He motions over to creepy dude. The guy nods and walks towards a set of double doors. It looks like it used to be a gymnasium for the school. Michael puts his hand on my lower back to steer me towards the room. My skin crawls at the feel of his touch and I jerk away, giving him a scathing look. I walk in front of him though, because I know arguing will only get me or my child hurt. The fact that I’m pregnant won’t bother Michael at all. I’m sure of that much.
As we enter the room it’s dark and musty. A small amount of light is filtered inside by tiny rectangular windows that line the top of the large, main area. Most of them are taped up or covered somehow on the outside, so you can’t really see anything inside. I blink my eyes, trying to focus. That’s when I see a small movement in the corner. I freeze, afraid they are walking me into a trap. It’s a stupid reaction really, because come on, what could I do if he was marching me to my death? Still, it’s there. Michael pushes me from behind to walk farther and I stumble trying to resist. Once we make it about half-way through to the room, creepy dude breaks away. I see him walking to a small doorway. It’s close to where I had seen the movement before. I lose sight of him after that and I look back over my shoulder at Michael. He looks so smug and condescending all at once. How can one man be so cold and bone-deep ugly?
“Dragon will find you. There’s no place you can hide.”
“Oh Nicole, how you do warm my heart being so na?ve. I’m not going to need to hide from Mr. West at all.”
“Yes you…”
“No. I. Won’t.” He says, pausing with each word and saying it in such a way the certainty of it chills me.
“I…”
“You’re going to do exactly what I tell you and once you do…? That in and of itself will do away with Mr. West.”
“It won’t happen…” I hear the sound of switches being flipped and a second later light from overhead comes on. It’s still dim. Only about one out of every four lights work, but still it shows the shaded, barren room pretty well. There’s cracked concrete flooring underneath an old worn-out gym floor in a faded burnt orange coloring. It has cement block structured walls that have been painted a white color and you can tell there used to be cartoon figures here and there drawn on them. I think one was Bugs Bunny because you can see the outline of his gray ears.
I can’t take in the room any farther though, because I hear a dull moan to my right. I turn back around to face the direction the sound is coming from, and that’s when I see her.
Dani.
I gasp and pull, trying to get to her, but Michael clamps hard on my arm and refuses to let me go to her. I twist and turn, trying to get free. He adds his free hand and grabs hold of each of my arms and holds me against him. My stomach sours when I feel he has a hard erection rubbing against my ass. Somehow, I think it’s because he’s enjoying the situation and his power, more than having me in his arms.
I can’t stop the tears that fall when I see her. She’s curled up in a ball, her dark sweater is torn and her white pants are caked with dirt, and the majority of it is in the shape of a boot print. She’s looking in my direction. Still, I know she can’t see me because her eyes are puffy and swollen shut. Her mouth has been bleeding, her nose still is. There’s an ugly purple-black bruise running down her jawline and under her eyes which have the same horrific color. Her beautiful dark hair is caked in mud and maybe, blood. She’s far enough away it’s hard to tell. One of her hands is lying awkward against her side, and the fingers on her other hand seem to be at weird angles. She’s breathing hard, labored even, and shallow. The sad wheezing sound penetrates my ears and though it’s quiet, it seems to be screaming at me now.
“You fucking son of a bitch! How could you? What kind of sick fucking freak would do this to a woman? You…”
That’s when he stops my tirade by shoving me and slamming me into the cement-blocked wall. I turn to the side before the immediate impact and try to wrap my arms around my stomach. It causes my head to snap back against the blocks and pain shoots through my skull. I can feel the cement scratch against the skin on my hands. The force of impact sends pain to the side of my stomach and into my back where my kidney is.
Fear swamps me. Did it hurt the baby? I try to take deep breaths and hold myself completely still, hoping against hope that I’ll be able to feel the baby move. I need that reassurance. I don’t get it. I hold my stomach harder, rubbing my hand where the brunt of the impact was.
“Listen well, Ms. Wentworth. You will do as I say because if you don’t, then you’ll find my lovely wife here in pieces. I’ll mail one to you a day for the rest of your life. That is if I let you live. Or maybe I should take from you what you helped take from me? After all, I have eyes on your fiancé even now. I could take anyone I want, at any time I want.”
Dani moans. I can’t tell if it’s because of what Michael said or from pain. I think she is mostly unconscious.