Chapter 37 – Madeline
The room was cold, damp, and silent except for the occasional creak of the old pipes running along the ceiling. I sat against the wall, my arms wrapped around my knees, trying to keep myself steady.
My wrists ached from the zip ties Sean had used earlier, and the blindfold still sat in my lap where I’d managed to wriggle it off. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been here — minutes, hours, days?
It all blurred together.
My breaths were shallow, each one hitching as I fought to keep panic at bay. Sean had said he’d be back. He’d left with some cryptic threat about “handling things” and slammed the door behind him. That sound still echoed in my ears, sharp and final.
He hadn’t bothered to re-tie my hands. He’d quipped something about how I was a “ clever girl ” when he saw I had managed to free myself. The mocking tone in his voice still echoed in my head, dripping with condescension, like he was daring me to try something. Like he thought it was all a joke.
The smugness in his expression had made my blood boil, but I’d kept my face blank, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.
Sean loved being in control, and the last thing I was going to do was give him the power to see my fear. Even if it was threatening to crack me from the inside out.
But the truth was, he wasn’t entirely wrong. I’d freed myself once, and I could do it again.
The only problem was that there was nowhere to go.
Even if I screamed at the top of my lungs, there was no one out there to hear me.
The back of my throat burned with frustration. I glanced around the room, my eyes settling on the message I’d scratched into the wall earlier:
Scout’s Honor.
It was small, barely legible, but it was something — a sign that I wasn’t giving up.
My gaze shifted to the debris on the floor. Tools, old scraps of metal, and shards of concrete littered the corners like forgotten relics. They weren’t much, but they were better than nothing.
Sean thought I was clever?
Fine. I’d prove him right.
I crouched low, moving toward the far corner where the jagged pipe ran along the wall. My fingers brushed over the rusted surface, finding a sharp edge. It wasn’t exactly a weapon, but it would have to do.
The sound of footsteps outside the door made me freeze, every muscle in my body coiled tight. My heart pounded in my ears as I pressed myself into the shadows, gripping the shard of metal tightly.
Let’s see how clever he thought I was when I found a way out of this.
The sound of Sean’s footsteps faded down the hall, but I didn’t move until I was sure he wasn’t coming back. My chest rose and fell with shallow, steady breaths as I stared at the jagged pipe on the wall. If I was going to get out of here, I had to act now.
I crawled toward it on hands and knees, my fingers brushing over the rusted surface. My earlier attempts at using the pipe to cut my zip ties had left the edges jagged, but that was exactly what I needed. I gripped it tightly, testing its strength before yanking upward.
The pipe groaned, resisting at first, but with enough force, it snapped loose with a sharp crack . The sound echoed in the empty room, and I froze, listening for any sign that Sean had heard.
Silence.
Good .
I turned the broken piece over in my hands, the jagged edge sharp enough to act as a weapon. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing. My pulse thundered as I moved toward the door, keeping my steps as quiet as possible. The lock was solid, but the hinges were old and rusted, their neglect evident in the way they creaked earlier when Sean had slammed the door shut.
I slid the sharp edge of the pipe into the crack between the door and the frame, wedging it into place. My hands shook, but I forced myself to stay steady as I applied pressure. The metal groaned, resisting at first, but then there was a faint pop as the screws on one of the hinges loosened.
Encouraged, I pressed harder, using my body weight to leverage the pipe. Sweat dripped down my temple, my arms straining as the second hinge gave way. The door didn’t fall, but it shifted just enough for me to wedge my fingers into the gap and pull.
With a low grunt, I yanked the door open, the rusted hinges screaming in protest. My heart raced as I peered into the dimly lit hallway beyond. It was empty, but I knew I didn’t have much time. Sean could come back any second.
Clutching the jagged pipe tightly, I slipped into the hallway, keeping low as I moved. The air was cold, damp, and smelled faintly of mildew, but it wasn’t the smell that made my stomach churn — it was the silence.
The hallway branched off in two directions, one leading to a flight of stairs and the other to what looked like a storage area. I chose the stairs, my steps careful and quick. Each creak of the wood beneath my feet sent a jolt of adrenaline through me, but I kept going.
Halfway up, I heard voices. Sean’s deep, mocking tone carried through the space, followed by someone else — Calloway? I couldn’t make out the words, but the anger in Sean’s voice was clear.
I clenched my jaw, gripping the pipe tighter as I reached the top of the stairs. The door at the end of the hall was ajar, a faint sliver of light spilling through the crack.
I didn’t hesitate. I pressed myself against the wall, peering inside just enough to see Sean with his back to me, his hands gesturing wildly as he argued with Calloway.
This was my chance.
I slipped through the hallway, keeping to the shadows as I inched closer to the exit on the far side of the room. My heart pounded as I reached for the door, my fingers brushing the handle—
The floor creaked beneath me.
Sean spun around, his eyes narrowing as they locked on mine. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he snarled, taking a step toward me.
I didn’t wait for him to close the distance. I swung the pipe with everything I had, catching him across the side of his head. He stumbled, cursing, but didn’t go down.
