“Who is this Master?”
“I’m not allowed to know his name. No one knows his name.”
“Bullshit! Someone has it and I will get it.”
“I’ve worked for him for many, many years and never found it.”
“And Kolya?”
“He has helped us with moving the women, but he stays out of the rest.”
“Where is he?”
“The last I heard, he was going to have a meeting with the master. I have heard nothing since.”
“Well, the fact remains that you put your hands on my baby sister.”
“They don’t come to me as babies, only as women,” he utters and it makes me nauseous that he thinks he can justify his actions by age.
“She was a baby the last time I fucking saw her, you idiot! She will always be that way to me, and I will take my vengeance, you wait. Your journey is not complete. After the Bosses are finished with you, you’re mine.” I slam the bottle down repeatedly, this time crunching it against his shoulder, until I’m sure the bones inside are in pieces.
“Aghhhh my arm!” He sobs but I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him.
“That’s for touching her! I will cut each finger from your body for laying your hands where they do not belong! Everything has a consequence!”
“Please, please…please,” he whimpers and I laugh loudly.
“Not so fun when you are the one in pain, is it? Now tell me where Sabrina Cheskolav is.”
“She is Sabrina Minski,” he mumbles, his eyes growing wide as he realizes he spoke it aloud.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing…I said nothing.”
I charge him, his chair falling over as I straddle him, wrapping my hands around his neck, I slam his head into the ground, choking him and screaming, “She is no fucking Minski! She is Miiiiine!”
In the heat of it, I don’t feel arms wrap around my chest as I work to squeeze the life out of Chek, but then suddenly I’m being pulled away in my fit of rage, noticing Chek’s face an ugly blueish color.
“Nikoli! Nikoli! Niko, snap out of it! Fuck, someone make sure that guy’s not dead over there!”
I get shaken enough to jostle me out of my darkness to see Alexei’s face in front of me.
“Niko? You with me? Niko?”
“Da, I am here.” Blinking and drawing in a few deep breaths, the room and the people all come back to me. It was like I had tunnel vision and the only thing I could see was Chek and the need to kill him.
“I’ve never seen you lose it like that; you need to get some sleep and get your shit straight.”
“I don’t need sleep; I need my fucking woman.” I shake his hands off my shoulders and head to the bathroom.
Slamming through the restroom door and flipping on the cold water, I splash the cool drops over my face and chest to get my body to calm down.
He said her name, I know I heard it…only she’s no goddamn Minski.
Sabrina
I’m feeling so much better thanks to the new man that’s been helping me. He found an IV and gave me two bags of saline to help hydrate me, and then he came back with a shot that he said was antibiotics for my throat.
Now I can actually swallow without feeling like nails are raking over the inside of my mouth. I’ve gotten more water over the past two days than I have the entire time I’ve been stuck here. Today I’m supposed to start eating food again. I can’t remember the last time I actually ate anything; it’s amazing my body has gotten me this far without completely shutting down.
The disgusting thing though, I have to pee on the floor. It’s better than peeing on me with what little I have and then being hosed off like before. The creators of this place are despicable; thinking the drain in the middle of the floor will let them just wash away everything. I can’t help but wonder how many other women there are, and how many have already died from such cruel treatment.
The door opens, the extra light filtering in as the friendly guy comes in. We’ve barely talked, keeping everything clinical, but I will never forget his generosity in helping me get better.
“Hey little one,” he says quietly and shuts the door behind him. “Unfortunately there isn’t much for food selection in this place. I found some crackers, bread, and dried cereal. You’d think birds were living here.” He stops in front of me, squatting down so we’re eye level. Today he’s got on another plain black long sleeve shirt and black cargo pants to match his boots.
“Thank you; anything is better than nothing.” I try to smile but my lips are still too sore. It’s an amazing feeling just to be able to speak again.
“Ouch, your mouth still looks bad. Keep putting the Vaseline on that I gave you. That and lots of water should get them back to feeling better soon.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“You keep saying it, but you don’t have to thank me for every little thing.”
“Yes, I do. Mr. Chek requires it,” I mumble and his eyes flash with realization.
