My ankles and wrists were being untied. I couldn’t open my eyes, to see who was doing it, because the pain in my skull was too much. My right cheek was in agony now, it stung from the hard whacks, I could only imagine I looked like a swollen mess.

I was yanked up by my arms. I could barely stand, my legs were shaken, they were barley stable, I was barely stable. My head was floppy, it wouldn’t stay upright, I felt like had been sedated rather than knocked out.

Opening my eyes, I had to squint, my vision was blurred and unfocused. Ben was taking me out of the basement. I didn’t think that was a good thing. He pulled at my arm forcefully, making me follow behind him, his grip was tight, and I knew I’d be left with marks.

Opening the door, a set of stairs were straight in front of me. They were old, stained and dirty. I dragged my feet up the stairs, my legs ached badly and protested against any movements I made. Reaching the top of the stairs, I scanned my surroundings. From what I could figure we were in a house, it was old looking, Victorian even. To my right was a sitting area, the floor was wooden, and the walls were painted in reds and deep browns. Sophisticated paintings were hung along the wall, there was two seater sofas opposite each-other with a swanky coffee table placed in the middle.

Before I could look any further, I was yanked to the left. We walked down a large hallway, we passed many rooms and the doors closed. Painting covered the hallway and I hated to admit this, but they were actually quite beautiful. This place was a mansion it screamed, rich and classy. I took a quick glance out of a small circular window as we passed by. Shit we were in the country side, in the middle of nowhere and there was no other properties in sight. No one would hear my pleas for help, no one would hear my cries of pain, I was stuck, alone. It hit me, I might never see my family again, shit, it hurt so badly thinking about never seeing them, it felt like a knife had been plunged into my heart and it was twisting. I felt nauseated.

“I’m gonna be sick,” I pressed my lips together, holding in the vomit that threatened to spew.

“Fuck sake,” Ben muttered. He dragged me to one of the closed doors, opening it. He pushed me inside, I fell on my hands and knees. I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring the sting that I felt in my knees. I crawled over to the toilet and threw up the contents of my stomach, I pushed my hair out of the way and kept retching till there was nothing left. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I sat on my knees. I leaned my head towards the ceiling and closed my eyes, I let out a deep shaky breath, trying to calm myself somehow.

Ben muttered some swear word under his breath, he grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to my feet “What the hell are you fucking doing, meditating” I cried out painfully. The tears I so desperately held in, fell silently down my cheek, I was broken.

He dragged me by my hair out of the door, he slammed it shut behind, the noise echoed down the large hallway, making my body jump with fright. He let go of my hair, I almost sighed in relief, but he grabbed a hold of my arm, and gripped it tightly, dragging me down the hallway, my legs were finding it difficult to keep up with his pace, my body had weakened, but I couldn’t give up.

We reached a tall, wide door, it made me want to vomit all over again. Ben wrapped his fist against the door, it echoed the halls. I didn’t like this house, it felt haunting.

He waited for a response to allow us into the room. I assumed he heard because, he pushed the door open and shoved me inside. My knees buckled beneath me, they were weak. I hung my head in shame.

 “Eva,” I looked up as I heard his voice. Caleb, my oldest most caring brother was in the room, my heart was truly breaking. His once handsome face was now bruised and battered, his eyes barley opened, because of how swollen they were. His jaw was covered in bruises, black, purple and blue, it looked broken. Blood seeped from an open wound on his eye brow, which meant it was fresh. His knuckles were covered in cuts and scrapes, he fought back, I was proud that he fought, he still had spirit left in him.

He was kneeled beside a large wooden desk and behind the desk sat a man with greying hair, tanned skinned, hard features and a heavy frame from what I could see because he was seated, he looked like a big bloke though.

“Welcome,” he greeted in a thick American accent. “I see my nephew Ben has done a number on you. I apologise on my behalf for his hostility.”

I snorted, “hostility are you fucking serious?”

“Eva don’t,” Caleb warned.

“No, please proceed,” the man chuckled.

“You’ve kidnapped me and now I find out you have my brother and you want to apologise for Ben’s hostility. This must be some sick joke to you, because you don’t look sorry to me, not one fucking bit. Why are we here, we’ve done nothing wrong to you, nothing!” my voice rose, I felt angry. “Please just let us go. I swear we won’t go the police p—”

“Quiet,” the man slammed his hands on the desk and rose from his seat. He walked around and stood in front of his desk, leaning against it, it creaked against his weight. He folded his arms across his chest in an intimidating gesture. “I haven’t formally introduced myself,” he crouched down in front of me and grabbed my chin making me look him in the eyes.

