“We can’t use it to get into his house?” Maksim asks, and Daniel shakes his head.
“Not too sure yet. But I think you should study the drive I gave you. I didn’t have time to check everything, but it has all the agreements between your father and Leonardo. Maybe something could be helpful that could lead us to him.”
“He disappeared lately. Even my men who have been watching him the whole time haven’t seen him in over a month.” Says Aleksandr.
The men continue their discussions but a weird rush of dizziness takes hold of me. Suddenly, their voices become distant and the room starts spinning around me. I shut my eyes and cover my temples with my palms. The throbbing headache is an unbearable pain. I suddenly see my father’s face in the darkness, followed by his soft, angelic voice.
“Darling? What are you doing here?”
Elena
My heart thumps in my chest because I know I shouldn’t be here. But I never saw this door before. It’s all the way in the basement of our house. I’ve been trying to open it for the past two hours but to no avail. There are at least four locks, and my small pin isn’t doing the job to unlock them.
“What’s this door, daddy? I didn’t even know it existed.”
“Yes. Because you’re not supposed to know about it. Come on, let’s go upstairs.”
He offers me his hand. I hesitate for a little as eagerness fills me from within. But I eventually place my hand in his palm.
As we make our way up the stairs, I ask him, “Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Can you at least tell me what’s behind the door?”
He leans forward and runs his fingers through my hair.
“Can you keep a secret?” he asks, and I nod my head frantically.
“A tunnel is what behind that door. Now enough with the questions. Let’s go upstairs and watch a movie together.”
“Elena? Can you hear me?”
I open my eyes slowly and find Maksim towering over me. What happened? Did I blackout for a moment? He shakes me violently.
“Are you okay? What happened?” he asks worriedly right before pulling me toward his chest and holding me in his embrace. Daniel and Aleksandr look at me with confusion in their eyes. I haven’t had an experience like this one in a while. Ever since I came back from London, no memory from my past has haunted me back. Until now.
“Tunnel… there’s a tunnel.”
That’s all I manage to say before I pull myself away from Maksim’s hold and look into his eyes.
“What tunnel, baby?” he asks.
“My home. My parents’ home.”
I rise from my seat and shake my head.
“I wanna go to the washroom,” I say and walk over to the door. Maksim grips my wrist and shoots up from his seat.
“I’m coming with you.” He says curtly.
“I’m fine, I’ll be back. I just need a moment alone, please?”
He opens his mouth slightly to say something but Daniel cuts him off.
“It’s okay, Maksim. My security men are everywhere. It’s a safe floor. Let her go if she needs space.”
“If you’re not back here in ten minutes, I’m coming to find you.” Says Maksim with clenched teeth.
Without looking back at any of them, I rush toward the door and walk through the dim hallway to the washroom. My head feels light, and I’m panting for air like I’ve just run a marathon. I close my eyes and push the door to the washroom open. I rush into one of the stalls and spew my guts in the toilet bowl. I rise from the floor and run to the sink, where I pour glacial water on my face and neck. I don’t shiver at the slicing feeling of cold water on my skin.
I look up at myself in the mirror and discover that the makeup is all smudged underneath my eyes. I begin to wipe it off when the lights in the washroom suddenly go off. I jump at the sudden fear that splinters my heart and the weird sensation of intrusion that fills the atmosphere. I swallow the hard lump in my throat. It’s pitch black in the room, and it’s impossible to see ahead of me. I push my hand in front of me and wave it around, hoping I can reach the door or the wall without hurting myself. My breathing comes in frantic pants as anxiety swirls around me. Why do I feel like I’m suddenly not alone anymore?
I finally reach the door and pull it toward me. I inhale deeply as soon as the door opens wide, thinking light was gonna fill the hallways of the floor, but I’m wrong. I take a step back and bring my hand to my chest. Hoping it can steady the loud thumping of my heart that roars in my ears. The hallway is just as dark as the bathroom. It wasn’t like this a moment ago.
Maybe the building lost electricity. It happens, doesn’t it?
