Luna
The dark waters that pulled me under give way to light. My eyes flutter open, my vision still blurry, but I make out two people standing in front of me. I try to sit up, but a hand on my chest roughly pushes me back down.
“Stop! I just administered the reversal drug. It’s normal behavior, she will hmmm hmhmmm ten minutes mmmhm mmmh new location.
” I only picked up half of what they said.
I think it’s a woman, a nurse maybe? She gave me a reversal drug?
I don’t hear anything else as a new wave of exhaustion hits me, and my vision fades again.
I snap awake, my vision clear this time, but with a massive headache.
I reach up, touching my arm, the skin sore and tender.
I blink, bringing the room I’m in into focus, and I’m in what looks like an office.
Whoever was in here with me is gone now as I look around the room.
I’m lying on a brown leather couch, across from me is a big oak desk with intricate carvings of a woodland scene.
There’s a door on the far side of the room, but I don’t dare move from this couch.
The gravity of my situation settles deep in my bones, and hopelessness fills my core as I stare at the beautiful carvings.
Greg kidnapped me, and he plans to sell me to men for money. I shouldn’t be surprised. Many times when he had me cowering on the floor, he would threaten to sell me or threaten to have men come over to rape me for money. But he never went through with it.
I guess he’s had a change of heart since then and is desperate.
Tears prickle on my lashes, and I try to blink them away, but my mind wanders, and his face, Dante’s face, is the first thing I see when I close my eyes.
At least I’m going to die knowing what love feels like, even if it wasn’t real for him.
It was for me—still is as much as I hate to admit it, but fuck, I love him so much, and it’s not fair what he did to me, but he never hurt me.
Not like Greg is right now, and that’s what hurts so much, because it would be easier to hate him if he did.
But it was all fake, a fairytale that I played into so easily, and now I’m going to die, because I won’t be sold to anyone.
I’ll kill myself before I let them have the chance to, and then Greg gets nothing.
A dark feeling blooms in my chest, and it settles over my heart.
Or you could kill the people who kidnapped you. Why waste such a beautifully twisted mind, when it's they who deserve to die?
I don’t even know if I have the strength to do that, but the idea does sound better than my foreboding future.
The door unlocking jars me from my thoughts, and I sit up on the couch.
A man enters the room, wearing a balaclava and military-style clothing, an AK-47 at his side.
I shrink back on the sofa, and he holds his hands out, waving.
He reaches up and pulls off his mask. “My name is EJ, and I work for Alex. I’m here to help you. ”
“I don’t know an Alex,” I say, my voice shaking.
“That doesn’t matter. Do you want to die here?” Ej raises his brows, waiting for my answer.
“I’ve had enough of trusting strange men as of late; it seems to backfire on me.” Tears fill my eyes, and a sob escapes. I clamp my hand over my mouth and stifle the scream I want to let out.
EJ shuffles in his pocket and pulls out his phone, hitting the screen a few times, and then holding it up to his ear. “I’m with her now. I have a few minutes before the shift ends, and someone else takes over. After that, they will move her.”
EJ holds the phone out to me, urging me to take it. What choice do I have? I take the phone in my hand, holding it to my ear. “Luna? Can you hear me?”
My heart stops. “Dante?”
“It’s me, angel. Listen, I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay?
We don’t have enough time to talk properly, but I’m so sorry about everything, and I’m going to get you out.
I have a friend who’s going to help you, but listen to me, angel, it’s going to look bad before it’s better.
I just need you to be strong, okay? You can do that for me.
I know you can.” He lets out a shaky breath, “ Luna, you’re going to be sold at an event tonight, but my friend is going to buy you, and you’ll be safe after that, I promise, angel. ”
Alex? His friend who owns Charm? How can he be so sure he will buy me? Or that he won’t be outbid? There are too many questions and not enough time to ask them all, but there’s only one burning question on the tip of my tongue. I need to know before it all ends. “Was any of it real for you?”
“Angel, it still is real for me. It will always be real for me, which is why, after everything is over, I’ll let you walk away from me forever. I’ll let you live out the rest of your life in peace because…Te iubesc, Elena.”
EJ rips the phone out of my hand and quickly pockets it. “I have to go. Johnny will be here soon.” Ej leaves the room without another word, the lock on the door clicking in place, sealing my fate.
I’m left alone, Dante’s voice filling my head.
Te iubesc, Elena.
He knows my real name, and he’s using Romanin, so he must have figured out who I really am.
He’s your stalker, of course, he knows. But my heart is telling me differently.
My stupid heart is the reason I’m in the mess in the first place.
The door unlocks again, and in walks an older gentleman in a very expensive-looking cream suit.
He is what I would classify as a silver fox, with his perfectly quaffed white hair and facial hair.
He smiles at me, bag in his hand, and a glint in his dark eyes.
“I’m Johnny Costanza. My cousin Greg has told me a lot about you, but he never mentioned how beautiful you are.
” He sets the bag on the desk and crosses over to me, taking a seat on the couch next to me, and he reaches out, wiping a rogue tear from my chin.
His large hand grips my chin, moving my head side to side.
“You’re going to make me a lot of money tonight, Luna.
I’m hosting a party of sorts on Thompson Island, a little island off of Boston’s coast. In the bag is a dress, accessories, and hygiene products.
Make yourself presentable. You have ten minutes to get ready, or I’ll have someone get you ready, and I don’t think you want that.
” I shake my head. “Good. You’ll be my date tonight, so I expect you to be on your best behavior.