“Then you keep doing what is expected, and I’ll do what I can to make things a little easier on you, okay?”
“All right.”
“I noticed you looking like it hurt each time you moved your back, is it just sore from the floor?”
Cringing as I think about it, my back involuntarily twitches and causes a sharp strike of pain to flash over me. “No. I-I have a cut.”
“Can I check it out?” he asks and hands me a few slices of bread. I nod, tearing a piece off so it won’t touch my lips. Chewing will hurt them enough.
He walks around me and instantly I hear him draw in a deep breath like he’s surprised.
After a few moments he clears his throat then speaks quietly, “I’ll see if I can find some ointment.”
“Is it bad?”
“To be honest…yes. I’m sure some of your weakness is from the blood you’ve lost. I’ll be back.”
I don’t reply, just concentrate on chewing small bites of food at a time. I don’t want to eat too quickly. I’ve read that if I eat too fast I can get sick and puke it all back up. The last thing I want to do is waste what little food I have to give my body.
After what I’d say is ten minutes or so, the man comes back with a first aid kit and a new syringe.
“A shot?” I peer towards his hands once he’s close to me.
“Yes, I brought you another dose of antibiotics. I wasn’t aware of your back and we need to get enough in your system to fight everything off. There’s really no telling what kind of infections you have going on. Did any of them touch you elsewhere?”
I know what he’s insinuating and captor or not, I’m not speaking about my sexual experiences with him. “Are you a doctor or something?” His forehead scrunches and it reminds me of what happened the last time I requested information from Chek, “Oh wait! Sorry…I’m not supposed to ask questions. I know better.”
“It’s okay. With me, you don’t have to worry about those rules. I’m not a doctor; I’ve just learned a few things here and there. I’m going to give you the shot and fix up your back now.”
“All right.”
He walks around me, poking me in my arm with the shot and inserts the burning medicine inside. I’m sure a doctor wouldn’t do it like that, but he’s helping me, so no complaining from me.
I hear him twist the cap off the bottled water he brought in, and then feel the coolness run down my back. It’s refreshing, but when he gently pats me dry, it hurts so bad I want to cry. I hold strong, trying to be brave so he knows I’m thankful for his efforts. He sprays something cold on that stings and then quickly covers it with a bandage.
“There. I put the ointment on the gauze so I wouldn’t have to touch you and it should help keep it from sticking.” He crumples up his trash and comes to sit in front of me.
“Okay.”
“Try not to lie on it; let it do some healing. You need stitches, but I can’t do that; I’m sorry. Once the ointment has a chance to work and clean it out, I’ll try some superglue.”
“I’m happy with anything. You’ve helped me more than anyone.”
“I wish I could do more.” He shakes his head, dejected.
“What’s your name?” I whisper, finally getting up enough nerve to ask.
“My name?” He looks at me puzzled and I shake my head. His face is scruffy from missing a few shaves and goes well with his dark hair. He’s not buff, but looks like he most likely has corded, lean muscles underneath his fitted shirt. God, he reminds me of someone, but I just can’t place it.
“It’s Beau.”
“Beau.” I repeat and he nods. “I like it. Mine’s Sabrina.” He nods again, like he knows.
Shit.
He’s here with my captor; of course he already knows my name and everything about me. I wonder if this is part of the process. Chek puts me through hell, and then I meet this dark angel who makes me well again only for Chek to come torture me all over again.
“This is part of the game, isn’t it?”
“No little one, I swear to you, I’m not a part of this.” He rasps sincerely and I believe him. If he’s not with them, then who the fuck is he?
TWELVE
NIKOLI
MY SAVIOR
After I cool down, I dry off and stroll back out
into
the main area. Tate and Viktor are both waiting for me.
“I apologize, I got carried away.” I put my hands up and explain to Tate.
“We’re not here about that, Niko, relax,” he answers and I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t need to deal with him pissed off right now along with all the other shit that’s happening.
“Oh, then what’s going on?”
“We’re here to see if you’ve found out any new information.”
