Chapter 36: Saturday again: Kidnapped!

Pain lanced through my jaw, making me wince as I slowly came awake. My eyes slammed shut again the moment I opened them, the glare of light from the bare bulb above my head making my head hurt.

What happened?

Things came rushing back to me. I remembered leaving the house and sneaking through the tunnel. Then Ivor was suddenly there, and my feeling of danger, then nothing. I reached my hand up and tentatively touched the left side of my head; it was tender and swollen, which explained the pounding headache. The bastard must have hit me and knocked me out.

But where was he? And where was I? And more importantly, why had he taken me?

Still feeling disorientated, stiff, and sore, I tried to stand up and stretch, but my neck was suddenly jerked sharply, making me cry out in pain.

My hands flew to my throat, and I grasped the thick leather slave collar that had tightened around my neck when I’d moved. I pulled at it, but it didn’t budge. Reaching around, I felt for whatever held it in place. There was a small metal clasp with a thumb-shaped indentation, and I realised that the bloody thing could only be opened by a thumbprint. Naturally, mine didn’t work.

Unbelievable. I couldn’t believe those pigs had put a collar on me like I was a dog. Well, they’d better watch out because this bitch was going to bite the first chance I got.

The collar was attached to a thick chain that stretched to about six feet. The end of it was looped through a large metal ring that was bolted to the wall and secured with a padlock. What the fuck?

Oh, this just got better and better!

I yanked on the chain, but although the hook moved and the chain rattled, the bolts were solid. I grabbed at the padlock and pulled with all my strength, but the thing wouldn’t budge. I was well and truly stuck.

How the hell was I going to get out of this?

Looking around, I took in my surroundings, looking for something to use to break loose. The roof was partially sloped, and I surmised that I was in an attic room of what could have been an ageing country cottage. The room looked like it might have been a bedroom once upon a time, but not anymore.

The wallpaper and carpet must have looked expensive at one time, but now they were faded and threadbare. The whole place looked tired and worn like it had passed its hay day years before. Judging from the large floral pattern on the wallpaper and the matching ruffled curtains, it was probably in the eighties.

The paint had yellowed, and mould was on parts of the wall. The light above me held a single yellow bulb, which glowed bright, showing off the pitiful state of the room in full glory. It was obvious the house hadn’t seen any love in a very long time.

The large couch I was lying on was also old and worn, in keeping with the rest of the room. It was big and bulky and must have been comfy once upon a time, but not anymore. Stuffing poked out from several tears in the lumpy cushions, and the faded, stained fabric smelt of stale cigarettes.

A matching armchair sat to the left of the couch, and a scratched wooden coffee table sat at one end of the sofa.

The only window was boarded up, and the one door was closed and too far away for me to reach. A large fireplace took up the main wall, the grate unfortunately empty, and no tools were available to stoke the embers that must have once heated the room with a fine blaze. Damn, a poker would have been perfect right now.

Apart from that, there were only some old pictures of flowery scenes hung haphazardly throughout the room.

Nothing of use whatsoever.

Footsteps approached, and I quickly sat back down as the door opened. Ivor and Siri walked in.

Oh shit! Ivor, that fucking traitor, had handed me over to Siri. This situation did not look good to me.

“Hey, gorgeous. Miss me?” Ivor asked, smirking.

“Fucking traitor!” I shouted, lunging towards him, forgetting my predicament until the chain stopped me short.

“Now, now, that’s no way to speak to your future lover!” he chided, and I felt nauseous as I realised what he had planned for me.

“I’ve waited a long time for this. You played hard to get enough. It’s time I showed you what you’ve been missing,” Ivor said, winking at me and taking a step forward.

Oh no, no, no!

Siri laughed.

“Not yet, Ivor; you can have your way with the little bitch later. We need to get the video done first,” he told him.

Siri walked towards me and grabbed me by the hair, tugging my head back and yanking my collar painfully. I cried out, and he chuckled.

“Get off me, you arsehole!” I screamed, making Ivor chuckle.

As Siri leaned towards me, about to say something, I spat in his face. He roared in fury and backhanded me, making me nearly pass out again. Well, that didn’t help my already aching head any, but at least I stood up to the bastard, I told myself, ignoring the pain and the tears that had sprung to my eyes.

“Hey, don’t damage the goods before I get a chance to,” Ivor sniggered.

Siri chuckled and released his hold on me.

Bastards!

Walking away, Siri pulled his phone out of his pocket and proceeded to record a ransom video for Miki.

He demanded that Marko re-routed all his money back into his accounts within the next ten hours, or he would send me back to my family in pieces. He then turned the phone towards me as Ivor grabbed me, holding me so tightly in front of his body, his fist wrapped around the chain and holding my neck in such an awkward position that I could barely move.

A few seconds later, it was done, and the ransom demand was sent.

Having got what they came for, they turned to leave.

