Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Chapter Ten

Magdalena

"Where did you arrive from?" Mr. Ceiling continues his range of questioning. His questions seem harmless, so I don't mind answering them.

"Denmark." I look him in the eyes as I answer, maybe he is trying to figure out if I have anything to do with the bad guys. Does he not see my lack of clothing? I definitely have no association with them.

"You're far from home then, why?" Ouch, sensitive question.

"Personal issues, I wanted a fresh start. A new beginning. What better place to do that, other than the concrete jungle itself?" I retort, keeping to surface level information only.

"What issues?" Mr. Ceiling's eyes narrow at me. I sigh.

"As I said, personal issues." I leave no place for discussion. It's a painful subject and probably a discussion I need to have with an authorized therapist – not a bunch of shady dudes in a creepy basement. Silence follows for a while, until Mr. Ceiling decides it's time for another round.

"How old are you?" He asks.

"Twenty-three." I respond tiredly. "You?" I reverse his question.

"None of your business." He states, asshole.

"He is thirty-two." Isaac spills, making me smile. He seems like an honest man and if I look past the unhinged look in his eyes, I may even deem him somewhat trustworthy.

"Dick." Mr. Ceiling spits at him, making him chuckle.

"The only one being a dick here is you, Damiano." Isaac flashes me a smile, making me return one.

"Don't fucking call me that." Mr. Ceiling spits back at Isaac, his tone making me flinch.

"Well, stop being so pissy then." He retorts with a laugh. I rest my head on the wall behind me, being mindful that I don't accidentally hit the pipes again. The exhaustion is creeping back in, but I'm honestly still too terrified of closing my eyes. I fear that the next time someone comes here for me, I'm not coming back.

"You're too young to look so defeated." Malcolm interrupts my train of thoughts. "What's going through that pretty little head of yours?" He thinks my head is pretty. What a strange compliment. It sounds like something a father tells his daughter. Maybe he's a dad?

"Not much, I just have a bad feeling." I try not to sound emotional, I don't want to drag their hope down with mine.

"I thought we were closer than that, considering you touched my shoes." Is he trying to be funny right now? "We don't have much else going on in here. You might as well enlighten us on your bad feelings." He is right about that. I don't know much about killing time when you've been kidnapped.

"Alright," I start, "I fear I may be finished off when Weasel comes back in here." I look at Nico, hoping to see a twinge of any sort of feeling in his eyes. He looks to be around my age, so maybe he is having the same existential crisis as I am. I think his eyes soften just a tad, but it quickly disappears again.

"He won't kill you. You're worth more alive since they'll be putting you up for auctioning, so you've got a little under a week still." Malcolm tells me.

"A week? How do you know?"

"We were ambushed on Friday and we've been in this basement for at least a day, meaning it must be Saturday today. Their auctions are only held on Fridays, therefore there is still time." So Malcolm seems to know about the auctions, and he doesn't seem too worried. Of course, he's not worried, he's not the one being auctioned off.

"You seem quite sure about your information, how do you know?" I'm getting more curious by the minute.

"The auctions are infamous in the business world we're a part of, it's pretty common knowledge for us." Malcolm's face looks solemn all of a sudden as he shoots a quick glance towards Scarface.

"What's your line of business?" I hesitantly ask already knowing that it's not what I'm hoping it'll be.

"Some call us criminals, some call us gangsters. I personally think mobsters have a better ring to it, though not all of us directly deal in that line of business." He sends me a smile, I assume he is trying to lower the blow, great. "Isaac," He nods his head towards the dentist guy and continues, "He is a contractor, if you need someone to be dealt with, he's your man." Wait a minute, he's not a dentist? Isaac sends me a wink. I quickly look back at Malcolm as he nods towards Nico next. "Nico is Isaacs trainee, Isaac is a busy man and has decided to recruit and train a partner to lessen the burden of work." See, that would make sense as a working dentist but it doesn't add up with the previous statement of his work; If you need someone to be dealt with, he's your man. Malcolm looks towards Scarface and continues his presentation. "Scarface is next in line for the mafia," There we have it folks, know he is being a bit more specific. "He has been raised to take over the role his entire life, he just needs to get that temper under control." Jesus Christ. My heart is beating slightly faster than before.

"Fuck you." Scarface spits at him.

"See?" Malcolm looks at me in confirmation and I nod. He didn't tell me what he does himself.

"What about you?" I ask him in a low tone of voice. He is the biggest and most terrifying guy of them all, in this room.

"Me? I'm your worst nightmare." He smiles widely. Not creepy at all. 

//Bonus chapter this week, thanks for reading. Please feel free to provide feedback!