Amaris
The shot fired leaves a heavy weight on top of my chest, but at least I can finally breathe again. I cough and gasp, taking in lungfuls of much needed air.
I get my hands between my chest and Hyo's limp body and struggle with pushing the lifeless prick off of me. His eyes remain open; dull and definitely dead. I shimmy my body the rest of the way out from under him and let him flop down in my spot. I dart off the bed, hands rubbing at my battered neck, and notice Kwan placing a gun back in the holster on his side.
He motions toward Hyo's body. "Clean that up," he barks at the two men by the door, "and let this be a clear message to everyone. Keep your hands off the girl."
Kwan left the room abruptly and the men wrapped Hyo's body up in the duvet, which is now drenched in his blood, and Lina grabs my elbow, leading me to the bathroom again.
Maye is no where to be seen but her blood is still all over the bathroom.
I gasp and raise my hand to my mouth in both shock and disgust at the amount of blood, Hyo's blood, saturating my hair and covering my body. I quickly get back into the shower and start scrubbing.
I'm a sobbing mess as I scrub and watch the bloody water swirl down the drain.
I was nearly strangled to death.
A dead body was on top of me.
Loud, garbled sobs continue to spew from me as I lower myself to the shower floor. After a few minutes or more, Lina shuts off the water and drapes a towel across my shoulders. I compose myself enough to wrap the towel around my body. I step out of the shower and sit back in front of the vanity. Dark purple bruises in the shape of fingers have covered my throat already, my face bruised and swollen around my eye.
My hair is so short now and I feel utterly hopeless. As trivial as an unexpected haircut may be, it just reminds me more that I am not seen as a human being now. I'm just a piece of property that can be mistreated and utilized as my captors see fit.
I sniff and blink back more tears. I'm so tired of crying. I just want to go home.
Hell, even being with Vlad and his crew was better than this.
Lina softly brushed through my hair, nothing like the ripping and tearing Maye did. She trims the uneven ends then blow dries my hair fully.
She's quiet as she works. Her hands are featherlight and quick. She gives me a sad smile then begins applying dark dye to my hair. I don't bother fighting her. It's useless. She will do whatever it is they instruct her to anyway. At least she's gentle.
After a little while of just sitting and staring at my hands while the dye sits, Lina rinses the dye out, shampoos my hair, and blow dries it all over again.
It's like going to a really cheap salon.
I actually smile at my reflection, the color is rich and matches my natural color. "Thanks, Lina, you did a nice job."
Motioning with her hands, she directs me back to the bedroom toward the closet.
I try not to look at it, but I can't help myself and see the bed stripped already. Absolutely no blood remains. The wall is spot free and they must have put a new mattress on the bed frame while I was in the bathroom because judging the amount of blood that was on me, as well as everything around me, I know it definitely soaked into the mattress.
Lina handed me some red, lacey lingerie. I raise a brow and hold it at arms length in front of me. "Lingerie?" I stare at her for a moment, not even really shocked that this is what I'm being made to put on.
She nods her head and grabs at my towel. I slap her hands away and turn around. "Like I told Maye earlier... I'm more than capable of dressing myself," mumbling under my breath, I yank the tags off quickly. At least they are new.
I slip the panties on and drop the towel, quickly putting the bra on. Hmm. She didn't give me any clothing. I turn around and Lina is no where to be seen.
But Kwan is.
I try to cover myself with my arms as best as I can. My nose scrunches up as I grit out, "Can I help you?"
He nods once, then grabs me by the arm and pulls me behind him. We exit the room and I see multiple Asian men and some Asian women all over the moderately sized home. He doesn't stop once and ignores everyone as we make our way through.
Kwan leads me downstairs into a finished basement. We pass by a little bar... with a bartender... before he pulls me into a room. I'm overly aware of being practically naked when the lights click on and I see a large computer monitor facing me.
"Now we will chat live with your precious Sorrentino clan, as well as your Russian gang," Kwan states, flipping the computer on.
"Wh-wh-What do you mean? Why? What's the point?" I stammer, struggling to process the combination of the hair change, the barely there lingerie, and now a video call.
