METANOIA

Kidnapping

"Don't worry sweetheart," an older woman with wrinkled but gentle hands slowly brushed my long blonde hair before splitting it into three sections and beginning to shape it into a hairstyle, "to make sure daddy gets here sooner, we'll cut off your braid," the nasty sound of cutting scissors echoed behind my ears, "you don't mind, do you, beautiful?" In the reflection of the small mirror I held at the level of my face, I saw short blonde strands fall to the floor, then I closed my eyes.

I inhaled sharply through ajar lips, feeling the air hit my throat, causing a coughing fit. It was pitch black all around, as if I was still in my dream — nothing to see; my body, so tense and stiff that the muscles in my shoulder blades began to whimper, suddenly flew upwards, then hit the metal bottom again. I groaned, covering my eyes and touching my forehead to my hand. I could hear car horns through the blood rushing in my ears from the impact, which meant that my body was moving like that because of the hole in the road-I must be in the boot of the car, since I was covered by a thick black cloth. I stretched out my legs and arms — there was still room. Perhaps I was in the lorry?

Through the unbearable pain in my body, I managed to reach into my trouser pocket, pulling out my phone; the bright light instantly blinded me, forcing me to squint and search almost blindly for the right number. Instead of Thomas, I dialled Jensen, since they were next to each other on the call list. He picked up after a few beeps, after which I struggled to stay conscious, feeling the headache spreading from my frontal lobe to the rest of me, making me want to lie down and close my eyes. The fabric that enveloped my body was not only heavy but also thick, making it difficult to breathe, forcing me to open my shattered lips wider and suck in air; apparently after the violent impact with the roof of the car, they continued to beat me, causing damage to my eyebrow and eye.

"I need your help," I barely audibly wheezed. I couldn't speak loudly, not only because I wanted to go unnoticed by my captors, but physically moving my tongue and lips was difficult, "two men in a car."

"It's Dante," the man on the other end replied. A cutting pain ringed my head, eliciting a suppressed groan and making it difficult to breathe. The pounding of my heart drowned out the noise of the blood in my ears, making my eyes watery. It felt like my neck was being squeezed by barbed wire that cut into my skin with every movement I made.

"I need my brother," the wet trail of a lone tear dipped down to my temple. An obstacle came under the wheels of the car again, which flipped my body onto its other side, causing an unbearable pain in my stomach. Opening my mouth wide, I breathed out, "why is my brother's phone in your hands?"

"When's Daddy coming?"

Reaching forward, I felt the wall with my fingertips. With a quick exhale, I made another push with my forearms, reaching the edge of the boot (the pain made it hard for me to realise how lucky I was that I wasn't in a lorry, which would have been much harder to get out of in my condition). I fumbled for a bulge that resembled a taillight, but my strength wasn't enough to push it out. I tried pushing harder, pounding, but all to no avail - I was only making my condition worse.

Putting my head down on my hand, I closed my eyes, sobbing. A sense of hopelessness was binding me in its chains, robbing me of all hope of salvation. Maybe I wouldn't make it to the end of this trip and die of internal bleeding before the car stopped — so I wouldn't even know who had kidnapped me or why, but then it wouldn't make any sense to me. Liam was probably behind it, though I'd made a lot of enemies in all the time I'd been rubbing people's eyes around me; anyone could have done it.

Jensen will be devastated when he finds out I'm dead. It will be devastating for him and it will take a long time before he can get his life back on track, but I think Lynette will help him with that. My death will probably be a reason to leave any interactions he has with the illegal world, even though he will have all of my possessions taken over. Dante will probably be distraught when he finds my immobilised body, though he will show no emotion. I had a lot of business left that would pass to Thomas.