Fury: (Bratva Fury)

by Alexi Ferreira

  “Get Dimitri to round up all the men. If all of them are in one place, he won’t be able to kill her.”

  Alexei nods, but his eyes are on Brandr. “What else did she say? Does she know where we can find her or who is killing these women?”

  “No, but I will contact her and see if she can maybe see anything else,” Brandr says as he looks down at his phone and dials.

  “You’re going to need help to find this woman before she gets killed. We can come with you,” Draco says. “My men are very good in situations like this.” I’m guessing because of them fighting the skin trade, they must be constantly looking for missing woman.

  “Thank you. I will accept your offer, as we need to find her.”

  “Who did he take this time?” I ask, dreading hearing the name of one of the women that I might know.

  Alexei looks at me. There is a look in his eye that tells me before he opens his mouth that the woman who has been taken is someone I know. Shit, it’s one thing having a woman you barely know killed, but when you know them, it twists at your insides when you can’t do anything.

  “You heard what Brandr said. She is still alive.” At his cryptic response, I frown. “The woman who has been taken is Haley.” At first, the words don’t register, and then it hits me like a ton of bricks.

  “What?” My mind is a jumble of thoughts; did he just say it was Haley? No, it’s not possible. Haley is at home. She can’t have been taken. Haley wouldn’t have opened the door to someone after all the warnings I gave her.

  “Vlad, we will find her,” Alexei says as he places his hand on my shoulder. No, no, this can’t be true. I haven’t been with her long enough. I didn’t tell her that I know that she didn’t betray me.

  “No.” I don’t know if I whisper the words or if I roar them, as I feel like I am being sucked into a vacuum. “No,” I repeat. “It can’t be her. She’s at home.” Before Alexei or anyone can say anything else, I am rushing out of the office and towards the car. She’s at home. I know she is, and I will show them that they are mistaken.

  Oh, please, please be at home . . .

  HALEY 16

  The excruciating pain in my head has me squeezing my eyes as I come out of the darkness. My whole body is in pain. What happened to me? Did something happen to me? I crack open a lid, worried about what the light will do to my already sensitive vision, but instead, I encounter total darkness. Am I blind? I try to move my hand, and frown, as I can’t move it, and then I realize that I have something covering my mouth. In a split second, everything comes rushing back. I struggle against the ties around my wrists at my back. My feet are also bound.

  I wiggle and twist but to no avail, except to have my head feel like it’s about to crack. The tears are running down my cheeks, falling on the ground next to my head. What am I going to do? I know he kills the women he takes; will he kill me immediately when he comes back, or will he make me suffer?

  I feel the knots in my stomach, and I wonder if it’s the last day that I will feel anything. I don’t want Vlad to see me after this crazy man kills me. From what he has said, he isn’t kind in his killings, which leads me to believe that I will suffer. I gag, but I push it down. I need to be strong and see if by any chance I will find a way out when he does come back.

  I hear a noise, which has my whole body tensing. Another wave of pain engulfs me, and I whimper. I try to concentrate on the sound, only to realize that it is people talking as they walk past the door outside. I try to call out, but no loud sound escapes. I try to move, but the way he has tied me up, I will never be able to untie myself.

  The feeling of helplessness, of defeat, engulfs me. I am going to die, and I have hardly lived. My whole life, all I have done is work to achieve my goals. First it was school, then college, and then work so that I could make a better life for Paige and myself. I never really lived, never travelled even though I wanted to see the world, and now when I find a man I have fallen completely and utterly in love with, it all ends. The quiet sobs racking my body has the pain intensifying, but I try to ignore it.

  I haven’t had a chance to make things right with Paige. I will die, and she won’t know that I didn’t abandon her. I hope that Vlad will continue to look after her, and hopefully she will get everything she has ever wanted in life. I don’t want to die; I still have so many things I want to do. I try to block out all the thoughts from my mind. I need to calm down. I need to try to find a way out of this mess. I can’t let this guy win. I can’t let him take the rest of my life away from me.

