Chapter 5

Pain. A feeling that has stuck with me for a while now.

I feel the drench of cold water being poured on me, jolting me awake. As I wake up I try to focus my vision then I notice the man that my family apparently owes money to, sitting in front of me cross legged with the tattooed man and another that I've not seen before, standing behind his back.

"Rise and shine red locks, how was your nap? I'm sure it was refreshing after such a night you had" the man sitting said looking at me with an unreadable expression," and hope that you're accustomed to your new settlement, since it seems the chair and ropes weren't quite working out" he finishes with a tilt of his head.

I glance to look at my hand, still slow in processing since I came to, my hair is sticking to my sweaty skin, I have a busted lip and a sprained ankle, and I see that this time I have been cuffed with metal chains attached to the wall. The chains are as short as 5 feet, restricting far movements. This time, instead of a chair, I sat on the floor propped against the wall at my back.

I regain a bit of my senses and start to comprehend what is going on. I stare at the man in front of me and glare at him," Who are you again, and what do you want from me?" I ask him, frustrated and alarmed at the change of situation.

We didn't even appear to be in the same place they kept me last time. This area has no windows, a table beside the man sitting down, security cameras facing both me and the door, it's bigger than the other holding room, and appears to have better supervision than the other. " Sorry for the late introduction, you don't know my name do you?" he asks, looking at me.

He gets up from his seat and takes a few steps towards me, but keeps a good distance between us," my name is Andrei, Andrei Ciobani" he states and he crouches down to my height," and you, VannaRae have to choose now what would work for you" he says as he gradually rises to his towering height.

I sit there, unable to comprehend what it is he is on about," how do you know my name?" I ask him as I move my arms in the chain constriction, to no use though, I stare at the man I tackled last time, noticing the sneer he looks down at me with," oh VannaRae, I know your whole family very well, which brings us back to the case of your betrayal" Andrei says, forcing my eyes away from the tatted man," how much do we owe you, I swear I will recover everything, i'll pay you your money for as long as it takes but please let me I go, I beg of you" I plead with him.

Andrei looks at me with cold, calculated eyes as he lowers himself back down in his seat, "How sure are you that you will pay me my money, how can I trust you won't run?" he asks me quizzically.

I stare at him and lean my body forward as much as the restrictions would let me," they are my family, I can't abandon them to suffer and they've lived here their whole lives and plan to do so, since you know my family, you would be able to track their movements, tell me how much it is" I state, looking him in the eye. No matter the amount, I have to get my family off the hook of this dangerous man.

He stared at me and gave me a cold, eerie smile that promised pain rather than relief," Oh VannaRae, the time for atonement has passed, the betrayal goes far beyond money" he finished with a cock of his head.

At that moment his phone dings on the table beside him and glancing at it, he turns to me with a smile on his face," Just the thing I was waiting for" he picks up the phone, taps a few things, and turns the phone towards me.

The sight on the screen makes me freeze in terror, my blood runs cold as fear courses through my body at the sight of my family and best friend, bound to chairs, blindfolded, tears gather in my eyes at the sight of gunmen pointing their guns at my loved ones, Jasmine shouts at the men in the room, stripped of her sight but not her strong will," you cowards!! You attack like scared little girls!! Untie us and face us like the men you pretend to be" Jas screams at their captors, she may be keeping a strong face but I know she's scared as well.

I stare at Andrei as the tears stream down my face," What is it you want you monster, I don't even know what business you're on about!" I yell at him, totally confused about the betrayal he speaks of. He looks me dead in the eye, and a flash of menace crosses his facial expression.

He walks towards me, closer then the first time he came to me, stands by the side of my thigh and crouched down to my eye level, he removed his gun from his back pocket and tilts my jaw with it then unlocks the safety from it," one should know not to cross the path that they can't return from, and your family has crossed me, so VannaRae, your left with only 2 options" he leaves his statement hanging and stretches his other hand towards his men, they put his phone in his hand then he continues," either I give the command now and they kill your family, or you hand yourself to me and marry me" he states while staring into my eyes like he can read my soul," and you have 5 seconds before I give the command " he finishes, my mind hurriedly runs through his threat.

