by Jaden Wilkes
“Dimi,” she said, her voice a small croak. Why did she hurt so badly?
She felt beneath her, she was lying on a small, hard pallet and had a single scratchy, thin blanket draped over her. She reached for her phone, but knew it was gone before she found her pocket empty.
She opened her eyes and found darkness, nothing but darkness.
She panicked and sat up, leaned over and vomited from the intense pain in her head.
She had nothing but thick bile come up, her stomach was empty.
She took a deep breath and blinked, but she was still in darkness.
It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t blind; she was in an unlit room. The smallest crack of light pushed under the door, but that was it.
She tried to stand, but her legs were shaky. She felt like a newborn colt, she was so weak.
She cupped one hand on her stomach, and pushed herself up off the bed with the other.
Her feet were bare and she was still wearing the jeans, tee shirt and hoodie she’d been wearing in Vienna.
Vienna! That’s what had happened. It all came flooding back to her at once, Mike, Vienna, Nico and…Dimi.
His last orders had been to kill Dimi…Nico. She sat back down and suppressed a sob. She didn’t have it in her to cry right now, her body was so parched.
She leaned over and dry heaved, choking on the small amount of bile that came up, driven on by the shooting pain in her head.
She was forced to lie back down, to stop her head from throbbing and to get her bearings. She laid on her back and took long, deep, even breaths. She could hear her pulse in her ears and feel it fluttering madly in her neck.
Her entire body ached; it was waking up to the pain as she became more and more conscious. She must have been drugged, but she didn’t know what they had used. Whatever it was, it left one fuck of a hangover.
Her legs, her arms…her back…everything hurt.
She did a mental self-evaluation and felt her underwear. She hadn’t been assaulted, thank god. It made her want to throw up again to think of anyone violating Dimi’s territory.
It was strange, after all these years the one thing that kept her interested in self-preservation was belonging to a man like Dimitri.
God, Dimitri. Those last orders to kill echoed in her memory. She had to get the thought out of her head. Surely she would know if he were dead. Didn’t people say if you love somebody as powerfully as they loved one another, you would feel it if they weren’t in the world any longer?
She would know; she had to know if he were gone.
If he left this world, she would throw herself on the first knife she saw, there would be no value in living.
Except…a small idea tickled the back of her brain.
There might be a reason to live.
She had to dismiss the thought; it was too tenuous right now, too soon to be sure.
But the fatigue. The sickness.
Before she could explore the idea more, the door to her room opened. She saw it was more of a cell; the walls were grey brick and the floor cement with a drain. There was a small bucket in the corner and a dark spray of something staining the wall closest to the door.
She huddled under her blanket and blinked rapidly against the invasion of light.
“Ah, there she is, my pretty little Canadian girl. Polly, was it?” Mike said. His cold voice was sharp to her ears and made her wince. “There, there, I hope the accommodations aren’t too much for you. Remember, you are a little whore looking for work scrubbing toilets. You’re lucky you’re not sleeping in the Danube tonight. Lucky for you, you have information we want. After we’re done with you, you’re beautiful enough to fetch a very high price.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and curled into a ball on the bed. She couldn’t talk to him; she couldn’t muster her usual spark. She was utterly defeated.
“Cat got your tongue?” he asked, his tone mocking. “Very well, I’ll give you a night or two in here, you’ll be ready to talk once you’re half mad.”
With that he turned and left, shutting the door behind him. He slid open a narrow window in the door, stared in at her, and slammed it shut. She heard him walk away, whistling.
In the darkness Columbia thought she could also hear muffled cries of anguish. She imagined she could hear Dimitri out there being tortured, somewhere in another bleak, concrete room.
Dimitri. Surely she would know if he were dead. She would feel it in her heart, in her blood, in her bones.
She comforted herself with that thought, placed a hand on her stomach and curled into a tighter ball on the bed. The thin blanket offered little protection against the chilly air; she shivered and forced herself to fall back into sleep. If only just to forget her circumstances and possibly dream of Dimi.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IOANA
They were no more than a few blocks from the townhouse. Berlin was a lively city, colourful and well laid out. That might prove to be their downfall, as it would be too easy for the bodyguards to find them, even amidst the noisy crowds on Berlin’s streets.
Iryna stopped to look in a window, a huge storefront of some high-end handbag retailer. She couldn’t seem to help herself; she loved to shop.
“Come on,” Ioana said, looking behind them. “We really do have to keep moving.”
“Don’t you just love that mustard yellow one?” Iryna asked, almost trancelike. “It would go so well with this rust flare jacket I have. I mean, I had.”
She came back to earth and said, “Shit, I’m sorry, we have to go.”
“Yes,” Ioana said, “come on. Please.”
They hurried down the street, it was chilly and they’d been forced to leave everything behind in case they’d been caught leaving. Ioana had no real plan beyond this mad dash to freedom, but she imagined they’d be able to get a message to Boian, or make their way to Bucharest.
“Where are we going?” Iryna asked as they dodged people better dressed for the weather.
“I have no idea,” she replied, “we just need to get the hell away from there.”
“We don’t have a plan?”
“No, nothing beyond getting our freedom.”
