Chapter 22 Alina
ALINA
I’d spent years teaching myself not to want things.
Not love. Not safety or a sense of security.
Not a future worth living. I stopped imagining what happiness might feel like.
There was no point in it. Fairy tales were for girls who were born into a world of hope and dreams, not darkness and greed like mine.
Our world was not about roses and rainbows. It was about survival and obedience.
So, I stopped fighting the tide and accepted the fact that love wasn’t for people like me. Then, Sergei touched me, and it felt like a promise whispered in the night. I started to hope, to dream, and actually consider a future.
A real future.
A future with him.
It was too soon. I knew that, but there was no denying it.
I had fallen for him, and I’d fallen hard.
While I was concerned about why he’d left so suddenly, I was still practically beaming as I cleaned the kitchen.
He’d made quite a mess when making us pancakes, but I didn’t care.
The simple fact that he’d tried made my heart full.
I was putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher when the front door opened. I thought it was just Bog coming in, so I said, “Oh, you really didn’t have to…”
My words trailed off the second I saw that it wasn’t Bog coming through the door. Instead, it was two men dressed in all black. They moved without noise or the slightest hesitation. There was no doubt that they were here for a reason, and I had a feeling that I was that reason.
When they spotted me, the taller of the two smiled like I was already in his hands. “There she is.”
His Russian accent was thick enough to cut with a blade. Deep, old, and guttural. I should have run. I should have screamed. But I didn’t move. I just stood there and stared at him, like a part of me was expecting their arrival.
I inhaled a deep breath, and the hem of Sergei’s shirt brushed my thighs. I almost laughed. I’d gotten a chill while cleaning and slipped on a pair of leggings. At least I wasn’t half-naked when they came for me. It was one piece of luck I could hold onto.
“Get shoes,” the second one ordered without looking at me.
He was busy checking the room, making note of exits, cameras, and windows. I didn’t know who sent them, but it was clear they were professionals. I didn’t bother resisting. I knew there would be no getting away from them, so I went to the door to fetch my boots.
My hands barely shook as I slipped them on. No socks. No coat. They didn’t care. One of them took hold of my arm and tugged me out into the hall. They didn’t bother dragging me or binding my hands. One walked ahead and one behind, like they already knew I wouldn’t run.
We entered the elevator, and just as it was about to close, I noticed something over in the corner behind the artificial tree. I tilted my head, trying to get a better look, and that’s when I realized it was a body. And not just any body. It was Bog.
Strong, invincible Bog was crumpled on the ground in a pool of blood.
My heart sank.
He was killed because of me, and I couldn’t help but wonder who else would face a similar fate. I lowered my head, trying with all my might not to lose it, and when my chin brushed the collar of Sergei’s shirt collar, I caught a slight hint of his cologne.
It gave me a bit of solace to know that I might’ve been headed to my end, but at least I had a piece of him to take with me. In a blink, we were downstairs, and they were leading me toward a black SUV. One of them opened the back door and jerked his chin, silently ordering me to get in.
I climbed inside without a word.
The door slammed shut, sealing me in. Seconds later, they were both inside, and the engine rumbled to life. I kept my eyes trained ahead and tried to ignore my shaking hands. I knew it was bad. If they wanted me dead, they could’ve just killed me in the apartment.
It would be quick and clean, but they didn’t do that.
That meant they had a plan, and that plan involved me breathing. Torture came to mind first, and then they went downhill from there. I thought about Sergei and Viktor. Tabitha and Fury. I couldn’t help but wonder if they would come for them like they’d come for me.
Or worse.
What if I was simply the bait?
The fear that climbed up my spine was colder than anything Alek had ever made me feel. It led me to lean forward and ask, “Where are you taking me?”
One of them glanced back over his shoulder, then looked to his friend and laughed low and sinister. A feeling of dread and helplessness washed over me, and for a moment, I feared I might cry. But that’s what they wanted, and I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction.
We hadn’t been driving long when the SUV turned into a neighborhood of houses.
The houses weren’t exactly mansions, but they were close.
They pulled into one of the coves and started down the drive of one of the more secluded homes.
It was two, maybe three stories with old English cobblestone throughout and a porched entrance with subtle lighting.
It looked like any other house. You wouldn’t even give a second look unless you knew what was going on inside. I didn’t want to know what was going on in there, but unfortunately for me, I was about to find out. One of the men opened my door, and I refused to look at him as I got out.
He didn’t touch me. He just walked toward the front door, and knowing I had no other choice, I followed. His friend was behind me, watching as I stepped inside the house. I took a quick glance around, and my heart stopped when I saw the living room, only it was no longer a living room.
Instead, it was some kind of showroom.
There were long, red curtains circling a round, wooden stage, and there were lights and cameras above, pointing directly at the center. There were monitors lined up on the side wall, and speakers in the corner of the room. I didn’t ask what it was for. I already knew.
This was their showroom.
They brought the women they abducted here and auctioned them off online.
I’d heard of places like this before, but I never truly believed they were real.
Now that I knew the truth, it brought bile to my throat as we walked past it.
But I kept walking with my head held high, pretending that I wasn’t terrified out of my mind and that every breath didn’t feel like the weight of it was crushing me.
We continued through the side door and down a hallway that led to a stairwell. The air changed as we made our way down to the basement. All my senses were screaming at me that this was a bad place, and I should run. But I just kept going, step after step.
I counted them, echoing against the concrete. Not because I thought it might help me with some grand escape, but to help keep my mind from spinning.
Once we reached the bottom, the tall one led me down a long, dark corridor.
There were ten doors, maybe more, and each of them was exactly the same.
A white door with a singular black knob, and they were all closed.
If I had to guess, I would say they were locked, too.
There were no numbers. No windows. Just the doors, like a hall of sealed tombs.
I didn’t ask what was behind them.
I already knew enough to imagine.
We stopped at the fifth door, and the man pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking it. He swung it open, and my stomach turned when I saw the small room with bare walls and a narrow cot in the corner. There was a camera above it, a stainless-steel toilet in the corner, and a tiny sink. Nothing else.
No mirror. No trash can. No TV.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I spotted the chain that was set into the concrete floor and the cuff that was attached. Panic washed over me, but I didn’t dig in my heels or make them drag me. I knew fighting wouldn’t change anything. I was doomed one way or another.
The second man grabbed my wrist and put on the cuff, pressing it tight against my skin. He gave it a yank, testing it before turning and starting for the door. “Sleep.”
I stumbled back and dropped onto the cot. The mattress was thin and smelled like bleach mixed with rot, but I didn’t move. I just sat there and watched as they walked out and closed the door behind them. The lock clicked into place with a finality that settled into my bones.
I leaned back, and the chain rattled against the floor as I tried to get settled. I stared up at the ceiling, and it felt too close, like it was purposefully closing in on me. I didn’t get up and check the door. I didn’t tug at the chain. I didn’t have it in me. All the fight in me was gone.
I’d spent it all when I left Alek. It took every ounce of my strength, but I was clawing my way toward a freedom that was never really mine.
A part of me wanted to ask why. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t have some small sliver of happiness.
What had I done that was so wrong? What sin had I committed?
Why didn’t I deserve peace, or love, or him?
But maybe this was how it was always meant to end.
Maybe some of us just aren’t meant to be saved.