  I have fought my whole life; I won’t give up now. I will rise and conquer this evil that has befallen me. I try to take in deep breaths through my nose that is now stuffy from crying. I really need to calm down, or I am going to die of suffocation before he even has a chance to touch me. I continue taking in deep breaths, trying to keep my mind away from what is happening so that I can calm. Only if I am calm can I try to figure out if there is a way out of here.

  I don’t know how long it takes or if I even dozed off, but my muscles have started to relax. The pain is still there, but I am ignoring it. I wonder what he hit me with. Maybe it’s still here somewhere and I can use it when he comes back.

  I stretch out my fingers, trying to feel anything, but groan as pain shoots up my tied arms. At the moment, I can’t feel anything with any part of my body, which means that I must be lying in the middle of the room. When I walked in, I remember seeing that it was some kind of cleaning closet. Maybe I can get to something that will help me. I try to shuffle my body back. It’s not easy when I can hardly move, but I feel like I’m making progress. I don’t know how long I wiggle back and forward, trying to move a little at a time until my fingers feel something. I stretch them out as much as I can, but can only feel coldness at my fingertips. It feels like steel. I wiggle a little more, and there—what is that? I feel the edges and then slide my hand up as much as I can and groan. I think it’s the foot of the shelf, and I doubt I will be able to cut through my ties with it, as it doesn’t feel sharp enough.

  I hear a noise from outside, and I tense. Is it someone else walking by, or has he come for me? My heart is racing so hard that I can hear it. Please don’t be him. There is someone at the door, and then a slither of light shines into the room. The light widens, and I close my eyes as it makes the pain in my head more pronounced.

  “You’re awake, good.” His voice sends chills down my spine. “I see that you have been busy. Where did you think you were going?” he asks sarcastically. Opening my eyes, I see that he has once again closed the door, but he has switched on the light on his phone. Looking up at him, I see him smiling down at me. How can he be so evil? He is still young. What makes someone so young want to kill innocents?

  He squats down before me. “You know, they have already started to look for you,” he says, and I can hear elation in his voice. I think what drives him is the chase, knowing that they are looking for him, that he has been a step ahead of them at every turn. He stretches out his hand, and I feel his fingers lifting a strand of my hair. “But don’t worry, they won’t find you. I have made sure of that.”

  I want to scream at him, shout that he is crazy, but no sound comes out. He strokes his fingers down my cheek, making me shiver in distaste. “Why are you with him? Do you think he is better than all the others because he’s a fighter?” He leans back and then sits on the ground. At least it looks like for now he’s just going to talk. I would rather he talk than decide to kill me right out.

  “He’s not, you know; he just doesn’t let anyone else show him that he’s not the high and mighty asshole that he is.” Is he doing all of this because of Vlad? “Arrogant prick, I have shown him how useless he is out of the ring, and now he will see how absolutely hopeless he is at everything except fighting.” I can see the absolute hate in his eyes as he speaks of Vlad. Those eyes are absolute evil, and I wish that I would never have to see them.

  They will catch him, and once they do, I hope they put him away
for a very long time, because I don’t want anyone to go through what I am going through. “It was difficult trying to get to you. He has guarded you well, so imagine my surprise when I see you standing right in front of me all by yourself.” He chuckles at his own joke.

  He runs his fingers down my cheek to my neck, and then his hand is around my neck and he is smiling. My heart is racing, as I fear this is the last breath I will take. I can feel him start to squeeze; breathing is becoming harder and harder until I am trying to take a breath and can't. The already dim light starts to fade, and then complete darkness.

  Before I can give up, I feel the pressure around my neck loosen, and then the air is rushing into my lungs again. Spots of light are revolving before my vision, and I hear laughter. “Not yet. It’s too soon.” When I am finally breathing again normally, he slaps me hard across my face. My face explodes in pain.

