Page 71 of Bears Not Included

“Please let me out. I can’t leave her there. Please. Please…. I can’t leave her body there…”

Minutes pass by, maybe hours. And then I do it one last time before my energy is completely zapped. I’m exhausted; my throat is raw from my screaming, and it got me nothing and nowhere. For the first time, I truly feel like a prisoner here. The windows seem to be electronically shut. There’s no way out of this for me.

I rip the dress off, scratching off my skin as I do and pulling my hair in frustration. I can’t take it anymore. I crumble to the floor, naked, and cry until I’m going to pass out.

Faith…

I relive everything that was done to her. I see Kirill Yenin’s face and how he said everything he did to Faith was meant for me.

The punches and kicks. The gun. The cane. Her lifeless body lying on an old, scarred table. The laughter of the men who cheered Yenin on.

I keep those thoughts in my mind. I don’t get to be exempt from them. I need to keep rethinking them until I feel what it's like to be beaten that way. To be raped with a gun and a cane. If I think it long and hard enough, maybe I can start to wear Faith’s bruises, and maybe my body will bear the damage Yenin did to her. Maybe I’ll become her ghost.

I lift myself off the floor and step into the shower cubicle. I turn on the hot water and force myself to stand under the spray, but I can’t even manage that, whereas Faith experienced the worst things that can be done to a woman.

I sink to the floor, bring my knees up to my chest, and wrap my arms around my legs. I can’t cry anymore, and now it’s my anger and my frustration at being a captive in their house that destroy me. They’re keeping me from holding Faith’s hand one last time. They’re stopping me from brushing her hair back out of her face, just like I did with my mom when she fell to her death.

I need to tell Faith I love her. She’s all I had and now I have no one.

I eventually step out of the shower, and with my hair still wet, I find track pants and a hoodie in the closet and put them on. Then I lie on the bed.

I need to find a way to escape. And this time, I’m going to do it. Nothing is keeping me here anymore. They’re the same as Kirill Yenin. They belong in the same world. They all murdered Faith.

My phone starts to beep and buzz with calls and messages. Through my swollen-cried eyes, I see messages from the girls at FFF. They know what happened to Faith because of Demi’s family and her ties to the mafia.

I read the messages as they come up. They’re worried about me. They want to know if I’m okay. They’re sorry about Faith. I don’t have the energy to reply, but I keep reading them even as they say they understand; they’re here for me whenever I need them. Demi sends me a longer message, and I skim through it.

I’m so sorry, Livia. Yenin was only able to do what he did because he got a ‘no harm’ protection order last night. The Global Underground Six secretly voted for it, keeping the Ursids in the dark.

He finally swayed and threatened his way into the Mexican Cartel and the Bratva. That means he has more votes than the Ursid Syndicate, who initially had the majority. That’s how the Global Underground Six works. It’s what Yenin wanted all along. They’re powerless to do anything about it now, Livia, and if they do, they will lose their seat at the table, and all their territories will be seized. Kirill Yenin is now untouchable. And I'm petrified that they won't be able to protect you from him anymore.

I turn around and leave my phone on the other side of the bed.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Livia

As much as I tried to keep my eyes open, my body succumbed to its weakness, and I fell asleep. I hated that I saw nothing in the darkness of my slumber. No Faith

I wake up with a start and roll through everything that happened to her. I can’t forget. I can’t become complacent until I find a way out of here and get her back, wash her hair, cleanse her skin, and make her pretty. She’d like that.

It’s four in the morning already; I slept for hours. How could I sleep? How could I be this weak? I get up and pace the floor immediately. How do I get out of here?

I stall midstep when a guard opens the door and Veronica steps in. I want to turn away from her. She’s connected to them; she knows their history and their ancestry. She’s one of them, but when she holds out her arms to me, and there are tears in her eyes, I can’t move away.

She hugs me tightly, rocks my body, and tells me it’s going to be okay. It’s not.

“It’s going to be okay. Just come with me, darling Livia.” She takes my hand, but I plant my feet into the carpet until I rethink it. I can easily overpower her, although I would hate to do that. But if she takes me out of this inescapable room, I’ll have a chance.

I go with her, my senses on full alert.

“Don’t think about it, Livia. Not until you see what I’m going to show you,” Veronica says softly, holding my hand.

She leads me down a corridor and a flight of stairs. The house is so big, I don’t know what exists outside of the bedrooms I’ve been kept in.

Veronica opens a door, and I see a familiar sight. The entire floor is filled with medical equipment. There’s only one bed in the entire space. A team of doctors and nurses hovers nearby.

Veronica tightens the grip she has on my hand. My heart starts to pound in my ears. I slowly stagger forward, my knees caving, and if it weren’t for Veronica, I would crumble to the floor and have to crawl to the bed.

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