Chapter 18

Rosella....

“You're looking like a real slut, Miss. Danforth. I knew that this look would suit you.”

Balthazar claps his hand in glee then rubs them together like someone has just handed him a piece of his favourite candy. His black eyes slide over my body in such a sick manner that it makes me want to run and hide inside the small bathroom.

I dig my nails in my palm to concentrate on the pain pulsing through my hand instead of focusing on how Balthazar is gawking at my almost nude body. I stand perfectly still in front of him, my eyes never leaving his disgusting face.

A feeling of pure hatred washes over me, flooding my thoughts with contempt and I channel that feeling into my glare.

This is the most undignified thing I've put on my body, ever.

I'm dressed in the kind of clothes that can make even a slut shy away. I've never worn something so revealing. Most of my pale skin is out on the display and I can just imagine what I must be looking like in these scraps.

Chelsea had picked out this complete leather outfit for me, a crimson red top and a tight little black skirt. My thigh high see-through stockings are doing nothing more than adding another touch to my whole slutty get up. The top is so snug around my chest that it's hard for me to breathe properly and the little skirt is barely doing anything to hide my behind.

If the decision was up to me, I would have ripped these scraps off of my body and slipped on my baggy clothes.

But I can't, because I no longer have the right to make my own decisions and choose what I want. I'm helplessly bound, both physically and practically.

As soon as Chelsea was done with me, Balthazar had my wrists tied behind my back and ankles bound together. I don't know why he has got me dressed like this.

Do people get dressed like this before going for their execution? I deeply doubt that.

I know that Balthazar no longer wants me and he is going to get rid of me in a matter of time. But how he's going to do that, I don't have any idea and neither do I have any idea about where the hell I am.

I am still inside that prison-like room. The door is wide open and I can only see the dark outlines of the men stationed outside the room, lining up the long corridor. Balthazar is taking me out of here but he has not told me where. Chelsea has disappeared and I'm not sure if that woman has forgiven me or not. But the way she was avoiding my eyes while helping me get ready, I think she doesn't even know that I am sorry.

I had done nothing intentionally. It just came across worse than what I had imagined. I would never hurt another being for my own self, that's not who I am. But I don't have any idea how to explain this to Chelsea when we can't communicate to understand each other. I don't think Balthazar ever asked her to forgive me after he left me here. And why would he? He's a fucking Mafia and mafias don't apologise for any misunderstandings or even try to clear the misunderstandings.

My eyes break away from Balthazar's huge face and flicker down to my side, where the scissors is lying on the floor, begging to be picked up and put to some good use…. Like stabbing some asshole in the eye.

“It's time, Miss. Danforth.” Balthazar's heavy voice drags me out of my insane muses. My eyes snap back to him and I find him peering at my face with narrowed eyes.

Shit!

I tighten my fists behind my back and swallow hard. I am so glad he can't read my mind, or I would have been dead by now.

“But before I lead you out of here and give you up to your new fate, I need something from you.” He takes a step towards me and I step back. Roma and another man slide inside the confined room silently, the unknown man carrying a black leather suitcase.

I remember that suitcase.

My eyes flicker between Balthazar and the suitcase. What is he going to do now and why has he brought that suitcase?

“What do you want?” I ask, my voice sounds surprisingly stable and cool.

“Ah, eager to get over with this, aren't you?” I don't respond, just raise an eyebrow. “Yeah, right. So what I want is…. A few drops of your blood.”

“Blood!? Why??” I ask, abashed.

“That's none of your concern and I'll make a deal with you for it.”

“You'll let me walk out of here alive?”

“No.” He cackles lightly. “I'm not that generous…. Or stupid.”

I press my lips together disdainfully. “Then what?”

“I'll forgive your debt and destroy the paperwork.” He says, coolly.

What!?

“Forgive my debt??” I exclaim, my voice pitched high. “Are you kidding me? How are you going to forgive me for something I haven't done? We both know that it's fake and my family isn't involved in any of this. You have made it up! You lied to us!”

“Yes, of course, I know. We both know it's not real. But,” He takes another step towards me, his lips twisting up in a malicious smile. “No one else knows that. You've got no proof to prove me guilty and the documents you have seen, I have revised them and worked out all the flaws. And this time, I've been careful about my grandmother's age and her heir as well as minded to get it printed on legal papers with original signs.”

“No. You're lying to me again. You can't do that without any witnesses.”

“Oh, honey…. Questioning and doubting my capability is not a wise move. You don't have any idea what I can do. If I can buy the police then what are lawyers? Money gets you the things you want in this world and power helps you in keeping those things with you as long as you want. It's as simple as that. All I needed to do to get the paperwork done was just throw some money in their faces. See, I've got the debt inheritance legal documents all ready.” He tells me while waving his hands towards the suitcase.

