16. Cassie
16
CASSIE
“ W here’s Benji?” I cry out to no avail. The gang members are being too loud to hear anything I say. I don’t think they would give a shit even if they could. Their rough treatment of me, of my body, is proof of that. I can already feel the bruises forming already, and we’re still moving. They’re taking me outside the hotel, and I hate it. “Take me back, I need Benji. I can’t do this.”
I think they’re taking me back to the jungle, back to where I fought so hard to escape from, and honestly, I don’t know what I’ll do if that happens. If I see that jungle once more, I might give up more than I want to. I don’t know if I’ll be able to escape. I don’t know if I have the inner strength to get away from that nightmare once more, especially alone. I can’t fathom that idea.
But we don’t actually get too far at all. Just outside the motel, with nothing in the background, the men toss me down onto the ground hard. I cry out as my arm gets cut, as the rough ground hurts me, but of course, they don’t care. It means nothing to them if I’m injured. Since they are probably going to kill me anyway, I don’t suppose any more pain matters.
“Now, little Cassie Jones,” the guy with the nastiest smile declares with a delighted smile. “I know that you haven’t been in front of the camera for a little while, but you’re going to have to have another little debut here. Your own little movie, okay?”
“No,” I whisper with a sob. “No, I don’t want to be filmed. Please, don’t film whatever this is. Please, don’t do this to me.”
I’ve never seen some of the horrific murder videos posted online. That’s the sort of thing I would always actively avoid, but now it seems like I’m about to star in one. I can’t stand the idea of my family having to watch me being killed. I know Nick won’t be able to stop himself, and it will destroy him. His mental health will deteriorate for sure. I don’t want that. If Benji survives this, he will see it as well, and he’ll blame himself for the rest of his life. He won’t think that he did enough to save me.
“Here’s a newspaper.” The man throws a brand-new paper at me with today’s headlines on it. “And here’s what I want you to say. I’ll stand over here next to Ted, who’s going to be filming you, and show you on these cards what to say.”
I try to look at what he’s talking about, but I’m too emotional to really see it. My eyes are blurry with pain and tears. “Huh?”
“Are you thick, Cassie?” he growls angrily. “Did you not hear what I told you to do? It’s quite fucking simple.”
Oh, my God. It isn’t a killer video, it’s a kidnapping video. A ransom request. I would love to think that means I might live, but I’ve been told Ted’s name and I’ve seen one too many faces as well. I’m fucked now, either way. The hope that Benji has given me has been dashed again . I’m back on yet another damn dip of this rollercoaster ride.
“Fucking hell.” He rolls his eyes as he sees the pathetic state of me. “Pick up that newspaper. We need proof that it’s been filmed today. Otherwise, your asshole father won’t pay up. If he thinks you’re already dead, he won’t pay up.”
“He… he won’t pay up if you’re going to kill me,” I stammer out anxiously. “He will need to see me alive.”
“Don’t you worry about what will or won’t happen after this video is recorded. Leave that to me.” His lopsided smirk makes me feel ill. I clutch onto my stomach wondering what will happen if I throw up everywhere. “Now, we also need your family to know that you’re in real danger, which means I’m going to cut you in the video.” I shrink away as he produces a knife. “But I’m not going to kill you, so I don’t want you howling or anything like that. This needs to run smoothly. Do you get that?”
Holy shit, this is a horrible state of affairs. It’s only sheer fear which has me nodding vigorously. Honestly, I don’t know what words of his are sinking in and what’s washing over me. All I need to do is try and not fuck this up or that knife might meet my heart. It’s really freaking challenging to keep my desperate sobs inside, but I do my best so as not to anger him.
“Do you need to go through all of the script before we film this?” he asks me in an exaggerated manner. “Or can we get on with it?”
“Where are you going to take me once I’ve stopped filming?” I ask bravely, knowing this might get me hurt, but I need to know. I have to know if it’s worth going through all of this to get back to Benji. “Do I die right away, or can I go back to the room?”
“You seem to think that I’m a monster,” he sneers. “Of course you can go back to the room. I’m not going to kill you unless your father fucks up. If I end up taking your head off, it will be his fault. Don’t forget that.”
Oh, great, that isn’t exactly reassuring, is it? That means I might well die anyway, but at least I’m going to be able to see whether Benji survived the attack the men put upon him. I need to know if he’s lived and to let him know everything is okay.
