Chapter 47 colette
“Wake up. Hurry.”
A voice next to me hissed. “If they find you asleep, they like to piss on you.”
“What?”
I opened my eyes just as the lights came on, blinding white, making my skull split in two.
The woman in the next cage over, a thin brown haired woman of about my age, mimicked zipping my lips, and I took her cue.
Everything on my body ached.
Sergi stalked into the room, accompanied by two men. They yanked open my cage and dragged me out. Even if they had asked me to get out of the cage, I couldn’t have really moved on my own. It was weird to welcome the help from the people who might be hurting me.
Sergi was seething, as a light of hope flared inside of me. Maybe Edmond Kelly had accepted a ransom offer? He wouldn’t be mad unless he‘d been told no somehow.
Something hadn’t gone right, and my body was about to pay the price for that mishap.
I could only hope that he’d gotten over his mental issues. Though that probably wasn’t the case because I was placed on an x cross and chained to it with my back facing out.
Edmond needed to show someone that he was still in charge and what would happen if they didn’t fall in line. I was just going to be the example he used to drive that point home. What was he going to do?
A hose with a forceful stream of water that would have taken my breath away under normal circumstances had me plastered against the cross, gasping for breath.
I swallowed more water than air. I had never considered that I might drown here. There had to be a ten worst ways to die list somewhere.
After I was deemed cleaned up enough, Edmond entered the room. One of the men pushed along a table tray on wheels whose contents I couldn’t see.
“It’s about time that we got to settle the past and work these things out.”
Edmond walked to the side of the cross. He waved at me. “Do you have anything you’d like to confess, Collette?”
“No. Why are you doing this?”
My voice hitched, still rough with the water.
“Ah, well, confession is good for the soul. So they told me in seminary all those years ago. Make sure she can’t wriggle, boyos; this is going to be some detailed work and I want to be proud of it.”
He sounded jolly in a psycho way.
People clamped down on my shoulder and hips, and I felt cold metal as the back of my shirt was cut so my back was exposed to air.
“To answer your question, Colette, I’m goin’ to be adding some art to your back. The good book is full of wisdom, and I want Ian Holdt to see a verse every time he spreads you out. That is, if he still does when I’m done with you. So I’m going to cut a fine verse into your back, one that’s true to your soul as well. It’s from Proverbs. To quote: ‘A prostitute is a deep pit, and a narrow well, the woman who belongs to another. Yes, like a brigand, she lies in wait, increasing the number of law-breakers.’
“I don’t know if there’s room for the second line, but we’ll find out.”
He picked up a scalpel from the tray, adding conversationally, “This is a reminder for your man since he isn’t answering his phone. I’m going to send this to him by text when it’s done so he can admire my work.”
Stinging fire dug into my back as he used the scalpel as a pen. I didn't even try to keep from screaming and crying. Time blurred, and I slipped out of consciousness and then came to with Edmond continuing to write.
The last time I fainted from the pain, I must have stayed unconscious for a longer length of time than the others because when I came to, they were taking me down from the cross.
I didn’t even feel the bumps on the floor as they dragged me down the hallway. My back was on fire.
It hurt so much.
I shifted position, gasping, and my back thumped against the wall of the cage. I let the dark swallow me again without even trying to resist.
“Psst. They are bringing in the food.”
The voice in the cage next to me whispered.
My eyelids were so heavy. I tried to open them. It was so difficult because my back was still screaming in pain. If I could just stay asleep, then I wouldn’t have to feel it. Then I could rest.
Things were very fuzzy. I needed to work through the pain. There had been a few times in my life that I’d had this kind of pain, but I’d always been able to get through it.
The two goons came into the room with trays of food. When the woman in the next cage had mentioned food, I’d been worried that they would serve us something slop style.
A disposable container was shoved through the wire. No utensils joined them, so I could only assume that we were to eat whatever was in the styrofoam with our hands.
Food was food, and I wasn’t about to complain. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be taken away if there were any complaints made about it.
The lights were still low, but my eyes had adjusted enough that I could see what was in the container.
It was all the leftovers from the kitchen thrown into one dish. One thing that I knew without a doubt was that it would help me heal and keep me from dying. Taste didn’t matter, but survival did.
The goons attached a bottle of water that had to be sucked on to get the liquid flowing like they would put in a hamster cage. Another demeaning tactic.
Hell with them. I’d been in the system. I knew all about demeaning,
I wasn’t about to ask how using the bathroom was taken care of for fear of the answer.
When the room was empty once again, I ventured a glance at the cage next to me.
“I guess you’re used to this type of treatment.”
“Um, not really. I try to keep my mind on other things so that I don’t let it get to me. These guys aren’t great, but the guys on the night shift are a little nicer and bring me extras on occasion.”
She crossed her legs. “Tell me about you. What did you do to get here?”
Jealousy filled me as I watched her shorter body allow her more movement in the small cage.
“It’s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it all?”
I couldn’t imagine what she’d gain from hearing all the details.
“Look, I’m not going anywhere, and it will help to keep our minds off of the pain.”
She seemed almost eager to hear it.
For once, I wanted to talk, if only to escape from the moment for a little while.
“My brother was killed. He’d found someone he loved, and she got pregnant. Her asshole father, Edmond Kelly, managed to grab her and her unborn baby to bring them back to Ireland.”