“Fucking bitch ,” he spat, his voice filled with venom as he lunged toward me.
I dodged, adrenaline driving me as I scrambled for the door. He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising as he yanked me back. I reeled, jamming the jagged end of the pipe into his shoulder.
Sean’s pained howl echoed behind me as I burst through the door and into the open air. The cool night hit me like a slap, sharp and bracing, but I didn’t slow down. My legs pumped, my breath came in sharp gasps, and every instinct screamed at me to keep going.
It was a small victory, getting out of that room, fighting back even a little, but my escape was far from over.
The warehouse lot stretched out in front of me, a maze of shadows and rusted machinery. My eyes darted frantically, searching for a way out — a fence, a gate, anything. Behind me, Sean’s voice was a growl of fury, calling out orders to someone else. My stomach twisted. I wasn’t alone anymore.
I veered toward a stack of crates, hoping to lose myself in the maze of metal and debris. My pulse thundered in my ears as I rounded a corner, but before I could take another step, a pair of hands grabbed me from the shadows.
I screamed, thrashing as two men stepped into the dim light, their grips iron-strong. One was tall and lean, his face scarred and twisted in a sneer. The other was broader, his bulk making escape seem impossible. Both of them wore the kind of dead-eyed expressions that told me they didn’t care who I was — only that I’d pissed off the wrong people.
“Got her,” The man with the scar said, tightening his grip on my arm as I struggled. “Feisty little thing, isn’t she?”
The broader one smirked, pulling a length of chain from his pocket. “Yeah, but she won’t be for long.”
“Let go!” I shouted, kicking out with everything I had. My foot connected with a shin, and he cursed, stumbling back. It wasn’t enough to break free, though. The bigger one grabbed my wrists, forcing them behind my back.
I twisted, bucking against their hold, but it was no use. My heart raced as they dragged me back toward the warehouse, Sean’s figure now looming in the doorway, clutching his shoulder where I’d hit him.
“Nice try,” he said, his voice low and dripping with menace. “But you’re not going anywhere.”
My breath hitched as the two men hauled me past him, his smug grin making my stomach churn. The fight hadn’t been enough. The small victory of escaping the room now felt hollow, replaced by a crushing sense of dread as they dragged me deeper into the shadows of the warehouse.
This wasn’t over — not by a long shot — but I was back where I started, and now Sean had backup.
The two men dragged me back inside, their grips like steel, my feet barely skimming the ground. My heart pounded in my chest, every beat a frantic reminder of how close I’d been to freedom — and how quickly it had been ripped away.
Sean stood just inside the doorway, his hand pressed to his shoulder where I’d stabbed him with the pipe. Blood seeped through his fingers, staining his shirt, but the fury in his eyes burned brighter than the pain.
“You’ve been nothing but a headache since the moment I laid eyes on you,” he spat, stepping closer. “I’m done playing nice.”
I bit back a retort, my teeth clenching as the bigger man twisted restraints around my wrists tighter – chains this time - making me wince. Sean’s smugness was infuriating, but I knew better than to provoke him now. I couldn’t fight my way out of this — not with the odds stacked so heavily against me.
Sean crouched in front of me, his gaze sharp and predatory. “You really thought you could get away, huh? That you could just run off and everything would be fine?”
I didn’t answer.
My stomach churned, but I held his gaze, refusing to let him see the fear coursing through me. If he wanted me to break, he was going to have to try harder than that.
Sean’s smirk widened as if he could read my thoughts. “Tough girl,” he said, standing and nodding to the men holding me. “Get her secured. Calloway wants her in one piece, but she doesn’t need to be comfortable.”
He took a step closer, lowering his voice to a venomous hiss. “Though, if it were my call, I’d already be selling troublesome little girls like you. Teach them to keep their mouths shut.”
The blood drained from my face, but I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t let him see the terror clawing at my insides. His smugness deepened, as if my silence confirmed every twisted thought in his head.
Sell me? The words echoed in my mind, sharp and cold. Could he really mean that? Was he bluffing, trying to scare me? Or was this who he truly was — someone capable of treating people like property, of reducing a person to a commodity to be sold off and discarded?
My chest tightened, bile rising in my throat. I thought of the women who’d come through the club, women I’d spoken to casually at the bar or seen laughing on the dance floor. Had he meant it about me specifically, or was this something he’d done before? The idea sent a shiver down my spine.
I wanted to believe it was a cruel, empty threat. But the way he said it, with such ease, like it was second nature, made my stomach churn.
How many times had he thought about doing something like that?
How many people had he hurt before me?
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to meet his gaze. He wanted me to react, to break, to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten under my skin. I refused to give him that. If he wanted to see fear, he’d have to dig deeper than this.
“Good thing I’m not in charge,” he added, straightening and flashing a mocking grin. “You might’ve learned some manners by now.”
Learn some manners?
That was rich coming from a man who saw people as pawns. My mind spun with questions, with anger, with a seething kind of defiance I clung to like a lifeline.
If Sean really was capable of something that vile, then he wasn’t just a danger to me — he was a danger to everyone. And if I made it out of here, I wasn’t just going to expose him.
I was going to destroy him.