Eyes So Blue I Drown

48| Helpless

ARABELLA

My consciousness returns abruptly as a bowl of icy water is splashed across my face.

Gasping and shivering, I open my eyes to see Romano seated in a chair right in front of me. His gaze, filled with disgust, locks onto me. I can't read his intentions, and it sends a shiver down my spine.

I don't think I was unconscious for very long.

I muster the courage to speak, my voice trembling, "Where's Tess?" I question, but he maintains a menacing silence. "I know you've kidnapped her. Where is she? You even tried kidnapping me yesterday night, I saw my picture with those men that you sent!"

He still doesn't reply. He rises from his chair, taking his gun with him, and walks over to a table, his back turned to me.

My heart races when he glances back at me, and I snap to attention. "Tess!" I yell, my eyes fixed on her unconscious form sprawled on the table. "What have you done with her?"

Instead of answering me, Romano moves closer and stands behind me. He hums and shakes his head as he hands the gun to one of the men surrounding us, and then he picks up a metal rod.

I can't understand what's going on in his mind.

The silence from his side is scary.

"Don't bother, your tiny mind won't grasp it," his deep, throaty voice rumbles, avoiding my questions.

He steps up behind me and yanks my hair so forcefully that a gasp escapes my clenched teeth.

"With which hand did you punch me that day?" he hisses in my ear.

I gulp, not meeting his gaze.

"With which hand did you punch me?" he questions again, lower and tougher.

"Right" I whisper.

He releases my hair, and I breathe a sigh of relief, but my anxiety lingers.

I feel my right hand being touched from behind.

"This one, right?" he questions again and I nod. All I know is that he's going to do something really, really bad.

The tension in this creepy room is suffocating.

With a sudden, swift motion, I didn't realize when he raised the metal rod and brought it down hard on my right hand. Pain shoots through me, and I can't hold back a cry. It feels like fire and ice at the same time, and I clench my teeth to stop myself from screaming.

Tears fill my eyes, instantly.

My hand throbs, and I can feel a bruise forming. The world blurs for a moment as I struggle to stay composed.

He raises the metal rod once again and brings it down with brutal force on my right hand. The searing pain intensifies, and I can't hold back my tears any longer.

I plead, "Please, stop!" but my words fall on deaf ears.

The room spins, I try to slide my hand off the knot but find myself unable to do so.

The third hit came down, shattering whatever strength I had left. I can't hold back the screams anymore. The pain is killing me. Tears stream down my face as I beg, "Enough, please, I can't take it. I'm sorry" but my words are drowned out by his relentless brutality.

With a final blow, he delivers the fourth hit, and my hand feels mangled and crushed. I sob, unable to control the pain that courses through me.

Somebody just... take me away from them. The room blurs, and I feel completely helpless.