I tried to move without wincing and failed. “My…friend and I came here to find her and the baby and get them to safety in the States.” I wasn’t going to mention finding and punishing the killer part to her. “Edmond wants to show Ian who the boss is, I think, and scare him off, and he's using me to do it.”
She stared at me, eyes wide with shock.
I coughed and paused for a moment, trying not to scream from the jolt it gave my back. “The girlfriend hasn’t been heard from, and we have no idea if she and the baby are alive.”
“Oh, Heather is alive. The baby was hidden with a couple that wanted kids. Edmond wouldn’t want any child that tainted the family line in any way. But he’d have killed the baby, not sold it or given it away.”
My head jerked up.
“How do you know that?”
I leaned toward her cage in shock.
The woman sat quiet for a while. I wanted to scream at her to answer, but I’d learned patience in a hard school too..
Finally she spoke. “Because I’m her sister.”
A large breath left her, and she started to choke up a bit. “I threw a fit when he brought them back to Ireland. I was working with the outfit and managed to get the baby to a couple that had no ties to the mafia or other criminal activities. They know a little about what happened, but not enough to put them in danger. I had to save the baby. When our father came in and found the baby gone, he was livid.” She waved to the cage. “So I’m here for defying him. I didn’t want the baby to grow up like we did. He should have choices and lead as normal of a life as possible. I already loved him too much to make him suffer in this life. He went to a good home. I made sure of that.”
Silence took over the room. I wasn’t sure how to respond, but I knew that if I was rescued, she was coming with us. “I’m sorry all of this caused you to be here for so long.”
“It’s not the first time. He’s known for throwing people who disagree with him into a cage. Letting Sergi torture people that are here, that’s new. He’s only been here five or six months. Most people are only here a day or two before they’re dead. I hope that you make it, since they’ve only done lightweight stuff to you.”
I flinched at the memory of Kathy.
“Heather is your sister. I couldn’t have seen that coming. How did he find her in America?”
I knew that Andrew wouldn’t have been careless in hooking up with someone that had mafia ties, but it had happened.At least he must have been happy for a while.
“She was having fun in America and as the youngest of our family, she could do whatever she wanted. That is until she got pregnant. Then he wasn’t happy and ordered her home. She said no to him and look where it got her. He’s not someone you can say no to, but then again, in his position, he’s used to being obeyed.”
“I’m glad you got the baby out.”
My head was foggy.
“Get some rest. I’ll make sure to wake you before they come in again.”
“Thank you.”
I started to close my eyes. “Wait, what’s your name?”
“Erin. Erin Kelly, and it’s nice to meet you.”
She slid her much smaller hand through the wires.
“Collette. It’s been great to get to know you under the current circumstances.”
I gave her a dry smile, and she answered it.
“Eh, there’s not much of a chance for me to escape somewhere that my father can’t find me again. He’s got money and power behind him. They don’t leave many options open for fresh starts.”
She shrugged. “Sleep. Leave all those worries for tomorrow.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
Who was I to argue with someone that had lived in a cage this long?
It seemed line only minutes after I’d fallen asleep that loud sirens began to wail in the darkness and the lights started to flash brightly on and off.
Even in my battered state, I wasn’t going to be able to sleep with all the noise. My body desperately wanted it, needed it, but I’d only get it if I was rescued, escaped, or dead. I preferred the first two options.
Since sleep deprivation was the most classic form of torture, he was going to use it to his advantage.
“Have they done this before?”
I yelled at Erin.
She nodded, yelling back. “Only twice. It went on for days.”
“His only goal for me is revenge on Ian. He doesn’t want anything else.”
I looked around in the half light of the flashes.
“Is there any way to escape?”
Erin looked at me as if I’d grown a third head.
“You don’t want to know what they do if you escape and are caught.”
She shuddered. “It’s not pretty.”
I couldn’t accept that. It would be better off trying, possible freedom, tortured, then killed, than not trying, no freedom, for sure tortured, then killed.
“Still, we shouldn’t wait for a rescue. We need to have a plan of our own.”
The light cast weird shadows on her face. I couldn’t read what she was thinking.
I wasn’t sure that the story she’d told me was the truth. Edmond wasn’t above putting a plant in a cage to make it seem like I was escaping, only to punish me for it later.
Psychological torture wasn’t new to me. I’d grown up with it. Sergi was going down the playlist of how to break someone. I could handle it. I had to because if I didn’t, then any future with Ian would vanish, and that I couldn’t accept. Wouldn’t accept. I wasn’t going to desert him without doing everything in my power to get back to him.
Every moment that the lights flashed and the loud sirens rang made me want to come up with an escape plan even more. They made my head split further and the ringing stayed long after the sirens were shut off.
Food was delivered once, so it was important to make sure that the escape happened within a couple of hours of the food arriving. I would need the energy from it to get out if I could.
Just after they brought food was the best time. We knew we had over three hours before they’d be back. That would allow us time and make it less likely for someone to be following us.
Escape was the next thing on my to do list. Well, after sleeping, that is. I needed my strength to be able to move quickly.
Sergi walked into the room four hours after the food had been delivered, carying a bucket. He dumped it over the cage. It smelled like butter.
I stared at him stunned.
“The dogs get to have a good time today.”
Sergi grinned at me.
My blood ran cold.