Secret Crown

IV. Four

Scarlett

Sixteen hours later, my shift finally ended. Being stuck in rooms back-to-back with Jonas had mentally drained me; like always, I was scheduled for twelve hours only to go into overtime due to an added emergency case that I had to assist on. I was ready to go home and as far away from Jonas as possible, but he ended up catching up to me midway towards the exit. "Yo, Scar! Wait up!" He yelled, causing all the nurses and other colleagues to turn and face us. Two nurses by the nursing station quickly whispered under their breaths to each other as I walked by, probably making up gossip about how Jonas is a hotshot who's fucking a nobody like me. I picked up my pace as I heard his heavy footsteps hot on my trail. The sound of his heavy feet echoed as the rubber soles of his shoes screeched on the sterile white floor. I didn't need a gym subscription when I had a perverted stalker chasing me at work every day. I was always on my toes, ready to outrun or hide from Jonas; it was enough to make me work up a sweat and get my heart pumping every day. Today, though, I was exhausted, and he easily caught up to me. I reached the exit when he placed his large, clammy hand on my shoulder and pulled me back. "I'm talking to you, Scar. Wanna grab drinks tonight?" He crookedly grinned as he ran his fingers through his short hair.

No," I sternly said, "Now please leave me the fuck alone, Jonas." I pulled my shoulder away from his grasp and exited through the sliding doors of the ER. It was a cold night as I reached for my phone inside my pocket to check if my mom's caregiver had left for the night. Usually, my mom would be asleep by this time. As I put my phone back in my pocket, I let out a large yawn and stretched my arms before walking to my car. As I took my first step off the pavement, a blacked-out Escalade pulled into the rounded driveway. Two men quickly got out from the front and walked over to the entrance where I was standing. They frantically looked around as the taller one of the two stood in front of me. He read the badge clipped to my hip and quickly turned around to the other one and yelled, "Lei è una dottoressa!" (She's a doctor!)

The shorter one whispered something, and before I knew it, the tall one charged at me, lifted me off the floor like I weighed nothing, and threw me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "Help! Someone, please help me!" I yelled as I began to flail and kick. No one could hear me as I was shoved into the truck's backseat. I could make out Jonas' figure running through the sliding doors, and for once in my life, I was glad to see him. "Scarlett!" He yelled as he ran up to the truck.

"JONAS!" I shrieked! "HELP ME!" He managed to pull the shorter guy back onto the floor, but these guys meant business, and they weren't going to leave me behind. The tall one came from behind him and landed his fists right on the back of Jonas' head, causing him to fall to the floor and black out. I took it as my chance to try and escape seeing that my door was wide open, but the moment my foot touched the pavement, the shorter guy pulled his gun out and cocked it back, "You get out this fucking truck and it will be the last thing you ever do, puttana (whore)."

He stood over Jonas' limp body and pulled his badge up to read it. "Throw him in the back with her," he ordered the tall one, "the more doctors, the better our odds."

The tall one tossed Jonas' heavy, limp body onto mine. He was bleeding from the back of his head from where he had fallen unconscious and hit the pavement. With one giant shove, I managed to roll and push his heavy body off of me and into a sitting position. As I sat up right, I could finally see that there was a gate separating the passengers from the drivers like a police car. The doors had no latches or locks to open from the inside. The driver's side had a computer issued by Chicago PD. These were cops. But they weren't in Uniform. "You guys are cops," I realized. "What the fuck do you want with us?" I asked. The tall one looked over to his partner who was driving and said, "Hey Enzo, we can't have her recognize us or we could lose our job."

"It's all good; the boss will probably kill them anyway. Now shut it, Paulo," he responded. The shorter one was clearly the leader of the pair, clad in black with a buzzcut of dark brown hair. His skin was olive tan, and he had a huge mole on the right side of his nose. His eyes were dark and piercing. He didn't care about professionalism or discretion, using his police car and his real name for the kidnapping. He knew we wouldn't live to tell anyone.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked.

"None of your business," Paolo replied, "now shut the fuck up." He pulled out a gun, aiming it right at my foot through the cage. "A doctor doesn't need a full foot to work."

I quickly pulled my feet up to my chest in the seat and stayed quiet. "That's a good doctor!" Paolo grinned. Jonas began to lowly groan as he was coming back into consciousness. "S-Scar," he groaned as he put his hand to the back of his head, "you, okay?" He was fully opening his eyes now. "I'm fine," I whispered. Jonas began to yell and kick at the cage. Paulo turned around and shot between Jonas and me, "I told you to shut the fuck up!" He yelled. The truck came to a halt at a biker bar on the south side called "Screaming Roads." It was a bar known by the college students. The truck was quickly surrounded by men of all sorts and sizes. They opened the back doors and quickly pulled me out by my arms and legs. I began to flail around, only for them to quickly zip-tie my legs and arms. They carried me in like a hog ready for roasting through the back door of the bar, along with Jonas. The bar was brightly lit, and there was a clear plastic tarp laid out everywhere. The large group of men that were outside didn't follow us into the bar. Inside, there were two shadows behind a tarp and another man standing by a sink. Whoever had set the bar up to look like this had clearly tried to keep it as sterile as possible.

The men who were carrying us placed Jonas and me on the floor right in front of a sink, where the tall man in the black suit stood. His hair was dark as night, and his eyes were green and sunken into a sharply chiseled face; he appeared to be in his late fifties. Even from the angle of the floor, I could tell this man was somebody among the crowd of men standing guard outside. He was at least six feet tall and had his eyes focused on me. "If you want to get out of this alive, you will do your job and save the person behind those curtains," he said, pointing with his boney finger over to the shadows behind the plastic curtains. "If that person dies, then you'll both suffer a slow, agonizing death," he paused. "Do I make myself clear?" the old man yelled. I felt a surge of panic as I looked at him, unable to speak or move. My heart was pounding in my chest, and no noise came from my throat as I tried to speak. His eyes were cold and menacing, and I knew I was in trouble. If someone was going to kill us tonight, it would be him. "Do I make myself clear?" he roared, causing me to cower. "y-yes" I responded with fear.

"Excellent." He smiled.