I showed you mercy. Greg was ready to sell you on the corner to the nearest loser, but I chose better for you. Can I get a thanks?”
He caresses my face, and I have to stop the bile from rising. “Thank you, Johnny, for having mercy on me.” I lay the fawning on thick.
He wants a helpless girl? I can play the part if it gets me out of here and closer to Dante.
I have to believe that he’s coming. What other choice do I have?
Says the girl who writes gory killing scenes like this for a living. You’re not helpless, you’re a woman for crying out loud. Where’s your fucking backbone?
The voice in my head sounds a lot like the voice I give Vera when I’m writing. Oh, great. I’m losing my mind, just what I need right now.
I am Vera, Vera is you, Elena. Accept that.
You kept the list of men you wanted to kill just in case one day you dared to do it.
Dare to live your truth; you want to hurt them.
These men don’t matter, stepping stones to the greater goal.
You’ve written many gruesome scenes; it’s time we do some field research.
The darkness that settled over my heart pulses, and I suck in a breath. Johnny stills his hand, pulling it back. “Get dressed. Ten minutes.” He stands from the couch and leaves the way he came.
I let out the breath and run my fingers through my tangled hair.
“I’m going insane.” I lift my head, my eyes landing on the bag Johnny brought in.
I stand, my legs weaker than expected, and stumble a bit.
I catch myself and open the bag on the desk.
I lift a long black dress out of the bag, stilettos to match, and the accessories: a fake-looking pearl necklace and earrings.
Too cheap to get me authentic jewelry, but wants to sell me at a high price? Good luck, buddy. Any smart John in this business will see right through it.
I undress, quickly slipping the bodycon dress on. I secure the necklace and the earrings, then slip the stilettos on. I chuckle to myself, thinking this could be some kind of fucked up Cinderella retelling. Instead of glass slippers and pumpkins, it's stilettos and guns.
Save the story plotting for when you’re not in danger, Luna.
I walk over to the door on the far side and knock. No use sitting around, the quicker I get out of here, the better.
The door unlocks, and Johnny appears. “I was just about to come collect you. My, my, you are a shapely woman.” He stands closer, his large hand touching the small of my back. “I love a woman with curves, such as yours. What did you see in my cousin?”
“Considering I was hiding from him, not a whole lot.”
Johnny laughs, and there’s a spark behind his eyes. He holds out his arm for me to take, and I hesitate. “You’ll be alright. I promise.”
I slide my hand in the crook of his elbow and follow him out of the room. We take the nearby elevator down to the garage, where Greg and two other men are waiting by an SUV. “There’s my whore.” Greg says, opening the SUV's back door.
Johnny gives Greg an unamused look, and Greg’s smile disappears.
“Get in the car,” Johnny says, turning to me, his tone soft.
I let go of his arm and slide into the back seat, not looking at Greg as I pass him by.
Johnny starts to say something, but the door closes, and the static silence of the car engulfs me.
The car starts to move, and I sit back in my seat, watching the city go by until I see an exit sign for the inlet. The car pulls off on the exit, and we pull up to a pier. The vehicle comes to a halt, and my door opens. “Come on, out,” Greg says.
I step out of the SUV, the wind wiping my hair around, and a chill sets into my bones. I wrap my arms around myself, looking around the surrounding area, to look for a place I can run, but there’s no way out. Greg and the others stand behind me. The only way out is off the pier.
I’m a strong swimmer, but where would I go? It’s nighttime, and the water is much colder now that it’s late October. I’d die before I could swim to shore. I swallow the taste of hopelessness down and continue walking out onto the pier to the boat that’s tied to the dock at the end.
Johnny gets on first, holding his hand out to me next.
I step on, which is almost made impossible by this skin-tight dress.
I step aside as Greg and the brothers get on, preparing the boat for its departure.
Johnny turns the engine on and pauses to light a cigar.
“Want a puff?” he asks, striking the match and puffing the cigar until thick gray clouds pulse out of his mouth.
He takes one last puff, holding the smoke in his mouth and holding the cigar out to me.
“No, thank you,” I say, a ghost of a smile twitching at the corner of my mouth, laying on a fictitious gratitude for the offer.
A slap across my face makes me stumble, nearly falling backwards over the edge of the boat, but a large hand catches my arm, pulling me back from the edge. My face burns, and I try to shrink away, but Johnny holds me to him. “Why the fuck did you hit her?” Johnny growls at Greg.
“She refused you; she doesn’t get to say no,” Greg yells back.
Johnny moves fast and grabs Greg by the lapels of his suit jacket, pulling out a gun from his waist belt and aiming it under his chin.
For a second, I hope the gun goes off and blows his brains out, but another part of me wishes he doesn’t because I want to be the one who takes his life.
“If you touch her again, I will blow your brains out. Got it? She can refuse a puff of a cigar, you fucking freak. No wonder our grandfather liked you so much. I guess he saw himself in you, you know, always hitting women behind closed doors, being a weak man.” He releases Greg, shoving him back as he did. “Drive the fucking boat.”
Greg straightens, bristling past me, giving me a deadly glare.
Fucking prick.
You should take his life. Do it tonight.
The darkness I felt before pulses. I brush my hand over my sternum, massaging my broken heart, trying to dull the ache, but it does nothing to soothe it.
Fingers gently tug on my chin, pulling my face to meet mature dark eyes. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
The ache from the darkness spreads through my whole body, anger and rage burn me from within, but I wouldn’t give them my fear. It didn’t belong to them. “It’s nothing I haven’t already endured.” Johnny nods, and the boat sputters to life, pulling away from the dock and into the night.