“Don’t fucking touch her you piece of shit,” Caleb snarled.

“Shut him up Ben.”

“With pleasure,” Ben smirked. He went over to my brother grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulled his body upwards and rammed his fist into his face repeatedly.

“Please!” I screamed, tears ran down my cheeks. “Stop it. Please stop hurting him.”

Ben let’s go of the collar of his shirt. Caleb fell to the ground, unconscious, his face was bloodier than before, I hardly recognised him.

“Shush now Eva,” the man said, I adverted my teary gaze back to him. “Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was about to introduce myself my n—”

“I don’t care what your name is arsehole,” I cried. “My brother. What did you do to him. Let us go, he needs a hospital.”

“He’s not dead bitch, he’s breathing,” Ben snapped.

The man stood now and whipped his harden gaze on Ben. “Enough,” he looked down at me again. “Stand,” I pushed myself up of the floor, with much effort, my legs were shaking and trembling. My head felt dizzy and my stomach was nauseated.

“My name is Anton,” my stomach dropped to my arse, vomit started to rise to the surface but somehow I held it down. “I’m truly sorry that you’ve been brought into to this, but you see Kaden has taken everything from me, he’s made me a very unhappy man. I hear he’s getting out of the Mafia, but you see, it’s not that easy Eva, you don’t just leave, especially alive, he owes me, he fucked me over. Took my suppliers, stole my money, my business. My fucking life” his tone was laced with anger “It was mine, all of it and now he wants to leave it all behind” a humourless laugh escaped him “I don’t fucking think so, he owes me first. He will give me what I want.”

“A-And w-what is it y-you want?” I stuttered.

“His money, his clubs, his suppliers. I’m sure you get it by now.”

“It was his in the first place,” my voice shook as I spoke. “You stole from him first, he took back what was rightfully his. You killed his parent’s he done nothing to you. He doesn’t owe you a damn thing.”

Anton threw his head back and laughed maliciously. “Seems you were right Ben, this girls got spunk,” Anton stepped closer and grabbed the back of my neck, forcing me to step forward. “You don’t get to talk to me that way Eva. I’m in charge here you little bitch,” he was squeezing the back of my neck to the point of pain. “I’m going to negotiate with Kaden. If he gives me everything I want, he gets you and Caleb back,” he smirked— “Alive.”

“He won’t do it,” I narrowed my gaze. “Because you don’t deserve a fucking thing, deaths too good for you.”

His fist clenched at his side and before I knew it, he rammed it so hard into my face, I fell backwards. I curled into a ball, at his feet, he kicked me in the ribs with so much force I swear I heard one break. I cried out in pain, tears, blood and sweat was mixed into my hair.

“Stupid bitch,” Anton growled. “You need to be taught a lesson and only to speak when spoken to,” he grabbed a gun from the back of his trousers. Crouching down, he knocked me out with the butt of his gun, I was pulled into darkness once again, but at least this way, I wasn’t getting a beating.

“Your awake,” Caleb sighed in relief as I came around. I was on the floor of the basement untied now, but was in horrific pain. Caleb was on my right, seated beside me. Probably not looking much better than I. I couldn’t bear to look at his face, it was an awful mess, bloody, bruised, cut and battered. I started to sob hysterically, my chest tightened, making it hard for me to breathe. Caleb grabbed me around the shoulders and pulled me to his side. I turned into his chest and cried even harder.

He stroked my hair in a soothing motion. “Shush Eva, this is no good for you,” his voice was hoarse. “Your making yourself worst. Come on darling,” he squeezed my shoulder lightly. “Calm down please.”

“L-Look at w-what they have done to you,” I sniffled. “They beat you Caleb, they hurt you.”

“Sweetheart,” he grabbed my chin and made me look at him. He clenched his jaw when he took in my bruises that were scattered across my face. “I’m fine, stop worrying about me. We need to figure a way of getting out of here, you got it?”

I nodded my head, “where were you when they got you?”

“Coming home from the club, where were you Eva, who took you, was it that dipshit Ben?”

I nodded again, “I was on my way home from Kaden’s we had gotten into a massive argument. It was pouring it down, so Ben saw me when he was driving and offered me a lift home,” I started to cry again. “I’m sorry Caleb I didn’t know Ben was a part of this, he was my friend, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey,” he pulled me into his arms. “It’s ok, it’s not your fault, you didn’t know,” his voice was harsher now. “But when I get out of here, I’m going to kill that little shit for hurting you.”