“Okay.” I nod slowly. “I’ll do it. I don’t need to have any run-through. I would rather get it done quickly.”
My heart pounds as Ted begins the recording. The other man indicates for me to pick up the newspaper to show the date, which I do. As I try to lift up my hands, I realize that I’m shaking really hard. I don’t know if my dad will be able to see the date.
“Er, my name is Cassie Jones,” I stammer, reading the cards being held up next to the camera. Being filmed is triggering. It brings back horrible memories and layers on top of it as well because this is a million times worse. “Here’s today’s newspaper. I… I’ve been kidnapped and my life is in… in danger.” I gulp back the thick ball of emotion that lodges in my throat. This is heart-wrenching. “I might be killed unless money is paid to keep me alive. Dad, I need you to pay so I can live.”
The cards fall to the floor as the man pulls a hat down over his face and lurches at me with the knife. He did tell me that he would cut me, but it’s a surprise when it really happens. It fucking hurts to have a blade plunged into my skin, more than anything that has ever happened to me before. It’s only in my thigh, so nothing major is hit, but the blood spurts out regardless. As does the yell of agony that rockets and vibrates in my chest and over my tongue. He might have told me to hold my shit together, but how is that even possible? I can’t do it, this pain is not something that I’m used to.
The man then talks to the camera about what the gang wants and what my father can do about it. I don’t hear it, though. I can’t listen to the words because the pain has me blinded. My ears are buzzing with the agony of it. This is fucking crazy. Now I know how painful it will be to be stabbed to death, which is probably what this man intends to do to me, and I can’t stand it. I seriously hope that’s not what’s happened to Benji. It’s killing me not knowing whether he’s okay or not.
“Come on.” The man kicks me in the leg, in the part where he just stabbed me. “Any last things that you want to say?”
There isn’t a choice here. I have to say something, I can hear it in his tone. “I… I… Dad, I want to get out of here. I’m scared and hurt. I can’t seem to escape this. Please, just pay him. Money isn’t worth my life. Keep me alive, please.”
I know that he will, I don’t have any doubts about it, but I want to drive that point home. I need him to hear it, to feel it. I need him to understand that he shouldn’t mess around and hold back. I don’t want him to try anything crazy here. Just pay them.
“There. Done.” Ted shuts off the camera. “Now that is ready to go to every media outlet right away.”
“Wait, media?” I stare at both the men in turn. “I thought that video was going to my father. I recorded that for him.”
Ted tosses his head back and laughs loudly. “Oh, no. Your father is a man in the public eye. His image is everything to him. The only way to make an asshole like him pay is to make it all public. It will force his hand. Makes sense, don’t you think?”
“Er…” Shit, I suppose from their point of view, it does. My issue is that I don’t want to be in the public eye. I want this whole mess to remain a secret. If I ever get back home, I want to just slip back into my old life without anyone knowing me. “But, I…”
“Hey, if you live through this, it might even revive your TV career. That’s got to be fun, right?”
I can’t breathe. This is hell to me. Now, even if I’m allowed out of this, I’ll be trapped back in a cage. I can’t stop thinking about what I said at the end of the video about money being less important than my life. If that was just for my family’s eyes, then it would be one thing, it would speed my dad up, but if the whole world sees it, it might give the wrong impression of William Jones. Right now, he’s seen as a caring family man, and this will shatter everything. It will crack the fa?ade.
“Can we do it again?” I gasp. “I don’t think that I said it all right this time around. Or can you cut the end off? I didn’t mean it as it came across, and I don’t want that information to go out to the media.”
“The recording is done,” Ted insists arrogantly. I hate him, obviously, but that makes me dislike him even more. “It’s time for you to get back to your precious motel room. That’s where you can wait while we sort shit out. Soon enough, your father should cough up and you will get back to your normal life… if things go that way. Who the fuck knows? We will find out.”
The other guy grabs me under my armpits and roughly lifts me to my feet. It’s actually kind of hard for me to walk with the stab wound in my leg, which I seriously hope isn’t getting infected, but the idea of seeing Benji once more keeps me going. The man dragging me back inside leaves me little choice as well. Gang members flood the motel. They are covering every hallway, every door. They look like bouncers keeping control of this place. I don’t think I’ll be able to escape no matter what. I don’t know if there’s any way I can keep myself alive, no matter what I do.