My eyes start burning and I grind my teeth in anger.

My fists tighten even more and my nails break in the skin of my palms. I ignore the blood sipping out of the punctured skin and glare at the heartless bastard with pure abhorrence. Just when I start to think that Balthazar de Lucas can't stoop anymore low, he pulls this kind of stunts and forces me to think otherwise.

I want to do nothing more than destroy this demon in human skin, who's standing so proudly in front of me.

“I'll never forgive you for this Balthazar, never. You'll pay for all your sins in hell, in worse ways than what you can imagine. You have destroyed the life of so many innocent girls and taken away so many things from others that aren't yours. You just wait, one day, you'll be begging like those girls, like me and then you'll realise what it feels like to be in our place. Someone will make you suffer for all your wrong doings. And if you think that money and power is everything that a person needs to live a happy andc luxurious life than in my opinion, there's no one more foolish or idiotic than you. You're an excuse for a man. Real men don't trap anyone with lies, they take what belongs to them. They don't go around plotting out fake debts to trap innocent people.”

“You're a really sick bastard, a cheat and a big fat liar!!” I scream those words in his face, breathing raggedly.

All my life, I spent every single second of my life either in trying to please others or trying to make myself disappear. Until now I had no idea that I was capable of feeling any emotion but sadness. I used to think that something was wrong with me, because I never felt any repulsive feelings or expressed any emotion properly.

But standing here, in front of the most cruel person of this world, I think I just got the feeling of what it feels like to be angry, furious. How it feels like to really hate someone.

And as a matter of fact, I don't only hate this criminal…. I abhor Balthazar de Lucas.

Balthazar takes a step back suddenly, his whole body language shifts from dominanting to nervous. His black eyes are wide and filled with uncertainty.

So he has sensed the change in me too.

Just as I had realised that I'm capable of feeling more than just helplessness, something snapped inside me…. And now, I'm feeling…. different…. More free than I have ever felt before.

“Before you take my blood and hand me over to my new fate, which is probably death, I want to know about somethings.” I cock my head to the side and fix my eyes on him. He averts his eyes. “Why did you do this? Why had you wanted me so desperately that you went to such lengths to get me? And what changed? What went down between you and Master Black that you decided that you don't need me anymore?”

His jaw tightens at my questions and he shifts on his feet for a while. Then clearing his throat, he turns to his goons.

“I don't have to explain myself to you and I will not explain myself to you.” He mutters, his back is to me. “Roma, bring the suitcase and let's get this show on the road.”

“I didn't ask you for any explanation. I just wanted to try to understand what's happening with me, one last time before I die. But it seems like you're not going to kill me, either you would have told me everything already.” His back stiffens on my words. “This is something else, isn't it?”

I dare to go on with the train of my thoughts. “You want to know what I think? I think that you made up this debt so that you can force me out of my hiding. You used my parents as a prop to get your hands on me. I'm damn sure if I wouldn't have showed up at my apartment that day then you could have never caught me.”

“Stop wasting your time in guessing without any clue of what you're saying, Miss. Danforth.”

“Why? Are my random guesses getting too close to the truth, Mr. Balthazar de Lucas?”

Seething, he whirls on his feet with a furious look on his face and stalks up to stand in my face. Grabbing my throat, he slams me back into the hard and cold wall before I can brace myself. The back of my head hits the wall and I let out a loud groan. My figures release the pressure and blood starts sipping out of the punctured skin of my palm.

“Stop it, just stop. I know what you're trying to do. I don't know what has gone wrong inside your head and you've turned into this mouthy bitch but let me tell you one thing, Miss Danforth, you'll never get to me.” He squeezes my windpipe and I start coughing and wheezing for air but before panic can take over my mind, he loosens his tight hold on my throat.

I try to stop myself as I gulp some much needed air but despite my resistance, a smile cracks out on my dry lips.

Balthazar's face almost turns black with rage and frustration.

“You're fucking testing my limits, bitch. I'm right on the verge of killing you. Remember that you're apparently begging for your untimely death.”

“I don't care.” I manage to breathe out before the breath is knocked out of me when Balthazar punches me in my guts.

I cave in and fall back, my bound and bloody hands desperately searching for something to support myself and keep standing upright. My stomach is already sore from taking those kicks and now it feels like someone is slicing my insides with a knife, the pain is so acute and intense that it drowns all of my emotions and forces me to focus on my self-preservation to avoid getting anymore hurt.

Through my raining eyes, I see Balthazar pull back his fist to hit me again. I squeeze my eyes shut and brace myself. But a screeching noise from some instrument tears through the dreadful quietness and freezes Balthazar in his action.

