Falling Up

48. Warehouse

His hand on her waist. His breath in her ear. It was almost too much to take as Riley started contemplating whether to punch him in the face or puke in his lap. Both seemed like a good choice right now. The only issue, Riley's body couldn't move. She was frozen. Her skin felt the recognisable sensation of his hands on her body. This touch that, as much as she hated to admit it, brought back feelings of familiarity. She had grown accustomed to his slimy fingers crawling under the bottom of her shirt and across her skin. Even his disgusting hand rubbing up and down on her thigh, over the top of her jeans, was more like a memory to her.

Riley's mind started to retreat on itself. Back to her childhood home, back to where this all began. Even with the surrounding commotion of conflict and fighting. Kain was being roughly kicked in the gut as he struggled to get free, and the fear in Jason's eyes was real as he watched her with sharp eyes. All he could do was gaze at her as she sat on Vincent's lap, his lips curling up in a rage of disgust. And Riley just sat there. Feeling the vibrations of the truck as it turned around a corner and gained speed.

It was a fight-or-flight moment, yet her body refused to do either, remaining in her frozen state. She was spiralling in her mind, back to the times she spent with him. Back to the horrors that she had to endure. Back to her unwanted childhood.

There was no way of knowing how bad it would be for her this time as she glanced at the state Jason was in. He was calming down enough to realise there was nothing he could do while restrained in a moving vehicle. A defeated look washed over his face and her heart dropped heavy in her chest. All she wanted to do was reach out and comfort him. How long had been in Vincent's hands? How much had he endured again because of her?

There was some minor swerving of the truck here and there, but the occupants eventually quietened down and even they remained somewhat quiet and subdued. Even Kain, who was forced into what looked like the most uncomfortable position. With his arms chained behind his back and stretched high to a hook in the wall, his body forcefully pushed forward, with a guard's foot jammed into the back of his shoulder blades, pushing him to the ground.

Surprisingly, even Vincent said nothing. He simply continued to rub his hand up and down her thigh, and it was at this point she was so thankful that she was wearing jeans today. The feeling of his rough hands sliding across her stomach was more than enough to cause her insides to churn in disgust.

The ride continued for longer than she would have liked, but soon enough, she felt the brakes on the vehicle slowing down abruptly, causing her to reach her hands forward and steady herself on Vincent's lap. Not that he would have let her go by any means. Now that he had her again, she was fearful that she would never be let out of his sight again. Perhaps she should simply resign herself to the fact that he would always be around her.

The noise outside dragged her from her thoughts. From outside, she could hear the loud banging noise of a familiar sound, reminding her of her brother's auto shop. The automated noise of roller shutters opened before the vehicle inched forward again and the noise crashed back down from behind them. She was positive that they were nowhere near her brother's auto shop, however, but it would have been some sort of warehouse that they were entering, she suspected.

Eventually, the engine turned off, and the vehicle was silent for a moment before the back of the truck opened and two guards stepped out. Riley slid forward off Vincent's lap as he stood up, causing her to stumble on her feet to gain her balance. He grabbed her roughly by the upper arm, the force of his grip causing a dull pain as she was dragged behind him toward the end of the truck.

Riley looked back to Jason and Kain, who were being dragged to their feet by multiple guards as she merely stumbled her two feet over each other until they reached the end of the vehicle.

Vincent let go of her arm before jumping down with a loud thud as his feet hit the pavement in front of him. He grabbed her roughly by the waist as a small yelp escaped her lips before she was abruptly pulled from the vehicle and placed ungracefully on the concrete floor. She tripped over her feet, landing painfully on the floor, using her arms to ensure her face didn't hit the ground.

The bright light of the warehouse blinded her for a moment as she pulled one of her arms up off the floor to shield her face. It was surprising that it was so bright, given it was an industrial warehouse with no ground level windows. Most of the light was filtering in from the upper level, which was adorned with many small windows all around the edge of the warehouse. In addition, the blue glow of the fluorescent lights were flooding the area in front of her, reflecting off the grungy concrete floor.

She didn't have long to gather her senses to her surroundings before her arm was grabbed and she was lifted from the floor, being hauled alongside Vincent as he set a quick pace forward. They walked through the noisy warehouse filled with men packing boxes and she took quick glimpses trying to figure out what was on the nearby conveyor belts, however they soon turned away, disappearing from the hustle and bustle of the warehouse.

They walked down a long white corridor, paint chipping the surface of the walls, and she could hear Jason and Kain following behind her, no doubt being pushed and shoved by the guards trying to control them.

One corridor turned into another, then another and another, and they walked along the narrow hallways. She tried to keep track of which way she was going. Left, then right, and left again, but lost her direction before they came to a stop in front of a solid steel door.

One of the guards pushed open the door with a clang as it creaked against its dry hinges, but Riley didn't have to look in before she was shoved to the side. The guards roughly threw Jason and Kain backward into the room, quickly closing the door with a bang before bolting it shut. Two guards stayed in position next to the door, keeping their guns neatly in their hands as they stood still, giving a respectful nod to Vincent.

She hated the thought of being separated from them as she was dragged away, hearing the dull screaming and cursing from Jason and Kain drifting away from her.

Vincent stopped, still keeping hold of her arm as he pulled his phone from his pocket. "Fuck," said Vincent who answered the call immediately.

"I'll be there in a minute," were the only words he said before hanging up the phone.

They had only taken a few steps from the room Jason and Kain were locked in before Vincent opened another door next to theirs and pulled her inside.

Vincent backed her up against the wall roughly, holding on to her upper arm as he leaned down to her height. "I have some things to attend to, but I'll be back soon. Then we can get reacquainted."

She tried to stop him from moving in closer, but he trapped her in as he grabbed her chin, forcing her head upwards, and kissed her roughly on the lips. She didn't kiss him back, only struggled against his hold as he fought his tongue into her mouth and his stubble chaffed roughly against her skin. Not soon enough, he let go, causing her to lean forward and aggressively wipe her hand over her mouth to get rid of the remaining saliva from the sloppy kiss.

Vincent chuckled. "I'll retrain you in no time, Riley. Soon you'll be begging for my touch."

"Fuck you," seethed Riley as her hair whipped backward and she snarled at Vincent. Yet he only laughed, exiting the room and slamming the cold steel door behind him.

It wasn't something she ever would have rarely said before to his face, but she was glad she did. The last thing she wanted was to go back to being the weak girl she used to be. The girl who cut herself. The girl who couldn't fight back. And she didn't know if that was even possible. What sort of techniques did Vincent have in mind to break her down again? What would he do to her that he hadn't already done a thousand times over? 

But she had to be stronger this time around. She was stronger this time around. She had to be. For Jason. For Kain. For herself.