Chapter 11: Jessica's pov

JESSICA'S POV

The rope bit into my wrists again as I twisted then, hoping stupidly that this time it would just give way but it didn't. Of course, it didn't. I signed in frustration as I took in the room I was in.

The room around me smelled of iron and rot. The kind of smell you don't forget even if you scrubbed it off your skin a hundred times. But what hurt most wasn't the bruises or the sting on my cheek from where Victor's palm had landed it was the silence after David was taken away from the room..

Was he okay? Was he still alive?

I had screamed, not because I wanted help and no one was coming over but because the pain burned deeper than just the skin. And I knew David heard me. I wanted him to. I wanted him to know I was still here. Still fighting. Even if it was getting harder to breathe with each seconds that passed.

I stared at the tiny window above me. It had no glass, just rusty bars and that was where the only light that shone even dimly penetrated through. Barely enough to see the outline of the door or the table pushed up against the wall. But enough to see the dried blood on my jeans and the way my fingers had started to turn red from how tightly the ropes were tied.

Victor.

He wasn't just the guy David told me about in whispers when we lay on that tiny couch in his apartment, talking until the sun came up. He was colder. Controlled. The type of devil that didn't need to raise his voice to make you feel small. He didn't torture me with screams, he tortured me with words.

Words that got the best of me and tore it's favorite places.

'You're just a pawn, Jessica.'

his voice was so calm that it made me sick. David always broke the rules when someone he loves suffers.

“You're useful because of that. That's all. At the end, everything is just a game.“

I didn't reply. I chose not to give him the satisfaction.

Because deep down, I knew I wasn't just some pawn.

He underestimated me.

And maybe David did too.

The door creaked just then, and I straightened, breathing steady. My body was hurt, but my heart? That was still on fire.

But it wasn't Victor who walked in.

It was a woman. She looked pale and drained.

She had short black hair and a scar on her neck that peeked out from under her jacket. Somehow, it breathed different. Danger?

She didn't spare me a look when she came in, she just walked over to the wall, pulled out something from her sleeve, and started fiddling with the panel.

My heart thudded.

She wasn't one of them. I wasn't so sure her identify but at least, she didn't move like them.

She glanced at me once. That was it. But in that one glance, I saw it.

A message.

Help was here.

Maybe.

“You're going to scream again in five minutes.“ she whispered, still not looking at me.

“Make it loud. Make it real. Then keep quiet. Understand?“

I blinked — confused. I could barely figure things out, my eyes spread wide in my present occurrence.

Was I just magining thinga? Was this some test Victor set up to see if I'd crack?

No! I wouldn't let him win.

But then she looked at me again, and this time, there was no question.

She wasn't playing.

I gave a tiny nod as if I was a child following some instructions.

She nodded back and slipped out of the room like a shadow.

I counted.

One... two...

When I got to thirty, I screamed.

Louder this time. From within me, pouring out every bit of fear and anger and confusion that I needed out. I screamed until my throat burned, and thirsted for coolness as It was dry and I was choking on my own breath.

And then I went silent.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No Victor.

Just that heavy silence again.

I dropped my head back against the wall, breathing fast.

Was she coming back? Who was she? And what did she want.

My mind raced.

David must've heard me again. Maybe that was the point. Maybe the woman wanted Victor distracted. Or maybe she just wanted to give me hope before disappearing forever.

Either way, something was shifting and I couldn't piece the puzzle.

And then, just as my head started to drop from the exhaustion, the light outside the barred window blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

And then black.

It was darkness all over and then I held my breath. The silence wasn't just in my room anymore. It was everywhere. I could sense it.

Then I heard it.

A bang.

Followed by a scream.

But this one, one wasn't mine.

And it sure as hell wasn't wasn't Davi.

It was Victor's.

I shot up, my body trembling, and pressed my ear to the silence to hear something.

Voices. Yelling. Running.

A crash.

Then a gunfire.

I fell back to the chair, breathing hard. What the hell was happening? Had someone come for us? Were they too late?

Or was this something worse? Far more than I could imagine?

The door handle turned slowly. My heart jumped into my throat. I shook in fear, legs shaking as sweat broke out on my forehead, still bound to the chair, there was nothing left I could do.

And then, my eyes landed on it.

The woman from earlier had also fiddled with the rope. I twisted my hands, I felt the pain but it didn't compare to how nervous I felt now. I loose free.

And then the door opened. There he was — Victor.

He stood, covered in blood yet he smiled like there was no hurt anywhere. Like some psycho.

“Did you think you were smart?“ he asked, stepping in.

I froze, scared, yet I chose to study him.

He held up something small in his hand.

Keys.

And in the other? It was a phone. David's phone — unlocked.

My stomach twisted.

He raised the phone above for me to see. The screen lit up and the message wrote.

“I've gone — away from distractions and everything that made no meaning to my life.“

And the name. It read. David.

The one that loved me.

Or rather, the one I thought had loved me.

My heart clenched in pain almost leaving me crouching when I heard his voice.

“You've been sold to me as insurance so you do, everything you're asked to.“

You're now

some inheritance.

Victor said with every finality in it.

And so it dawned on me, I was alone. Everyone was. To face every different fate life had designed for them.