Broken Promises

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

This time when we were being led back to the room, Cole was behind my brother and Steven was behind me. He was walking extremely close to me, and as we neared the room, he gently grabbed my wrist to keep me from walking any further. Cole and my brother didn't seem to notice that we had stopped, and I looked at Steven with confused eyes.

He whispered just low enough for me to be able to hear him. "I know you're freaking out about being hurt some more, but you only need to endure the pain he causes you just a little. You have the pocketknife, right?" Afraid that my voice would betray me, I nodded. "Good. I have to make a phone call, but when I come back to the room, that's when you attack, all right?"

"What about Rodney?" I asked.

We started walking again so that Cole wouldn't get suspicious if he was to notice that we weren't following. They were still ahead of us enough so that Cole couldn't hear our conversation.

"He left Cole and I on watch. Him and several others have somewhere they have to be." I sighed and began questioning this place. Steven seemed to notice because he asked what was wrong.

"As much as I want to escape, Steven, there's no point." I hesitated for a moment before continuing. "And no offense, but I don't know you, therefore I don't trust you."

He leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "But Oliver and Adam do. Trust in them."

I sighed. "But Rodney knows where we live. He'll be back for us."

Steven smiled softly. "We got that covered to."

And that was the end of our conversation, because we were back at the room. I followed in closely behind Adam, and Steven gave me one last look before leaving the room. I heard the click of the lock, leaving me and my brother alone with this Cole guy. The glint in his eyes made him shiver in a not so good way, and I backed up against the wall as he stalked close to me.

I was prepared for contact, but before he could even hit me, my brother had tackled him onto the ground. He groaned because he was already in pain, and he went to hit him again, but Cole was stronger and was able to push him off of him. He kicked my brother in the ribs, and my brother cried out in agony because Cole had stone-toed boots on. He kept kicking him until my brother was unable to move. I winced at each blow, knowing that I was up next.

When Cole was sure my brother wasn't going to able to stop him, he turned toward me and punched me right in the jaw, not even giving me enough time to see it coming. I wanted to scream, it hurt so bad. But I wasn't going to give Cole the satisfaction of seeing me in pain.

"Don't fucking touch her!" my brother screamed, but Cole ignored him and hit me again, this time right in the stomach.

I doubled over in pain and coughed. Cole chose that moment to grab me by my hair, slamming my head into the wall. This time, I couldn't hold back the scream. My vision blurred, and I stumbled backwards, my head hitting the wall again. Cole seemed satisfied, but that didn't stop him from kicking me in the stomach again.

"Stop," I whispered, tears streaming from my face.

Because I was still in pain from the first beating, this hurt far worse than before. I fell to my knees, but I was pulled back to my feet. I placed a hand on the wall to steady myself, but it was no use. I was back on the ground when another punch was sent to my nose. I heard my nose crack beneath his knuckles, and the agony I felt made me lightheaded.

Where the hell was Steven? What was taking him so long?

Even if he came back now, I didn't know I was going to be able to stab Cole with the pocketknife. I wasn't that strong, so I was sure I wouldn't even do much damage to him. But I was going to have to try. I just had to endure this long enough until Steven came back. Unless he was bullshitting me and wasn't going to.