24
TATUM
I didn’t know for how long I’ve been sitting here huddled in the corner. Time stood still. My mind had gone completely blank as I stared out in front of me. Nothing mattered anymore. There were so many lies, so much deception, it felt as if I could no longer distinguish the difference between what was real and what wasn’t.
Castello was gone. No one knew where he was.
Would he find me?
Would he manage to save me, see through his brother’s lies?
And what if he did?
What if he managed to save me, to rescue me and hold me in his arms again? What would he do if he found out about what Carlo and I did? Would he believe me when I told him I thought it was him? And what kind of woman would that make me? What kind of woman didn’t realize the man buried inside her wasn’t the man she had claimed to love with all her heart? The father of her child.
Castello would never forgive me. Even if he saved me, he would leave me as soon as he found out the truth. I knew him. I knew that knowing another man was inside me while I claimed to be his and only his would ruin him. Every time he looked at me, he would see me getting fucked by another man. The thought alone killed me. God, it killed me softly, slowly, turning my soul into nothing but shards of brokenness.
The door opened, and the sound brought me back to reality, back to the dreaded room I saw in my nightmares for so long.
“Right where I left you, I see.” Carlo came strolling in with Vico, and another man I didn’t recognize.
“You’ll be happy to know that word about your kidnapping has reached my twin brother. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before he comes rushing here, guns blazing.”
My heart skipped a beat when I heard that Castello might be on his way. But it also made my soul weep, thinking the truth would ultimately kill what Castello and I shared.
I remained silent, and watched with nervous curiosity as the unfamiliar man started to move around the bed.
Carlo came to stand in front of me. “I’m afraid that you being pregnant wasn’t part of the plan.”
I looked up at him. “What plan? Killing me?”
He crouched down and took my chin between his fingers. I jerked my face away from his touch.
“The plan changed,” he said simply.
“How?”
He placed his arms on his knees. “I’m not going to kill you, Tatum. It took some convincing for Vico, but eventually we came to an agreement.”
“What agreement? What are you going to do to me?”
He reached out and tried to touch me again, but I jerked to the side. “What are you going to do to me?”
He stood up straight. “I’m going to keep you.”
“Keep me?”
“Yes. Despite what you might think, I did have feelings for you, Tatum. I still do. It just wasn’t in the cards for us to be together back then, but now it might be.”
“You’re delusional,” I spat out. Vico stepped closer, and I glowered at him. “So what was the deal you made with your demon brother?”
Carlo loosened his shoulders, rolling his head as if he were wound up tight. “Just let me say I’m not happy about it. But in the end, I do get you, so I’m willing to make the sacrifice.”
“What sacrifice?”
Carlo bit the inside of his mouth, his lips pursed before he glanced in Vico’s direction. “My brother seems to have a score to settle with you. He requested to have fifteen minutes with you…alone.”
I choked on my own spit. “What does he want to do to me?”
Carlo shrugged. “I don’t know. As long as he doesn’t cause any permanent scars, and doesn’t kill you, I don’t care.”
“No.” I started shaking my head, fear pulsing like poison through my veins. “No. Carlo, no.”
Carlo held up his hand silencing me. “That’s not all. My brother here has agreed that I can keep you…as long as we get rid of that…that thing growing inside you.”
“No, no, no, no.” My stomach twisted, my body numb while my mind decided whether I wanted to cry or scream.
Carlo reached down and pulled me up. “And I have to agree with my brother. I’d prefer that thing out of you as well.”
One shove, and he pushed me backward on the bed. Before I could even try to right myself, two hands grabbed me and forced me to stay down. Vico. Vico was holding me down while the unfamiliar man started to strap my arms to the bed.
“Please! What are you doing?”
The man strapped my legs to the bed before Vico finally let go. I thrashed and screamed, cried and begged, trying to get free. But it was no use. The straps around my arms started to gnaw at my skin, but I didn’t register the pain. All I wanted was to make them stop.
“Calm down, Tatum. This time tomorrow it will all be over.”
“What? What will be over? What are you doing? Please don’t hurt my baby!” I was irrational, my mind spinning out of control as fear and panic took hold of all my nerve endings.
“Relax, Tatum. You’re only going to make it worse.”
“Please, Carlo,” I pleaded.
“Shhh, baby.” He placed his hand on my forehead. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
The strange man handed Carlo what looked like four tablets, and a pair of gloves. Carlo tossed the plastic gloves to the floor. “I’ve been inside that pussy more times than I can count. I don’t need gloves doctor.”
The man nodded, then stepped back. Carlo looked at me. “This is a doctor by the way. I don’t want to risk anything happening to you, so he’ll be here to make sure everything goes as planned.”
Tears streamed down my face. “Please don’t do this.”
Carlo dragged his fingers down my body, and it literally ached everywhere he touched. He sat down next to my legs and slowly started to wind up the rag. “It’s actually amazing if you think about it.” He continued to move the fabric up my legs. “They say humans are powerless when it comes to God, yet, we have the power to take away the life he placed inside you with just four little tablets.”
I tried to sit up, tried to see what he was doing. But I couldn’t.
“Carlo please, I’ll do anything you want. I’ll stay with you, I promise. Just don’t do this.”
As if he didn’t hear me, he continued, “Once I put these inside you, your cervix will soften and your body will expel the pregnancy.”
“Oh God!” I screamed, trying to pull free from the restraints.
“It will take a few hours, but it’s not like you have anywhere to go right?” He smirked. “Vico, could you give me a hand?”
I tried to force my legs closed, pulling and tugging, going completely crazy on the bed. Vico forced my legs down, keeping them spread and still.
“Please!” I screamed. “God, please!”
“It will all be over soon.” And then I felt a finger prod at my entrance.
“No!” I cried. I cried so hard, my spine wanted to break in half. As his finger entered me, I pushed. I tried to push it out of me, and the warmth of my own urine spread beneath my thighs. “Stop. Please stop!”
“Oh, Tatum. You pissed yourself. Such a dirty girl.” He pushed his finger all the way inside me, and I screamed as I refused to stop fighting. My head jerked from side to side, and I forced my body to move. Anything just to make them stop.
Carlo stood up and placed his hand on my stomach pushing me down, forcing me to keep still. His finger slipped out, and within two seconds it was back inside me. It hurt. He pushed so deep into me, it fucking hurt.
And then his hand was gone the same time Vico let go of my legs. I kept on screaming, pushing, trying to force out whatever it was he pushed inside me.
“Stop fighting it, Tatum. It’s done. There’s nothing you can do now.” Carlo stood next to me, trying to wipe away some hair that stuck to my face. But I jerked like a wild fucking animal, feral and insane.
“Fuck you!” I screamed at the top of my lungs while tears streamed down my face. “Fuck you!”
Carlo gestured toward the doctor, and he stepped up holding a syringe.
“What is that?” I demanded.
“It’s just something for the pain. It’ll calm you down as well.” Carlo replied, his voice soft, almost compassionate.
I didn’t even feel the needle, I was too busy screaming and crying. The pain felt like my chest had been ripped wide open. My heart was bleeding, dripping onto my spine while my soul was being torn to shreds. My baby. My baby.
Jesus please, my baby.
I wanted to wrap my arms around my waist. I wanted to at least try to protect my baby. But it was no use. The poison was inside me, and it was already killing my baby, killing me.
I started to feel woozy, my head, my mind, everything fogging up. It felt surreal, like nothing more than a bad dream. Further and further my mind drifted.
“Please don’t hurt my baby.” I could barely hear myself.
There was a subtle touch on my cheek. “Soon it will all be over.”
And then…my soul died.