Chapter 49

As I opened my eyes, the world around me felt as if it were pressing down on me, an unbearable weight suffocating any will to move. Pain radiated from every part of my body, a cruel reminder that I was not where I intended to be. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts. Something was wrong—terribly wrong. Where was I?

The dim light filtered through the cracks in an old window, casting eerie shadows on the walls of the small, dark room. I squinted towards a cracked mirror hanging on the wall. The sight that greeted me sent a shiver cascading down my spine: my neck was bruised in a crude, ugly shade of purple. Panic surged through me, and I gasped as the memories rushed back. I had been kidnapped.

Shit. This was bad.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through me, urging me to move, to escape. But I was trapped. My heart raced as I looked around again. The room was bare, just a bed, a small bathroom, and a closet fit for nothing but dust. It felt reminiscent of the cramped dorm I had inhabited in college, a space stripped of comfort. "Where am I?" I asked the still air, but received no answer—a mockery of my desperate plea.

My thoughts drifted to Haiden and Christian. Did they know what had happened to me? Were they looking for me? I needed them. My stomach twisted as I imagined their worry. What would they do? I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my head against them, and cried. I wanted to go home, to feel the warmth of their arms wrapping around me, whispering that everything would be alright. But instead, the cold walls of my prison enveloped me, their silence unmistakably loud.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. I froze, heart pounding, and looked up to see a tall figure silhouetted in the doorway. He was around six-foot-five, tattoos decorating his arms, a mask obscuring his face, piercing gaze fixed on me with a kind of twisted curiosity.

"Ah, you're awake, hello darling~" His voice slithered through the air, taunting and mocking.

"Stop taunting, Daniel. Boss needs her stable," another figure chimed in—a bulkier man, even taller than Daniel, with brown hair and unsettling red eyes. He wore an expression of impatience dressed underneath a guise of carefulness.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! You never let me have fun, Ricardo," Daniel smirked, evidently enjoying his role in this sinister game.

I bit my lip, aware that speaking could mean more trouble. The emotional turmoil of my situation was overwhelming, making each breath more laborious than the last. Ricardo stepped forward, more serious now. "Don't worry. We won't hurt you. Boss told us not to. We just want answers."

Questions. Answers. My mind raced as dread filled my heart. What could they possibly want from me? I nodded, fighting down the urge to scream, hoping that cooperation would buy me some time, perhaps a chance to escape later.

They began with simple inquiries—my name, my age, my weight, height, and then a question that felt like a pin prick, jabbing into the fragile facade I was trying to keep together. "Who are Haiden and Christian to you?"

I hesitated. Should I tell them? If they knew who my boyfriends were, could this put them in danger? "Just say it; it'll make it easier," Daniel urged, his demeanor shifting from playful to predatory, making my stomach churn.

I shivered, feeling trapped between the need to protect my loved ones and the palpable danger surrounding me. Before I could answer, Daniel's cocky grin widened, a grotesque display of amusement at my discomfort. Ricardo moved to silence him with a quick slap to the back of his head. "Please, just tell us. We won't hurt them or you, I promise."

With a resigned sigh, I whispered, "They're my boyfriends."

Daniel's eyes widened in disbelief, and in a fit of rage, he bellowed, "You're joking! You're dating those mindless, useless fucks!"

I flinched at his outburst, my heart racing. I had expected anger, but the venom seeped into his words with a hint of something deeper—jealousy? Fear?

Ricardo, frustrated, hit Daniel in a pressure point, temporarily incapacitating him with an intensity that caught me off-guard. "I thought we were being rational, you asshole!" he hissed, dragging Daniel out of the room, leaving me alone once more.