A Debt To Pay

7

"Logan?" I whispered shakily through the dark. My tone dripped with the cold fear that was flowing through my veins. Shivers ran over my spine from both the dread and the fact I was wearing flimsy lace lingerie in an icy cold basement.

Another blood curdling scream howled from down the hallway and it sounded more strangled and painful than the last. Haunting shivers passed through me, the only ounce of warmth I was feeling was from Logans hand gripping my arm.

My eyes widened as another bone chilling scream echoed through the darkness and I was forced forwards towards an empty cell directly opposite the staircase.

I was soon stumbling through the open door and as I turned, the sound of a padlock rattling reached my ears. I watched in horror as Logan slammed the door closed, caging me inside the cell.

"Wait, what are you doing?" My voice shook with panic and my hands started to tremble.

"Since you seem so hell bent on keeping the disrespectful attitude, you can stay down here out of my way while I deal with the asshole who thought he could double cross me." As if on cue, another deep scream ripped through the room. "You can take his screams as a warning. Behave yourself if you want to leave this damn cell."

My heart stopped beating and, with the warning still lingering in the air, Logan stormed away down the hallway. Immediately, the screams of pain and protests fell silent.

I listened as a quiet, deep murmuring reached my ears and instantly recognised it as Logans voice. His low, threatening tone caused my stomach to plummet despite the fact I couldn't hear his exact words.

"No! Logan no please." The second voice rang loud and clear and matched the screams from before. Another string of pained whines and cries followed.

"Please! Please, I'll do anything! Please," he begged for his life with clear emotional sobs escaping his throat.

A long silence followed and I felt tears slide down my cheeks as I held my breath. I may have been raised in the middle of the gang life but I was never around for any torture or killing and my stomach twisted as I waited to hear the man's fate.

After another few blood curdling screams, the dreaded booming of a gun shot bounced around the walls and deathly silence followed. The tears flowed faster again and my body shook as loud, heavy footsteps approached.

Logan completely ignored my panicked state as he reappeared and turned to a guard behind him. "Dispose of the body immediately, find anyone who may have been connected to him and kill them on site," he ordered and with that, turned to leave.

I watched him ascend the stairs, his large figure filling the entire stairwell before he disappeared from view. Despite my desperation to contain them, a few panicked sobs escaped my lips while I hammered on the cage door.

That's what it was, less of a cell and more of a giant cage. Every wall consisted of tall, steel bars so I could see as a few men strode down the hallway towards me.

When they got closer, I saw the body draped in one man's arms and gasped. Every inch of skin was coated in thick blood so I didn't even realise he had been stripped of his clothes until I saw the long, deep gash that split from his knee up to his armpit.

My lip quivered as they carted the body past me, completely ignoring my panicked presence, and towards the end of the hallway where a large steel door was forced open and they vanished.

Hope bloomed in my chest for a moment at the realisation that there was another way out but it quickly dwindled. Even if I was able to somehow escape, Logan knew where I lived. He knew where to find my family and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he would torture them for my escape.

I couldn't do that to them, especially my sister. She had always fought to hide from my dad's lifestyle, never wanting to know a thing about the gang. It wouldn't be fair to drag her into this now.

After hours of sulking and self-pity, I allowed myself to drift into a light slumber, still shivering violently from the arctic temperature of the basement.

Dried tears stained my cheeks as anger and fear and guilt all gnawed at my insides. As much as I hated to admit it, I missed Logans office and being confined to that damn room. At least they were warm.

Darkness overcame me slowly and as I drifted off, I thought of my twin, my sister and my best friend. I would spend the rest of my life in the damn cage for her and I wouldn't forget it.

Not ever.

****

"Ah, you're awake." The familiar deep voice boomed, startling me. I raised my head slowly from my hands to see his large figure looming just outside my cage. "Get up."

For once, I did as he said and hauled myself to my feet, crossing my arms over my chest in an attempt to cling onto some sort of dignity. "Have you learnt your lesson?" Logan asked in a taunting voice.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and allowed my gaze to drift to his feet where it fixed. I stayed silent, not really having an answer to his question.

"Let me make something clear. The only reason you are here is because your father owes me. I know a lot of powerful people with a lot of money who I am sure would happily splash out on a pretty little thing like you that they could train into an obedient little pet." His words sent shivers down my spine and bile rose in my throat. "So, you can either step in line and start behaving, or I will sell you off to someone who will have you tied to a bed and gagged by the end of the night. It's your choice."

It instantly felt colder in the dingy basement and it wasn't until I managed to whisper "please don't," that I realised how eerily silent it was.

A satisfied smirk crossed Logans face as he pulled a key from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and slot it into the padlock. "Good choice."

He lunged into the cell as soon as the door swung open and grasped my arm, tugging me back up the stairs the same way he had dragged me down; roughly and hurriedly.

Wordlessly, he tossed me back into my room before nodding to the two guards and slamming the door closed, trapping me in my own personal prison.