CHAPTER THIRTY

Melina

I look out the small window in the room Franky, and I are in. They are bars on the window so we can't use them to escape. I have been trying to figure out a way to get us out of here these past two weeks. Franky is currently in a coma, and the doctors don't know when she will wake up. I spend most of my days telling her about the incredible life we will have once I figure out a way to get us out of here.

I also haven't seen Rafael or James these past two weeks. I am pleased about this. They both scare me, and seeing them could only mean something terrible would happen to me. My decision to end my life has changed. I thought about leaving Franky alone in this world after everything she has been through because of me and realized that would be cruel of me. Franky would be devastated when she wakes up and finds out all her suffering was for nothing. I can't bring myself to do that to my sister after all she has been through. I decided to be strong and try to survive this place so Franky could be happy again.

My train of thoughts is interrupted as I feel someone's breath on my neck. I don't need to turn around to know who it is as he whispers into my ears.

"Hello Mel, It's been ages since we last saw" James's fingers move to my knees, and he begins to trail his hand up my leg. My skin crawls with disgust as he does this.

"Don't touch me" I move away from him and try to put some space between us.

"You want to play hard to get, I like it" he smirks and begins to stalk towards me by the edge of the wall.

"Leave me alone" I take further steps away from him. My body has barely healed from his last assault. I don't want another torture session. I wish to die, but I also hope it could be painless.

"Come here, you slut" he grabs my arms and pulls me close to him.

"Don't touch me" I push my hands against his chest to get him away from me.

"Not going to happen, honey; I came to get what you promised" He puts his disgusting mouth on my neck and leaves a kiss there. I am too busy trying to push him off me; if not, I would use my nails to scrape his touch off my skin.

"What could I ever promise a monster like you" I push his face away from my neck as he tries to kiss it again.

"Don't you remember" he looks into my eyes as he speaks.

"The promise you made to save your child," As James says, these hot angry tears fill my eyes

"You killed my baby and have the gut to come here and say that. You bastard" Rage I never knew I had in me fills my whole body, and without thinking of how stupid it is, I attack James. I hit my fist on his chest and tried to do as much damage as my little hands could do.

James catches my hands and locks them behind my back before slapping me hard across the face. "You stupid bitch, It seems I need to teach you a lesson." He grabs my arm and begins to drag me out of the room. We walk out into the open area in the basement.

"You seem to have forgotten who the boss around here is" James drags me to the middle of the room. He brings my hands forward and ties them together with a rope. He uses that rope to lift my hands above my head and hooks them to something on the roof. My legs are barely touching the ground as I hang in the air. The same way they tied me when they made the video for Thomas. I begin to panic as I watch James play with a whip in his hand. He is going to hurt me again, and I feel it will be worse this time.

James walks behind me and begins to rip my dress off me. I try to lose my hands from the ropes, but this only earns me a slap.

"Please don't hurt me, James; I am sorry for what I said." I plead with him as tears fill my eyes.

I am not given time to prepare before the whip kisses my skin. I scream my lungs out as the hot whip hits my skin. I feel my skin tear, and blood flows from where I am beaten. I curve my back to get away from him, but this does nothing to help. I scream again as he uses the whip to hit my skin, and this goes on for a while.

I plead with him to stop as he decorates my back, but he doesn't budge. My throat burns from screaming in pain and wailing. Blood is dripping on my forehead from my wrist as I tried to free my hands from the rope. The sweat and tears on my face have mixed with the blood. Salt and blood have merged in my mouth.

I drop my head forward and look at the floor through my blurry eyes because of tears and blood. I see a lot of blood flowing on the floor. I don't even want to imagine how my back would look right now. The amount of blood flowing down my legs also tells me a lot of damage has been done to my body.

My eyelids feel heavy, and my body is about to shut down. I stop fighting to keep my eyes open and embrace the darkness, but my plans are cut short. James slaps me hard across the face and screams for me to open my eyes. I struggle to do as he says while he unties the ropes around my hands.

The second my hands are free, I fall to the ground. James picks me up and throws me on my front on a table. My body roughly hits the table, and I find it harder to keep my eyes open as my head rests on the table. My eyes shoot open as I feel someone's hand on my skin. I don't need to look back to know who is touching me. His horrible breath beside my ear as he unbuckles his pants is enough to tell me who he is.

"You still smell as good as you always did" James licks the back of my ear. New tears begin to drop from my eyes as I await more assault to be done to me. I shut my eyes tight and try to take my mind far away from here as I feel him struggle to enter me. I grab hard to the edge of the table and bite my lips and brace myself for more torture about to begin. James spread my legs wide apart, and as he was about to thrust into me, something happened which caused him to halt his actions.

"Boss, we might have a problem. We need you right now," A man says, barging into the basement.

"Can't you see I'm busy right now, you idiot"

"Trust me, boss, our problem is far more important."

"It……." James is cut short as gunshots are heard from outside. "What the fuck was that?" James asks the man

"That's why we need you right now, boss. It seems we might be under attack."

"Under attack," James begins to button up his pants. "Why the fuck didn't you say that when you came in" he walks up to the man by the door.

"I wasn't sure."

"Idiot," he slaps the man across the face. He struck him that the poor man fell to the ground. "Watch her and make sure nothing happens to her" James walks out of the basement after saying this.

I gently lift my battered body off the table. I place my hand on the table's edge and use it as support to stand up straight. I look around the room for anything to use to cover myself. Unfortunately, I can't see any piece of cloth around. I use the table for support and walk to the closest wall in the room. I drop to the ground, pull my knees to my chest, and try to cover my exposed skin as much as possible. I am leaning on the wall on my side, so my back is not touching it.

I jump a little in my spot as I hear more gunshots fired outside. My body begins to shake as I feel my death approaching. My teeth grind against each other fast as tears roll down my face and fear grips me hard. The shouts from the men outside are enough to tell me that whatever is happening outside will be the cause of my death once they reach here.

I begin to convulse faster as I hear the door break off its hinges. I don't even dare lift my head to see my executioner. I wrap my arms tighter around myself and begin to say my last prayers. I pray someone would save Franky if I die, and she gets to live a good life. I also pray I go to heaven. My thoughts are interrupted as I feel something drop on my body. My brows pull together in confusion. Why would the killers outside cover me? I gently lift my head from in between my legs and face my killer.

"Melina," Thomas says, locking eyes with me.