Borrowed Time

Borrowed Time
POV: Isla
So this is it. This is how I die. I closed my eyes as I whispered inside my head. My arms throbbed against the rope and my ankles screamed where they were tied.
I had tried everything—pulling, twisting, biting back at the pain just to loosen myself from the ropes, but nothing worked inside this dark room.
It had no windows or light. Just cold, unforgiving walls pressing into me like a tomb as the sick thought of my death coiled through me, slick and suffocating. 
I wanted to scream again until my throat dried out, but even my voice felt useless now. The men guarding me outside would just laugh and remind me again that no one was coming.
But then—
like a spark in the dark—an idea crept into my head. Not really an escape but a chance. A small fragile thread of survival if I could get close enough and get my hands on one of their phones. Just one call. 
One chance to reach Damian and tell him that I have been kidnapped by these fucking monsters. His name pulsed in my skull like a heartbeat. He had to be looking for me. 
He had to know something was wrong because I could already picture him tearing through every inch of the city until he found me. My knight in armor—
Not really, but a dark and dangerous man who would burn the world down if any harm came upon me. If I could just let him hear my voice, he would come running to find me.
I swallowed hard, getting ready to execute my plan in full motion even though something inside me was telling me that it was a dangerous plan.
 “Hey!”
“Somebody! I need the restroom!”
My words fell on deaf ears, swallowed by the shadows because no one answered. Only the sound of the pipes.
I raised my voice higher, sharper, desperate now. 
“Can anyone hear me? I’m pressed!”
“Unless you want me to do it right here, I need to use the restroom!”
For a moment, I got no response. Then— the sound of boots scraped against the concrete floor outside as it approached my direction. The door flung open with a loud crack, slamming against the wall. 
A man walked in, his face covered underneath a black cap, but his gaze cut through the dark like ice. “Why the fuck are you screaming, little bitch?” He growled.
“I need the restroom,” I said quickly, meeting his stare, forcing my voice to steady. “I can’t use the restroom if I’m tied up. You have to untie me.”
A bitter laughter tore out of him. “The Boss didn’t say anything about letting you walk around.”
“Then tell your boss that I need to use the restroom,” I shot back, even though my heart was pounding so hard I thought he might hear it. 
“Because if I don’t go now, I’ll do it here. On this floor. And you can explain the mess to him.”
He stood there for a while, as though contemplating whether to do it or not. For a moment, I thought he’d hit me for running my mouth too much.
But then—
His rough hands shot back and yanked the ropes. The bindings fell loose around my wrists as blood rushed back through them.
“Get up,” he ordered, gripping my arm.
I staggered to my feet, weak and unsteady. I let my knees buckle deliberately, falling forward on him as though I slipped. He caught me before I could completely reach the floor with his rough hands.
 “Watch your step fuckin bitch!” He cursed.
But I wasn’t listening to any word he said, because my hand had slipped into his pocket and pulled his phone without him noticing it.
He shoved me toward a door at the far end of the hallway, “Get in,” he snapped, his hands still gripping my arm tightly.
I stumbled into the restroom as the door slammed shut behind me. “You have two minutes,” he warned through the wood. 
“Try anything funny and you won’t like the consequences.”
My chest is rising and falling like I had just run miles, though all I had done was sit in that suffocating room and do nothing. I looked down at my hand—
It was trembling as though it no longer belonged to me. But I had to act fast and with this phone or it is over for me. I bit back a sob, clapping my hand over my mouth to cover any sound that would give me away.
The phone felt slippery against my damp skin as I held it. When the screen lit up and the glow was blinding, stabbing into my eyes after staying in a dark place for so long.
Come on. 
Come on, Isla. Don’t you dare fuck this up.
The screen blurred through the clutter of sweat and tears streaming down my face all at once, but I didn’t care. My fingers are already typing Damian’s number in.
The only lifeline I had.
The dial tone filled my ear, every pause between the rings felt like an eternity.
Ring.
“Please…” 
I murmured to myself, the words leaving my mouth before I could stop them. More like a prayer than a sound.
Ring.
“Please, Damian, answer…”
Ring.
The silence between one ring and the next and the next one after that, as though the world itself was holding its breath and refusing me mercy. 
Tears blurred my vision as I tapped at the screen with trembling fingers, ending the call, redialing it before my brain even caught up.
This time my hand shook so violently that the phone nearly slipped from my grip. I pressed it tighter to my ear, every blood in my body drying up.
Ring.
Ring.
“Pick the goddamn call, Damian Cross.”
My throat closed, sobs forcing their way to claw out. Come on. Come on. Pick up. Please pick up.
Ring—
BAM!
The door exploded open with a sound so violent it thundered through the room. My whole body flinched in fear as I turned my eyes to the door.
Then the phone slipped instantly from my grip, falling to the floor, and in the same moment—
Damian’s voice echoed through it.
“Hello?”