The door slammed shut again after Lola left, and I was alone again.
I stared at the sandwich she brought like it was poison. Maybe it was. But my stomach didn't care. Hunger clawed its way through me until I couldn't ignore it. I tore off a piece, sniffed it first, then chewed slowly. It tasted like nothing. Just stale bread and old meat. But I ate anyway.
I couldn't think straight on an empty stomach and I needed to live, even if I didn't want to admit it out loud.
After I forced the last bite down, I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. I couldn't sleep. Every time I started drifting, a sound in the hallway snapped me back. Boots. Voices. Laughter that didn't belong to anyone decent.
My wrists ached from the cuffs. My shoulder burned. I was still wearing that dress Sergio had laid out for me. The one I hated because it's kind of revealing and it came from him, now all I want is him.
I heard another knock hours later. Or maybe minutes. I didn't know anymore.
This time, the door opened and stayed open
Footsteps entered slowly, and then the door shut behind them.
It wasn't Vince nor was it Lola, it was someone I hadn't seen before.
"You're the little toy, huh?" the voice was thick, maybe foreign eastern european. "Heard so much about you"
I didn't respond. My mouth was dry again.
The man stepped into the light. Huge. Bald. A jagged scar running across one cheek, bulging forearms inked with prison tattoos. He looked like he could break my neck with two fingers. And from the smirk on his face, I could tell he liked knowing that.
"What do you want?" I asked hoarsely.
He didn't answer. Just crouched in front of me like I was an exhibit.
"Sergio's whore," he said, almost reverently. "Didn't think you'd be so small"
"I'm not his whore….I'm not his anything"
He smiled slowly. "That's not what he said when he killed my brother for you"
My heart skipped, that wasn't what Lola told me right. "Who…?"
"Sam," he said with a bitter twist of the mouth. "I'm Viktor. Sam was my blood. Sergio put a bullet between his eyes last month. Said he talked too much"
He reached out and touched my cheek with the back of his fingers. I jerked away.
Viktor chuckled. "You're lucky. If you weren't leverage, I'd skin you alive just to watch him scream"
"Go to hell"
"I'm already in it. And you? You're the flame that dragged him here with me"
He stood. "He'll come for you, you know. Sergio's too arrogant not to. That's what we're all counting on.
He turned and looked down at me,
"What makes you so special?"
I didn't answer. Couldn't because I was confused too.
Viktor crouched again. "You want out of here?"
I blinked. "What?"
"Out. Free. Gone. Allowed to be free like a bird, I can help but you just have to do something for me first"
"What?"
He narrowed his eyes, cold and calculating.
"You tell me everything you know about little Sergio. Every weakness. Every scar on his fucking heart. You give me Sergio on a silver platter and I'll give you your life back"
I knew there was a hook buried deep in that offer
"And if I refuse?"
He grinned. "Then you rot here. Or worse. Maybe I sell you to someone who wants to make you disappear one piece at a time. You think Vince is cruel? He's a kitten compared to what's waiting out there"
"I know he's not, of course he works for you, he can't be worse than you."
"You have time," he said. "But not much. Tick-tock, girl. Tick. Tock"
"Sergio didn't kill any Sam because of me, he's not a total monster." I yelled loudly.
Hahaha. "Of course he didn't, I was just trying to get into your tiny brain, you're not so stupid after all.
When he left, I didn't cry
I just sat quietly , letting the weight of everything sink into my bones, I was so tired of moving from worse to worst.
Now I had two men, both monsters. One with power. One with plans. And both of them wanted to use me.
And somewhere out there was Sergio, the devil I knew.
Did he even care about me? I questioned myself.
I didn't sleep that night. Or the next. I kept hearing Viktor's words, replaying every second of Sergio's gaze in my mind. That last look before everything went black. It wasn't blank like they said. It was fury and pain, I think he cares a little bit, or just wants to keep me to get my dad."
On the third day, Lola came again. This time, she stayed longer.
"I heard Viktor talked to you," she said.
I blinked twice. "Is that supposed to mean something?"
She sat against the wall and passed me a flask of water.
"It means he's planning something. He's always planning something. Don't trust him"
"And Vince?"
She hesitated before answering. "Don't trust him either"
"Then who should I trust?"
She looked me dead in the eye.
"No one"
I sipped the water, slowly.
Lola hugged her knees. "When I got here, I was like you. Angry. Loud. Proud. I fought everyone. Refused to eat. Screamed for help. Then I learned that no one's coming unless there's blood in it for them"
I stared at her pitifully.
"Are you trying to scare me?"
"No," she whispered. "I'm trying to keep you alive. You can play them all, Claire. You're smart. But you better know who's really holding the gun"
I leaned closer. "Do you know a way out?"
She didn't answer
But she didn't say no either
"Lola," I said, "if I can get out, I'll take you with me. I swear"
Her eyes moved towards the camera in the corner, it was like a reminder for me to mind my words.
"I shouldn't stay long," she murmured. "They are watching. He's waiting to see what you'll do next. Just remember… Whatever you do, do it before Viktor does it for you. He's the most ruthless person you'll ever meet"
She stood, knocked twice, and slipped out
And I was alone again.
Now I had two monsters circling each other, and they both wanted me to be the bait, I just had to decide who to feed first.
Maybe I was born to be a bait anyways.