“I’ll look forward to spending time with you and making you scream some more later, sexy Sonia,” Ivor said and blew me a kiss.

As the door closed behind them, I couldn’t hold back a shudder of disgust. My head pounded, and my face ached, and I shook with both fear and fury, and I wasn’t sure which of those feelings was the stronger.

Suddenly, overwhelmed by the situation, I slumped onto the couch with my head in my hands. Tears threatened again, but I refused to let them fall—not this time. I’d given in to tears far too often lately, and I had a feeling that if I gave in to them this time, that would be my undoing.

I needed to stay strong, no matter what, and that meant not giving in to my fear. Instead, I’d embrace my fury and let all the worry, hurt, and upset of the past few weeks fuel it until it was enough to fill me with the strength to get out of here or die trying. Because one thing was for sure: I was not going down without a fight!

Romi would be on the plane heading to Russia, and nobody knew where to find me. I knew Marko could track me through my phone, so I had deliberately not brought it with me. I’d found out that was how we’d been discovered after Miki became suspicious when he couldn’t contact either of us on the phone. Marko had tracked our locations, and we’d been found out. Although that was a good idea at the time, now it seemed like the worst.

What was I going to do?

Siri said on the video that he would be in touch in ten hours as long as Marko returned his money. He said he’d then arrange to hand me over, but from what he and Ivor had just said to me, there was no doubt in my mind that they had no intention of doing so. I was as good as dead if I stayed here. Unless I somehow got myself out.

My brothers would be looking for me, but even if they could find me, I doubted they could do so and rescue me before anything bad happened. I was on my own.

Closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the couch to ease the pain in my head, I thought through my options. There weren’t many.

When Siri was filming the video, I noticed that he had a gun in his jacket. Unfortunately, I hadn’t noticed before; otherwise, I’d have made an attempt to steal it. I hadn’t seen anything on Ivor, but he had been wearing cargo pants, so there were plenty of pockets to hide one. Besides, I figured that if Siri was carrying a weapon, Ivor likely was too.

It looked like I was going to have to wait until one of them returned and try to get their weapon. It was not the best idea, but I had no choice.

With that thought firmly rooted in my mind, I allowed my heavy head to fall onto the arm of the couch where I curled up, and despite the bloody, uncomfortable cushions and the collar digging into my neck, I fell into an exhausted sleep.

Sometime later, Ivor returned carrying a tray with a sandwich and bottle of water on it.

“I brought you something to eat, babe. You’ve got to keep your energy up; you’re going to need it to keep up with me,” he said, leering at me.

How the hell did I ever think he was handsome and funny? I must have been mad.

However, I decided to use his obvious attraction to fulfil my plan. I pouted at him as he put the tray on the wooden cabinet.

“I thought you liked me, Ivor. I had liked you,” I said, batting my eyes, trying to look innocent and hurt.

“I do, darling. That’s why I am keeping you alive and all to myself. You are part of my deal with Siri,” he told me, running a finger up my bare forearm.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked, still feigning innocence. I widened my eyes and bit my bottom lip, noticing how his own eyes narrowed as he tracked my movement.

“Well, like I said earlier, babe, I am going to make you scream and beg!” he replied, smiling and licking his lips as he looked me over with blatant lust.

I shuddered and caught my bottom lip in my teeth again so I didn’t tell him to fuck the hell off.

I’ve got to play the game, I reminded myself before looking down and back up into his eyes, hoping my reaction looked more interested in him than disgusted.

“Ah, you like that idea, I think!” he said, sitting down next to me.

God, no! The fucking arsehole was so up himself he actually thought I could really want him.

“I haven’t ever even been kissed before!” I said, trying hard to look shy and helpless.

“We’ll soon remedy that, sweetheart,” he smirked.

Leaning forward, he grabbed my head before taking my mouth with his. I gasped in feigned excitement, and he plunged his tongue inside.

Ugh! I felt like gagging as he plundered my mouth.

One of his hands moved down, and he grabbed my boob and gave it a squeeze.

Moaning into his mouth, pretending it was from lust and not horror, I shifted forward in a way that I hoped would make him think I wanted more. He obviously believed it as he groaned and started rubbing my nipple through my T-shirt. Puke! I was going to be sick.

Forcing all thoughts of vomiting into his mouth to the back of my mind, I pushed at his shoulders and pressed my body against his. He got the message, lifting me and setting me on his lap. I really didn’t want to be perched over the cock I felt hardening underneath me, but it was a better position to be in than underneath him.

It also gave me the opportunity to feel more of him as I ran my hands across his body and around his waistband. I made noises that I hoped sounded lustful as I kissed him back while I searched for a weapon, trying not to let him suspect what I was really doing.

When I got out of this, I’d need to brush my teeth and gargle with salt water for hours to rid myself of this man’s taste.

