Chapter 73: Shattered by Them

ANNABEL

I couldn't see anything with this stupid cloth tied around my eyes, but I could hear Janet laughing like this was the best day of her life. They shoved me into the car and I almost fell on my face but I wasn't going to let them see me cry or beg. Not Janet. Not any of them.

The betrayal from Christiana hurt more than anything else though. She literally sold me out like it was nothing. Like all those times we talked meant absolutely nothing to her. All those late nights when she listened to me cry about my problems, when I trusted her with my deepest fears. I trusted her and she just threw me away like garbage.

I tried to pay attention to where we were going even though I couldn't see. The car smelled gross, like old cigarettes and something else I didn't want to think about. Maybe sweat or old food. I could hear traffic at first, horns honking and engines revving, then it got quieter. We turned a bunch of times and I tried to remember which way but it was hard when you can't see anything. Left, then right, then another left maybe.

"How much longer?" Janet asked from up front.

"Not much," some guy answered. His voice was deep and rough.

Great. Just great.

The road got bumpy and I could tell we were going up somewhere. My ears felt weird like when you're on a plane. Mountains maybe. Then finally we stopped and they dragged me out of the car.

My legs were all stiff and I almost fell but I made myself stand up straight. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me weak.

They pushed me forward and I could hear gravel under my feet. The air was different here, cleaner but colder. Way colder than the city. We walked for a bit then I heard a door open and they shoved me inside.

It was echoey in here, like a big empty space. Our footsteps sounded weird and hollow. This wasn't someone's house. Maybe a warehouse or something abandoned.

"Down there," Janet called out, and her voice bounced off the walls weird.

More walking, then another door. This one sounded heavy, like metal scraping against metal. They pushed me in and slammed it shut behind me with a bang that made me jump.

"Take it off," Janet's voice was right next to me now. "I want her to see where she is And remove all her jewelries and ensure they are destroyed."

Someone pulled the blindfold off me and I had to blink a bunch of times because of the light. When I could finally see properly, my heart just sank to my stomach.

It was basically a concrete box. Gray walls, gray floor, one lightbulb hanging down from a wire. There was a gross looking mattress in the corner that looked like it had stains on it, and a metal chair that was all rusty. No windows. No way out except the door they brought me through.

One of the men, pulled off my jewelries including the bracelet Damon gifted me.

Janet was standing there with her arms crossed, smiling like she'd won the lottery or something.

"Hope you like your new room, Annabel," she practically purred. "Because you're going to be here for a really long time."

I just stared at her. What was I supposed to say to that? My brain felt all fuzzy and I couldn't think straight.

"What do you want?" I forced the words out, my voice sounding smaller than I wanted it to.

Janet got down on her knees so we were eye level, like she was talking to a little kid.

"Did you enjoy watching me fuck your sweet precious Damon? Oh my god, he was so good. We went at it for hours and just couldn't stop." She was practically moaning the words, her voice getting all breathy and fake dramatic.

That's when I completely broke. My heart just shattered into a million pieces right there in my chest. It was true. Everything she was saying was true. He'd been lying to me this whole time, playing me like some stupid game.

"Aww, look at that. Are those tears forming in your eyes?"

Janet threw her head back and laughed like this was the funniest thing she'd ever seen, holding her stomach like she might fall over.

"I thought you were some super woman who wouldn't care if I slept with your boyfriends. You were so okay with it before, so normal when I fucked Mark. And then Michael. Poor sweet Michael was so easy to manipulate."

She stood up and started walking toward the door, taking her time like she was enjoying every second of this.

"I don't care what you did with any of them. Just let me out of here. What do you even want from me? You already have them all." I rushed to the door and pushed against it as hard as I could but it wouldn't move at all. Not even a little bit.

"Oh sweetheart, you can't leave here. This is your new home now." Janet was still laughing. "And your precious Damon? He'll probably be in my bed before he even notices you're gone. We'll be fucking in that sweet bed of his while you're rotting in here."

She turned around and walked out without another word, leaving me completely alone in this concrete nightmare.

I collapsed to the floor, my knees hitting the hard concrete. The sobs just came and I couldn't stop them. They tore out of my chest like they'd been building up forever.

How did everything go so wrong in one day? Getting betrayed once wasn't enough - now I was kidnapped by someone I thought was my friend. Someone I trusted completely.

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It's been three hours since I got kidnapped and stuck in this cell. Three whole hours. During those three hours, I'd been trying to figure out every possible reason why Janet would do this to me. What did she gain from it? What was the point?

I'd also been trying really hard not to think about Damon, even though I knew he was probably with some other girl right now. Maybe Janet wasn't even lying. Maybe he really was with her already, not even caring that I was gone.

My chest hurt every time I thought about it, this sharp pain that made it hard to breathe. But something deep inside me, some stupid hopeful part, kept telling me not to believe it.

But I did believe it. I had to. He was way too good for someone like me anyway. Guys like Damon don't stay with girls like me. They just don't.

There was literally no way to escape from this place. The room had only one door and it was locked tight with what sounded like a heavy key. I'd already checked every single inch of these concrete walls, looking for cracks or loose spots or anything. Nothing.

Then I heard voices outside. Quiet at first, just whispers, then getting louder as they got closer. Heavy footsteps on what sounded like concrete.

Two guys walked into view first, big guys in dark clothes. But there was someone behind them, someone I couldn't see yet. I pressed myself against the back wall as hard as I could, trying to make myself smaller as they got closer.

When the third person stepped into the light, my blood went completely cold. My face went white and I felt like I might throw up.

It was him. The guy who wanted me dead. The one who'd been hunting me for reasons I still didn't understand. His green eyes looked almost black now in this dim light, and the way he stared at me made me want to disappear completely.

I wanted to run so bad, every instinct in my body was screaming at me to run, but there was nowhere to go. Like he could read my thoughts or something.

He walked up to my cell door and pulled out a key, unlocking it like he owned the place. The door swung open with that same horrible metal screech.

"Hello, cupcake."