Respect

Chapter 10: Her Unheard Cries

Athena's POV
I opened my eyes feeling like my body had just survived a rodeo ride. Everything was aching, and I had to deal with all this.

What does he even want from me?

He and his men were the worst. They kept me locked up in my room like some prisoner. They even had the audacity to stand at my door.

It was noon when the door came open revealing yet another scary looking, tattooed, giant of a man.

Where does one even begin to find such people?

He was holding a tray and came closer to me. I stumbled trying to get away from him and eventually pinned myself to the wall.

"What's that?" I asked as if I never saw
"It's food" he said in a deep voice giving me an obvious glance

He walked out closing the door behind him when it opened again, this time, it was him.

"I hope you're okay with what I asked the chef to prepare for you" he said not receiving an answer from me.

"You know, you need to regain your strength. It's not in your best interest to be weak" I rolled my eyes at him hissing I the process.

"If you need anything, anything at all, you can call any of my men, they'll attend to you while I'm away"

"Why I'm I here!" I blurted out

"For your protection"

"Protection! You're the one who kidnapped me in the first place, I need to be protected from you!"

"I don't know where you got that, but I'll repeat it, I'm not the one who kidnapped you, I saved you, and trust me, you're lucky I found you"

"Lucky?! Oh so, I'm supposed to be grateful your grace! Why I'm I here? Why I'm I locked up if you intend to save me? This feels like you just moved me to another sell"

"Then consider it an upgrade" he said walking out

"Hey! I don't want to be here! Please" I said the last part crying out as the door closed shut.

I cried for them to let me out, banging on the door for what seemed like hours with no luck. I couldn't think. I was scared of what would happen to Seven. What if they found him, what would they do to my brother?
I wanted to see him. I couldn't lose him. Not him too. I had to get out. Somehow.
_______
It was now late and I hadn't eaten anything. I didn't feel like it. I was looking out the window praying for a miracle when the door opened.

"You haven't eaten?" He said
"Athena" he called, in what I think was a low voice
"I know you're not at all delighted to be here, believe me, this is not how I wanted all this to play out, but you can't starve yourself, you need to eat"

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked

"What?"

"What are you going to do to me? Why I'm I here? What for? To be your toy, for you to have something to take out your anger on....what is it?! Why I'm I here?! You want to kill me, don't you? Listen please, I have a brother, and he's all I have left, please....don't hurt him. I beg you, please leave my brother out of this" I said begging on my knees

"Athena....get some rest" he said walking out.

I hated myself for allowing this to happen to me. I wanted to leave so bad. I cried myself to sleep that night.
_______
The following morning, I was woken up by his voice echoing in my room calling my name.

"Athena" he said startling me. He sighed which confused me. He had a bag in his hand which also confused me but scared me at the same time.

Was it for me?

"These are just a few things that I thought you'd need" he said placing the bag on the bed
"Get ready"
"Excuse me!" I said
"Get ready, we're going out"

I wasn't going to do what he said obviously, but it hit me that I hadn't actually taken a shower in days.

Wow!

Mom should be disappointed. I got up and went to the bathroom. I entered the shower and let the water run. It felt so heavenly. For a moment, I felt so good. As the hot water ran down my body massaging ever swore part of me, it felt so refreshing and I made sure to enjoy it.

I got out and decided to look in the bag he had brought. It was filled with clothes, shoes, lotions and women's stuff.

Was he planning on keeping me here forever?

I picked out what I liked the most and made a decent enough outfit. I looked good, normal to say the least. I found this pretty peach sweater paired with dark Blue Jeans and white pumps. For a mafia boss, he sure had good taste in women's clothing.

I'm pretty sure it's something he picked up from taking them off quite often.

I opened the door and saw him waiting outside with his guard dogs standing on either side of the door.

"I'm glad you found something to your taste" he said smiling

"Where are you taking me?" I asked

"You wanted to get out of the house so...."

"You're letting me go?" I asked, it was too good to be true

"No" like I said, 'too good'

"You know I could just run out of here right?"

"You could try, but you wouldn't get far, you don't even know where you are. You were knocked out cold when I brought you here" he said, "Athena, I'm not keeping you here as a prisoner, you are free to move around as much as you want. Locking you in your room was just a precaution I wanted to take, you were on edge and I never wanted to risk anything. You are free to go anytime you wish, but you should understand that at this point, you are far much safer here, with me, than out there with....whoever. Here, I can ensure your safety and protect you to my best ability. Out there, I can only do so much. There are people who want you dead and trust me, they will stop at nothing to get to you. I can protect you, I am more than capable of doing just that but I need you to follow everything I tell you, when I say 'run', you run, when I say 'stay', you stay, do I make myself clear?"

"Do I look like one of your guard dogs who you can just order around and they follow, huh?" I spat out, "I'm not your puppet and I don't take orders from heartless criminals such as yourself. So bark at someone else" I snarled

I wasn't going to do anything he said really, why would I?

"Then leave" he said after an awkward silence
"What?"
"You said you could run, run, let's see how far you can get"

I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or if he was being serious. But either way, when he said run, I did just that. I dashed for the stairs heading to the front door. There were guards at the door too, but they moved when he gestured for them to move. I quickly opened the door and looked outside, it was complete wilderness, and I ran straight into it. I didn't know where I was going, but there is obviously no road that leads to no where, at least I thought.