WHEN ELLA WOKE UP she couldn't move. She was lying on the floor in what seemed to be a shabby basement, the wooden floor rotten and the walls, which had once been white, now grayish, with vague splatters on them in various colors. Everything was hazy, as if she was looking through a blurry lens, her entire body feeling weighed down. The effect of whatever they had used to cause her to pass out, she supposed, or perhaps they had injected something while she slept. Either way, she was lying somewhere clearly isolated with her hands and feet tied, only one flickering light illuminating the room.
At the end of the room she spotted a stairway, but there was no way she could climb it without being able to use any of her limbs. She tugged at her restraints, but to no avail. It would be fine. All she needed to do was stay calm for now. Levi's face flashed in front of her eyes then, the way he had still tried to focus even with blood streaming down his face. Her nails dug in her palms so hard she drew blood, but she breathed out all of the anger. It was no use to her here.
A door creaked open then, her gaze snapping towards the sound. She caught a brief glimpse of dirty shoes, immediately closing her eyes, her head resting against the wall in the same position she had woken up. Heavy footsteps neared, from the sound of it two men approaching. Ella could feel the air shift as one of them crouched down in front of her, his breath reeking of alcohol.
"She still hasn't woken up," he mused," don't tell me you used too much, John? We don't want our hostage to die on us now."
"Come on," John scoffed," this whole plan is bullshit, admit it. You really think Vince cares enough for this girl to give us our money?"
"Of course he doesn't," the other man replied," but you heard that cringy love confession, didn't you? Obviously his romantic of a son does. If there's anything I know about that family it's that they will do anything to get what they want. I've seen his cokehead mom, I doubt he's any different."
"I don't care for any of it," John said," as long as we get our money it's good, so I'll trust you this once. I know Vince hospitalized a few of our guys last time, but if this doesn't work a gun will do the trick."
"First we'll try to resolve this quietly. I have no need to have the cops up my ass."
Ella felt a hand graze her cheek, a voice continuing.
"She's a pretty thing though, isn't she? I'd rather have her as a hostage than those guys Carlo kept suggesting. Him getting kicked around by a couple of kids and losing his wedding ring sounds like his problem."
Fuck. So the guy she had beaten up during the charity event clearly wasn't about to let things go. More importantly, this all sounded like real trouble, not the kind where a slap in the face would suffice to get them to leave her alone. Hopefully the boys would be wise enough to call her mother before Sebastian, because if there was one thing her brother wasn't good at, it was thinking things through, and she was not about to have him slam the door open here without a single plan in his head.
The man's clammy hand slid down to her neck then and she frowned, pretending like she was waking up as she slowly opened her eyes. With a fake yawn she blinked to adjust to the lights, recognizing the men in front of her as the ones who had hit Levi with a brick. The man sitting down had dark hair and a tangled beard, bloodshot eyes looking her up and down as he flashed her a smile with teeth too sharp. John behind him was more a hollow kind of man, with protruding bones and needle scars on the inside of his elbows, blond hair seeming to be made of straw.
"Look who's awake," the man grinned," I'm George, Sleeping Beauty. I think we'll get to know each other quite well, that is, until your boyfriend pays up the money."
She hadn't acted in quite a long time, but honestly, if she was once able to deceive Clarkson into thinking she wasn't a delinquent, this wasn't going to be much of a challenge. Her eyes became watery as she glanced at the men, voice so uncomfortably high it pierced the air like glass.
"What?" she said," what are you talking about? What's going on?"
"Didn't that boy Levi tell you?" George said, his fake sympathy as vile as the smile on his face," his father has been trying to play games he can't win. Unfortunately for him they're blood, so if his father doesn't pay his debts, we will make sure Levi does."
"Levi doesn't have any contact with his father," Ella breathed fearfully," how is he supposed to get the money? How much are you even talking about?"
"A million," George said, holding up his hand as he placed his fingers down one by one," or five. He'll find a way. We all have one kidney we don't need, right?"
"That's why you took along, what, ten men to kidnap me?" Ella frowned," for a request which can't be fulfilled?"
"Not ten," George chuckled," we don't need ten men to take a little girl. Besides, if he doesn't comply, I'm sure we'll find other... uses for you."
So they were with less than ten. John she could take for sure, the man was all gangly limbs and hazy addictions, but George was quite heavyset. Weight wouldn't be a problem if she could fight him one on one, she had picked up some jiujitsu during her competitions, so as long as she could grab him, it would be over for him. For now she shouldn't show any violent intentions at all, not when she still was tied up. It'd be easier to take them out if they didn't expect it. With a pleading gaze she held out her tied hands towards them, eyes wide.
"Please," she said," can you untie my hands at least? It hurts."
"No can do, sweetie," George said, patting her on the cheek," we can't have you pulling any tricks now."
"Remember Vince's bitch?" John said, flinching as he absentmindedly rubbed his hand on a small scar on his neck," she fully stabbed me with a needle when we took her along to threaten Vince once."
"Alina Peterson," George whistled," what a woman that was. Too bad she's stuck in rehab now, I heard she's become boring." He stood up, brushing the dust off his pants. "Anyway, let's go up, I'll let the others know you're awake."
"What?" Ella said, but before she could speak any more George grabbed a fistful of her hair, dragging her across the floor.
She wanted to refuse to let any sounds pass her lips, not about to give them the satisfaction, but it wouldn't suit the victim she was portraying. So she swallowed her pride and yelled as he pulled her up the stairs, dropping her on a dirty carpet in the living room. Men started hollering all at once and when she looked up she saw a group of six sitting around a glass table, playing poker and drinking beer. They were all around their forties, except one, the guy making eye contact with her right as he finished downing a glass.
The shadows underneath his eyes were as dark as his hair, something about him seeming like he was a ghost of a man, as fleeting as a passing thought. It was visible in his sharp features, in the way he drowned in his black sweater, in his bruised knuckles and empty smile. Ella felt like he would disappear if she closed her eyes, as if his bones were a selfmade prison and all he wished was to self-destruct. His lips curled up, messy locks framing his face as he placed his cup down, pointing at her afterwards. In the light his silver ring glittered almost hauntingly.
"Who's this?" he said.
"We told you, Kai," one of the men said, leaning back," we're getting payback on Vince."
"Is this Vince?" Kai asked, his voice light but his words heavy, like the line they had been treading on had become very thin.
"Well, obviously not," George said," but how were we supposed to get Vince? You know better than I do that that man only comes along with a bullet in his leg and I'm not trying to stir the pot again with the police after I just got out of jail."
Kai smiled widely at him, pulling something out of his pocket which he spun around on his fingers, before suddenly throwing it at George's head. It took Ella a second to see he had thrown a knife, the metal having barely missed George, gleaming with unshed blood from where it was stuck in the wall. Surprisingly George didn't say anything, obviously having paled as he looked down.
"Kai," he began.
"I'm not going to ask you again," Kai said, pouring vodka in his glass," who is this?"
No one answered, a sharp tension hanging in the air, until finally Ella spoke up.
"I'm Levi's girlfriend."
Kai's faint amusement disappeared at once, his gaze snapping towards her as he turned and accidentally knocked his glass down, the liquor spilling like blood. In the light his eyes seemed golden.
"Who are you?" she asked, about to grab any chance to get her out of here.
He looked at her as if she was a stranger sitting inside his childhood home, words tasting of salt and a quiet melancholy.
"I am Levi's brother."