My parents, Jas, I can't let anything happen to them "1" he starts his countdown, I can't bear to lose another family, another life gone and it would be my fault, I get drawn back to the present as he reaches 4, starts to dial a number before I intercepted him," I'll do it, I'll marry you so don't touch my family" I state as I bow my head, my heart shattering at my lost freedom.

chapter 6

I shed silent tears as Andrei distances himself from me." Well, now that we've come to a wonderful agreement, I'd propose you rest up" he says as he starts walking towards the door, I quickly raise my head"wa-wait!" I let out quickly making him stop in his tracks," I'm not going to try anything funny I swear, but I don't understand what connects my family to you, how'd they gain access to your business, nothing is making sense" I urge him as he stops.

It appeared like he was thinking it through before he turned around to look at me and puts his hands in his pockets," the Alexe family were a family that worked directly under me, in charge of loading and offloading of our transported goods" he takes out a tobacco wrap and raises it to his mouth, the man by his right takes out a lighter from his pocket and lights the end of the wrap. As he exhales the thick tobacco mist," the relationship between the Ciobani's and the Alexe's went back the time of my grandparents, hence the trust we had to place your deceitful lineage close to us, I guess that's why they say that those closest to you are the ones to stab you in the back" he finishes off, disappointment in his tone.

I sat there for a moment, taken aback by what I just heard about what ties us together, and also put off by the sudden jab of hateful words thrown against my family. I feel anger burn bright in me, ready to consume me, but I hold myself remembering the powerless situation I've been thrown into.

He stares at me as I ponder everything, like he's waiting for something, a reaction, an explosion, but as I give him none of those, he turns around, opens the door, and walks out with his men following, not before the tatted men throw me a scornful look and slam the door behind them.

As I stare at the door, my mind keeps reeling back to what he said about the business my family did for him. " Why didn't they tell me about any of this?" I murmur to myself.

After hours of deafening silence, exhaustion wears itself to me like a second skin, the room's cold leaving a bite deep within my core, and my mind racing with endless thoughts. The door of my holding room opens and in walks a petite-looking female, her black hair packed in a tight bun, wearing a maid uniform, and in her hand a tray of food alongside a glass of water.

She comes into the room and only then do I notice a man standing just by the door of the room. He shuts it behind her while the lady goes ahead to set the tray on the table in front of me, I observe her as she stands beside the table and glances at me momentarily before she averts her eyes to the floor.

The aroma of the food makes me realise that I have no idea what today may be and how long ago since I've eaten food." What day is it?" I ask the lady standing in front of me, but she doesn't respond. She goes to pick up the glass of water on the table and walks towards me then crouches down and raises the glass towards me," What? We're you instructed to feed me or something " I ask with a bark in my tone, the lady flinched a little and upon looking closer at her face, she's young, maybe a teenager.

She still keeps silent as she looks at the floor, still silently insisting with the glass of water to my face. I use the momentum of the chain to my advantage and swing the glass out of her hand, it falls and shatters to the floor, startling the girl making her rise to her feet," Why are you silent girl?! Answer me!" I yell at her. She starts shaking, frightened like a dam of repressed torture had been broken within her forcing her to relieve it.

I remember the cameras in the room and take a glance at them, figuring that is why she is keeping quiet. I silently stare at the girl, feeling bad about how she must have been chosen to bring food for their prisoner. I sigh a little and glance at the food on the table," look, I don't trust whatever it is that any of you would send for me to ingest but there's one thing" I say as I turn my head back to stare at the girl, if I'm going to be stuck in this, I would need answers to every single thought that has been plagueing me and only one person I know now will be entitled to those answers, granted that my captors let me," pass this message to your boss for me, I have to speak with my father so he should provide access for that, but right now, I'm not eating so get out" I say as I turn my head to face the walk to the left of me, staring I to the space and waiting for the sound of the girl to retreat.

After a couple of minutes, I hear the sound of utensils clattering and feet shuffling away from me, she knocks three times on the door then the sound of the heavy metal doors opening and shutting sounds in the room.

A while later after the girl left, a man entered the room and marched towards me. Before I was able to process anything, he unchained my arms and forced me to my feet. He turned me around and slammed my front into the wall I was just leaning on two seconds ago. I struggle within his grasp to let me go but he's just too strong and binds my hands tightly together with rope, he tapes my mouth shut, and ties my eyes with a cloth and before I know it, I'm being lifted off my feet only for me to land dangling by my stomach atop something strong.

After some movement, I realise I've been hauled on his shoulder with no idea where he's taking me and for what, off to my blind fate.