Chapter 17
SEVENTEE N
FLORA
Dax wanders into the living room with a huge smile on his face. I look up from my book and ask, “What are you smiling at?”
He sits beside me on the couch and says, “We were thinking of having a date night with you.”
Lyka enters from the basement, his smirk matching Dax’s.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve never been on a date before,” I confess.
“We plan on getting dressed up and taking you for dinner by the lake this evening. How does that sound?”
Biting my bottom lip, I try to hide the smile. “I’d really love that,” I whisper.
Dax leans down to me and plants a kiss on my cheek. “Great!” he exclaims, rubbing his hands together. “Lyka and I are just going to sort some bits out in the barn.”
“Okay,” I reply as I watch Lyka walk towards me. He leans down and his lips capture mine in a tender kiss.
“We’ll be back soon,” Lyka murmurs, caressing my cheek. They walk towards the door and leave.
I sit back on the couch, alone in the cabin. My mind races.
What am I doing? Am I in a relationship with two men? Brothers ?
I get up and walk over to the window, watching Lyka and Dax head towards the barn.
I turn away from the window and glance over to the basement door. Lyka left it open. Curiosity gets the best of me as I walk over towards the door. I push the door and it creaks open as a cool breeze hits me.
I descend the steps. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, my eyes widen as I see several cannabis plants bathed in artificial light.
I’ve never seen a cannabis plant before .
A faint light catches my attention and I head towards it.
As I enter the room, I see a computer sitting on a desk at the end of the room. Its screen is on, lighting up the room. I approach the computer and notice several folders on the desktop. One folder captures my attention— Fake Lockdown.
My heart feels like a beating drum as I click on the folder. Inside are multiple videos. Clicking on one, I start watching it—it’s an identical video to the news report I saw on TV.
It hits me in the gut—everything has been a lie. It was all fake.
Oh my fucking god.
Tears gloss over my eyes. I feel anger and betrayal hit me at once. I look around the room and notice my smashed phone on a table. I pick it up, feeling my hands shake, and it turns on without any problems. Tears fall down my cheek and my mind tries to understand it all.
Suddenly, strong arms wrap around me, pinning my arms to my sides. Panic immediately sets in as I scream out, “Get off me! Get off me!”
Lyka steps out from the dark and reveals himself, his face severe and stern. Before I can react, he snatches my phone from my hand and launches it at the wall.
Dax tightens his grip around my body as I try to kick myself free .
“YOU ASSHOLES! I trusted you! You faked a lockdown?” I wail as my voice breaks.
“Calm down…” Lyka commands.
“You’re only gonna hurt yourself. Calm the fuck down!” Dax instructs from behind.
I thrash my legs, desperate to escape, but Dax’s grip only gets tighter. My efforts to get out of his grip only make me weaker.
“Flora, listen…We did what we had to. You have to understand,” Lyka says.
“Understand?!” I choke out. “You fucking tricked me!”
“Seriously? You should be thanking us. We saved you,” Dax snaps, his soft, golden eyes now dark. I feel like I don’t even know him anymore. I can’t help but collapse into his arms.
Dax carries me up the stairs over his shoulder and Lyka follows behind. My body feels limp and lifeless. I struggle to come to terms with reality.
Dax sets me down when we reach the living room and I don’t hesitate—I make a break for the door.
“Stop her!” Lyka shouts.
I fling the door open and sprint outside. In haste, I trip on the steps and tumble forward, crashing into the gravel. Pain shoots through me, but I ignore it. I gotta get out of here. Before I can get to my feet, Dax pins me to the ground.
“Get off me!” I cry out, punching at his chest. I thrash wildly. “Get off!”
Dax’s face is filled with determination as he grabs my wrists and pins them above my head.
“Where do you think you’re going, flower? No one can hear you. Scream all you want. We are alone out here,” he says in a cold voice.
I struggle beneath him, but he is far stronger than I am. Chokin g on my sobs, I feel helpless.
Lyka steps outside and Dax lifts me up. I flail my limbs, trying to break free, but it’s useless.
“For god’s sake, Flora. You are just gonna wear yourself out,” Lyka says flatly.
Dax draws me back inside and my body is filled with exhaustion. I stare helplessly as Lyka locks the cabin door behind us.
“People will know I am missing!” I threaten.
Dax sets me down and I push him away.
“Who, Flora? You have no one apart from us.” Lyka’s words pierce me like a blade. It’s true, I have no one. The last thing I told Nancy was that I was going back to London. Marty and I haven’t been in contact since my father’s funeral. No one knows I’m here at the cabin and the brothers know that.
I look between them and my heart feels like it is about to burst out of my chest. “The news report, the cable cord, the internet, my phone…all of it. You lied to me. You used me,” I sobbed, choking on my tears.