“Boss, the first representative is on the stage. Everyone has taken their seats, only you're left. Even The Great Carson has arrived.” I hear someone speak from somewhere, before my mind goes back to focus on my hurting parts.

I try to straighten up but a single movement feels like a thousand daggers are stabbing my abdomen. I bite back the loud moans that threaten to tear out of my soul.

God, does it hurt! I've never felt this much pain in my whole life. In fact, I've never felt actual physical pain, ever.

My stomach churns and revolts.

Crap! I think I'm going to be sick.

“Shit! I've got no time to waste on you, bitch.” He looks at me with a disgusted expression like I am the one who's responsible for all this. “Roma, give me the injection.”

This time, panic takes over me completely but I'm too weak to stand a chance against him. He easily grabs my arm, pulling it roughly so that my wrists can rub against the twins and make me whimper in pain. He pierces the skin on my upper arm and sucks out my blood in the unusually wide and long tube of the injection. I have to keep my lips pressed together to avoid making any noise and make this whole ordeal more painful for myself.

After transferring my blood in four different vials, he hands the equipment back to his men. “Get the fucking nurse here and tell her to fix her up. I'm going out now. I'll come back when it's her turn. By then, I want her to, at least, look presentable. Call Chelsea too.”

Dismissing his goons, Balthazar steps towards me and I cringe away in fear of getting hurt again. He smiles cruelly and grabs me by my hair. He pulls my head back till I'm whining in pain and my neck is stretched back to the breaking point. “I hope you have learned your lesson now. Don't ever try to fuck with me again. Next time, I won't show you so much mercy. Keep that in mind, you fucking whore.”

With that threat, he lets go of my hair and shoves me back before stalking out of the small room, his goons right on his heels. I stumble and barely catch myself before hitting the floor flat on my back. The tender muscles of my stomach scream with agony from the slightest of the movements and tears continue leaking out of my eyes uncontrollably.

Today, I seem to have an endless supply of tears.

Gritting my teeth through the pain, I force myself to stand upright and in just doing that, I'm out of breath and energy.

I think I'm going to pass out.

My body is sleek with sweat and my hands are covered in wounds and dried blood. My wrists and ankles have turned raw from rubbing against the spiky twin. My head is throbbing and small tendrils of my hair are sticking to my tear stained face.

God…. why? Why me?

What have I ever done to deserve all of this?

I'm hurting, from inside out, so much.

This pain is rapidly becoming unbearable.

The weight of anguish from my past and present is crushing me, it's destroying me, it's eating me alive! Am I getting punished for hating Balthazar? Am I suffering because I let those revengeful and antagonistic feelings rule out my common sense?

I want to fucking die.

I'll take death over this life anytime.

“Oh God!” Some noise at the door brings me out of my miserable and weak thoughts. I lift my head from where it was resting against the wall and find a young woman, dressed in complete white (in total contrast to the blood red clothing I'm used to seeing), standing just outside the threshold of the room.

This must be the nurse.

Her light brown eyes are filled with horror and there's no colour in her face. Do I look that bad?

“Do you have some painkillers?” I manage to stutter out through my clenched teeth.

“Uh, yes. Yes, of course.” She hurries inside to get to my side, asking me in her soft feminine voice to turn around and I do. It's been a while since I heard a female voice speaking in my tongue. It's nice to hear her speak to me instead of ordering me around like I'm an animal needed to be herded all the time.

She tugs at the twin around my wrist and I hiss through my teeth when it rubs against the rawness of my skin. She apologizes profusely before looking around for something. She spots the scissors on the floor and picks them up. Taking it to me, she cuts the twins from around my wrists and ankles. Then she helps me in walking to the bed and takes out some pills and a water bottle. I take the pain killers and wash them down with the water.

She tells me to relax a little and I lean my back against the wall, letting her clean up my bloody hands and wrap them up. She also rubs some alcohol on my upper arm, where Balthazar had pierced me before cleaning the area.

After a thorough check up of my body and rolling some bandages around the raw skin of my wrists and ankles, she gives me a sympathetic look and leaves me alone to suffer.

But just as I start to think that I am alone, Chelsea steps inside the room with a bundle of bags in her hands. She doesn't meet my eyes or says anything to me but I know why she's here. Fighting through the pain, I go through the agonizing process of getting ready, again.

By the time I've cleaned up and pulled on the new, a little less slutty, but slutty nonetheless outfit, I'm halfway to my death. I'm completely drained of energy. I don't even have enough strength to stand on my own two feet. So I sit on the bed and wait for Balthazar to come back for me.

———————

“Move it.” Roma shoves me forward and I climb up the last step of the staircase.

You have guessed right, Balthazar has sent Roma as his replacement to bring me out of the room. After getting out of room, we walked down the long corridor to the end, where Roma had opened a back door to reveal a set of dark staircases.