I tell myself as I focus on calming my sanity and anxiety down. My head pounds so hard it feels like it’s going to explode. I take a step forward in the dark, and I suddenly remember that there were guards standing in the corners earlier.
“Hello?” I manage past my quivering lips, but nobody responds to me. The deadly silence rises and becomes thicker with my fear every time I take another step toward the unknown.
I hear fainted steps coming from behind me. I swirl around swiftly. My pupils grow two sizes bigger in my eyes.
“Hello?” I call out again, but to no avail.
I don’t remember how to get back into the conference room, and I don’t even have my phone on me or else I would have used the flashlight. I sigh deeply and close my eyes for a moment, wishing my mind would relax. Worst case, if I don’t find Maksim, he will find me. I know it.
More steps appear from behind me. This time, my heart picks up its speed, and my body shivers as the air thickens and the only sound filling the deadly quiet space is the loud drumming of my heart against my rib cage. Is this some sort of sick prank or something? Despite the fear that’s crawling up my skin, I feel anger consuming me. I fist my hands and scowl. Feeling fed up with this shit. If this is a prank, then it’s not fucking funny.
“Who is it?” I demand furiously and impatiently wait for an answer. Anything. Whoever’s there needs to say something. But the silence and darkness are scarier than anything I’ve ever experienced before. I reach for my heels and slide them off my feet. Just in case I needed to run, at least they wouldn’t stop me.
I turn around and walk with my arms stretched out in front of me, so I don’t collide with a wall and hurt myself.
It happens before I get the chance to scream. A hand hugs my waist and pulls me savagely off the floor. My feet hang in the air while another hand covers my lips, preventing my scream from reverberating off the walls. My eyes grow two sizes bigger, and the next thing I know, I’m being dragged and pulled into a big manly chest. Thrashing and struggling to free myself from his hold, I use the pointy heel of my shoe and dug it into the man’s flesh. But he doesn’t withdraw his hand away. Instead, I hear him groan right before he growls and curses underneath his breath, “vaffanculo puttana.” Fuck you, whore.
I freeze, and for a moment, it feels like my heart has stopped beating and my soul has left my body. It cannot be real. The man’s accent – he’s Italian…
No, this isn’t real. It has to be a nightmare.
My thrashing gets even more violent as I kick backward, hoping I could hit the monster’s balls. I just want him to drop me to the floor so I can run the fuck away from him. But the more I fight him, the tighter his hand squeezes my waist, causing extreme pain in my lower abdomen.
“Lasciami andare per favore!” Please let me go!
The words slip out of my mouth without my consent. I don’t mean to beg him to let me go, but as he makes his way backward, I can’t help but feel my throat turning dry and shattering agony consuming my brain. Then the image of Maksim’s firm body haunts my thought, and my heart shrinks a size smaller. Am I ever gonna see him again?
Another man comes in front of me. I don’t actually see him as the darkness is still strong and oppressing. But I feel a wet cloth land on my nose, the smell is metallic and strong that I wince as
he presses it into my nose.
“Dormi bene, puttana.” Sleep tight, whore. The man holding me says as he digs his nose in the crook of my neck. His breath is hot against my skin. “You’ll beg more when you wake up.”
Maksim
I take a quick glance at my watch. She’s been gone for exactly seven minutes. I shift in my seat like I have been doing ever since she stepped outside of the room. With every passing minute, my nostrils flare, and I can barely hold the urge to check up on her anymore. Aleksandr and Daniel keep talking, but I’m not listening anymore. What happened to her earlier? Fuck. She hasn’t blacked out like that in a while. Something must have triggered it.
I take another look at my watch. Time always goes by slow when you’re impatiently waiting for someone to show up. It’s been eight fucking minutes. One more minute and I’m going out there to look for her. I don’t even care if she throws a fit or if she begs me to leave her alone. She’s not in my house, and I shouldn’t even have allowed her to go to the washroom unsupervised.