I share with them both everything my sister informed me about Chek and the process, and then continue with everything I found out here. It’s not much, but it’s more than we were privy to this morning.
“One step closer, just keep being patient Nikoli and we’ll find her.” Viktor pats me on the back.
“I appreciate you keeping him here. I hope you’ll get what information you need soon, so I’m able to kill him. He deserves to swim with the fish.”
“I agree. Keep focused on getting the information out of him and in time we will work on him about the rest. Sabrina is the priority right now. Elaina keeps searching the property looking for clues, but she and Spartak have come up with nothing.”
“She is good friend to Bina.”
“She loves her a lot Nikoli.”
“As do I.”
“Then you will wed when we find her. No more pining and waiting for her. Tate has told me how many years you’ve wanted her.”
“I agree.”
“Then it’s done! Go fuck this asshole up for Christ’s sake,” Viktor orders and I gladly oblige.
Sabrina
More time passes and as it does, I get my strength back. I can finally shuffle around and eat more than one piece of bread at a time without getting a horrific stomachache. My back is still disgusting and hurting, but Beau was right, the superglue is helping it close up. God it burns like no other when he puts it on though.
Each time he helps me, he chinks away at the stones around my heart, gaining my trust. As I heal, my thoughts and memories of Nikoli come flooding back. While my body gets better, my mind is the opposite. I begin feeling even more depressed than before. I thought he would have come for me by now. I thought we had a strong love, even in friendship. I no longer feel kidnapped, but almost abandoned by my love.
Chek is yet to return and I’m still silently praying inside that I was lucky enough that he got eaten by crocodiles. It would serve him right and with his heavy Southern accent, maybe it will actually come true.
Beau interrupts my thoughts as he saunters back in. He checks on me every hour. It keeps me sane knowing he’s coming back. Sometimes when he leaves I’ll start counting so I know when he’ll be back. The few times he’s been late, I’ve freaked out, so now he sets an alarm on his watch.
“I brought you something mouse.” His term of endearment warms me and brings a smile to my face.
“Oh? What?”
“A brush and hair tie for that bird’s nest you have going on.”
Bringing my hand up to the back of my head ends up shooting a pinch of pain all over, stretching the skin on my back but I ignore it and feel my hair. It’s twisted and tangled in massive knots. No wonder he wants it brushed, I bet I look like a crazy person.
“I don’t know if I can even brush it out,” I mumble.
“It’s okay. Just try your best, or, well I could help you.” He hands me the small black brush and elastic band. My hair is barely long enough to be tied up, but I bet he doesn’t realize that.
“All right.”
“Good, now I have to go on my rounds, but I’ll be back.”
I nod and he’s out the door again.
I do as he says, trying to work it through my hair, lightly pulling through the knots. It’s no use, no matter which way I brush or try to fiddle with it in my hands, I get nowhere. My back aches, my arms are tired from the lack of movement they’ve had since I’ve been gone, and my hair probably looks worse now than it did before.
Before I know it, I’m sobbing. Finally hydrated enough and the tears come; they don’t drip, they fucking pour out. Crying not only for my hair but for everything—all of it. What a big fucking mess and all I ever wanted was to be free and live my own damn life.
Through my tears I watch Beau come back to check on me. I’m too upset to speak, so I just cry. And to my surprise, he sits, his legs surrounding me and holds me tightly to his chest as I weep brokenly into his shirt.
“Shhh, it’s okay Sabrina, just take a few breaths and try to calm down,” he mumbles and I concentrate on breathing him in. He smells good—strong, manly.
“I’m so-sorry.”
“Don’t be. Now talk to me, I thought you were feeling better.”
“I can’t do it. I tried to brush it, but it wouldn’t work.”
“You’re this upset over your hair?”
“Yes…No. It’s the whole point, I can’t even brush my own hair out, and how do I expect to ever make it out of this place?”
“You want to leave?” He leans back, asking seriously and makes eye contact.
I stay silent but nod. Serious repercussions could come with me asking to leave. Chek made it very clear that I only go where he wants me to when he wants.
“You concentrate on getting better,” Beau rasps and hugs me softly before standing and leaving.