Chapter 58
FIFTY-EIGHT
Gigi
I sit huddled in the dim cellar, my back pressed against the cold, damp wall, the scent of wet sewage potent in the air. A shiver courses down my spine, and I pull my knees to my chest, trying to conserve warmth.
The women round me are tucked in tight corners, bodies frail and shivering. They’re dressed in white gowns, now faded grey, with dirt and mould clinging to the hems. I can feel my pulse in my throat, but I swallow it down, not allowing the panic or the rage to unleash.
They’re all so … normal.
Behind the terror in their expressions, they’re no different from any other women.
That’s what makes it so terrifying. Men who entertain the biddings don’t want particular women – not blonde or brunette, nor skinny or curvy – they just want them writhing in fear.
They want a fight they know they’re destined to win. They get off on that shit.
Hudson’s probably upstairs counting his blood money, selling us off like cattle to the highest bidder. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood, fighting my wrath.
I glance round at the faces illuminated by the faint sliver of light from the barred window.
There are nine of us crammed in here. The youngest can’t be much older than fourteen, a girl with freckles dusting her nose, auburn hair nearly identical to Poppy’s.
She’s been crying quietly for hours, her sobs echoing off the stone walls.
They’re all so vulnerable. So fucking fragile.
The chains round my ankles jingle as I move, a mocking reminder of our captivity.
“Everybody okay?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
The auburn girl’s head snaps up, her tear-streaked face pale in the darkness. “Th-they’re going to sell us … a-aren’t they?”
“No.” I kneel beside her. “I won’t let them touch you.”
A blonde girl moves to her side, holding her hand, and turns her gaze to me. “You’ll get us home, won’t you?”
“I will.”
The auburn girl smiles softly through her falling tears, leaning into the touch of the stranger. I settle back against the wall opposite, feeling an aching need to shield her.
Time drags on endlessly, everyone drifting in and out of sleep. Every creak of the floorboards above us sends my heart into overdrive, imagining the traffickers coming down to drag them away one by one. I won’t give them the chance.
Then, suddenly, there’s a noise – a heavy thud from upstairs. My body tenses, every muscle coiling like a spring.
“What’s happening?” someone mutters.
“I don’t know.” My hand instinctively reaches for a loose chunk of concrete on the floor. “Stay low.”
I breathe in deeply, the new scent burning my nose. Training my gaze through the darkness, I watch the drift of smoke move slowly down the stairwell. I cough, my hand flying to my mouth.
“Is that fire?” one girl screeches. “Are we going to die?”
“Cover your faces!” I order. “Get on the ground!”
A door above us rattles, the air stalling in my lungs. Heavy footsteps pound down the steps. I brace myself, ready to fight.
The door bursts open, and light floods in. A figure stands in the doorway, silhouetted against the glare.
I blink. “Harry—?”
No.
Hudson steps closer, and I instinctively step back, bracing my arms round me as if it will protect the girls. Gunfire rips through the halls, echoing down the stairwell, and I glance to the open door before looking back at him.
My heart stops, then it slams back into rhythm with a furious beat. He’s holding a gun, his face set in a grim line, and behind him, I hear more commotion. One hand raised in mercy, he places the weapon on the floor, kicking it over to me.
I crouch, taking it in my hands. My Glock.
Steady in my palms, I point it right at his fucking face.
For a moment, I stare, disbelief crashing over me.
“You can shoot me,” he says slowly, hands still raised. “But I need to tell you where to go first.”
I turn off the safety, the gun groaning as I cock it at him, tears brimming in my eyes. “Why the fuck should I trust a word you say?”
He pulls out a set of bolt cutters from his jacket, laying them down on the floor.
The blonde girl looks to me cautiously. I nod at her, my gun still trained on Hudson, prepared to shoot.
He doesn’t move an inch as the girl takes them, snapping the chain from her ankles.
I hear the clatter of metal as the others are freed of their restraints.
I feel movement at my feet and peer down, watching as the cuff clinks to the floor. It’s a rush of freedom even as my mind reels.
The other girls are staring, slowly rising to their feet.
“There’s a fault in the fence. It’s behind the outbuildings, near the lake. It’ll be hard to know where to go if I don’t go with you.” Hudson’s gaze narrows at me. “Trust me, Gigi.”
“W-we’re going home?” a soft voice asks. “You’re helping us?”
Fuck.
My limbs are trembling on the gun, watching him over the neck of it. There’s practically a whole forest we have to navigate to get to the fence.
“I …” I can’t speak.
“Gigi.” He snaps his head to the hall, the smoke thicker now. “You need to go!”
A hand clasps the back of my T-shirt, jolting me to my senses. I clasp the girl’s small palm behind my back. “You’d better not betray us.”
I slip the gun into my trousers, keeping the safety off despite the risk.
Hudson leads us up the stairs, looking down the corridors.
My heart lurches. There’s so much commotion, people running for their lives from the fire’s wrath.
The hallway’s thick with orange and red, the smoke elevated to a thickness we can barely see through.
Hudson stands guard as he nods towards the courtyard doors. I count every girl as they slip out, struggling to take my eyes off him.
He meets my stare only briefly. “I hope you can forgive me.”
“If the girls get out, I’ll think about it.”
He nods, seeming to accept that.
The group huddles outside the doors, the fire violent and hungry and the distraction we need. Alarms shriek, wailing down the halls, mere background noise through the panic.
“Poppy’s waiting at the barrier,” Hudson says, his quick footsteps leading us to the tree line. “She’ll get you all out.”
I pause my steps. “And Harry?”
