Ephemeral //H.S

Chapter 60

-Lucy Urbinati-

"How could you do that to him?" I spit out, yanking my arm away from Russel's tight grip as he drags me out of the kitchen, utterly shocked that he could do that to his own employee. But he is quick to roughly grab my arm again, tugging on it to bring me closer to the cars parked in front of the house. My feet drag against the gravel, I whimper in pain as his fingers dig into my bicep, already creating bruises there. "Let me go!"

"I guess that's what happens when you disobey me. Now shut the hell up and let's go." He tugs on my arm as if I weighed nothing, almost dislocating my shoulder from its socket and pinching a nerve damaged from 8 months ago, when I was assaulted on that parking lot.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, let go of me!" My eyes water unintentionally because he's hurting me so much. I feel like I should be crying already, but I think I'm just in shock over what's happening. One second everything was fine, I was starting to feel just a little happy like I used to be. And then out of nowhere, everything fell apart the second I saw Charles bleeding out on the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head as he grunted in pain over the deep cut in his throat, the culprit being someone Harry trusts well, trusted, makes it hurt even more.

"Did you actually think we're here to have a fucking chat? The only reason I came to this shithole is because your boyfriend couldn't bother to answer my calls, and I'm sure he told you the reason I need you to work for me." He speaks close to my face, spitting each of his words as if he meant to speak hatred right into my skin and direct it into my veins.

"You're real funny if you think I'm gonna work for you, now let go of my arm you're hurting me." My hand grabs his wrist as I dig my nails into his skin, forcing him to finally let go of my arm that now turned blue and purple right where his fingers used to be.

He snickers under his breath, ruffling his heavy beard through his fingers with one hand on his hip. He turns and walks in a half circle, as if he was gathering his wits before turning back to face me, and the look he gives me makes my entire body shake, a reaction I wasn't expecting to have, but fear seems to be catching up to me.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you're not sending me back to Giorgio's place for stupid intel, I'm not gonna work for you and you can't force m-" I am cut halfway through my sentence by a raging slap to the side of my face that robs the oxygen from my lungs. I stumble sideways, my hand flying to my face to hold onto my burning red cheek as a tear falls down my face without my control, I bite on my lip to hold in a pained whimper. I gasp, cursing his name under my breath, I barely have time to open my eyes that he's already grabbing both of my arms, his chest to my back as he drags me over to a car.

My head is literally spinning from the force of his slap, I feel something warm trickle down my cheek, expecting a tear I simply wipe it away but when I look down at my hand, blood covers my nails and fingers. It all happens so fast as he literally throws me into the back of a car, my shoulder hits the inside of the door roughly as my temple meets the window, blood from the cut on my cheek spreads across the tainted window. I yelp in pain, my vision blurs and there isn't enough time for me to gather myself, to try to push him away or fight back, because he closes the door, and the second he sits in the passenger seat the car drives off, because there was already someone behind the wheel ready to take off the second we got inside.

My vision tunnels onto the driver, because he's the only thing in my way right now, because he's the one driving me away from Harry. I look down at my feet, and out of impulse I bend down and start untying one of my shoelaces. I slide it out of my shoe, blinking repeatedly as if it would help me see better, or feel less light headed. I roll both ends of the lace around my bloody knuckles, and without thinking twice about it I go to quickly wrap the lace around the driver's neck, immediately I lean back and use my foot against the back of his seat for leverage, to use as much strength as I can.