My fingertips brushed the top of a knife he had hidden down the side of his trousers. Unfortunately, he pulled back before I could reach the handle. Damn!

“You taste as good as you look, babe!” he said, and I held back a grimace and forced myself to smile at him.

“Don’t you want to taste me again?!” I asked, licking my lips.

He chuckled.

“You are going to be so much fun!” he said before leaning down and grabbing me again.

Holding back a shiver of disgust, I let him kiss and tongue fuck me, all the while thinking how I would stab the bastard in the throat as soon as I got my hands on his knife.

Unfortunately, he got his hands on my boobs first. Lifting my T-shirt up, he pulled the cup of my bra out of the way and latched on to my nipple. I almost threw up there and then, but instead, I gulped the bile in my throat back down, gasped in feigned desire and grabbed onto his head with one hand. As I held him close to me, I reached around behind him with the other hand, and as soon as I touched his knife, I pulled it free.

Ivor was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t even notice. I’d never killed anyone before, but I didn’t hesitate. I thrust the knife into the side of his neck, ripped it downwards and pulled it back out before he even knew what was happening. Blood spurted everywhere as I realised I had gotten his carotid artery.

He reared back, gurgling, but I had gotten him good. Leaping off him I moved back. He stared at me in panicked, wide-eyed disbelief, unable to do anything but gasp as he clutched his neck.

Staggering to his feet, he reached into one of his pockets. I wasn’t sure if he was looking for another weapon or not, but I wasn’t waiting to find out. I stabbed him in the chest. He fell onto his back, and I watched as he quickly bled out.

Slumping back into the seat, I sat there staring at him in shock as his life slipped away, and a moment later, he was dead.

Unable to tear my eyes off him, I remained glued to the spot for I don’t know how long as my mind desperately tried to process what I had done.

I’d killed him. I’d taken someone’s life. Even if he deserved it, it was a lot to deal with. My mind blanked, and I must have zoned out, my vision tunnelling, the room disappearing as all I saw was a bloody wound and the knife sticking out of his chest.

Eventually, I became aware of my surroundings again, and I pushed myself up to stand on shaky legs.

As my focus returned, a sense of urgency surged through me. I needed to move.

I was covered with blood, and I had just killed one of my kidnappers. Apart from Siri, I didn’t know how many other men there were. I also didn’t know how long it would be before someone else came to look for Ivor or check on me.

Rubbing my hands on the couch, I cleaned them as best I could before dropping to my knees beside Ivor’s body.

God, I really didn’t want to touch him, but I needed to get out of this collar and chain, so I gingerly reached out and lifted the thumb of this left hand and twisted my neck so that I could place it against the thumb pad. Nothing happened. After cleaning the blood off his other thumb, I tried that. Again, nothing happened.

“Aargh!” I squealed in fury.

The key for the padlock, the little voice in my head cried.

Yes. Of course.

I dug into his pockets, praying that he at least was in charge of that. If not, and it was Siri who held my key, I was in even bigger trouble than before.

Frantically frisking his body, I tried to ignore the sharp metallic smell of the blood that pooled around him; I sobbed with the realisation that he didn’t have the key after all.

Now, what the hell was I going to do?

Pushing myself up from the floor, I grimaced at the feel of my blood-soaked hands and knees. The leggings I had on were soaked through from the knee down, and my T-shirt was splattered with Ivor’s blood. I was a mess, but that was the least of my worries at the moment. I needed a weapon again.

Glad I had gotten over my initial aversion to touching his dead body, I kneeled at his side and wiped my hands on a clean patch of Ivor’s trousers. Gulping hard and grimacing, I wrapped both hands around the hilt of his knife and braced myself to pull it free. The wet sucking sound made me boak, and I covered my mouth to hold back the vomit as my throat stung with the acidic taste.

Breathing deeply and panting hard, I eventually calmed down and wiped the knife clean again using Ivor’s jeans.

My hands shook, and my legs quaked as I stood again and backed up a few steps. Looking at the point of the blade gave me an idea. I quickly scrambled over to where my chain was hooked up to the wall. I held my breath and prayed it would work as I used the tip of the blade to attempt to open the padlock. I poked at it and jiggled the blade in the lock, but nothing happened. I tried again and again, but the damn thing just wouldn’t open.

Defeated, I finally returned to the couch and sat down heavily. Desolation threatened to overwhelm me, but I refused to let it. I might still be chained to a wall with only a knife against an enemy with a gun, but at least I’d killed one of the bastards who’d kidnapped me. I might not get out of this situation alive, but I wasn’t going to give up. I hadn’t gone through all I had to seduce Romi for this to be the end of our story.

Pushing my chin up in defiance, I stared at the door and waited, taking long, slow breaths to calm my racing heart. I needed to keep my wits about me and take whatever opportunity that presented itself to get out of here and back to him or die trying.