“I’m scared.”
“So am I,” Ioana said, “but we have to keep moving.”
They walked for thirty minutes, but felt like they had gotten nowhere. Ioana was about to suggest they panhandle for some money, to buy something warm, when she saw a familiar figure.
One of the bodyguards was pacing them on the other side of the street. He had his finger up to his ear, apparently talking into his headpiece, giving their location.
Fuck, she couldn’t tell if it was the one who gave her nothing, or the one who smiled occasionally when his boss wasn’t looking.
If it was the latter, she might be able to give Iryna time to escape by giving him a blowjob.
“Shit,” she said, “we have trouble.”
Iryna followed her gaze and blanched white when she saw her fiancé’s defender and watchdog. He was trying to cross the street to get to them.
“What are we going to do?” she asked and stopped walking. The guard stopped as well, watching them. A delivery van honked at him and the driver leaned out to scream obscenities in German. One look from the guard shut him down.
“We’re going to try and negotiate with him,” Ioana said, “see if we can buy a little time to get away. I’m going to keep him busy, I want you to keep going. Go to the central bus station, the ZOB. If you see any street kids, anyone who looks like they’re homeless but not too filthy, I want you to talk to them.”
“What would I say?”
“Tell them the Orphan King sent you. Tell them that you want to go to Bucharest, they might get you there.”
“The Orphan King?” Iryna asked, her eyes wide. “Is that the father…?” She gestured to Ioana’s belly.
“Yes, the father is my love,” Ioana replied. She let a small smile flit across her lips before she added, “his name is Boian. If you
can make it to Bucharest, he will take care of you.” She glanced back and saw the guard a few feet away.
“Thank you,” Iryna said and hesitated, apparently not wanting to lose her friend.
“Run,” Ioana told her and pushed her, “get out of here. Hurry!”
Iryna turned and obeyed, she ran quickly through the crowded streets and disappeared.
Ioana looked behind her, the guard was right on her. She spun around on her heel, the best she could do considering her heavy belly. She spread her arms wide, grinned and said, “Here I am.”
The guard looked her up and down, curled his lip into a sneer and replied, “You’re not the one we’re looking for. You’re the whore, we want the girlfriend.”
“What’s the difference?”
“How much somebody is willing to pay.”
“How about you pay nothing?” Ioana said, reaching for his trousers, “I give you a freebie and you forget you saw my friend run?”
“You’re coming with me,” he said, “and your friend will get caught. You will pay for this, both of you.”
Shit, it wasn’t the nice one. A dark car pulled up behind them and honked. The door opened and the bodyguard gave her a hell of a shove. She fell forward into the back seat, her belly dragging her down almost to her knees.
He placed a boot on her ass and pushed harder. She let out a grunt of pain and was propelled farther into the expansive town car. She scrambled to pick herself up off the floor before he got in behind her.
He spoke German to the driver and they sliced through the city streets.
She prayed the entire time that Iryna had made it, that she was free.
A few moments later they pulled up in front of the townhouse they’d fought so hard to escape from.
Looking back on it now, she saw the many flaws in her plan. Lack of a plan, being the first. She should have had Iryna squirrel money away to make their escape much easier. The more money you had, the greater your range was in terms of distance. She should have had enough money to buy them each a one-way bus ticket back to Bucharest at least.
She was dragged up the front steps, her knees bruised and scraped as she went. The bodyguard didn’t even slow when she cried out as a cramp tore through her body. He was indifferent to her suffering.
When she was finally deposited in front of Iryna’s fiancé, her body ached and she felt fear make her limbs stiff. He looked down at her with an evil smile, his hideous face stretched into what she imagined he would consider amusement.
“Well there,” he said, “how nice of you to come back?”
“I didn’t have a fucking choice,” she said, “you won’t let me go!”
“Why would I?” he asked, “There is a particular subset of extremely wealthy, depraved individuals who will pay dearly to savage a beautiful pregnant whore. They place bets you know, to see who can knock the little mistake from your womb.”
“It’s not a mistake,” she said, her face hot with rage, “I know exactly who the father is, and when he finds you, he will fucking destroy you.”
He laughed, a rich, low sound that grated her nerves and made her clench her hands.
“Won’t that be something?” he asked, his arrogance knew no bounds. “Until then, we’ll just have to settle for a private show. I believe you promised my guard here a freebie?”
The guard stepped forward and unzipped his pants. He kicked Ioana’s legs out from underneath her; she fell forward with a cry. Her hands caught most of the impact, a sharp pain shot up both her forearms.
Iryna’s fiancé stood and grabbed a handful of her hair. He pulled her to her knees and said, “Open wide, he’s got a massive cock.”
He held her in place while his bodyguard assailed her mouth with his erection. It was massive, and Ioana gagged as she took it, trying not to cry, trying to focus on her revenge and trying to imagine Iryna on the bus to Bucharest by now.
She squeezed her eyes shut as Iryna’s fiancé reached around and grabbed her breasts through her loose dress. He was panting in her ear, crouched over, pinning her tight against him as his guard fucked her face. He pinched her nipple until she cried out in pain. He laughed at this, and pinched harder.
