Stolen

5. Playing with Fire

Stolen

Chapter Five - Playing with Fire

(Fair warning this chapter gets a little dark, if you're not into that feel free to skip the last few paragraphs)

I was trying... and failing... to run.

The left side of my body felt dead. I was hobbling, primarily dragging myself with one foot as quickly as I could manage.

I stopped, looking around I attempted to slow down my erratic breathing. The pain in my side quickly nearing unbearable.

What the f*ck did that bastard do to me?

I'll hand it to Nikolai, that was certainly one hell of a trick. One hit to my side had almost completely immobilized me. If he had hit any harder I probably wouldn't be able to move at all.

I stopped suddenly as I reached yet another corner. I peered around it slightly, a couple of men stood casually chatting.

I wasn't exactly banking on this escape plan to work, and now that I had actually succeeded at escaping the room... well I wasn't quite sure what to do next. It was only a matter of time before Nikolai woke up.

Slowly, keeping the guards in my sight, I jumped to the other side of the hall and quickly turned the corner.

The house, much like the building I had been in when I arrived, was nearly impossible to navigate. I stumbled through what seemed like an endless amount of hallways, walked into a couple of what one could kindly describe as 'business meetings', and tripped down about four flights of stairs before I was completely out of breath.

I was usually good at this kind of thing. I mean, getting out of buildings was sort of my job... but this d*mn house was giving me a run for my money.

It's like it was built to confuse my senses.

Earlier, at the entrance, the house was gorgeous, but it almost seemed like I'd been moved to a completely different building. There were no windows anywhere, the hallways seemed to go on forever and every single wall was the same boring shade of beige.

I turned a corner expecting yet another hallway, only to ram into something hard.

I didn't get a chance to even look up before my body was forced into the wall.

It wasn't that I was pushed hard, in fact, I was almost pushed... gently. But whoever had moved me had a deadly grip on my currently out-of-order shoulder.

And it hurt like h*ll.

I cried out in pain... making a move to push away whoever held me, only to look up and find my body go completely rigid.

Of course...

His gaze froze me, cold icy blue eyes glaring down at me in disapprovment. It was enough to make any man want to run and hide. I found that my heart was suddenly beating out of my chest, my breath completely lost. He held me forcefully, and I found myself much too well aware of how close his body was to mine.

"On three." He growled out in annoyance.

" Wh, what? " I stuttered.

What the h*ll was wrong with me? I dealt with people like this all the time... I wasn't supposed to get scared anymore.

But somewhere dark in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't just fear causing me to react like this around this man...

"3."

In one swift movement, he jerked my shoulder up and backward, the motion causing a sharp cracking noise to sound from my body. I'd never felt a greater amount of pain than that which erupted through my side. I bit down on my lip, nearly drawing blood to try and suppress my scream.