The world around her spun as Juliet tried unsuccessfully to pry her eyes open. Her arms were forced behind her back, and she could feel the zip tie as it bit into the soft flesh of her wrists. Between the swelling and the dried blood crusted to her right eye, it was impossible to separate the lids, but she blinked the left slowly as she regained her equilibrium.
Additional ties held her ankles to the legs of the chair tightly and she was aware of the painful pinpricks in her feet from the lack of circulation. Her chin was tucked to her chest, and she kept her movements minimal as she tried to look around subtly to avoid alerting anyone else in the room of her consciousness. It was an impossible task as the panic set in, and her lungs desperately tried to pull in air.
The dirty, grey concrete beneath her was all she could see from under the curtain of her dark auburn hair. Her arms began to move against the restraints to see if she could break them free. There was an overwhelming need to rip out of the ties, but as they cut further into her skin, she let out a small moan of pain before she stilled.
"Good Morning, Princess." The deep voice was raspy like a smoker's, and Juliet tensed as she heard the man stand from his seat.
The throbbing in her temple sent a wave of nausea through her, and she swallowed harshly to keep everything down. She parted her dry lips to respond, but she couldn't force any words out. A calloused hand threaded itself into her hair before her head was yanked back.
The harsh light above her, hurt her eye and she quickly closed it as she let out a groan of pain from the man's hold. There were a millions questions going through her head, but she was terrified to meet his gaze, let alone to talk to him.
"If you cooperate, this will be a lot easier on you." The smell of stale sweat assaulted her nose as he walked around and met her gaze. His pale blue eyes scanned over the blood on the side of her face and he sent her an amused smirk.
She pursed her lips at the overweight, bald man in front of her as she met his stare with her one eye before taking a moment to examine the area surrounding her. It was an empty room besides the table the new man had been at and a few chairs. From the size, she would assume it to be an office, but there were no windows and the carpet had been ripped up to leave only bare concrete.
"What do you want?" She spat towards him with disdain as she tried once again to open her right eye.
He ran his grimy fingers across her collar bone before he slid them up her neck to grab her chin. When he pulled Juliet's head to one side, she yanked her head back forcefully to escape his hold. "Looks like the new kid got you good. Eye is swollen right shut. It'll take a bit of time for that to heal before we can put you to work."
Put me to work? She thought with terror.
"What do you want from me?" She repeated slowly, enunciating each word with irritation that he didn't answer her the first time.
"It seems your little boyfriend has been poking his nose around where it doesn't belong." He said as he grabbed a strand of her hair and twirled it around his pudgy index finger and thumb.
"Who does he work for?" He asked, as he moved his face closer to hers to leave only a few inches between them. A small drop of saliva landed on her cheek from his mouth and she instinctively recoiled from the man at the invasion of her space before she slammed her head back into his. She realized as it happened that it was a bad decision but it was too late to stop. Hot blood slid down the front of her face and onto her t-shirt from where his teeth had broken the skin of her forehead.
The man let out a deep laugh as he stood up and spit the blood from his mouth onto the concrete floor.
"Touch me again and I'll bite your fingers off." Juliet hissed at the man. As scared as she was, she held her ground. It didn't matter what trouble Matthew was in, these men were clearly out for revenge, and she wasn't going to be responsible for his death. The guilt alone would kill her if these men didn't.
YOU ARE READING
Bring Me Home ✔
Short Story"What are you doing?" She asked breathlessly as she placed her hands on the hard surface of his chest. "I don't want you to run this time." He responded. She could feel the deep rumble of his voice through his chest as she slid her hands down an...
