Captured

by Humphreys, K. L.

  I look at the mirror to see the black car moving closer to us, and I look over at Cash, “Put it on speaker.” he passes me the phone, and I hit the button seeing that his calling Argos.

  “He…”

  “I have a tail, track me.” Cash tells him.

  “I’m on it.” I hear him tapping on the laptop, and Cash takes a quick look to the left then goes past the red lights, “Hades, hard right.” I grab the door handle again as my body moves off the seat as Cash goes fast. “You got guns?”

  “Yes. Open space?” These two really do have their own secret language as I have no idea what they are talking about, what is going on.

  “I won’t be able to see what is happening, so you will be going in blind.” I look over at Cash, as he looking in the rear-view mirror again, “Hades, you have more than one car behind you.” I hear the panic in Argos voice, “Three, you will be blind. Next left, then the lights right. Second right. First left. Boat container come there.” Argos tells him. Cash takes all the turns, as Argos is telling him about the cars, and has told him that they all have four men in there.

  Does it really take that many men to kill Cash?

  “Lucy, you there?” I hear his voice.

  “Yeah. How are you feeling?” I ask him, not the best time but at the moment I never know when my last day is.

  “You take a gun, and you…”

  The phone is knocked out of my hands as the window breaks into little pieces. Everything seems like it’s moving in slowly motion. I look over at Cash, as he pulls the gun in front of him turning his body and that’s when I realize what’s happened. They hit our car. Then the car breaks. I see another moving towards us and as it hits us, our car flips over. I scream as the top of the car hits the ground, and it’s still sliding on the ground.

  I can’t see Cash’s face. But the car flips over again, and it’s still moving. Until I hear a splash. Fuck we’re in the water. I know my mouth is moving but I can’t hear anything. I look down at my feet as the car fills up with water, my body starts to panic. Trying to unbuckle my belt but it’s not moving.

  I watch Cash as he pulls out his knife and cuts me free. Pointing behind him as I see a man swimming over to us. Cash turns and pulls the trigger and the man starts floating. Cash kicks the window open and swims out, I see his hand but then it’s gone. The car starts to sink further down and the water has come up to my neck, I try to swim through the window, but I’m stuck. What the fuck am I stuck too?

  Looking down at my seat, my leg is caught in between the seat and door. Feeling the water getting higher, I take one long deep breath as the water covers my face. Swimming down to my leg, I try to feel it. Finally wiggling it free, I swim towards the broken glass and swim up for some air. I look around for Cash, and see him fighting with another man in the water. I start to swim over to him but I’m stopped as someone pulls me back.

  “The king wants his queen back.” the man tells me and my body tenses up, as I watch Cash trying to fight. As more men move closer to him. “The king told us to hurt you if you fight.” I turn to face him, and freeze as I see the gun pointed to me. That doesn’t stop me trying to fight out of his grip, as I see another man swimming over to us.

  I’m being pulled down, as I see the man sinking into the water as blood pours out of his head. His grip loosens on me. I turn around to see Cash, but he’s still fighting. Then I see them, I see the bikes.

  I hear shots being fired. I see men falling. I go to swim away, but again I’m stopped, and this time I’m pulled under the water. I fight, I fight for a while to get out for some air. But the man is too strong for me, and the darkness comes around me. I don’t know how long I can hold my breath for, but I see dots in front of me. My heart beating faster and faster. My body doesn’t have the energy to fight this, my legs are getting tired as I kick to get free.

  The grip around me loosens as I swim up and gasp filling my lungs with air.As I do I feel the sharp scratch on my skin. I hear my name being screamed from behind me and a gun-shot. Looking up I see the man in front of me falls back.

  “Lucy,” I hear Cash, and even though my stomach is hurting me I turn and swim over to him, “stop.” Cash reaches me, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” I hear him whisper to me.

  “Hades, here,” I hear someone shout, and I feel them pulling me out of the water. I try to sit up, but the pain is killing me, “Let’s go back to the bar…”

  “No, I need to get her to Argos. Do you have a car?” I hear Cash ask. Then I hear more talking, but not enough to make out what they are saying. Holding my stomach, I stand up. I start to fall, but Cash catches me. “I’ve got you.” Kneeling down, he sits me on the floor, “Do you have a phone, so I can call Argos?” He stands up and faces some of them.

  I lie back down and watch Cash standing over me. He pulls his shirt over his head and then kneels down placing his shirt over my stomach and pushes hard. I see his hand reaching up to grab the phone. I think that my stitches have opened which is making me bleed a lot more.

  “Argos, you need to get everything ready. Lucy’s wound has opened up.” Cash shuts down the phone as I sit back up holding onto the t-shirt. I look towards the water and see lots of bodies floating. I hear Cash talking behind me but I don’t listen to it.

  “Get this cleaned up.” I hear someone shout behind me, and I see a few of the men walking into the water, “I’ve seen that look before. Whatever you’re hiding from him, will kill you. Until you tell him whatever it is on your mind.” I turn to see Satan walking away toward Cash. I watch the men pulling the other men out of the water, wondering if he’s right. With my head not really focusing. Would it kill us in the end? There is a reason I’ve not told him. The reason is, two things could happen. He will blame himself, or he will lose it and won’t stop until he kills every single person involved in this.

