Chapter 19
My feet barely hit the floor in these ridiculous heels as I’m yanked through the corridors of the mill by a too handsy guard, his fingers wrap tightly around my bicep, practically crushing the bone inside.
I’ve been bought. That’s all I can think about right now.
Someone paid one million dollars to claim me as their own.
It’s never happened before, Ricky never allowed it but I remember his words.
I’ve got the perfect buyer lined up for you.
My stomach bottoms out at the thought of where I’ll end up.
What will he do to me? Will he kill me in the end?
But what about Dean, my message I left behind at the prison? What if he’s too late?
I need to get out of here before I’m taken forever.
The guard throws me back into the bunker and quickly closes the door behind him just as gunshots start to fire somewhere in the distance.
What’s happening?
The sound of deafening gunfire never seems to end and the horrifying screams of the girls echo throughout the corridors.
What are the guards doing to them? Ricky made a ton of money tonight, there’s no way he’s killing his profits now, that would be stupid.
What if the police are here? Maybe someone ratted Ricky out and now we’re being saved, or.
. no, I can’t get my hopes up like that.
I can’t allow my mind to think that Dean is here, that he finally found me because I’ll just crumble.
Coming up to a sitting position, I pull the heels off my already battered feet and throw them into the corner of the room before pulling myself up.
My knees wobble from the lack of food and water but I manage to take small steps towards the door, pressing my ear to its surface, attempting to listen for any sort of police presence but it’s silent now, like it always is.
Lifting my hand to the door, I wrap it around the handle, feeling my pulse hammering through my veins. Did the guard even lock the door behind him? The question bounces around in my mind, dancing with the fear that’s already pumping through my system.
I could just pull it? See if it opens. But if it opens, what do I do then?
Anyone could be waiting on the other side of that door and I’d probably die on the spot.
On the other hand, the corridor could be clear, giving me the prime opportunity to get myself out of here, inform the police of what’s going on and try to get in touch with Dean to tell him where I am.
All these thoughts bob around in my head to create a dull ache that slowly begins to bloom behind my eyes.
I’m in no fit state to run from this place, but I refuse to fucking die here.
Stepping away from the door for a second, I walk back over to the corner of the room, past Ellie’s corpse that’s still sitting in the wheelchair and grab the stone that I’ve been sharpening whilst I’ve been in here.
I run the point across the pad of my finger and immediately blood blooms to the surface.
It’s in no way shape or form a decent weapon, but it’s enough to do some damage.
Gripping it tightly in my hand, I make my way back over to the door and give the handle a tug, the metal releases from the wall and I’m met with a blast of air from the corridor.
It’s open.
I can leave.
Nerves dance across my skin as I slowly poke my head out into the corridor, gripping onto the sharp stone for dear life, I place one foot out of the bunker, and then the other.
Silence surrounds me again and I waste no time in shuffling along the wall towards a door, keeping my steps light and my wits sharp.
I have no idea where this door leads but it seems to be the only way in and out of here so I’m taking my chances.
With bated breaths, I lift my free hand and push the door, feeling it give way before me, allowing me into another corridor where a light seems to break through in front of me.
With each step, my hand shakes around the stone and it takes all my effort to keep it steady.
This place is like a maze, hidden under the dirt of the old mill and I’m starting to think I’ll never find my way out of here.
Following the light at the end of the corridor, it leads me to another door which I gently push open, the hinges creak from the pressure and I wince at the sound, half expecting to be captured, my escape coming to a quick end but instead I’m met with silence.
Where is everyone? Where are the rest of the girls?
Gunshots echo somewhere further into the mill and I quickly duck behind the door again when a guard comes running into the room, swiftly followed by another one. From the crack in the door, they both stand in the middle of the room, chests heaving like they’ve been running from something.
“What the fuck is happening out there?” One of them retorts, his arm swinging towards the door they just entered through.
“Fuck if I know. Half of our crew is dead, and the buyers have been slaughtered.”
Guards are dead? And the buyers?
“Did you get a look at the fuckers who seem to be picking us off one by one?”
The other guard shakes his head, keeping his gun tight in his grip. “Not their faces anyway, two guys in suits and wearing masks.”
My breath catches in my throat and I slap my hand over my mouth, forcing the sound back in.
“Who’s there?” I hear one of the guards shout, his heavy footsteps coming closer to the door I’m hiding behind.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
His boots shuffle at the doorway and I freeze, clamping my eyes closed and my hand tightly covering my mouth, not even daring to breathe. The guard stays put for a moment, listening for any sound until the other one calls him back.
“There’s no one down here, let’s go, before we end up dead ourselves.”
After a moment the guard decides there’s nothing to investigate and turns away from the door, walking to meet the other guard where they both then leave out the far door.