  When my eyes finally focus again, I see him holding a knife up in the dim light of the phone. The smile on his face gives me chills. “It’s a shame I can’t hear your cries of pain, but I will see it in your eyes.” He is really twisted. How can someone enjoy giving another pain as much as he does?

  I feel the sharp tip of the knife moving down my neck towards my chest. Is he going to stab me? I have treated stab wounds, and I know that a stab wound in the right place will get you killed in minutes as you bleed out. I feel the blade cutting through my shirt, the buttons popping as the blade descends. I can’t see, but I am sure a line of blood is evidence of the knife’s path. The blade is now at the junction between by breasts, my bra at its tip, and then he cuts right through it. Closing my eyes, I let the tears fall freely as my breasts are released from their cups. I gasp as his palm painfully squeezes one of my breasts. “Beautiful,” he murmurs. Suddenly, there is a beep from his phone. I open my eyes to see him pulling his hand away from my breast to look at his message.

  “Fuck,” he mutters angrily. “They think they are being clever, but they won’t find you.” I see him looking around, which has me following his gaze. There is very little in here except for some cleaning materials and two trollies, which I’m guessing the ladies use to carry their cleaning items when going to someone’s apartment. Towels, rubbish bags, and a drum.

  I can’t see what’s inside the drum, but I’m sure it’s a cleaning product. I can’t see anything I could use to help me. Before I can turn my head to see what is behind me, I feel his hands on my arm, pulling me. The ground under me is rough cement and cold. I am sure there are scratches and cuts from being dragged like this on the whole of my one side.

  “You will stay here and be quiet and still until I get back, or I will make you suffer more,” he states as he drags me against the back wall, and then I feel something covering me. It feels like it could be one of the towels I saw, but then I hear plastic and it is being laid over me. He covers me in plastic from my feet to my head. I’m sure that anyone looking would never imagine that there is someone under this mound. I hear movement, and then something bumps into my hands. I can’t see anything, but I would say that he has just moved the trollies to cover the view from the door.

  “Don’t miss me too much. I won’t be long,” he says, and then chuckles as I hear him walking away. There is the sound of the door opening, and then it is shutting, and silence. I wonder what message that was that made him go away, but whoever it is, I thank them for the breather. I hope it gives them time to find me, because I have a feeling that the next time he comes back, I won’t be alive for much longer.

  I can feel the drops of my blood sliding from the cut he made down the centre of my body as he cut my shirt. Thankfully my arms and legs are now numb, and I’m guessing it’s from lack of blood circulation, which isn’t a good thing, but it’s better than being dead. I try to wiggle my fingers, but as soon as there is movement, the pain returns, so I stop.

  The darkness around me engulfs my every sense. The quiet is deafening, the smell of cleaning acids are overpowering, and I can feel a burning sensation in my nose and down my throat. The cold of the ground has seeped into my body and has chilled me right to the bone. I never thought I would die like this, but the thought that I at least had loving parents in my life, a sister I loved with all my heart, and a man who even though we have been through a rough tempestuous phase has made me love him with all my being. No matter how much this bastard hurts me, at least I had all of that in my life, and I will die knowing that I was loved and have loved with all my heart.

  This man may hurt my body, even hurt my mind, but he will never be able to hurt my soul. I will hold my memories close and let them keep me sane through this ordeal. I will hold on to hope that someone will find me before he can do to me what he did to the other two women. The thought that the other two also went through the same thing that I am going through saddens me. The terror that they must have felt. It isn’t right that someone can cause another so much pain.

  I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, I am waking up with a start as I hear the door opening. The first thought on my mind is that I am going to die soon, but instead, I hear a click, which sounds like it could be the light. Would it be him? I don’t think he would want to put the light on in case someone saw from outside. I try to move, but because of being in the same position for so long, the pain that races through my body is all consuming, but I fight on. If this isn’t him, then it might be my only chance to make it out of this alive. I try to scream, but the muffle and tape holding it in place won’t let any sound escape. I move my body urgently, trying to catch the person’s attention. I can feel the ties cutting into my wrists and ankles, but I ignore them.

