Something Beautiful (HIATUS)

CHAPTER SIX

I shuddered. This place was spooky at best, and I certainly didn't want to know why Axel and Rodney were bringing me here.

Did they kidnap girls like me to traffic them off to someone else? Maybe they were scheduled to meet this mysterious third party, to swap me for money like a barrel of imported wine. Bile rose up the back of my throat, and I pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come.

When the truck finally came to a stop, the barn was standing less than 10 feet from the hood. My stomach churned with a nausea so formidable I doubled over. Both men exited the vehicle, Axel tugging me out after him, his previous courtesy abandoned. He forced me to hobble along in the knee-high grass of the field until I stood before the open barn door.

"What is this place?" I asked, trying to sound confident and unafraid, even as I shook with terror.

"It's the Taj Mahal, angelface. Don't you recognize it?" Rodney said breezily, stepping up behind me and giving my shoulder a push.

"C'mon, get her inside," Axel said, shoving me into Rodney who in turn shoved me through the gaping doorway.

Losing my balance, I fell through it, landing on the hay-strew floor with a gasp as my ankle thwacked against the wood planks beneath the hay. I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out, and Rodney sniggered as he walked past, Axel at his heels.

I cast a sweeping look around the barn, surveying all the exits, already plotting my getaway. Hurt ankle or not, this could be life or death ― I would make a run for it if the opportunity came. Pain was better than dying...or whatever it was these goons had in store for me.

"Gotta be fast, Rod. People could be out looking for her."

Rodney laughed, his eyes glinting in the dim light. "No one will find us out here."

"You really wanna bet on that?" Axel looked hard at his partner, and Rodney's easy grin slid away. "I figured not. Now get out. I'll call you when it's your turn."

A horrified gurgle escaped my throat. "Please, please let me go." Gone was the inclination to be strong, to be brave. I just wanted out of there. Maybe the angle of terrorized young girl would make them sympathetic, make them regret their actions, their plans.

It was a waste of effort. If anything, it made them more amused, more enticed, which sickened me all the more.

Axel took hold of both my wrists with violent force and thrust me against a bale of hay. I started to yell, and he let go of one wrist long enough to strike his palm against my right cheek, and then the back of his hand across the left. The shock of the impact, the sharp after-sting, was like being doused with ice water and immediately shut me up.

Rodney grunted behind him. "Go easy, pal. Don't want her to come out lookin' too roughed up." He aimed a repulsive smirk in my direction and then mimed a kiss before walking out of the barn the way we had come in.

Axel's too-warm breath pressed into my ear as he said, "Don't worry, kid, I'll be quick."

He attacked with a merciless strength, pushing me to a flattened haystack some feet away. Tears streaking down my face, I stayed as limp as possible. I held back sobs as he jolted my ankle with every coarse movement.

Think of something good. Something safe. Something that always makes you happy. Puppies. Warm cocoa. Your favorite movie. Mom's hugs. Aaron's smile.

But then I stopped that train of thought; I'd never be able to think of those things as nice again if I accidently created association with this.

No. It was better to think of nothing at all.

Eventually my mind wandered idly to dying; I almost wished it on myself.