  Rubbing my forehead as a cold breeze runs through my body. I know that cold breeze, I was around that breeze for longer than I wanted to be.

  “Hades, he’s here.” I shout. As I look around the dark empty space in front of me, I hear guns being pulled out, and I feel Cash pulling me closer to him, “I know he’s here, I know it.”

  “How is my Queen doing?” I hear and I turn around to see where the voice is coming from, “This bodyguard is a lot harder to kill than I thought he would be.” I see a few men walking towards us. Then I see him, and he’s smiling, “I would lower your guns. You shoot then I shoot.” He points to the side. My eyes glance to that direction, and I see the girl that was talking to me in the bar. “Now I don’t know who you are, or why you are getting in my business. So let this be a warning, don’t get in my way, or Mr. Satan your little girl here will die.” The man holding her pushes her to the floor, and I watch them all walking away.

  It seems like Raphael is always one foot in front of us. He knows where we are, or what we have planned. How? I want to know how?

  I see the girl run over to Satan, “Daddy!” she cries as she wraps her arms around him, and never would I have thought he was a dad.

  “He’s a dead man Hades, I’m going to kill him and enjoy doing it..” And with that they leave. They leave us standing there. Cash goes to take my hand but I move away from him.

  “I can’t do this; I can’t keep living like this. I wish that I just walked straight to my room, and never heard what was said in the office. I wish none of this ever happened.” I tell him as I look at the car, watching as a man gets out and jumps on the back of a bike.

  “What about me? Do you wish you never met me?” Cash asks. Not answering him, I walk over to the car. I really don’t think that I can keep doing this; this is getting to a point where even I don’t know who I am anymore.

  Chapter 12

  Cash

  The car ride back to the safe house is quiet and it pisses me off. She’s not the only one that’s fucking sick of these fuckers crawling out of the fucking woodwork. Every time I kill one of them, ten more pop up. They’re multiplying like f
ucking rats. Then there is Lucy telling me she wished none of this ever happened. She needs to realize that it’s not a fucking walk in the park for me either.

  We get back to the safe house and as soon as I’m out of the car, I know there’s something wrong. Someone’s been here .Where the hell is Argos? I take out my gun and wait for Lucy to catch up to me. As soon as she’s within reaching distance I pull her toward me and put my finger to my mouth, telling her to be quite. “Hold onto my back and don’t let go unless I tell you too.” I wait for her to nod and then we make our way into the house. I need to make sure that it’s clear and that there’s no one here.

  Walking through the house I clear it one room at a time. There’s no sign of Argos. I check upstairs and I feel Lucy’s hand on my t-shirt tighten, she’s scared. Every room we check is clear. Where the hell is Argos? Why the hell is he not here? I take out my cell and call him, the fucker answers almost instantly. “Where the hell are you?” I demand not even giving him the time to say hello.

  “Well hello to you too asshole. I’m at the lair, I had to feed your pet.” The sarcastic tone sets me on edge.

  “Funny! Someone was in the safe house.” I know there was. Lucy and I walk back down to the sitting room and I get her a drink, something to calm her nerves down. As I turn toward the kitchen something catches my eye and I see a bunch of flowers. Where the hell did they come from? As I walk toward them I see Lucy’s name on the card. “Did you get flowers for Lucy?”

  “I don’t have a death wish. What the hell kind of question is that? Of course, I fucking didn’t.”

  “Well if you didn’t somebody did.” I tell him. I feel Lucy move and know that she’s coming over to see.

  “Shit. Who’s it from?” Argos asks, he’s on alert now.

  I open it and as I read it, I want to kill someone.

  My Queen!

  You’ve hurt me and for that you’ll pay

  the price.

  What happened to those girls will be

  nothing in comparison

  to what that bodyguard of yours will

  get.

  I’ll have my queen by my side soon

  enough!

  You’ll never be able to hide from me.

  I’ll see you soon my Queen.

  That motherfucking asshole, I’m going to fucking kill him! I can’t wait until I get a hold of him; I’m going to enjoy ending his fucking life. “This safe house has been compromised. We’re coming to the lair. I’ll see you soon.” I end the call to Argos and take Lucy’s hand. It’s time to leave this place. I don’t know how he found us but Argos is going to find out and he’s going to find out where the hell this asshole is hiding.

  “Cash, what the hell is happening?” Lucy’s voice is shaky as I drag her out of the house.

  “This house has been compromised.” I’m so angry right now and I’m barely hanging onto my control. I’m sick of behind one step behind this fucker.

  “Are we going to a different safe house?”

  “No I don’t know how many of them have been compromised so we’re going to the lair.” As soon as we’re in the car I pull off, not wanting Lucy to be here any longer than she has to be. I don’t know if we’re being watched.

  “What if he knows where that is?” She’s sitting with her legs up on the seat with her hands wrapped around them. I need to hurry up because she’s still bleeding.

  “It’s the better of the options we have. If they somehow know about the lair, it’s the safest place for you to be. We’ll know if anyone approaches. We’ll get you to the safe room and we’ll take care of it.” I try and reassure her but I can see that it isn’t working.

