Chapter 67 Anya
I woke up to darkness and pain.
My head throbbed. My wrists burned. My mouth was dry.
Where was I?
I tried to move. But I could not. My hands were tied behind my back. My ankles bound to a chair.
Panic surged through me.
The last thing I remembered was Viktor. He had injected me with something and had taken me.
And Nikolai had not come. He had not saved me. Just like the dream I had.
Viktor had betrayed him. He had kept him in the dark while he took me.
That bastard.
"Awake, I see," a voice said from the darkness.
I recognized it immediately. Viktor Morozov. Katya's father.
"Where am I?" My voice came out hoarse and rough.
"Somewhere your boyfriend will never find you. Somewhere you will die. Slowly and painfully."
Lights flickered on, blinding me. I blinked, and tried to adjust.
Viktor was standing in front of me.
We were in some kind of basement with concrete walls and no windows. Not even a single door.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
"Because your boyfriend humiliated my daughter. He embarrassed my family. And now he will pay. With your life."
"Katya left on her own! She did not want to marry him!"
"What my daughter wants is irrelevant. What matters is honor and respect. And Nikolai Markov disrespected me. So now I will take what he loves most."
He walked closer and pulled out a knife.
I tried to pull away. But I was tied too tightly.
"What are you going to do?" My voice shook.
"I am going to make you suffer. I will cut you and make you bleed. You beg for death. And then, at midnight, I am going to kill you. And send your corpse to Nikolai as a message."
Tears streamed down my face. "Please. Please do not do this."
"Begging will not save you. Nothing will save you. You chose the wrong man. And now you will pay the price."
He brought the knife to my face and traced it down my cheek. "I wonder," he said. "How much pain can you endure? Shall we find out?"
The knife moved to my arm and pressed against my skin.
I screamed.
The blade cut a little hollow. But it was painful. Blood dripped down my arm.
"Just a taste," Viktor said. "We have hours until midnight. Plenty of time for more."
"Nikolai will find me! He will kill you!"
"Nikolai does not even know where you are. My guard captain made sure of that. By the time Nikolai realizes you are gone, it will be too late."
"You will not get away with this!"
"I already have."
He cut me again. On the other arm. It was deeper this time.
I screamed again. The pain was overwhelming.
"Music to my ears," Viktor said. "Scream louder. No one can hear you down here."
He cut me again. And again. All over my arms. My legs and my torso.
It wasn't deep enough to kill. But it was enough to make me bleed.
"Please," I sobbed. "Please stop."
"Why? We are just getting started."
He put down the knife and picked up something else.
Pliers.
My eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
"I told you. We are going to see how much pain you can endure."
He grabbed my hand and pulled on one of my fingers.
"No! No, please!"
"This is what happens when you choose wrong."
The pliers closed around my fingernail.
And then the real torture began.
I do not know how long it lasted. Time became meaningless.
All I felt was pain. And Viktor's cold voice. Taunting and mocking. Telling me how Nikolai would never find me. How I would die here. Alone and broken.
"Stop," I finally whispered. My voice was gone. My throat was raw from screaming.
"What was that?"
"Please... stop... I cannot... take anymore..."
"Oh, but you can. We still have hours. And I am quite creative."
He picked up the knife again.
But before he could cut me, his phone rang.
He answered. "Yes?"
I could not hear the other side. But Viktor's face changed.
"What do you mean he is there? How did he find it?" He paused. "It does not matter. He will not find anything. The girl is not there." He paused again. "Because I moved her. I knew he would find the factory eventually."
My heart sank. Nikolai was looking for me. But he was in the wrong place.
Viktor hung up and looked at me with that cruel smile.
"Your boyfriend is very persistent. But also very stupid. He is tearing apart my factory looking for you. He has no idea you are here."
"Where is here?"
"Somewhere he will never think to look. Right under his nose."
Understanding hit me like a truck.
"We are in Moscow. Near his estate."
"Very good. Yes. We are in one of my properties. Less than a mile from Nikolai's mansion. And he will never know. Because by the time he searches everywhere else, you will be dead."
He checked his watch. "Three hours until I end your miserable life."
"He will find me."
"No. He will not. And do you know the best part?" Viktor leaned close. "I am going to send him photos. Every hour. Showing what I am doing to you. And there is nothing he can do to stop it."
He pulled out his phone and took a photo of me.
"Perfect. This will destroy him."
He sent the photo.
Then he picked up the knife again.
"Now. Where were we?"
The next three hours were hell.
Viktor cut me, burned me and broke me.
Every hour, he stopped to take a photo.
I screamed until I had no voice left. I cried until I had no tears.
And through it all, one thought kept me going.
Nikolai would find me. He had to. He would not give up.
He would save me.
He always saved me.
But as midnight approached, as Viktor prepared for the final cut, I started to lose hope.
Maybe this was it. Maybe this was how I died.
"Any last words?" Viktor asked.
I looked him in the eyes. "Yes."
"Oh? What?"
"Nikolai is going to kill you. And I hope I am alive to see it."
Viktor laughed. "Bold words for a dying woman."
He pressed the knife against my skin.
But the door exploded inward.