I rise from my seat. Both Daniel and Aleksandr’s eyes study me, but I ignore them and walk over to the door. I jerk it open and notice that the hallway is dark. Instantly, my heart begins hammering in my chest like a drum. I turn around and frown at Daniel, whose expression is as similar to mine. He stares past me in the dark hallway. I don’t even waste a single minute to ask him what the fuck is happening. I storm outside of the room and run into the empty hallway.
Blinded by fury and darkness, I fish my phone out of my pocket and turn the flashlight on. Searching for the bathroom sign, I move the phone left and right ahead of me in every single direction. The hairs at my nape stand up, and I can feel my heart racing as I wonder where the fuck she is. I turn to my right and smell her scent. She was here. She must have been here, but she isn’t anymore. I smell something else along with her smell – cigarettes, cheap whiskey and… danger.
I stop in my tracks when I reach the ladies' washroom. I hurry toward it and swing the door open. It hits the wall so hard that I feel the vibration underneath my feet. I lean against the door, feeling like my legs can no longer hold my weight. I clutch the edge of the door behind me firmly, making the hardwood break and slice my skin. But I feel no pain. I’m numb as a fossil.
Where is she?
I hear Aleksandr and Daniel’s footsteps approaching. Anger, pain, sorrow, and fear all jumbled up inside of me – corroding my insides and making me wish the ground could open wide and swallow me whole right this second.
“Where is she?” asks Aleksandr worriedly. Words are stuck somewhere in the back of my throat, turning it dry like dust. Silence prevails as the thumping of my swollen heart becomes louder as the seconds tick by.
My hands become sweaty. I turn around and glare at Daniel. I then grab his collar and yank him until my face is an inch away from his. His breathing gets labored, but I can see the anger blazing in his eyes.
“Where the fuck is she?” I ask with a dangerously, calm voice.
“I don’t fucking know. And you need to be careful who you’re taking your anger out on, Maksim.”
“Is it a threat?”
“Yes. Now get your hands off me before I make you regret it.”
Our eyes lock for a while. We both breathe heavily as we get ready for the next move. Daniel is not the type to lose his shit. So the fact he hasn’t blinked yet proves that he’s serious. I release his collar, but I don’t remove my piercing gaze from him.
“Okay, knock it off you two. Where the fuck are your guards, Daniel?” Asks Alexandr as he steps in between me and Daniel, blocking my view.
“I don’t know where my men are. I’m gonna go check what the fuck is happening.”
Daniel walks away from us and disappears into the dark hallway. Aleksandr turns around and faces me. His face is full of worry as he approaches me nice and slow.
“I will kill whoever did this. I’ll rip their heart out of their body and feed it to the wolves.” I hiss through clenched teeth.
Aleksandr nods his head. “I know.”
“Do you smell that? It reeks of cheap Italian cigarettes.” I say as hot tears get stuck in an aching knot in my throat. Deep sadness mixed with fury fills my insides.
“We will find her.”
“How? Tell me how?” I snarl and he takes a step backward. “For the past fucking months, all we’ve been trying to do is catch that goddamn criminal, and we still haven’t.”
I swirl around and punch the washroom door so hard that it dents instantly. My knuckles turn sticky with blood. I’m high on adrenaline, and nothing will stop me.
“Now he took her away from me. Do you know what that means? He took the only person I’ve ever wanted and cared about after my father died. But you won’t understand it, will you? You wanted her out of my life anyway.”
“What the fuck are you saying? You’re clearly losing it. You’re not thinking straight. I have nothing against the girl. And the only thing we need to be doing right now is looking for her.”
I walk past him and pull my phone out of my pocket; I dial Mikhail’s number right away. He picks up on the second ring.
“Yes, sir.”
“Find her,” I say as I reach for the emergency door and push it open. As soon as the door swings open, the light comes back on. I shake my head at the strong smell of cheap Italian cigarettes invading my nostrils.
I take the stairs two at a time.
Nothing will hold me back anymore. I’m going to find Leonardo.