I catch the glimmer of a smile. “Do you think he’d act rationally, knowing you were taken?”
A smile graces my mouth. It’s him. I turn over my shoulder, looking at the destruction and the dark smoke curling into the clouds. The Circle headquarters is crumbling, shattered windows and blazing flames of nothing below the rainfall.
My eyes descend the building, and I freeze.
Richard is standing on the doorstep, his bodyguards flanking him at his sides, more of his men spilling out from the entrance behind him. There are … dozens of them.
I spin round with urgency.
The air whooshes out of me.
“Run.”
We all break into a sprint.
Wind whips at my cheeks, branches snapping under my feet as my steps pound into the ground, charging as fast as my legs will carry me. There are echoes all round us. Orders beckoning, the barks of dogs I didn’t even know we had, charging male footsteps gaining closer.
A girl running beside me whimpers at the sound of a vicious bark. I grab her hand, pulling her into stride with me. I don’t have time to look behind me, nor to check if we’re going the right way. I need to get the girls to Poppy. Nothing matters beyond that.
My heart pounds with the ferocious effort of trying to stay in my chest.
We will not die today.
I break out faster, shielding my face from low-hanging trees with my forearm. With a tight chest, I demand, “Keep going!”
A wail of pain echoes through the night, and my feet skid against the dirt, kicking up crisp leaves and bark. My arms flail from trying to regain my balance from the sudden brake.
“GO!” Hudson yells. “I’ve got her – get the girls to the gate!” He lifts a girl up from the floor, bringing her arm round his neck, and jerks his chin ahead. “Gigi, the girls!”
She clutches to Hudson, wailing at her attempt to step on her foot. I struggle to turn, but I persist, making a move for the gate again.
As we near the perimeter fence, my gaze turns back and forth, searching for the fault Hudson mentioned. But I ran aimlessly, nothing other than desperation lining my steps.
“W-we’re trapped!” someone panics.
“No, we’re not,” I say. “You’ve got to climb it.”
Richard’s roared order echoes through the canopy of trees.
I crouch, cupping my hands together. “Hurry!”
A girl steps to the front, holding onto my shoulders as I stagger forwards, raising her closer to the top of the railing. She grunts with the effort of pulling herself up, swinging her leg over.
Other girls follow closely. Some are weaker than others, sobbing with the effort. I rush over, assisting one girl until her body tumbles to the floor, an open wound gushing blood down her calf.
The first girl falls to the ground with a wail, rolling sideways. Behind the gate, a figure crouches down, forcefully bringing her to her feet.
“Don’t hurt them—”
Poppy whips her head up at me.
Relief seizes my lungs, but there’s no time to think, nor to question where Harry is.
Another girl falls, and Poppy clasps her palm with her opposite hand. “Tell the others to head for the river!” she shouts.
“Go!” I rush out, grunting with the effort of pushing another girl to the top of the railing. “You can’t let Richard see you.”
She’s merely a blip in the distance by the time I’m helping the next person over.
The barks are getting closer, deep voices closing in. One girl lands on the other side, brushing leaves away from her gown.
She asks worriedly, “Are you not coming?”
“I’ll be right behind you – just go!”
I wait anxiously by the railing as the final two figures approach.
Hudson is holding the auburn-haired girl in his arms, and he lowers her beside me.
I help to aid her over the gate. She’s weeping, blubbering from the blinding pain as she puts pressure on her leg.
I grimace, pushing her over the fence. She shrieks on her landing.
The girl behind the fence helps her to her feet. “We’re almost there!”
Almost.
They don’t waste another moment, stumbling and disappearing into the darkness in the direction Poppy exited.
I turn to Hudson quickly. “Is that everyone?”
He catches his breath, panting. “That’s all of them.” He crouches to offer me a hand.
As I swing my leg over, a sudden blinding light forces me to wince, shielding myself from the flare.
“GO!” Hudson shouts. He steps closer, trying to encourage my foot over the railing.
I struggle to move, making out the figures charging through the trees. Richard and his guards must be part of that group somewhere. I hear his voice in the chaos.
Fuck. There are so many of them.
“You need to climb!” I shout at Hudson.
“I will – now get over, Gigi!”
I swing my leg over begrudgingly, readying my limbs as I drop to the ground. I turn quickly, clutching onto the small holes through the fence.
“You need to—”
He turns round slowly, neutral and void of fear.
“No,” I say assertively, clinging desperately to the wired gate, my knuckles white. “Don’t do this, Hudson. Please.”
Hudson won’t just die; he’ll be aching for his life to end when Richard gets his hands on him. As I meet his brown eyes, tears well deeply in mine.
“I forgive you!” My voice shakes. “P-please!”
I try to climb the railing, but my foot slides down, open wire sharp enough to rip through my T-shirt and scrape my stomach. I try again, and he barks my name, demanding I stop.
“What are you doing?” I cry out.
“I’m letting you go.”
Despite the danger that awaits, he smiles.
I peer through the gate, seeing the silhouettes of people closing in. They’ll be here any minute. I feel the itch under my skin, tempted to unleash my outrage on Richard and give in to my insanity one final time.
“The day of your engagement party … I found you with the hot poker, dying on the floor,” he breathes. “I’m sorry for everything they put you through. I should never have let it happen.”
Tears splinter my vision, and I squeeze the bars tighter with trembling fingertips.
“GIGI!” I hear Harry scream in the distance. “Where are you?”
“You saved my life,” I tell Hudson.
“And I’ll do it again.” He smiles finally. “Go find your happily ever after, Gigi. Be free.”