  “Are you sure she said a storage room? These are quite small to keep someone without us noticing,” I hear a man say. His voice is starting to recede, which tells me that he is leaving. No, please don’t leave.

  “She’s in there,” I hear a deep voice say.

  “There is no one in there. I have just looked.” I hear someone grunt something, but I can’t make out what it is as I push against the wall with all my strength. I hear a crash, which has me jumping in fright. “What the fuck?” I hear the man say, and then approaching feet.

  Yes, please let them find me. “She is here,” I hear that other voice shout, and I hear movement as it sounds like the trollies are being moved. There are running feet, and then hands, a slither of light as I feel the covering being lifted off me. They found me; I’m not going to die today.

  “Wait, Vlad, let us see how she is,” that voice says.

  “Get out of my way.” Hearing his voice, I finally let go. Everything is going to be all right now. I am safe.

  VLAD 17

  Speeding into the underground parking, I drive up to the lifts. She will be in the apartment. They must be mistaken. I see a group of men at the end of the parking lot, but I don’t take the time to see what is going on. Rushing towards the lift, I am just in time as the doors open and more men walk out. They look at me in surprise, but I don’t pay them any attention as I rush inside.

  “Vlad.” The doors are just about to close as Dimitri rushes inside.

  “Alexei phoned. He’s on his way.” He places his hand on my shoulder. “We will find her.” He is so certain that it’s her, but I will only believe it when I make sure she isn’t in the apartment. “I have personally checked your place; she isn’t there.” The doors finally open, and I rush out, heading towards the apartment.

  As soon as I open the door, I know that I am lying to myself. I can feel the emptiness before I rush through the apartment. “Vlad,” Alexei calls from the front. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to find my bearings. The fury engulfing me is like lava racing through my veins. I need to find her. I can’t let what happened to the other women happen to her. I’m supposed to be able to protect her. I failed.

  “Vlad.” I feel Alexei’s hand at my back. “I have brought the Elementals to help us search. Our men are all grouped in the garage. We won’t let any of them go until we have found h
er. Brandr said she’s still alive, so we will find her.”

  I turn around to face him. “She can’t be one of his victims.” It’s an effort to get the words out with the fury pumping through me.

  “She won’t be. Now, let’s go see what Dimitri knows, as time is of the essence.” I nod and follow Alexei as he turns to make his way back towards the sitting room. I see that Dimitri, his man Jared, Andrei, Nik, and all the Elementals are there.

  “What do we know?” Alexei asks.

  “Jared saw Haley leaving the apartment and walking towards Alexei’s apartment. She knocked, but there was no answer. When she walked back, she realized she was locked out.” As he relates the facts, I tense as I realise that I didn’t get her fingerprint programmed to open the door to the apartment. This is my fault. If I weren’t such a fucking bastard wanting vengeance for something that in the end she didn’t even do, she wouldn’t have been taken.

  “She walked to the lifts and made her way down. She encountered two of our men when she walked out of the lifts. They asked her what she was doing by herself, and she confirmed that she had been locked out of the apartment and was looking for someone to open the door for her. Artur escorted her up to us, but no one was there. Artur phoned Jared, who said he would be up immediately.” I look over at Jared and see him nod at Dimitri’s statement. “Artur left. He said it was the change of shift and he thought she would be fine, as Jared said he was coming immediately.”

  Dimitri pulls his fingers through his hair as he looks over at me. “Jared took four minutes to get there. In that time, on the cameras, we see the top of a head talking to Haley, and then she follows him.”

  “So, you don’t have anything again,” I mutter.

  “All the men have been told to meet in the garage. We will make sure everyone is there. He can’t hurt her if he isn’t with her, and we won’t let anyone go until we find her.”