King of the Don's

five

Briar

The first thing I registered when I woke up was the dim light in my face, and the splitting headache in the front of my skull. I grabbed my forehead and tried, but failed to sit up. 

My hearing felt a bit muffled, and I reached to check and see if my hearing aid was still there. Once I realized it was, I looked around and saw I was lying on stained cement, and attempted to sit up again.

Once I was upright, and my eyes adjusted to the low lighting, I took in my surroundings. But my breathing stopped once I saw the tiny room I was in. It was no bigger than a walk-in closet, and it had nothing in it. Not a sink, a toilet, or even a freaking bed. Everything all at once came back to me. The bar, the murder, and those two men who found me.

Jesus freaking Chirst can I ever catch a break?!

I tried to stand up from my spot on the floor, and my eyes filled with tears, as my breathing grew frantic. My body ached in response when I lifted up my arm to knock on the door. Jesus, why do I feel so drowsy? How long have I been in here? Has it been minutes, hours, or even days? Surely it couldn't be that long.

Plus, Annie would be looking for me by now, right? Or maybe my job? My manager had to realize that after I worked there for the past three years and never no called no showed, something had to be wrong if I didn't show up. It was only a matter of time before someone found me.

I started knocking on the door again, this time with more force, "Hello?" I inquired, then I knocked a little harder. No one answered, and I figured there was no one on the other side of the door, and I really started to panic.

"Hey! You can't just leave me in this room!" I started banging on the door, unaware of how much my fists were starting to ache. I started yelling more frantically, panicked at the thought of being in this teeny, tiny room. I can't stay here, I won't make it. I legit may have a heart attack. Can a nineteen year old even have a heart attack?

"I swear I won't say anything, I promise! Please let me out!" I yelled again, and I started seeing black dots line my vision. I was frantic. I was clawing at the door, willing it to open out of sheer will, while my throat started going numb and raw. I couldn't stay in this room, flashbacks of my parents slamming the closet door in my face when I was a child came back to me.

"No! Daddy please, I'll listen, I won't leave my room anymore, I promise!"

"Yeah, you little brat, I've heard it before, now shut up and get in the closet!" My father grabbed me by my hair, and yanked me toward the small room I absolutely despised, "No! Please, I'm sorry!"

Crocodile tears fell from my eyes, and I heard his cruel laughter which made goosebumps fill my body, "You will get out of here when you learn to fuckin' listen! I'm done having to tell you to stay in your room! You are six years old, it's high time you learn to listen!" He demanded, and I felt myself shoved into the tiny, dark closet and tried to focus on my breathing. If I could just last a few hours, I would be alright.

It ended up being three days.

I zoned back in and realized I couldn't take anymore as I dropped to my knees, my face and neck soaked with tears. I wrapped my arms around my legs as tight as I could, and eventually the dots in my eyes took over, and my vision faded to black.

-

After I woke up from my nonconsensual nap, I felt no better. My stomach was growling like a baby whale, and my throat was dry and raw. I really needed a drink of water, but mostly I needed to relieve my aching bladder. I had no idea how long I had been in this room thus far, although it felt like an eternity. My hands were aching, and I looked down and saw they were turning a nice shade of purple and black around the edges from all the banging on the door.

After a few hours of complete and utter silence, I heard some commotion from the outside of my door, and what sounded like a couple of men's voices. I perked up from my spot, and put my good ear on the door, and I indeed heard a couple of deep laughs.

What the fuck are they laughing about? Do they not know someone is in here!

I couldn't make out much of what they were saying, all I caught was 'angry' and 'hours', and a chorus of men's laugh, and the dots connected.

These motherfuckers were making fun of me.

"Hey!" I started banging on the door as hard as I could, "What is wrong with you people! Let me out!" I demanded, and then the next few minutes went by in a blur, I was kicking and scratching the door with all my might and eventually the heavy voices died down, and I was back to being alone again. I turned around and slid down the door, and the tears flew freely down my face.

As I sat on the concrete floor, I realized I no longer had the urge to urinate, so I knew exactly what that meant "Please, please please." I whispered, "Please, I won't say anything. Please." I begged, "I can't stay here. I'll do anything." I cried to what I knew was myself, and this time, I welcomed the darkness with joy.

-

A loud banging noise jolted me out of my sleep. My swollen eyes opened slightly, and I raised my head at the noise. Then I saw it.

The large metal doors that I had been staring at for what felt like days, swung open, accompanied by a blinding light that filled the room. Immediately after the door opened, two men who I had never seen walked into the small room, each of them grabbing one of my arms.

"Whew, smells like piss in here." One complained, and the other let out a snort, "Well, what else could she do? Don said no bathroom breaks, not even for a pretty thing like this." He smirked down at me, and I just internally rolled my eyes. I had no energy to fight anymore. There was no point anyway, no way I was getting away from this, my brutal, inevitable ending.

I felt myself get pulled throughout the building, but noticed we didn't pass a single other person. The once I actually took a look around, I knew I was in someone's house. A very rich someone's house, from what it looked like.

We walked through the massive never ending rooms and up two separate sets of stairs, most of which the guards had to tug me along for, and then we got to a set of double doors. The second man gave a firm knock, and once I heard a deep, baritone voice shout a 'Come in', my heart dropped. This was it, this is how I go.

As soon as the doors opened, both men dropped my arms and I felt a harsh push on the back of my head, effectively knocking me over until I landed on my hands and knees on the dark hardwood before me.

It was so quiet that I heard one of the goons behind me take a gun out of his holster, and turn the safety off. It was insane, but I could literally feel that he was pointing it down and at me.

I didn't move, and shut my eyes as tightly as they could go, as my fists and jaw clenched in unison. I waited for several beats for something to happen, and after nothing did, I almost raised my head, but stopped when I heard his voice. 

"Leave." He demanded, and I knew he was talking to the guards. Once they scrambled out behind me, I finally raised my head.

Standing in front of me, right by the front of an oddly large desk, was a massive man. He looked older than I was, probably early 30's, with a build so tall, I almost wondered how he could fit through the door.

He had to be at least 6'7, with dark hair, and light blue eyes, but what what really caught my attention was the long, white scar that went right down his face. The jagged line started from the top of his forehead, going all the way through his eyebrow and down to the top of his cheek bone. It looked old, and deep and I could tell the man did not like that I was looking right at it.

"Done staring?" The man asked me, and I couldn't help the way my jaw dropped if I wanted to.

•••

They finally met! How did you like this chapter?!