And after climbing up, we are on the top now, on top of a wide stage covered with black velvet carpets.

I think we are inside another room, more like a hall and it's decorated with glowing candles and petals of roses. The candles are placed in a circular path around a cross sign that's been made on the surface and the red petals scattered inside the circle, glow under the light of the lit candles, softly. If I wouldn't have known better, I'd think that it's extremely romantic. But that's not the case here. Across from me, the supposed wall is draped with heavy black and white designer curtains, hiding whatever lies beyond it. Whatever this place is, I know one thing for sure, we're no longer in Balthazar's territory. We are out somewhere else.

Roma pokes my back with his gun again and breaking out of my mind, I walk inside. He leads me straight to the circle of candles on the floor in the middle of the room and tells me to walk over the rose petals and stand on the cross. I hesitate before moving forward, my instincts kicking in at that moment and I turn on my heels to make a run to the door. He immediately knocks me back with his gun and aims it directly at my temple.

Shit! I forgot he was carrying a gun.

I wait with my breath held to shoot me but he never does. Instead he grabs my arm with the gun still pressed against the side of my temple and propels me forward to the cross sign painted on the floor. Crushing the beautiful and fragile petals underneath our steps, we reach the spot and Roma makes me stand right on top of it.

Fuck! Are they going to kill me here, on this marked spot!?

Roma instructs me not to move from position, sternly then walks back out of the circle, following the same path as before so that he won't ruin any more petals. After stepping out of the circle of candles, he turns to me.

“Don't even think about moving from your spot, I'll know immediately. And if I told my boss about your disobedience then he'll give you another hard lesson.” He threatens before crossing the room to the stairs and climbing down. He slams the downstairs door close behind him before leaving, securing me in here. Maybe more like locking me in here.

I let out a sigh and helplessly, I watch my black and white surroundings with wide fearful eyes. What's the deal with this place? The light coming from the blazing candles is barely illuminating my surroundings, which is immersed in complete darkness. This place is uncharacteristically cold in comparison to the long corridor and the prison-like room. I wrap my gloved hands around myself and rub the goosebumps on my upper arms.

God…. Why is it so cold in here?

To distract myself from the freezing atmosphere, I let my eyes travel around me. My eyes narrow down to slits when I try to peer around in the blank darkness but can't make out the structure of the room. All I know is that the surface under my soles is not solid ground, it feels like I'm standing on a raised stage. I don't know why the space around me is decorated with flower petals and candles but this whole arrangement is giving my surroundings a gothic look, like the ones you see inside the dark rooms of European Palaces.

And no matter how wrong it is, I think I like it. I feel like I am safe, here in the darkness where no one can see what kind of clothes I'm wearing and what kind of pathetic creature I am.

I am no longer bound with twins, but still I'm not trying to run away. There are two reasons for that. First reason is that I am too weak to even make it out of the corridor if I manage to get out of this room and second is that I am scared that I would run into one of the guards who are stationed out in the corridor or worse, into Balthazar. I don't even want to imagine what he'll do to me if he found me trying to escape again.

The sound of the door cracking open makes the decision for me. I am staying here only. No escaping or anything.

I slowly turn around to face Balthazar. He's standing near the top of the staircase. I tell myself that he's not going to hit me again and try to calm down my frantic heart. But instead of slowing down, my heart starts pounding when he starts making his way towards me. He stops right outside the circle, the dim glow of the candles cast him in a shadow, making him appear like a real demon, painted in the colour of his sins.

My eyes flicker between the set up and his eyes while he just stands there, studying me in silence like he's trying to take in all of me.

After a long time of scrutinizing silence, Balthazar decides to break it with the most unexpectedly surprising and terrifyingly horrible words which leave me paralysed, completely immobile.

“It's showtime, Miss. Danforth. I hope you're ready for this because as soon as we'll be finished here, you'll no longer have to see my face and I'll no longer have to keep putting up with your disrespectful attitude.”

His bleak eyes glare at me, hard and his lips curl mercilessly as he finally reveals his motive. “I am going to sell you.”

My breathing stops.

But he doesn't stop, not until my heart is hammering inside my chest and my eyes have welled up with dreadful tears.

“I am going to sell you to the person who will bid for you the highest amount of money. I don't expect much but as Master Black is going to raise money on you today, I'm damn sure that it'll elicit the other mafias and gangsters to bid for you too. You had asked me what changed after that meeting in my office, right? Well, I'll answer you now. Master Black offered me the easiest way to get to my goals so I accepted it, changed my mind and after thinking better, I decided to give you up. You must be thinking I don't give a fuck about you. But in the near future, you'll realise just how much you've meant to me. I had told you before and I'm telling you again…. You're the only one who can bring everything to me, that is power and money.”