Shattered Hope

Shattered Hope
POV: Isla

“You little bitch!” He barked.

The glow of the phone in my trembling hands betrayed me as the man’s eyes dropped to it, and in a split second, his face twisted into something monstrous.

I lifted the phone to my mouth, instinct forcing me to say something—anything before the man would grab the phone off my hands.

“Damian! It’s Isla!”

“Help me!”

The words barely left my mouth before he lunged. His hand was a hammer, ripping the phone from my grasp so fast my fingers burned. 

He thrashed it into the wall with a violent crack as its glass shattered into pieces across the floor. The line went dead, followed by my last fragile hope.

Damian heard me. I’m very sure he must have heard me screaming and he knew I had been kidnapped. He’ll find me— I clung to that thought like air in drowning lungs.

“You think you’re smart, huh?”

The man’s voice rose into a roar, thundering across the restroom like a blade.

“Stupid, filthy whore!”

“Damian’s little pet!” 

“You think screaming into a fucking phone is gonna save you?!” 

His hand shot out, pointing at the shattered phone that lay uselessly on the floor before parting his lips to curse at me again.

“You’re nothing but bait,” he spat, eyes wild with fury. 

“A useless and stupid slut who doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. You think anyone’s coming for you?”

“No one’s coming! No one ever will!”

He lunged at me before I knew it, the back of his hand colliding with my cheek with brutal force. My head snapped to the side even as his voice kept pounding at me, cruel, relentless.

“I’ll break every bone in your body before I let you trick me again. I’ll carve that scream right out of your throat if you even try it a second time, do you hear me?”

His palm crashed across my face, once, twice, three times with a sound so sharp it echoed even in the darkness. The taste of blood floods my mouth as my head snaps with each slap.

Before I could recover, another slap landed across my cheeks. Harder this time and ringing in my ears. I whimpered, choking on the blood that filled my mouth.

But I wouldn’t beg. Not especially, after I knew that Damian had heard me and would be on his way already.

The man grabbed my hair, forcing me upright as he dragged me back into the dark suffocating room. He shoved me against the wall in one swift motion and gripped my wrists as he bound me with the ropes tighter than before.

Then—

The door creaked open and he entered like a shadow. The leader of the Crimson Jackals whom I spoke with earlier.

“So,” his voice was low, venomous, “I hear our little guest tried to outsmart us.”

His boots stopped in front of me as he paused, and then his hand shot forward, closing around my throat.  “You think you can trick me?” he hissed, his face inches from mine. 

“You think you can scream for your little lover boy and he’ll come running to save you?”His grip on my neck tightened.

I clawed weakly at his wrist, trying to break free from it. No air. Only the pounding of blood in my ears. Then, just as I thought I’d finally die, he released me. 

I slumped against the ropes, gasping for breath as he leaned in closer, his cruel gaze met with mine. “I should kill you right now after what you did.” His smile was slow, cruel.

“Snap your pretty neck and leave your body for Damian to find. But where’s the fun in that?”

“Do it, then.” I shot back.

“Because if you don’t kill me now, he’ll find you. And when he does, you won’t stand a chance.”

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. I wanted him to see that I wasn’t afraid of him either. If there was only one man I feared in this world—it’s Damian Cross.

A bitter laughter tore out of him, a low, bitter sound that crawled under my skin. “Damian will come,” he said. 

“Oh, I’m counting on it. But he won’t find you here.” His grin widened, sharp as a blade. “Because by the time he comes running here to save you…..”

“…..You’ll be long gone.”

My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

He leaned in, his breath hot against my ear. “It means sweetheart that we’re moving you tonight. Somewhere no one….. not even Damian fucking Cross…..will ever find you.”

I struggled against the ropes, fear creeping its way into every part of me. “You can try to hide me anywhere in the world,” I spat, voice shaking. “Damien will find me anywhere. He’ll burn the world down to get to me.”

“Burn it down?” He shot back, “Then let him try. But the time he sets foot near me, you’ll already be begging for death.” 

His hand caressed my cheek mockingly, a wicked imitation of tenderness. “And I’ll make sure your last breath is the slowest, sweetest agony you’ve ever known.”

I jerked away from his touch, the hatred mixed with strength gave me the strength to look him in the eyes even as tears slipped down my bruised face.

“Do your worst,” I whispered. “It won’t matter. He’ll kill you for laying a finger on me. All of you.”

For a moment, something flickered in his eyes — fear, maybe even doubt. Then it vanished, buried under his cold mask.

He turned and walked out towards the door, slamming it shut behind him as the lock clicked into place. My throat burned from his grip, and the ropes dug deep into my wrists.

But even in the midst of this whole damn pain, only one single thread of hope clung to me— Damian had heard my voice. He would come.

“Damian… hurry.”