Chapter 10
Jenny
The burger wrapper crinkled under my fingers as I inhaled deeply, the familiar scent of french fries and ketchup making my mouth water so much it hurt. My stomach clenched painfully, protesting days of refusing their drugged food that had left me dizzy and weak. That sickly sweet chemical smell that always came with their meals still lingered in the air from lunch, the same smell that had made my head fuzzy and my memories blurry before I’d learned to hide the food instead of eating it.
But this was different. Through lowered lashes, I watched Quiet Guy stand by the door, his stance relaxed but alert like Sensei’s when he demonstrated new moves. He’d brought the food himself, carefully setting the grease-spotted bag on my bed. The warmth of it had seeped through my thin blanket, real and tempting, making my whole body shake with hunger.
“It’s safe,” he’d said softly. They were the first words I’d heard from him since my capture. His voice was gentler than I’d expected, with a slight accent I couldn’t place, kind of like my friend Mira’s dad. “You need to keep your strength up.”
The way he said it reminded me of Bella, how she always made sure we had protein shakes after training. The memory made my chest ache, but I pushed the feeling down. I couldn’t cry. Not now.
The burger tasted like heaven—like Saturday afternoons at the mall with Sarah before she moved away, like celebrations after tournaments at the gym when Dad would treat us all to Victory Burgers. I forced myself to eat slowly, remembering how Mom always scolded me for wolfing down my food. “You’ll get a tummy ache, sweetheart,” she’d say, smoothing my hair back from my face. The thought of her made my throat tight, tears threatening to spill. I swallowed hard against them, the food suddenly tasteless in my mouth. Crying wouldn’t help, no matter how much I missed home.
Unlike British-not-British or the one I’d bitten (who still walked funny, which made me feel both proud and scared), Quiet Guy never leered or made threats. He just… watched. Like he was memorizing everything, just like Drake had taught me to do. I wondered if Drake would be proud of how I’d been practicing his lessons – counting footsteps, tracking patterns, noting every detail that might help later. He always said information was more valuable than any weapon.
Heavy footsteps in the hallway made me freeze mid-bite. Phone Guy’s early arrival sent panic through my chest - he’d been cruel about food before, knocking it out of my hands, saying I didn’t deserve it. Quiet Guy’s head snapped toward the door, his expression darkening.
“Finish it,” he murmured urgently. “Quickly now.”
I shoved the last third of the burger in my mouth just as Phone Guy burst in, his expensive cologne filling the small space like a toxic cloud. His eyes narrowed at the food wrapper.
“What’s this?” he demanded, striding over and grabbing my arm roughly. His fingers dug in so hard I knew there’d be bruises. “Who authorized this?”
“She needs to eat,” Quiet Guy said, his voice still calm but with an edge I hadn’t heard before. “She’s no good to anyone if she collapses.”
“That’s not your call to make.” Phone Guy’s grip tightened, making me whimper despite my best efforts to stay silent. The half-chewed food in my mouth felt like glue.
“Let her go.” Quiet Guy’s words carried a warning that made Phone Guy’s fingers loosen slightly. “The boss won’t be happy if she’s damaged.”
Phone Guy shoved me away, making me stumble against the bed. My arm throbbed where he’d grabbed it, but I forced myself to swallow the food, knowing I needed the strength. As Quiet Guy gathered his things to leave, his eyes met mine briefly. His lips moved in what looked like “I’m sorry” before he disappeared through the door.
The floor’s concrete chill seeped through my socks as I curled up on the bed, trying to make myself as small as possible. My muscles ached from being confined, but I kept doing the exercises from the gym whenever the cameras weren’t watching. Brody always said a fighter had to stay ready, even when no one was watching. Especially when no one was watching.
Phone Guy settled into his usual corner, the soft tapping of his fingers on the screen creating a rhythm that almost masked the voices drifting through the vent from the room above. I pressed myself harder against the wall, straining to hear.
“…inside guy says they’re getting suspicious”
My heart jumped into my throat. Inside guy? I thought of everyone around Bella - Graham in his perfect suits that reminded me of Clark Kent, Drake with his computers like some kind of superhero hacker, Brody teaching at the gym with his gentle strength. My stomach twisted at the idea that one of them could be working with these men. It felt like finding out Superman was really a bad guy.
The voices faded before I could catch more, swallowed by the building’s ancient ventilation system that creaked and groaned like the monster in my closet at home. But I filed the information away carefully, building my mental map of everything I’d learned. Drake always said details were like puzzle pieces. They might not make sense alone, but eventually they’d fit together to show the whole picture.
My fingers found the paperclip I’d worked into a point, hidden in the hem of my shirt. The metal was warm from my body heat, its edges dulled by my constant fidgeting. Not much of a weapon, but it was something. Something real to hold onto when the fear got too big, when I missed my family so much it felt like my chest might crack open.
The flickering fluorescent light cast strange shadows on the walls, monsters that disappeared when I looked directly at them, just like the ones under my bed at home that Dad always checked for. “Nothing can hurt you while I’m here, princess,” he’d say, making monster-hunting sounds that always made me giggle. Now the shadows seemed darker, more threatening, and Dad wasn’t here to chase them away.
I touched my arm where Phone Guy had grabbed me, feeling the tender spots that would become bruises. Tears pricked at my eyes again, but I blinked them back hard. Crying was for babies, and I couldn’t be a baby now. I had to be strong, like Bella. Smart, like Drake. Brave, like Brody.
The paperclip pressed against my side, a constant reminder of my small act of defiance. I might look like a helpless kid curled up on this bed, but inside I was steel. That’s what Sensei always said - that true strength came from within. Even when I felt small and scared, like now, I tried to remember his words.
Through the high window, I could see a sliver of sky turning purple with the approaching evening. Another day almost over. Another day closer to… something. Escape or rescue or whatever came next. I wished on the first star I could see, just like Mom taught me, even though I knew it was probably a plane or a satellite. Please let me get home. Please let my brothers be okay. Please let someone find me.
The burger’s warmth settled in my stomach, the first real food I’d had in days giving me strength. I’d need it. Whatever came next, whatever I learned about this mysterious “inside guy,” I had to be ready. The ghost of Quiet Guy’s apology lingered in my mind, making me wonder if maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t completely alone.
But as Phone Guy’s typing slowed and the shadows lengthened across my cell, I squared my shoulders, tiny as they were, and began counting his keystrokes again. Each tap was one second closer to… something. Home, hopefully. Or at least a chance to show these men that even little girls could be dangerous when they had to be.
I touched my arm again, feeling the bruises forming. In the dim light, I could almost pretend they were just marks from training, like when I’d mess up a block and Brody would remind me to keep my guard up. “A fighter learns from every hit,” he’d say. Well, I was learning. Learning and watching and waiting.
I’m not giving up, I promised myself, curling tighter around my aching stomach and throbbing arm. I’m not letting them win.
But in the growing darkness, with only Phone Guy’s angry typing and the endless shadows for company, it was hard to keep believing that. Hard not to wish for Mom’s goodnight kiss, or Dad’s monster checks, or even my brothers’ annoying teasing. Hard not to feel like the scared little girl I really was, instead of the brave fighter I was trying to be.
My arm ached as the black dots began to emerge and even rubbing it would not make it go away. Tears slid down my cheeks as I whispered. “Mommy?”