Goosebumps litter my skin, Kwan's eyes tracking the raised skin on my arms. He drags one finger from my shoulder, down to my wrist. Chuckling he says, "Well darling, I must show that you are alive and well if I expect to collect any money for you," he smiles at me. And it isn't a nice smile. "You don't expect them to believe my word without proof do you?" he chuckles again and leads me closer to the computer setup. The machines hum and fans blow as they finish starting up. He starts clicking on shit and typing faster than my eyes can keep up with.
As everything continues to load, he turns back to face me. I fidget with my fingers and pop my knuckles restlessly. His impenetrable gaze is unnerving and I can't help but avoid looking directly into his dark eyes. So I settle on the space between his eyes.
He reaches for me and before I can flinch away, he slides his hands down my arms and grasps my hands softly. His actions might seem harmless but I'm not stupid. This false gentleness won't fool me. He must notice that he can't trick me as he intended and leans down to whisper in my ear, "You will either get bought by one or the other. If not, you'll be killed," his hot breath feels as though it's burning the skin on my neck, his lips barely touching the outer shell of my ear, "or maybe... you'll make me plenty more rich as one of my prostitutes. Either way, it's a fat payday for me."
He releases me and turns away as the door opens. The two men that carted off Hyo's body enter. They both walk over and stop; one on each side of me. I glance up at both of them but they are looking straight ahead. Cold, impassive faces of stone. Kwan's robot like soldiers, just waiting for a command.
Fuck... I really don't have a good feeling about any of this.
The computer screen flashes and I see one box pop up, showing Felix's big, dumb face. He sees me and stands up, grabbing the computer screen on his end. "It's that little suka!" he yells, a string of his language following quickly as he beckons forth someone behind him. Vlad quickly comes into view. His eyes narrow as he looks at me through the screen.
Mother of all fuckers.
He sucks his teeth slowly before speaking. "Kwan, old friend," he sneers, "you seem to have something belonging to me." He brushes his dark brown hair back from his eyes, never taking his eyes off of me.
Kwan sighs and looks straight at the screen, "I'm afraid she belongs to me," he taps his fingers next to the keyboard, "but she is for sale if you wish to purchase her." His reply is blunt and straight to the point. Vlad opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by another box appearing. Kwan smirks as our newcomers join the call.
Dominic and Damon both are visible on call and look like they are ready to murder someone when they take in Kwan's background.
Me. Nearly naked, standing between to men.
But then it hits me.
Damon.
Thank you Jesus he is alive! The last I saw him, he was falling to the ground, holding onto his stomach as blood poured out from the GSW. The tears well up in my eyes once more without permission, and splash down my cheeks as I finally blink.
"Damon!" I shout and reach out for the computer. "Oh my God, you're alive! I was certain you died!" I blubber, full on ugly crying now.
My tears are tolerated for a moment longer before the man to my left yanks me away from the screen by my hair. I gasp out in pain from the stretch of my neck and sting on my scalp, reaching behind my head, grasping at his hand.
"What the fuck happened to her neck?!" I hear the twins and Vlad shout at the same time.
"Keep your Russian scum ass out of this, this is your fault to begin with!" Dominic seethes, as he addresses Vlad.
"As of recent, she has become my business, if I were you, Sorrentino, I'd tread carefully." Vlad threatens Dominic in a dangerous tone.
Kwan claps his hands together, "Guys, guys, guys; let's take a moment and handle this maturely," he nods in my direction and winks lasciviously at me. "This dime is now mine. Either someone buys her back from me, or I proceed with other options," he pauses and I want to punch him, "One being I kill her," he laughs darkly, "ooorrrr... I earn a continuous cash flow by prostituting her out. What do you fellas think?" Kwan smiles big and bright, as if he knows he is about to get as much as he wants; most likely from the twins.
Between both joined calls, there's a lot of yelling and cursing, grumbling and muttered opinions.
"Name your price. We don't care how much, we just want her back," Damon decides as Dominic nods in agreement.
"Da, name it. She will be coming back with me," Vlad says, eyes hard and lips pulled into a thin line.
Please let the twins get me. I chant those same words over and over in my head until I can't hear myself think.
Another cacophony of yelling starts up, multiple languages being shouted. After a moment, Kwan calls for silence.
"In 24 hours we will return this call session again. Someone will agree on terms or she's staying here," he levels everyone with a look before adding, "dead or alive. Tick tock gentlemen."Kwan points at the watch on his hand, then abruptly disconnects the call.