  “Why, why does this keep happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?” She’s angry and she’s shutting me out.

  “We’re going to keep you safe; we’re going to make sure you’re not hurt. That fucker won’t get a chance to touch you again.”

  “Yeah you said that before. Look what happened they always get me; I always end up getting hurt. There's nothing you can do Cash, Raphael wants me and he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants.” The sadness in her voice makes me pull over. There is something wrong with her and she's keeping it a secret from me,

  “What's going on? What haven't you told me? Don't lie to me Lucy. I can tell that you’re keeping something from me. So. What. Is. It?” I'm getting pissed off now. I have gone out of my way to make sure she's safe!

  “Nothing Cash, I'm tired and I'm sore. I just want to go to sleep. I'm allowed to have days where I just want to scream, where I just want to break down but I haven't. I stayed strong and tried my best to keep my spirits up, to think that you can keep me safe.” She looks right through me, she’s changed so much.

  “Why are you lying? Why am I putting myself on the line? No, fuck that. I’m putting myself in the firing line to keep you safe and you’re keeping secrets from me? Tell me Lucy, why are you making out I'm the one that's doing this to you? Why are you acting as though I'm not doing everything I can to protect you? Hell. You lied to me for months; fucking months. Just tell me what the hell you are hiding from me?” I slam the steering wheel, making her jump. Good hopefully this will get her fucking talking.

  “Fuck you! You’re such an asshole, why are you doing this? Can't you just leave things alone? I said there was nothing wrong, that I wasn't keeping anything from you so why the hell are you bringing it up?” She's angry but she definitely is hiding something.

  “Don't you get it? I need to be able to keep you safe. To do that I need to know everything. Everything, Lucy, so you better start talking. Or should I go and talk to Argos? Because I'm pretty sure he knows what you're hiding.” I bite out angry that she doesn't trust me after everything I've done for her. I start driving again, wanting to get back to the lair. Argos will be there and I know that he knows what she is hiding.

  “You're such a prick; I told you I'm not hiding anything. Argos won’t tell you anything either just leave it alone Cash! Can't you just leave it alone?” She's pleading with me now and my foot presses harder on the gas, wanting to get back to the lair.

  “Jesus. You're a good fucking liar, Lucy!” I snarl at her, sick of this stupid game that she's playing.

  “I learned from the best didn't I Cash?”

  I finally lose it, “Where's the woman I fell in love with, Lucy? Where's the woman I would have given my life for? Because the woman I see in front of me isn't worth my life. Hell, she isn't worth the hassle. So tell me why the hell am I going out of my way to help you when you don't give a fuck about me?” I’m an asshole, why am I saying this to her? I’m trying hard to keep my emotions in check but I can’t, it’s too much.

  “Of course, I care about you Cash. I love you! You are all I think about, how you don't know that already; I don't know. But Cash, you need to understand that sometimes I just don't want to talk, especially if I'm just not ready yet.” She starts to cry and I feel like a complete asshole. I drive into the lair’s garage. “Please?” She pleads with me again.

  “Why are you not ready? What is this big secret Lucy?” I try and stay as calm as possible, trying not to lose my temper any more than I already have. But this secret she's got, that she's not ready to tell me about yet, it's making me anxious. I have so many scenarios running around in my head and none of them are good.

  “Because I'm not, Cash, okay? Because I'm not ready.” She gets out of the car and slams the door behind her.

  I follow behind her, pissed that she's hiding something from me. But I know that by the end of the day I'm going to get to the bottom of it one way or another. I follow Lucy into the lair. She has no idea where she's going; she’s never been here before so it doesn't take me long to catch up with her. “Tell me one thing Lucy, does Argos know?” There’s an edge to my voice that comes with a warning. She's not going to tell me what she's hiding and if I find out that Argos knows, there'll be hell to pay!

  “Leave it alone. Please?” She's begging
but right now I need to find out what she’s hiding. I hate secrets. I have told her everything and she still won't tell me whatever it is she’s hiding.

  “Fine I'll find Argos because he'll tell me even if I have to beat it out of him.”

  “No you won't! Leave it alone Cash. Would you please just leave it alone?” She shouts so loud that it has Argos limping over to us. “Leave it alone…” She whispers when she sees him.

  “What's going on? What's all this shouting about?” Argos asks looking confused between Lucy and I.

  I decide that I'll try a different way of trying to get my information, “Why didn't you tell me what happened? After everything that happened with you both keeping secrets from me I can't believe you kept it a secret too!”

  His face pales, “Cash, she swore me to secrecy. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you about it I couldn't do that to you Cash. It had to come from Lucy. You had to find out about the miscarriage from her. I know you hate secrets, but I just couldn't tell you this even though I wanted too.” Argos tells me and the word miscarriage resonates around my head.

  I look to Lucy who’s crying and I’m stuck, rooted to the floor. “I wanted to tell you Cash, I really did. I just didn't know how to tell you that I lost our baby, that I couldn't protect him.” She breaks and crumbles to the floor; she's in hysterics but I don't understand what she's trying to say. It’s just coming out as mumbles and heartbreaking sobs.