“Victoria,” he says calmly, “I just want you to try to relax, okay.”
The man at the door lets out a sarcastic laugh, shaking his head at our conversation.
“Think back on the last couple days, and how good they were,” Gabriel continues, his tone odd. “Think of all the things we did together. You, me, and Alanna.”
He seems to be stressing the last part. He’s trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what. I think over the last couple of days, mentally taking stock of our time together. I hardly even saw him. The last time I saw him was when he was teaching me how to shoot…
The gun. It was in my waistband before when I was taken from the alley. Is it still there? My body seems impossibly numb as I try to adjust on the floor without getting the attention of the man above me. I roll as flat as my bound wrists behind me will allow, wiggling my hips a little to press my butt to the floor. And then I feel it. The cold metal of the gun still inside my pants. How did they not find it? I shake my head because it doesn’t matter. I need to figure something out and quick. Eleanore will be back soon. As I try to wiggle my wrists behind me, the ropes make a slight noise, and it earns me another swift kick to the ribs from the man at the door.
“Don’t fucking move!” he growls.
Gabriel rocks violently in his chair, his face red with anger as I try to fight the overwhelming pain.
“I’ll fucking kill you when this is over Allan,” he bellows.
The man just gives him a pathetic smile, as if he already knows that will never happen.
“I’m going to fuck your little girlfriend here,” Allan announces. “Long and hard, right in front of you. Then you’ll watch her die a slow and painful death before it’s your turn.”
A sob escapes from my chest. I don’t want to cry, and I don’t even care that he said he’s going to rape me. All I can think about is Gabriel. If I can’t get free, he’s going to die… because of me.
“Shhh baby,” Gabriel tries to soothe me from his chair. “It’s okay Victoria, I’m right here with you.”
Chapter Five
Victoria
Over the next twenty minutes, I try to wriggle free from the ropes that bind my wrists. They are too tight. Way tighter than Gabriel would have ever bound me. And the more I move, the more they cut into my wrists. I can feel the sensitive skin burning as blood seeps from my wounds, but I don’t care. I need to do this. As Alanna begins to stir, my efforts become more fervent.
Eleanore asked Allan to call her back when they woke up, and now time is running out. I’m hoping for at least a few extra minutes, but as soon as Allan sees her moving, he picks up his cell phone and walks into the kitchen.
For the few brief moments he’s gone, I wriggle furiously, pulling at one of the ropes with my fingernails in an attempt to shred it. Allan comes back before I can get anywhere, and Alanna groans as she comes out of her drug induced stupor. She blinks her eyes a couple times before they quickly fill with terror. Before I can think of anything to comfort her, Eleanore slips through the front door.
Her heels click along the hardwood floors as she walks into the center of the room, taking stock of all the puppets at her disposal.
“Well, looks like the gang’s all here.” She muses. “Now the real fun begins.”
I still my wrists when her gaze turns to me, cold and deadly calm.
“Now Victoria,” she says. “You get to choose who I kill first. Your best friend, or your boyfriend.”
The word no tumbles weakly out of my mouth as I shake my head vehemently. It’s all I can manage, and this only seems to irritate Eleanore further.
“I think you seem to have forgotten how persuasive I can be.” She turns to look at Allan, waving him over. “Untie one of her hands,” she orders.
Though my fear is a real living, breathing thing at the moment, it’s overshadowed by a small glimmer of hope. If Allan unties my hand, I may have a shot at getting the gun.
Like a good little soldier, Allan stomps over and nimbly undoes one of my binds. He strings the rope back beneath me, dangling my bloodied wrist in front of Eleanore.
At the site of it, Gabriel snaps. “What the fuck do you want Eleanore?” he pleads. “I’m sure whatever it is, we can work something out…” his voice trails off and his eyes fill with desperation. “Just please don’t hurt her any more.”