The Raven and the Rose (Part 1)

Chapter Ten ~ The Rose

Vince had locked me in his room with no way out, which made me cross my arms in both annoyance and anger. Then I heard him mumble something to someone outside of the door and footsteps followed soon after, but they were light so they couldn't possibly be his. And then, in the softest of whispers, I heard him say: "What are you doing to me, Valentina?" Then his loud footsteps followed and he was gone. I pressed my ear to the door to try and hear if he was coming back, but when I didn't hear anything, I took that as a go. I turned around and walked over to the nightstand next to the bed and pulled open the drawer. I plunged my hands in it and immediately started searching for anything that could help get me out of this mad house. But when I couldn't find anything other than papers and a bunch of pens, I let out a frustrated scream and tore the drawer out of the nightstand. Out of anger, I tore the bedsheets, scratched furniture, ripped blankets apart, all so that I could find something, anything that could help me get out of here. How dare he. How dare he order his men to go to my house and ransack it, all for the sake of finding my father's laboratory. He wanted this all along. He knew what he wanted to do and he just went ahead and did it. One day, though, I was going to get my revenge and kill him for what he did to me, and what he will continue to do to me for a long time until he finally lets me go. But the question that ran through my head was: will he ever let me go?

~/~

After a while of letting my anger out by destroying Vince's room, I gripped my hair with my hands and stared down at the floor, groaning from the pain of the headache that had suddenly appeared. It wasn't until a knock came to the door that I froze in my place and widened my eyes. "Valentina? What is going- what the heck happened here!? It looks like a tornado struck the place!" Biting my lip, I turned around to meet the angry eyed gaze of Vince Ravino, who was currently standing in the doorframe. He was looking at me like I had just committed an awful crime, which, mind you, I probably did but I didn't care. He didn't deserve half of the luxuries he had anyway. Nose flaring, he sauntered over to me and grabbed my arms, gripping them so tight I groaned from the pain. I looked up into his dark eyes and saw how angry he was. Now I was starting to think that maybe I shouldn't have wrecked his room.

"Valentina, what did you do?" he asked with a warning tone in his voice. I could see that he was trying to control himself before he totally lost it and killed me. So I made it easier for him and stepped out of his hold, then crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think happened here? Can't take a look?" I asked, and motioned to the mess all around me. He balled his hands into fists so tight his knuckles turned white. "Valentina..." he warned. I uncrossed my arms and took a determined step forward. "No, Vince. You don't get to 'Valentina' me, okay? I'm done playing this game where I am your victim and you get to have your way with me however you like. I'm done, and I am leaving. I know what you did. You ordered your men to go to my house and find whatever my dad has been working on for the past few years. You have a plan, but I am done with you, and I am done with being a toy to be meddled with. So I am leaving, and I don't care if you send a million guards after me. Because we all know who is the better fighter here."

I waited a few moments to see if he was going to make a move to stop me, but when he didn't, I started for the door. But he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back towards him. "Let me go!" I cried, and then he started to rub his free hand up and down my arm. "Oh, Valentina. You know I can't do that. The fun is just beginning." he said, and within moments, he had me pinned down on the bed, my back against the ripped bedsheets. I squirmed, trying to escape his hold on me, but nothing worked. He was holding my hands down with his own on both sides of my head, caging me on the bed so that I had nowhere to go. "Don't make this hard for me, Valentina." he warned, and after bringing both of my hands up above my head, he held them with one of his, and with his free hand, he reached into his pocket to pull out a syringe filled with red pink liquid. My eyes widened upon seeing the needle in his hand, and I immediately tried to move away, but he kept me on the bed by squeezing his legs against my sides. I groaned from the immense pain I was in, and it wasn't until I felt a stabbing pain in my thigh that I bucked forward and kneed him in the stomach. He let out a surprised yelp and his hand let go of the needle that was currently stuck in my thigh, but thank goodness, the red pink liquid was still inside it. He looked at me with anger flashing in his eyes. "Don't make me force it down your throat, now, Valentina." he said. I glared at him, and with all my strength, I kneed him in the stomach again. "Ow!" he cried, and fell to the side on the bed.