Chapter 19
Alina
For a while, I was completely blind to what was going on. The last thing I remembered before I was whisked away was the huge figure that grabbed me like I weighed nothing. I had no idea who was behind this but one thing I knew was that i'd rather die than give up and whoever it was behind all of this, I was going to give them the fight of their lives. The vehicle I was in sped on and with every minute that passed, I was feeling more and more tensed because I had no idea where all of this was going and who I was going to face. The more I tried to think of this whole scenario, the more confused I got.
"Think Alina, think." I muttered.
The blindfold wasn't helping matters as well as I was practically blind to the world with no idea where I was going. The only thing that indicated I wasn't alone in this dank, smelling vehicle was the murmurs of voices coming from all around me. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't pinpoint exactly where they were coming from.
"Who's there?" I called out.
There was a beat of silence then movement and everything stopped, as silent as it had been a few minutes before. I hated to think I was being watched, being scrutinized as the vehicle powered on but that was exactly the case.
"Shut up bitch!" a gruffy, deep voice said.
I swallowed, fear cradling every part of my body. That alone told me I was not to joke with whoever this was. There was no escape route, my hands were tied- I was practically immobile.
"Please, I beg you. Just let me go, anything at all you want... name it and its yours."
A collective burst of laughter was all I heard before I was dealt a heavy blow to the side of my head. I jerked back, wishing I had just remained quiet. Tears stung the corner of my eyes and despite everything, I was very determined to not let them see me cry. I had been humiliated enough to give them the satisfaction that everything they had done to me hurt me when in reality, it actually did.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the vehicle pulled to a stop. Footsteps hurried past me before the cool evening wind slapped my face with no warning. As I was dragged down, I could tell that we were in some kind of riverine area judging from the waves I heard.
"Move it!" another voice barked.
With each step I took, I made a mental count from where the vehicle stopped just in case by a stroke of luck, I was able to get out of this hellhole even though the very possibility of that seemed bleak.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, fear lacing my voice.
"You'll know that soon."
There were soon collective chuckles all around me and wherever they were taking me to, I knew it had to be bad. Soon, we stopped in what seemed to be a warehouse and finally, the blindfold was removed from my eyes. I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes to the bright environment and the first thing I noticed were the masked men, numbering about three standing in strategic positions. They all looked at me like I was some kind of prized toy and with each minute that passed, I was increasingly disgusted but still, I was powerless to fight men who I had no doubt were hired to kill me.
"What do you want?" I screamed in hopes that someone, somewhere could hear me.
One of the men walked towards me and to my surprise, he removed his mask, exposing a boxer's face. His nose was crooked and his lopsided evil smirk didn't make any of it better. In fact, he was evil in human form. The most despicable human i'd ever seen.
"Sit." he said, placing a chair in front of me.
I stretched out my hands, demanding to be untied even as he roughly took my hands, snapping the ziptie loose. My wrist was now free but at what cost? My eyes scanned every possible exit but I couldn't find any which just told me I was in a more shittier situation thanI had anticipated.
"Well... well... well, look who we have here."
That voice, I'd heard it before but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where exactly I heard it from. It was all too familiar but still, I couldn't place a face to the voice.
"We got her boss." Ugly man said.
The voice walked around and stood in front of me and to my greatest shock, I realized it was Damon’s friend and teammate, someone I'd seen on TV and sports interviews, someone I'd always trusted.
"Surprise... surprise." he cackled, walking around me in a predatory move.
"Nathan! You! What did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this?" I cried out.
The betrayal stung and even though Damon wasn't all that close to him, I could never have imagined he'd be capable of doing something like this. Kidnapping and deep down, I had a high suspicion that he was responsible for Damon's "Accident."
"Oh well, how about having you all to myself and let's just say Damon happens to be in the way..." he snapped, grabbing a gun from one of his men.
As I sat there taking it all in, I realized how wrong I had been to think all of this was Sabrina's doing. I had been rude to her the day she came to visit Damon at the hospital without knowing that Nathan, Damon's friend and teammate was behind it all.
"The accident... you know that little scratch Damon got, it wasn't just random... It was my plan all along."
He fired two rounds of bullets into the air, making me jump in fright even as fear crowded all around me. I didn't want to believe any of what was happening but it was all there, happening in my very face.
"Stop! Just stop it! Damon doesn't deserve any of this. He's your captain and your friend and he holds you in high esteem. Whatever you've got going on, is between me and you but please leave Damon out of your sick, twisted game." I cried out, tears streaming down my eyes.
"You wanna know a little secret Alina?" he cackled, tracing his gun round the corner of my neck.
I shivered in fright, praying to any gods above to save me from this madness, his madness. I had heard and even read of maniacal people who were obsessed with someone but never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine i'll be involved in one much less someone whom I trusted.
"Truth is I'd been in love with you all along, ever since Damon told us about you, bragged about you and even went as far as rubbing your photos in our faces. I wanted Damon out of the way, to cut him off everything he ever held dear and in this case, that't you and his profession."
"Sabrina..." I muttered in tears.
"Oh Sabrina... i'm still coming for her... It's all a matter of time.." he laughed.
"What are you going to do to me?"
He paused for a moment, as if thinking about it but I knew deep within his twisted mind, he knew the answer. In fact, he'd already planned all of this out.
"I'm going to release you." he laughed.
Out of all the things I expected to hear from him, this wasn't what I had expected.
"What kind of sick joke are you playing at? Release me?"
"Oh yes, i'm going to release you... just take this as a warning to Damon and oh yes, you are free to tell him everything that's happened."
I was confused about everything he'd said but if there was one thing I knew, the game had only just begun and this was a war I wasn't willing to back down. He dragged me up, holding my arm in a tight grip.
He leaned in, smiled faintly, and said, “By tomorrow, Damon will be dead for real... and you’ll finally be mine.”