Drool and precum was oozing down her throat, from her lips. She could barely breathe and she began to pray for the guard to finish. He finally grunted and shot a hot load down the back of her throat. She gagged on it, but the men laughed and held her face tight until she swallowed the last of it.
Gasping, she fell off the guard’s cock and almost crumpled to the floor. Iryna’s fiancé still held her hair and dragged her around to face him on her knees. He stood, looked down at her, looked up at the ceiling and said, “I thought we gave you a good life. You’re a fucking whore, and I’ve been watching Iryna play with you. I’ve been indulging her need for friendship, and this is how you repay me.”
He looked back down at her, his face a twisted wreck, his eyes glittering, black and flat. “Get ready for your free ride to end,” he said, “you’ll be begging for the good old days in a couple of weeks. I have plans for you.” He smiled, drew his hand back and punched her square in the face. She felt her head snap back, his hand still gripping her hair. She felt her jaw pop, as if something was broken in there.
He loosened his grip and she fell forward, the pain rendering her speechless for a moment.
She felt a wave of nausea wash over her and vomited up the guard’s cum along with the small breakfast she had taken earlier. She started to cry, unable to hold it in any longer.
“Oh here’s my girl, bring her in here,” she heard him say. She looked up and saw the other guard dragging Iryna by her arm. She was sobbing, her face red and her hair a mess of blonde knots. She looked embarrassed to have been caught.
“I’m sorry,” she shrieked when she saw Ioana hunched over, trying to keep the room from swaying. “What did they do to you?”
“Oh, sweetheart, my love,” her fiancé told her. “We haven’t even done anything yet. This party’s just getting started.” He motioned with his head and the second bodyguard shoved Iryna to the floor. He unzipped his pants, pulled out his own cock and stepped towards her. “Hang onto her,” he told the guard, “but don’t worry, you’ll get your turn. You’ll all get your turns, with both of them.”
Ioana saw Iryna’s eyes roll back in fear as he shoved his cock down her throat. She gagged and started to cry as he fucked her face slowly.
She felt hands on her body and looked up to see the first guard standing above her. His cock was thick and throbbing again. He pulled her up, kicked her legs apart and fell on her, tearing into her.
She closed her eyes and hoped it would be over soon.
It wasn’t.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DIMITRI
He’d watched the well-dressed man leave the bar with Columbia. Something twinged in the back of his head; he didn’t like this. The man was too confident, his clothing too expensive. There was a difference between the flashy cockiness of the men they had been dealing with and this smooth, put together gentleman.
“Let’s stay on them,” he told Nico and they left straight away.
There was no sign of Columbia and the well-dressed man down the street they had already plotted out. The area was clotted with thick groups of people, locals and tourists alike. He jogged up the street to be certain, but around the first bend was a long straight stretch. It was crowded, but he saw no sign of Columbia or the man she’d left with. He walked back to Nico, hoping to see something along one of the side streets. He thought he heard her cry out, but it was hard to tell amidst the noise of the people and cars.
“Where did she and the suit go?” Nico asked. Dimitri silenced him with a wave of his hand and they listened.
They heard nothing unusual along the streets of Leopoldstadt. He must have heard something that sounded like her, there’s no chance she had cried out, he reassured himself.
“We’ll split up, I’ll go this way and you go down that one,” D
imitri told Nico. “They can’t be far.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them. And if we don’t, you know she can take care of herself.”
“I know,” Dimitri said, but the anxious knot in his stomach grew tighter. He should have never let her go through with this; he’d had a bad feeling from the moment he’d laid eyes on the man in the suit.
He jogged down the road he had chosen; it was wide and curved gently towards the west. It seemed the people were thinning out the farther he got from the pub. He kept an eye open along the side streets but saw nothing. A couple of minutes in, he backtracked to where he had left Nico. He saw no trace of either of them; frustration was replacing his fear.
He waited for a minute; it seemed to stretch out for hours. He was sweating and jumpy; unable to stand still so he went down the street Nico had taken.
A couple of blocks along, he sensed something out of order. It wasn’t immediately obvious, but he slowed and took his time to take in the surroundings. It was sparse back here, almost nobody left on the street. A couple of cars passed, and then left it empty. He was the only one visible.
He heard a small moan from a narrow pedestrian path between two storefronts. He walked in the direction of the noise and saw a dark shape crumpled on the pavement. He crept towards the shape, all his senses on high alert.
It was Nico; he was sprawled on the ground with a large gash to his forehead.
“Shit, what happened?” he asked and leaned next to his friend.
“I think they have her,” Nico groaned and tried to get up, “They’re right behind–”
Dimitri leapt to his feet at that, turning as he sprung up. There were three men directly behind him, guns drawn.
These were the criminal types they were used to dealing with. Cheap knock off clothing and watches, greasy hair and dark, hooded eyes. He crouched into a defensive position and motioned for Nico to stay down. If he could disarm them, he could kill them all…but not before he had wrung their necks and found out where Columbia had been taken.
He knew now that she had been stolen from him, right out from under his nose. He would have to shelve the disgust he had for himself and deal with it later. Right now finding her was paramount on his mind.