Slowly I opened my eyes and found myself staring at what I made out as a ceiling. It felt like my brain was pounding against my skull. Panic rushed through my body when I realized that I was on my back, hands tied up above me and my legs had a loose rope around them. Breathe. I told myself, but I didn’t listen. I began to squirm and kick as fast as I could.

There was no way I would get left here to die on a dirty mattress.

Just as my legs broke free from the poorly tied rope, the door jiggled and flew open. I cringed when I saw the ex-con looking guy standing at the door with a hungry look on his face. He smirked and kicked the door shut with his fancy dress shoes, by the looks of it, this guy wasn’t wasting anytime. He took off his suit jacket and tossed it to the side and loosened up his tie.

“The boss is really mad. He requested that I take care of you…” he had a cynical look on his face, as he rolled up his sleeves, “thought I’d have a little fun before I kill you.”

My heart was about to shoot out of my chest as I watched him slowly make way towards me. Not only was this monster going to kill me, he was going to do who-knows what to me before he did. I swallowed hard. Don’t panic. Stay calm. Sometimes, when my mind asks me to do something, it’s like my body has a mind of it’s own and does the total opposite. I panicked.

I was wiggling my body like crazy, kicking at him now that my legs were free, but it wasn’t helping. The cuffs were slowly tearing through my skin and it hurt like hell. “Don’t you dare touch me.” I blurted, trying to sound threatening.

My fear amused him. He grinned even wider and without warning kicked me in the stomach. I barely had time to gasp for air when I felt his fancy shoe connect with my ribs. I was too busy trying to breathe to fight him off. He pressed two hands on my legs and slowly climbed onto my small frame.

“You’re going to like it. I might even be nice and un-cuff you.” He took his gun out of its holster and placed it right next to me. “No need for that yet.” His hands slowly inched up my shirt; his fingers grazed my skin.

The last thing I wanted to do was cry. Cops don’t cry. Then I felt his tongue leave a trail of saliva along my neck and up my chin, and tears started to flow. Trying to stay as still and quiet as I could; I laid there feeling this stranger’s hands fondling me. Slowly he slipped his way between my legs and gripped my inner thigh so tight, I heard myself wince.

Where the hell was Alex when I needed him.

“If you even think about kicking me…I’ll grab that gun and shoot you in the head.” He gave me a menacing look, but I kicked anyway. Amazingly he didn’t reach out for the gun, instead he popped me right in the face. Instantly blood trickled down my nose and my cheek began to throb. “See what you made me do. I was about to set your arms free too. What the hell, I‘ll do it anyway…I like a challenge.”

One by one my arms hit the mattress and I felt the blood flowing again. They felt so heavy, that I didn’t even try to raise them to fend myself. Minutes passed, and he finally stopped touching me. He was busy looking down at himself struggling with his belt, when I finally had the courage and strength to move my arms. I reached for the gun; aimed at his head and pulled the trigger.

His body fell right on top of me. I couldn’t believe what I had just done.

Quickly, I shuffled away from his dead body. There was pain in my chest with each of breaths. With shaky hands I walked to the door and slowly opened it. There was a long corridor and not a soul in sight. I slipped out barefooted and began my way down the dark hallway. There were so many doors, but I didn’t dare open any of them. Who knows what was behind them.

I came to another hallway and was torn between which one led to the exit. I was about to continue ahead, when I heard a familiar voice, but she wasn’t talking; she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Bastos.

This would have been the perfect time to just leave her there. I couldn’t have been too far from some type of exit. That’s what the mean, jealous and cruel me would do. I tried to take two strong deep breaths, but it hurt so bad I gave up at the first one. Gathering all the courage I could possibly have, I aimed the gun and began slowly down the hallway towards the door where all the commotion was coming from.

Bastos sounded like she was in a lot of pain. So much, I was terrified to even look. Slowly I inched my way towards the open door and stood in horror as I watched her hanging from a rope, where her arms were tied up. The tip of her toes graced the cement floor; anger coursed through my blood. To top it off she was only in her undergarments and the suited guy was finding it amusing to burn her with the end of what looked like a steal pipe.

I couldn’t shoot the guy from where I was standing. It would have drawn attention to us and that was the last thing we wanted to do. Bastos looked up at me and I motioned her to stay quiet with a motion of my finger against my lips. I tucked the gun between my back and the seam of my skirt and got on all fours; quietly crawling towards the twosome.

I ear piercing scream filled the room. I knew exactly what was going on, but I didn’t have the guts to look. I continued with my crawling and hid under a desk, where there was a phone. If I could reach it, then I could try calling Alex’s cell phone and get some help.

Carefully I crawled from under the desk, my eyes shifting from the guy to the doorway. The coast was clear. I snatched the phone and ducked right back under the desk. Bastos was now whimpering; I couldn’t imagine the pain she was suffering, or the discomfort she was in, from hanging from her arms. Who knew how long she’d been there. My hands were shaking as I dialed the number once, then twice.

Alex had never answered his phone on the first ring. I was so overwhelmed to hear his voice that I choked on my words. “Alex…oh my god…you answered…”

“Fuck Sophia! Are you alright? Where the hell are you guys? How is Gabby?

My whole body was shaking by now. I didn’t even know where the hell we were. “I’m…I’m ok. It’s Bastos though, she’s really bad…” I went back into panic mode when I heard footsteps pass right by me. I didn’t even want to breath, so he wouldn’t notice me. “The guy is leaving…what do I do?”

“Ok…don’t panic babe. Go look around and tell me if there are any windows, tags, posters, anything that would give the location you’re at. Try helping Gabby too. I’m gonna stay on the line…GO!”

I was up and untying Bastos in a flash. “It’s going to be ok.” I tried to reassure her, but I knew there was a lot of uncertainty in my voice. As soon as she was loose, her body fell limp against me. “I’m sorry Bastos, but we gotta get out of here. Here…lean against the desk.” I left her there barely standing, while I looked around in a hurry and saw nothing. I bent down and picked up the receiver. “There’s not a damn thing here…nothing. I don’t know where we are.” The tears were flooding my eyes, I wanted to ball up and cry. “I have to go. They will be back---”

“The…kin…gs…gam…ble…” Bastos’ words were a slur. I shook my head to let her know I didn’t understand what she was saying. “The kings…gamble hall. He knows what that means.” Just looking at her made me want to cry even more. I felt guilty. She had welts all over her body and the burn marks were swelling.

“She said, the king’s gambling hall. You should---”

“Oh fuck!” AJ’s voice was uneasy, “I want you to get Bastos and if you can a gun. Try to stay low key and find an exit…we will be there as soon as we can.” I didn’t even get to say another word, before the phone went dead.

I put the phone back and grabbed Bastos on the side. We were hip to hip, her arm around my shoulder and we began our trek down the narrow hallway. My heart was pounding, I was exhausted and in so much pain. It was hard to almost drag the short woman down the corridor, but there was no way I would leave her behind. She’d gone through a hell of a lot in the past couple of hours.

“We gotta get out of here.” Bastos mumbled, “Kings Inn is being torn down today at noon.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to look at her. We didn’t even have a clue what time it was. All hope of getting out of this mess alive was gone. Who was I kidding, Alex wouldn’t be here anytime soon. We were dead.