“No,” I told him. “You won’t because you’ll be no better than them, I’m fine Caleb, I’m ok,” but it was a lie. I wasn’t ok, I was scared, I was worried for Kaden and I was hurt. My body was hurting so bad, it aches, it was badly bruised and battered. I think my ribs were broken, it was painful to even breathe. I wished like hell this was some awful nightmare. I hated that I didn’t know what was going to happen now, would Kaden find us? Was it a lie, even if Anton got what he wanted, would we make it out of here alive. I found it hard to believe a criminal and a murderer.

Caleb and I waited. We waited to see what happened next, whether we got saved, whether we get moved, or whether they would kill us. Our fate was in their hands and it was frightening, I hated not knowing what would happen.

I thought of my family, my beautiful courageous mum and twin brothers. They must had been out of their minds with worry. They must had wondered where we are. Did they even know if we had been kidnapped? Seconds went by in here like hours. I wasn’t sure how long we had been here, a day, two days, a week. I didn’t know.

I wished I could fight back, I felt weak and useless for not fighting back, but I knew I wasn’t strong enough, I was no match for them. I didn’t have a weapon, and even if I did have one there was no use, my body was to weak, I could barely move, let alone stand on my own two feet.

The dress I was wearing was disgusting, it was wet, dirty and torn. My feet were blistered and sore. My mouth was dry, I was dehydrated, and I couldn’t remember the last time I had a drink or food for that matter.

Caleb’s arm around my shoulder became heavy, his hand fell from the top of my arm. I turned my head to the right and saw his head drooping downwards, his skin had grown an awful pale colour. I started to panic, with much effort and painful groans, I manoeuvred my body, so I was facing him.

I grabbed Caleb’s shoulders and shook his body lightly. He didn’t stir, “Caleb,” I panicked— “Caleb, please wake up.”

His body started to flop to the side, he was falling to the floor. I held his body which was heavy, my weight could barely hold him. I laid him gently on the floor.

I ran to the basement door and banged my fists against it. “Please,” I shouted. “Somebody help. Please I’m begging you I’ll do anything,” tears sprung to my eyes. “Caleb is hurt he needs h—” the door swung inwards and smacked me in the face. I fell back a step, rubbing my head with the palm of my hand.

“What?” Ben snarled. “What do you fucking want now?”

“My brother,” I pointed to where he was laid on the floor in a heap. “He needs a hospital Ben, please if I meant anything to you, you would help me.”

He looked from me to Caleb, his features were void of emotion. I silently prayed to myself, hoping he had some ounce of remorse left inside of him.

He’s gaze finally landed on mine. His features were a mixture of confused and something else I couldn’t decipher hurt maybe, I had a little hope, maybe he did care after all.

“I can’t,” he stated firmly. “I can’t and won’t help you, this is your arsehole of a boyfriend’s fault, you both wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. He fucked my Uncle over, stole from him, left him for dead,” he looked at my brother’s unconscious state and curled his lip in disgust. “As far as I’m concerned your brother deserves to die, for working with that arsehole, I never fucking liked Caleb anyway s—”

I was wrong, he didn’t care. I didn’t think, I charged at him screaming like a maniac. He fell to the floor from the impact of my weight. I punched him, scratched him, spat on him and screamed bloody murder.

He had a bloody lip, a red hand print on one of his cheeks and a scratch on the other cheek. He shifted our bodies now, so he was straddling me. I covered my face with my arms. But he kept on punching, saying sentences I couldn’t understand, he had completely lost it. He was angry, fuming, taking everything out on me.

My head smacked against the concrete floor, my vision blurred. I could hardly breathe, and I wanted to vomit, even though there was nothing left inside of me.

Two arms grabbed Ben and pulled him of me. I was laying on the floor, I could hardly move, I was in too much agony. Every time I would take in a breath, I would cough, I felt like I was choking, maybe even suffocating.

“You need to calm down,” Anton warned in a calm tone. I couldn’t open my eyes, they were swollen shut. My arm is grabbed, and I’m dragged across the cold hard floor.

The pain was becoming worse. My arms, my legs, my ribs. My whole body felt broken, it was so battered, it felt beyond repair.

I felt myself drifting off into and unconscious state. At least this way, I’m wasn’t in pain and my mind was at piece. I could rest, for now.