Chapter 12: Riley

We’ve been waiting for what feels like forever when I finally hear a faint rustling from the room. I nudge Danny, and we exchange a quick glance before heading down the hall toward where we left her. Leo and Nate had gone out to get supplies—food, water, basic things we’ll need if she’s going to be here a while. Danny and I decided to stay behind, just in case she woke up.

When I open the door, I see her sitting up on the bed, looking around the room with this dazed, confused expression. The second she spots us, her eyes widen in terror, and she scrambles back, pressing herself against the wall, her body curling up as far away from us as possible. She lets out a scream, her voice piercing and full of panic, and I can see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Stay away!” she cries, her voice shaking. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Danny says, stepping forward, hands up like he’s trying to calm a wild animal. “We’re not here to hurt you. We just need to talk—”

Before he can finish, she grabs her shoe and hurls it at him with surprising force. He ducks just in time, and the shoe goes flying over his head, hitting the wall with a dull thud. She grabs the other one, launching it right at his chest. He takes it, barely wincing, but it’s enough to make him stop in his tracks.

“Please, calm down,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. Her whole body is trembling, and she looks at us like we’re monsters. “I know this is scary, but we’re not going to hurt you.”

“Then why did you bring me here?” she demands, her voice cracking. “What do you want with me?”

Danny glances at me, unsure of how to proceed, so I step forward, hands up. “We know about your parents,” I say softly. “We know what they’re planning to do to you.”

That seems to catch her off guard. She freezes, her eyes narrowing as she studies me, as if she’s trying to figure out if I’m lying. “What are you talking about?”

I take a breath, trying to choose my words carefully. “Your parents made a deal with a man, a very powerful man. They’re planning to sell you to him, to make a lot of money. We know because he’s the same man we’ve been going up against for years. We’re… we’re tired of this life too.”

She stares at me, a flicker of something like understanding passing over her face, but then her fear returns, stronger than ever. “So you kidnapped me to sell me to him yourselves? You’re just like them!”

“No, it’s not like that,” Danny interjects, holding his hands up again. “We’re not going to hand you over. We’re just keeping you here until we can figure out a way to—”

“To what?” she cuts him off, her voice rising as panic sets in again. “To use me as leverage? To bargain with him? So no matter what, I’m still just someone’s property! I’d rather be dead than live like that. You should have just killed me instead.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I feel something twist in my chest, and before I can stop myself, I cross the room and grab her shoulders, not hard, but enough to make her look at me. “Don’t say that,” I say, my voice rough. “We’re not going to hurt you. You’re not just some tool for us to use.”

She’s still shaking, tears running down her face as she stares up at me, her fear raw and overwhelming. I let go, taking a step back, and in that moment, Leo and Nate walk in, both of them stopping short when they see her like this.

Sofia’s eyes widen even more when she sees Leo, and she lets out a small, broken sound. “You… it was you. It was all a trick, wasn’t it?” Her voice is barely a whisper, but it’s filled with so much betrayal that it’s almost unbearable.

Leo takes a step forward, his face filled with regret. “Sofia, I can explain—”

“Don’t!” she screams, pulling her knees up to her chest. “Just leave me alone. All of you. You brought me here to use me, so just… leave me alone until it’s time to sell me off. I don’t want to see any of you. I don’t care what you do. Just go!”

I exchange a look with the others, and it’s clear they’re feeling just as shaken as I am. We leave the room, one by one, closing the door behind us, and the moment I’m outside, I feel like I can finally breathe again. But the image of her, so scared and broken, won’t leave my mind. I’ve faced down men who’ve looked me in the eye with hate, anger, desperation—but none of it felt like this. Her fear, her betrayal, it cuts deep, and for the first time in a long time, I wonder if we’re doing the right thing.

I’m not used to feeling this way. I’m not used to feeling anything. And as I stand there, listening to the faint sounds of her sobs from the other side of the door, I feel a heaviness settle in my chest that I can’t shake. We wanted a way out of this life, but I never expected it to feel like this. I never expected that, in trying to escape, I’d find myself facing something even darker than what I left behind.

We’re all standing in the hallway, and the silence is suffocating. My fists are clenched, and I can’t stop hearing her words, her screams, over and over again in my head. I feel Danny beside me, his shoulders tense, jaw clenched tight. Leo’s standing a few steps away, looking like he’s been hit by a truck, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

“Fuck!” Danny suddenly yells, slamming his fist against the wall. The sound echoes through the empty hangar, sharp and hollow. He leans back against the wall, pressing his hands to his face, and I can tell he’s barely holding it together.

Leo just stares at the floor, barely blinking. “She’ll never forgive me,” he whispers, his voice almost too low to hear. He looks like he’s ready to break, and I know that he’s beating himself up inside. “The way she looked at me… she’s never going to forgive any of us.”

I take a deep breath, forcing myself to keep it together, but the weight in my chest feels like it’s crushing me. Why are we all feeling like this? We’ve done things like this our whole lives. We’ve taken people, hurt them, used them. It’s all part of the job. But this girl… there’s something about her that I can’t shake. The fear in her eyes, the way she curled up in the corner, desperate to put any distance between us—it’s tearing me apart.

“I don’t get it,” I say, running a hand over my face. “Why does this feel different? Why do I feel like… like I need to go back in there, try to explain, try to make her understand?”

Danny looks over at me, his expression conflicted. “Because we’re not supposed to care. We’re not supposed to feel anything. But with her… it’s different.”

Leo nods, still looking at the floor. “I don’t know what it is about her, but it’s like… we can’t just treat her like any other mark.”

I lean back against the wall, closing my eyes. I want to run back in there, to hold her, to try and make her see that we’re not as terrible as she thinks we are. But I can’t. I know I shouldn’t. Getting attached would only make this harder, for all of us.

“We need to remember why we’re doing this,” I say, trying to convince myself as much as them. “We can’t get attached. She’s just a means to an end, nothing more.”

But as the words leave my mouth, I know that I don’t believe them. None of us do. And as we stand there, drowning in silence, I can’t shake the feeling that this girl, this one girl, has already changed everything.