No choice

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once again I'm alone in the room I woke up in. Artur decided to keep me locked in this room until I decide to stop fighting him. I tried to get out of marrying him without my family getting hurt but nothing worked. I tried to say that I had a boyfriend but something held me back. I thought if he would hurt my family just because I refused to marry him, then what would he do if I had a boyfriend? A boyfriend who would stop at nothing to find me. If Adam got hurt because of me, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself! So I have to marry Artur, to protect all the people I love. I hope Adam will understand that I'm doing this for him, that I have no choice but to go through with this. Will I ever see Adam again? Tears started to slowly fill my eyes. Will Adam realise something's wrong when I'm not at the airport in three days time? That's when I finally broke down, I had reached my limit on the world around me. Rivers started rushing from my eyes down my cheeks. The sound of footsteps approaching the door brought me back from my gloom, then came the sound of the key turning in the lock. I quickly wiped the tears away just before an unfamiliar man entered my room. He was tall but not as tall as Artur, I would say he was around five foot eight maybe nine. He had a big beard to match his dark hair.

"Who are you?" I demanded to know.

"Come!" The strange man bellowed with the same strong Russian accent as Artur. He rose his arm and pointed out the door.

I slowly got up from the bed. I walked at a steady pace out of the door and into a grand ballroom. It took me by surprise, it was so different to the room I had been trapped in. It was hard to believe that this ballroom was connected to a room for hostages. Would the people dancing in this room know there was a secret prison just yards from where they were? I looked around this shining room to see Artur standing in the middle, with his back to me. His right hand was holding the back of his left hand, it made him look like an authoritative figure. Was Artur in the army? Artur slowly began to turn around to face me. He started his slow pace towards me. When Artur was only a couple of inches away from me, he went down on one knee. He pulled out a blue velvet box and opened it. As soon as I saw the ring inside I shut my eyes trying to pretend that I wasn't here; I'm home, safely in Adam's arms. Tears started escaping my eyes again. I opened my eyes, half expecting to be at home with Adam but the other half of me knew better. That half had already lost hope of my family and I escaping safely. I looked down to a concerned Artur. I thought he was wondering why I was crying but then I realised he was waiting for an answer. If I had my way I would of said no in a heartbeat, but the people I love are at stake. I can't risk them getting hurt, they're my everything.

"Yes," I responded in a raspy voice. Artur put the ring on my finger and kissed me on the cheek. I stayed frozen to the spot, the tears still falling from my eyes. I felt like I needed a hot shower and to scrub away at my cheek until there was no more skin, just so I wouldn't have his germs on me. "can I see my parents now?" I asked, trying to gain control of my voice and body.

"Of course," Artur whispered before speaking Russian to the same strange man that had entered my dark prison a couple of minutes ago.

"Come!" The strange man bellowed in the same tone again. He sounded like a mindless servant. He lead me out of the ballroom and into another secret passage. This secret passage leads to a set of short spiral stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, it opened up into a shadowy room with caged metal doors everywhere. This room looked exactly how I imagined a dungeon to look. I looked beyond the steel bars in search of my parents. Which one my parents are behind? I grabbed the lit torch leaning against the wall. I walk down the long stretch of corridor until I found the cage holding my parents.

"Mum, Dad!" I shouted as I rushed to the caged door.

"My poor Julie." Mum sobs as she reaches for my face. As my mum came closer her face became more visible. There were cuts all over her face. I turned around to the strange man.

"What have you done to them?" I shouted. My voice, filled with anger. But the man didn't answer, he only looked at me. I turned back around to my parents.

"What have they done to you?" I sobbed. Once again, the tears came streaming out. I couldn't hold them back anymore.

"It doesn't matter what they did," Dad answered. Dad stepped into the light, away from the shadows, so I could see that he also had cuts all over his face. "what matters is that you're alright."

"I'm far from alright but I did what had to be done!" I responded to my dads last comment.

"What had to be done?" My mum asked both me and my dad. I think mum was half expecting dad to know everything that had happened just by looking at me.

"What did you do?" Dad asked, curious to know as he couldn't figure it out from one look.

I couldn't bring myself to say that I had agreed to marry Artur so instead I just rose my left hand so they could see for themselves. My mum broke down in more tears. Then the strange man grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

"No let me go!" I screamed at him.

"Julie!" Dad screamed.

My dad tried to reach out to me but it was too late. I was too far from the bars for my dad to be able to reach me. I tried to run back to my parents but then the man just picked me up. I started kicking and punching him furiously. I tried to break free but his grip was too strong. He dropped me on the hard cold stone floor, bruises were going to form on my body from that drop. I turned around to see that there was another man standing there, with his arm stretched out pointing the way we came. I glared at this new man before I started to walk in the direction that he wanted me to go in. As we walked I tried to think of a way to get revenge on Artur for doing this to me and my family. But then my family might have to pay the price.