My knees buckle as I fall to the floor. “I trusted you,” I whisper. They trapped me, both emotionally and physically.
Lyka picks me up by the elbow and pushes me towards the kitchen, directing me towards a stool. I refuse to look at him as I stare at the floor. Dax pulls up a stool next to me. He reaches out and clasps my hand in his. His touch feels like a shackle.
“Flora…”
“I let you take my virginity…I trusted you. I fucking trusted you ,” I mumble to myself.
“Flora!” Dax says louder this time.
Anger washes over me as I yank my hand away from his. My head snaps upwards and I look at him. Without thinking, I slap him across the face.
“I hate you!” I scream .
Dax’s head snaps to the side from the impact. He doesn’t move for a moment. His expression is a mix of shock and hurt. He slowly turns his head towards me as a red mark forms across his cheek.
My eyes dry up. I glare at Dax and his nostrils flare as he clenches his fist. Fear runs through me for a moment, but I hide it. Dax abruptly stands, toppling his stool behind him as he strides to the other side of the kitchen and slams his fist down on the counter.
“Let's all calm down. Flora, have a drink,” Lyka says, passing me a glass of water.
My throat is dry from the screaming. I pick up the glass and begin to drink half the glass down, my hands trembling.
I slam the glass down and spring to my feet, screaming at the top of my lungs, “You locked me away! You had no right! I’m leaving!” I grab the glass and launch it at Lyka, but he ducks before it can hit him.
“You aren’t leaving this cabin…” Dax states in a menacing tone.
“Watch me!”
Lyka lets out a sinister chuckle as I push past them and exit the kitchen.
“I bet you twenty dollars she won’t make it to the front door,” Lyka bets. He sounds like pure evil.
The front door is in sight, the key to my freedom just a few feet away. I reach for the lock, but my fingers start shaking. Suddenly, my vision becomes blurred. The edges of my sight begins to darken and my head becomes heavy. Panic sets in once more.
“No… no…” I whisper to myself.
My knees buckle and I collapse to the floor. My vision fades into darkness. I try to fight the darkness, but it completely engulfs me in unconsciousness .
The last thing I hear is the brothers laughing in the distance.
Opening my eyes, they feel heavy. My arms are numb; I try to move my right arm, but it won’t budge. I tilt my head up and notice a metal cuff securing my wrist. The cuff is attached to a chain. I shake at the chain and it makes a metallic clicking that echoes throughout the room.
The bedroom door creaks open. Lyka and Dax enter the room, their expressions unreadable.
“You drugged me? I croak.
They stand at the end of the bed with their arms crossed, staring at me with no emotion.
“So you’re gonna keep me chained up like this!” I demand.
Lyka’s face darkens. He moves towards me, grabbing my cheeks and squeezing them with his painful grip.
“You said you wanted to stay here forever ,” he says maliciously.
Tears begin to spill from my eyes.
“From the moment we brought you to this cabin, you were ours, flower,” Dax says with a glint in his eyes.
The room is spinning and I try to focus on their faces. “Fine! Keep me chained up. But I’ll never let you touch me again!”
They both laugh darkly. “It's cute that you think you have a choice,” Lyka taunts as he releases my cheeks.
“She’ll break sooner or later,” Dax whispers.
I turn my head away, trying to create a distance without looking at them .
“The closest neighbor is miles away. Don’t think you can escape,” Dax warns.
Lyka smirks. “If you try escaping…there will be punishment.”
“You…You…wouldn't hurt me.” I tremble.
“Are you sure about that?” Lyka asks, raising his eyebrow.
Dax tries to swipe his finger under my chin. “Flora, we’ve been gentle so far. But don’t mistake our kindness for weakness.”
Lyka's presence looms over me. “We saved you when you had no one. We’re offering you something better. But if you don’t appreciate it, there will be consequences.”
I pull at the chain, but it only tightens the cuffs against my skin. “This isn't better. This is control,” I spit out.
“You’ll see in time we did this for your own good. If you don’t…let's just say we have ways of making you understand,” Dax states.
I feel like I am in a nightmare. I look up at them and realize I have no idea who I am talking to anymore; these aren’t the same brothers who nursed me back to health, got me back into painting, cared for me during love-making, empathetic in our shared losses. Their true implications are clear now and I’m at their mercy. No one was going to save me, only myself.
“You will come to accept this. It's just a matter of time, flower,” Dax leans down and whispers determinedly, brushing the hair out of my face. “You’re ours, Flora. Now we get to keep you forever.” Dax and Lyka look down at me, pride and excitement filling them like they’re children looking at their new favorite toy.
They both turn and leave the room, closing and locking the door behind them. The moment the door closes I burst into tears.
I am now captive in their fucked up prison.