The moment I hear it close I slump against the wall and I can feel my heart plummeting into my stomach.
Fear wraps around my throat like a deadly snake, squeezing all the oxygen out of me.
I can’t fail now, I need to keep going.
Taking in a calming breath, I begin to slowly pull the door open again, peeking my head through the gap to get a better look around the room, noting that it’s empty and I move, not even bothering to look back, my eyes laser focused on the far door.
My legs ache with every quick step I make, fatigue threatening to crash into me but I push on, ignoring my body’s pleas to stop.
Once I reach the door, I yank it open and step straight into yet again another corridor, but this time there’s two ways to go.
Snapping my head from side to side, I try to make a decision but I have no idea where I’m going or where I’ll end up if I pick the wrong path, and I know I don’t have the time to question which way, I just need to choose. Now.
Spinning on my bare feet, I turn left and head straight down until I see another door in the distance, a white light beaming around the frame.
That must be my way out, it has to be. I’m left with no choice but to take my chance, I can’t turn back now.
Keeping the sharp stone in my hand, I attempt to pick up speed, my body screaming at me everytime I move and I almost give into it, feeling the urge to sit down, but the door is right there. . it’s..
“And where are you going, lost pup?” The words ring into my ears as my hair is grabbed in a tight fist, yanking me backwards.
The tips of my fingers barely brush the door handle, my exit inches away from me, but I don’t make it.
Instead I’m pulled backwards, my back hitting the guard’s chest as he wraps his hand around my throat, squeezing tightly.
“Let.. me go!” I plead, my voice cracking from the pressure.
“Why would I do that? I’ve got you all to myself now. No one can hear you down here pup.” He groans into my ear and I can feel him beginning to harden behind me as I wriggle in his tightening hold.
Keeping his hand on my throat, he pulls at the front of my dress with his other hand, roughly trying to gain access to me which sends my fight or flight instincts sky rocketing.
“Be a good girl for me pup and let me have a taste.”
His words have me biting down on the inside of my cheek until blood begins to bloom in my mouth.
I won’t fucking die down here, not like this.
Everything seems to blur around me, like we’re moving in slow motion, his filthy hand tearing at my dress, my legs kicking like they’ve never kicked before and my brain quickly tells me about the stone in my hand.
Use it. Use it now!
Fisting my hand around it, I swing my arm up with everything I have, using all my energy to lodge the sharpened point into the guard’s eye.
In and out it goes, causing him to howl in pain but I don’t stop, even when his hands fall away from my body to cup his face, I don’t stop.
I don’t stop when he falls to the floor, rolling around in agony as blood sprays from his butchered eye socket.
I land on top of him, straddling his waist between my thighs and raise my hands above my head, swiftly bringing them down onto his face. The stone splits through his hands and into his face, warm blood sprays and splatters all over the place as I continue my attack.
“You!”
Stab.
“Fucking!”
Stab.
“Bastard!”
Chunks of flesh and blood cover my hands in a thick, sticky mess, splatters spraying across my face and chest as I yank the stone out of his mangled face, my chest heaving from the vicious attack.
Tears quickly fill my eyes and heavy sobs wrack my aching frame as the adrenaline quickly wears off, leaving me feeling vulnerable and exhausted, allowing the poison of self doubt to creep into my mind.
I don’t know how long I’m going to last, I can feel myself dying by the minute, my body slowly shutting down.
Dipping my head, I rest for a moment on the guards chest, inhaling deep and steady breaths to calm the impending panic attack I can feel coming on as blackness threatens to block my vision. In this state of stress, a woman’s voice slips into my mind, raspy with a southern twang.
“Remember sunshine, you’ll survive.”
“Da.. darlene? Is that you?” I whimper, desperately trying to hold onto the familiar voice but she never replies.
But she doesn’t have to, I know it was her, even if it was just a figment of my imagination it’s enough to make me pull myself up from the guard’s butchered body and rise onto my shaky legs.
It takes me a moment to gather myself before I start towards the door again, leaving the guard behind.
Entering through the door, I find myself in what looks to be the middle of the mill and the gunfire I heard before seems to be getting closer, louder but there’s nowhere for me to go now, the space is too open and there’s no corridors for me to run down, to escape.
The guard’s bodies cover the floor, all of them shot dead, blood pooling underneath them.
This whole place is like a warzone and I’m stuck right in the middle of it as gunfire approaches, the sound deafening.
I try to run, I don’t know where to, but I do until I’m stopped in my tracks, my feet skidding in a puddle of blood when a door that I didn’t see flies open, two men in masks come barreling through it, guns raised at me.
I raise my trembling hands. “Please.. don’t shoot me.”