Where it all began ("Bend or Break" Book 1)

Chapter 14

I halted as I caught the writer's midnight blue eye. Cruel and amused. He smiled a smug smile:

"Alisa Clarke and Andrea Davis" he beamed "It's a pleasure"

Rage began to boil inside of me. I stood in silence and glared at the writer's amused and energized facial expression.

"No "Hello", No hug?" he frowned

"Shut up!" I yelled, " Where is he!"

He smirked.

"Tell me now!" I raged

"Re" Andrea whispered.

"What is it, Andrea?!" I bellowed irritated

"Don't act out. You're too impulsive. He enjoys it. It's all part of the plan" she explained

"The plan?! I don't give a shit!. Chris could be dead by now!"

"It's no help for us if you fall apart. You'll just help the writer "

"You know what? It's my turn now" I sneered

"Turn? What turn?!"

I clenched my left fist and swung it at the writer's jaw. He gasped in pain and lifted his right hand to his chin and massaged his jaw. He chuckled and shook his head repeatedly.

I rushed straight past the writer and while I ran, my eyes searched frantically left and right for any sight of Chris tied to one of the innumerable tall oak trees. I soon tripped on a large log or stone and fell.

I Fell for 3 meters and landed face flat on the mud. My limbs and back throbbed. I struggled to roll over onto my back and pull myself up with the little strength I had in my arms. I then struggled to my feet and groaned in pain as I applied pressure onto my left leg. I examined it, it didn't seem to be broken. Thank God. Muddled, I peered around for my bearings. I was in some sort of cave 3 meters underground. No, more like a corridor of an Italian style ancient convent with statues of greek and latin goddesses, Ionic and Corinthian columns and innumerable mosaics of Italian, Greek, and Egyptian goddesses and rulers. I recognized mosaics of Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt and Artemisia, ruler of Halicarnassus. Why the hell where there all these statues and mosaics of powerful ancient rulers and goddesses? How and why was there an Italian style convert 3 meters underground in the first place?!.

At that moment I heard a faint, distant cry.

"Who's there?!" a strained shriek echoed through the corridor. I couldn't place the familiar voice, other than it being of a male. All I knew was that it definitely wasn't my brother's.

Who was it then? I staggered, dragging my left leg, towards the origin of the cry, leaving a thin trail of wet blood behind.

" Get me out. Please get me out" the voice persisted "What do you want from me!"

"I had nothing to do with it, I swear!" "I swear to God" " he bellowed

I ran to the end of the hall and as I turned the corner, the wails loudened. I passed two red linen fabric sofas positioned against the left convent's stone wall, darting to the end of the hall. I suddenly found myself in a circular room. The stone wall and dirt were smeared in blood. I gasped at the sight of a young man, tied to a wooden cross in the center of the room. He had been left to die by the writer. His right eye was swollen shut, his chin was cracked open and his left leg completely shattered.

"Please, Please" the man wheezed

I had zoned out and stood shocked, petrified in front of the man.

"Please" he wailed again

I nodded.

"Who are you?" I murmured

"I know you" he answered weekly

"What?" I asked startled

"My name is Ray Jensen, I dated your friend Charlotte" he explained

"W-What?" I murmured startled. Ray? The "Starbucks hottie"?

"I'm sorry about you what happened...about what happened to her" he breathed. I could hear it in voice and see it in his eyes that he meant it. Well, I could see it in one eye, since the other one was swollen shut.

"W-What?" Is all I managed to blurt out

"I'm innocent, I swear" he bagged "The night Charlotte, died, I had left the house to buy us take out from Banbù, that Thai restaurant on Maple Street and I...never came back home"

I nodded "I assumed, given that you're nailed to a cross in an underground Italian/greek convent right now" "Unless you did it yourself, but that's very unlikely" I breathed

"Thank you" he murmured and attempted to smile. His chin being broken, his smile appeared crooked.

"How were you captured?"

"I was driving and some moron jumped out in front of the car out of nowhere. I slammed on the breaks and rushed out of the car to see if I had hit him" he explained "...That's the last thing I remember. Then everything went pitch black and the next thing I knew, I was in this goddamn room, tied to this godamn cross"."I think I've been here for over 2 days" he bleated "Please, Please help me"

"Did you get a glimpse of the person that jumped out in front of your car?" I asked, ignoring his pleas for help

"No" he sighed "Masked"

"You couldn't even tell if it was a "he" or "she" ?"

"No" he sighed and shook his head "Sorry"

"Do you know if someone else is here with you?" I asked

"Yes," he nodded "I saw one being brought down about two days ago, or three, or one?... I don't know, I hard to get a sense of time in here" "Black hair, blue eyes, right?" he asked

"Yes, Yes!" I exclaimed excitedly "Thank you"

Do you have any idea where they might have led him?"

"Turn right at the end of this hallway, there must be other "cells" like this one there" he explained in between coughs.

"Thank you" I whispered and lightly touched his left hand, which was black from the dirt around him. "I'll be back for you, I promise"

"Ok" he nodded in apprehension.

I ran to the end of the corridor and turned right as Ray had instructed me to. I staggered through the dim, narrow hallway, similar to the one I had just left, and saw a circular stone room, that Ray referred to as a "cell", at the end of it. I ran weekly towards it, dragging my left leg behind me.

My brother, like Ray, was tied to a similar wooden cross in the middle of the "cell". "No, Al, No" he exclaimed "Run, get out of here"

"No, I won't leave without you," I told him sternly "I won't"

"Al, don't be stubborn and leave" "It's not safe here, I can't let anything happen to you" he gasped in pain

I shook my head stiffly, tears streaming down my face "Your my brother" I whispered and began untying the thick white ropes that were wrapped tightly around my brother.

"I'm, dead weight, Al" he kept on repeating

"Stop saying that!" I shouted at him, "Please" I bagged, softening my tone."I won't leave without you, you got it?"

He nodded weekly "I got it" he breathed

Once I untied him, Hi legs didn't have the strength to support him and collapsed to the ground.

"Help me, I can't pull you up"

He groaned in pain while he found the last shred of strength left in him to make it to his feet. He then rapped his right arm around my shoulder for support and we staggered out of the cell.