“What the f…”
“You do not curse in my presence. You will work for me, and indirectly, Indigo.”
“I’m not working for that man, and I’m not working for you.”
Ellen continued speaking as if Sophie hadn’t opened her mouth at all.
“Indigo isn’t a man. It's an idea. It’s something worth fighting for. Worth dying for. The man you know as Indigo is the current leader. His previous name has been erased. His identity has been completely wiped. You understand that, don’t you, Sophie? You know what it is to become a person absent of personhood. It’s your current state of being.”
“So Indigo isn't his name?”
“Trust you to get hung up on the superficial,” Ellen sighed. “What I've just revealed to you is a secret nobody outside Indigo knows. It is a truth which makes you one of an almost infinitely small number of conspirators. You will be obedient to Indigo in all things. You will carry out orders without question, and you will submit yourself to the will of Indigo.”
"And if I don’t?"
Ellen waggled the gun. "Then you don't leave this room.”
“So you've made it simple for me,” Sophie noted.
"Somewhat simple. There is more.”
“Of course there is.”
“Alex Roth will not know any of this. You will keep this secret from him until the day you die.”
“So I’ll live, but it will be a lie.”
“Yes. You’ll get used to it.”
"And if I tell him?”
"You both die. As does your unborn child."
“My…”
"Don't act surprised, Sophie. You’ve been having unprotected sex for months. Your body has become the vessel for new life. The price of protecting that life is obedience.”
“I’ve also been drinking heavily, and getting my period regularly, so…”
“Feel free to do a test when you return home,” Ellen said in a tone which suggested it was a foregone conclusion. “But understand, you are coming to the end of your usefulness if you do not comply. You were used against Alex, but he knows what happened now. Indigo have been in discussions for the last week about what to do with you, whether your life is worth saving, or whether hurting Alex Roth with your death would be more satisfying. I have convinced them to let you live. For now. But you better do everything I tell you, or I will shoot you as dead as I shot that therapist.”
“You…” Sophie gasped softly, though she couldn’t muster true surprise. Ellen had seemed evil from the beginning. Sophie had simply mistaken it for the banal and bureaucratic kind of evil.
“I’ll do what you want," Sophie whispered, tears of frustration in her eyes. Whether she was pregnant or not, these bastards held all the cards. They owned the playing field. They defined the entire game. There was no getting out of this. Certainly not while she was locked in a room.
“Good. We are going to let Alex Roth rescue you. He will sweep you off into what he will believe is a happily ever after. You will accept his inevitable forgiveness and bear his equally inevitable infant. You will live what looks like a perfect life. But you and I will know better, won’t we, Sophie.”
“Yes."
Sophie gritted her teeth as she gave the response. There was no other answer she could give. There was no other means of escape. And as powerful as Alex was, it was clear that Indigo had been using her for longer than either of them knew.
“Good. You see, it can be simple when you do as you're told. And you will be told to do many things, Sophie.”
“Can't wait," Sophie hissed. “Now. Let me the fuck out of here.”
“It's not that simple,” Ellen said, reaching into her pocket to pull out a hood. “Put this on. You’re a damsel, and you need to be in distress.”
Chapter 36
“Where the hell is she, Indigo!?” Alex growled into the burner phone which had been left in his belongings when he was discharged from hospital. He hadn’t even noticed it until it rang.
He had been through a lot in recovering from his wedding injuries, but Sophie had been through more. All he wanted in the world was to feel her in his arms again. His anger toward her had long melted. The events of the wedding day had not been her fault. Nothing had been her fault. She'd been a pawn, first used by Indigo, and then by him. Alex owed her rescue. He owed her a life, and he was determined to give her both.
“I’ve given you the address, that should be enough.” Indigo’s tone was mocking.
“Why are you doing this? Why take her? Why bring her back?”
“Did your mother ever tell you that if you were kidnapped, they’d bring you back because you were too much trouble?”
“No.”
"Well, mine did. And Sophie’s should have. We have no use for your wife, Alex.”
“Then why did you take her?”