Love So Strong ~Hueningkai~

Chapter 24

BIG TIME JUMP

2 years since Kai lost Ari. He had no idea where Dmitri and Ari were. TXT and BTS searched all of Russian and Mongolia. Dmitri left no trace of him anywhere. Everyone was getting frustrated, Kai being the worse. He kept blaming himself, and he would take his anger out in his training sessions. The boxing bag had to be replaced numerous times, broken knives and daggers that had to be tossed in the trash, and he would always come up from the basement, bruised and bleeding. None of others said anything to him, afraid of getting on his bad side. Beomgyu would quietly sit him down after his training and bandage him up. Not one word was spoken between them. 

Soobin was able to convince Kai to return to Seoul with the rest and continue their search there, while BTS stayed in Mongolia. Nam-joon contacted his friends in different parts of the world to be on the lookout for Dmitri and Ari. 

June 14, the exact day Ari was taken by Dmitri 2 years ago. Kai was down in the basement, beating the shit out of the boxing bag. Soobin, Taehyun, Yeonjun, and Beomgyu were watching from afar, having been done with their workout. They were all worried about Kai. He was overworking himself. Whether it was training or staying  up late, researching places that Dmitri could be. He barely ate anything these days, the guys having to force food down his throat. 

"Should we do something before he murders another boxing bag?" Yeonjun asked.

"Be my guest. Don't be surprised if he uses you as his boxing bag." Beomgyu said. He was sitting on the bench, hands leaning on his knees, staring at Kai. If Ari could see him now, she would not be happy. 

Yeonjun sighed. "I'm going to bed. Night." 

Taehyun did the same thing. Soobin sat next to Beomgyu. "What should we do? We looked up every place that Dmitri could be, and it's all dead ends." 

Beomgyu ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know." 

The two continue to watch Kai, debating on whether to intervene and save the boxing bag or not. They eventually left and went upstairs to bed. A few hours later, Kai did retreat to his room, showered, and sat in bed on his computer. 

"Dmitri, where would you have gone if you didn't want to be found?" 

Ari's POV 

Ari felt like she was on the verge of death. Her body was bruised and scratched up from the beatings Dmitri ordered his men to do. Her legs were chained to the wall, once again. This time, she wasn't given a mattress, just a blanket. 2 stale meals every day to keep some strength in her. Every week, she would undergo some kind of torture, just enough to almost kill her, but not quite. How she survived 2 years of this, she had no idea. Maybe the hope that she would be found. Ari had no idea where she was. She hasn't seen the light of day in a while. Darkness was her friend and a mouse that would come and eat whatever crumbs were left on her plate. 

The door opened, and footsteps walked in. She didn't have the energy to open her eyes. Her back was leaning against the wall, her head leaning to the side. She kept her eyes closed as she was yanked up, the chain being removed from her legs and thrown over someone's shoulder. She moaned, feeling sick to her stomach. Her eyes opened a little. They were going upstairs. The person rounded a corner once they reached the top and went down a long hallway. A door opened, and they walked in. Ari could see light. The person laid her down on a couch and walked away, the sound of the door closing. Ari tried to sit up but couldn't. Her eyes opened wider and took in her surroundings. A big desk sat in front of a window, a chair behind the desk. Bookshelves were lined against the wall. A coffee table sat in front of her. 

"Good evening, Ari." The voice of the man she hated so much spoke up. Dmitri came over to her and crouched down. Ari tried to move further into the couch. His hands grabbed her arms and sat her upright, Ari groaning in pain. 

"You look terrible." He smirked. 

"No shit, Sherlock." She muttered out, eyes giving him the death glare. 

Dmitri chuckled as he went around the desk and sat down. He put his hands together and looked at her. She did look like death was upon her. 80% of her body was bruised and scratched, her long hair was matted, and she had dark bags under her eyes. 

Dmitri had decided the day before that he would be decent to her and not give her any punishments. "I've decided to be nice for a change. My maid, Lara, will take good care of you tonight. Bath, change of clothes, food, tea. How does that sound?" 

Ari rolled her eyes. "Right, and then come tomorrow, I'll be back in the torture room." 

"With that attitude, yeah, you will." 

Ari scoffed. "Where am I?"

Dmitri leaned back in his chair. "I guess I can tell you, since you have no way of telling anyone. We are in a warehouse here in Russia. Magadan, Russia, to be exact. 

Ari looked down at her calloused hands. "Never heard of this place." 

"It's not that far from South Korea. I bet your friends are looking everywhere but here. You see, I came here right after your father murdered my family. This is where I took over my father's business before moving to Moscow. I wanted this place to be kept secret for instances like this." 

"What are you gonna do with me, then?" She looked up at him. 

"Hm, I don't know. Marry you off to one of my men, maybe? I just don't know." 

"What do you know then?" 

"Wouldn't you like to know." He snapped his fingers and the door open, a elderly woman walking in. "Lara, take Ari to the guest room and clean her up. Give her some food afterward. Thank you." 

Lara nodded and walked over to her. Ari stared up at her. Lara held her hand out to her. "Come, I'll help you walk." Her voice was gentle. Ari slowly took her hand, and Lara pulled her up. Ari was unsteady on her feet. She was too afraid to walk. Lara waited patiently for her to take a step. Ari took two steps, her legs giving out on her third. The man that brought her here walked over and pulled her up, hissing in pain. 

Lara smacked the man's arm. "Be careful, mister."

"Whatever." He replied. Once Ari was fully standing, he dragged her out of the room and down the hallway, coming to an open door. Lara was right behind, scolding him for being too rough with Ari. He ignored her. 

He walked Ari into the room and left her standing there as he walked out past Lara. She shut the door and locked it, coming up beside Ari. 

"Sorry about that. Here, let's go into the bathroom. I have a warm bath ready for you." 

Ari didn't say a word as she was led to the bathroom. She let Lara strip her down until she was bare and then assisted her into the tub. Ari slowly sat down, wincing at the hot water touching her skin. The last time she was bathed was a year ago, but it was with cold water, as torture. Lara brought a chair over and sat next to the tub. 

Lara spent an hour washing Ari since she was too weak to move a muscle. Ari felt comfortable with Lara. She was gentle, and her voice was soothing, like her mother's. She felt safe, away from Dmitri and his men. 

What surprised her next was what came out of Lara's mouth. "Just hang in a little bit longer. They will be coming soon."