untied if it wasn’t for your tongue,” he says as he loosened the ropes tied on me. I breathed a sigh of relief as the ropes fell to the ground. My stomach rumbles.
“I’ll get you something to eat,” he said. “But before that,” he looked at my hands, which he had just untied. Marks of rope rested on it. “I’ll have to tie you up again,” he said.
I didn’t protest. I have no power to.
I was sure that Bruno would come for me. So I’ll just hold out till he comes. He passed the rope around my hands. “Be a good girl while I get you something to eat,” he said, leading me to a chair where I sat down.
This was the biggest mistake he had committed. I have learned to untie myself when Rave taught me. I quickly begin to fumble with the ropes. It was hard. This was the first time I was putting something I learned into use.
Steve soon returns with a plate of rice that he got from only God knows where. I felt disgusted by the food. I may be hungry, as I haven’t eaten anything since morning, but that didn’t mean I would eat whatever he placed on his plate and pushed towards me.
“This is your last meal. I thought it would be best to give you something to eat before you die, especially since your stomach has been rumbling,” I didn’t say anything.
“Don’t worry, you can eat it. I didn’t poison it. Poison is a far too simple way to die for you.” He said. He pushed the food to my face. I began to think of how dumb he was. It was clear that I couldn’t eat with both hands tied.
“I refuse to eat or drink anything. And you are right, I don’t trust you. I doubt this food isn’t poison,” I said, staring at the rice on the plate. Plain white rice. What am I, a dog? Even dogs aren’t given this as food.
“It’s okay since you don’t trust me; who am I to force you,” he said and flung the plate to the side. I had loosened the ropes on my hands, though I still had the ropes around my hand to deceive him.
I waited for the best opportunity to wrap it around his neck. He kept talking and talking, and I had to bear the bad rotten smell that oozed from him.
I waited and waited for him to turn, even if it was for just a second. He kept talking and talking. I knew this may be a bad idea, but I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.
And when he finally turned, I wrapped the rope around his neck as quickly as I could.
“Gotcha.”