Elena
Bringing my knees to my chest, I shiver and stifle a groan at the pounding pain in my skull. I open my eyes slowly and blink a couple of times to ease the blurriness that’s filling them. It’s cold, and goosebumps spread all over my body.
It takes me a while to assess my surroundings. It looks like I’m in prison. What did I do?
I struggle to pull myself off the cold, unforgiving ground, but dizziness takes hold of me, and I stumble before leaning against the wall behind me to steady myself. I look up and see a faint light coming from the window far above my head. It’s so small that I have to squint my eyes in order to get a better view of whatever’s outside. The cloudiness of the sky is the only thing I manage to see. At least I know I’m underground.
“Is anybody there?” I manage past my shaky voice as I take a couple more steps toward the long, cell bars. The room is spinning around me, and the pain that I feel all over my body is torturous.
The silence goes on for a long time before I hear a loud bang coming from somewhere close to my cell. I flinch and suck in a gasping breath. Bringing my hands to my chest, I blink twice as my heartbeat becomes louder as the seconds tick away. Who is it? I’m not even sure I want to know. Whoever’s there knows I’m here.
Another loud bang, and this time, my heart sinks in my body, and my stomach clenches with fear. I swallow the lump in my throat and lick my dry lips before sliding down the wall that’s digging in my back and falling to the ground. Hot tears pour down my cheeks like rain as the banging keeps happening. It keeps getting closer and closer. I shake my head and cover my ears with my palms.
“No, no, no, no…” I murmur underneath my breath. I shut my eyes for a while, training myself mentally and physically for whatever is yet to come.
When I open them, I see a tall figure towering over me. I blink the tears away from my eyes until I’m able to see his face as clear as day. I don’t know him. My heart picks up its speed, and it feels like it’s about to fly out of my rib cage. My lips part slightly, but the words are stuck somewhere in the back of my throat. I drop my gaze to his hands and notice that he’s holding a needle full of some brown liquid. I frown and look up into his devilish eyes. They gleam in the dark, making me recoil.
“What are you doing?” I manage past my quivering lips. He crouches in front of me and inserts the needle in my forearm. It happens so fast I don’t even have time to pull my arm away from his grip. I watch him empty the liquid into my flesh.
&
nbsp; My throat turns dry, and the scream that’s rising up my throat disappears as soon as I start hearing a loud ringing in my ears. My vision turns blurry, and suddenly, I see three figures of the same man, looking down at me with mischief. I shake my head slowly as tingles spread all over my body. It feels like small insects are crawling up my arm so I bring it closer to my face and stare at my skin.
I then hear his voice, and I instantly rise to my feet. I knew he wouldn’t give up on me. I knew he’d come to find me.
“Elena? Where are you?”
Maksim’s voice echoes in my head. It’s so soothing, and it makes my heart feel light. I smile stupidly in the darkness. I don’t see the man who injected drugs into my body anymore. Only the darkness shielded by my lover’s deep, accented voice.
“I’m here,” I scream, but my jaw is not even moving. It’s numb, and the screaming is only happening in my head. But it doesn’t matter, as long as he can hear me, that’s all that matters to me.
“There you are.” A big firm hand touches my cheek, and I lean against it. Closing my eyes, I rub myself against it and murmur softly, “Maksim. You’re here.”
And right before I open my eyes to see him, my smelling sense comes back, and my eyes fly open at the scent of Italian cigars. I pull my head away from the warm hand that I thought was Maksim’s a moment ago. I blink three times to ease the blurriness. Then I see him and every cell in my body vibrates with rage, horror and shame.
“Jesus, how many times have you drugged her so far?” asks my uncle.
“Tre volte.” three times. Another man answers.
“That’s enough for now.”
My eyes grow two sizes bigger. I feel like time is flying by as I struggle to speak. My jaw is tense, and my throat feels like it’s full of dust. Besides my uncle’s piercing eyes, I don’t see anything else. He stands tall and powerful. The darkness surrounding him like a shield.
His To Keep: Beasts In The Dark (Book 2) Page 2
