Page 65 of Trapped

“Ivan told me about Lucia. We always planned to eliminate her, but then Silas killed him. Leaving me to do this all on my own.” My heart tightens at the revelation.Was my father plotting to hurt Lucia?

A knock sounds on the metal door, but Claudia ignores it. She makes her way toward me and crouches back down to face me. I look down at Ricky’s blood stained on my hands.None of this would be in vain.I faintly hear my name from behind the door. I stare at Claudia for a good minute before I react. I bang my head straight into hers. She falls back on her heels, losing her balance. I push her forward and climb on top of her. I trap her arms under my knees and send my fist flying to her botched face. I deliver several more punches before I stand and kick her on to her side. She moves to all fours, but I’m quick. I yank her head back by her long blonde strands.

“Where the fuck is my daughter?!” I ask.

When she refuses to answer, I slam her face forward. Her head hits the cement below me, and blood spurts out around us. This woman deserves no mercy. Not after her months of threatening me. Not after what she put Silas through. Not after she took my daughter.

I slam her head forward again. Unable to stop myself.

Smash.

“Where.”

Smash.

“The fuck.”

Smash.

“Is my daughter?!” I scream.

I chant the question between every hit. Over and over again. I’m stuck in a continual cycle. Lost in my rage. I don’t stop. Not when the door bursts open. Not when her body goes limp and her blood surrounds me. Not until I feel Silas reaching down for me. My chants become whispers, and I finally let go of her. He pulls me to my feet, and I turn and bury myself into his chest.

“We have to go,” he says, picking me up.

“Where’s Lucia?” I ask, my eyes searching his. I look down at the blood all over me. I hold my breath, waiting to see her appear, but she doesn’t. Silas carries me in his arms down the stairs and into the back of the van.

Inside are two new faces, watching me as I climb in. Their faces had changed with time, but I still recognize their distinct features—Rosalinda and Maikel.

“You found them?” I say.

“One of the men led us to an underground storm shelter on the east side of the building. She was hiding them there,” Efren says.

“And Lucia?” I look from Efren, to Silas, to his siblings, desperate for someone to say she’s safe. That she’s okay. Silas’s eyes tell me everything I need to know.

“We saw her,” Maikel says, his tiny voice cracking. He looks to Rosalinda, and she looks back at me. Her eyes are identical to Lucia’s.

“She was only with us a day before they rescued her,” she says before looking down. I slump back in the seat and stare down at all the blood on my hands.

“Rescued her?” Silas asks.

“That’s what he said. That he was here to rescue her,” Rosalinda says.

“He took her on his motorcycle,” Maikel says. His face falls with his answer. Silas hugs him, and Rosalinda begins to cry.

Nausea forms in my stomach. It is a never-ending nightmare. I rub my hands together, desperate to remove the blood. I watch as Silas comforts his siblings. I turn and look through the back window. A large fire ignites from the auto repair shop in the rearview mirror, burning the last of my hope with the bodies in the building behind us.

Axel sits at the head of the table in the large meeting room. My parents and my other brother, Adan, sit across from me, while Genesis sits beside me. I hate the intimidating presence Axel always brings with him. As the oldest son, he seeks to make sure Adan and I remain inferior to him. Even if he is only seventeen minutes older than Adan. It makes him feel entitled to boss us both around. I hate him.

I hate him more than I hate men who wear flip-flops, and that’s saying a lot because ew. According to my mother, it’s normal for older brothers to worry about their younger sister. But even she knows Axel is not normal. His methods of protecting me are extreme and always unreasonable.

“I told you something like this would happen,” he says, reaffirming the previous doubts he had expressed about me coming to Texas. He’s looking at my parents like they sold me to the circus. My parents nod their heads in agreement. Even my father, in all his authoritative ways, lets Axel push him around without batting an eye.

“I didn’t…” I start, but it’s no use. Axel is right. This is all my fault.

Genesis reaches under the table and grabs my hand, the way she has done since we were little girls. She knows as well as I that we can’t fight the men in our family. Calladita, te ves mas bonita.Keep your mouth shut. You look prettier that way.Be a doll for them to stare at. A trophy they can claim. That is my place in this world. That is why I admire Thalia so much. Thalia is one of few women in our world that I see get her way. That is respected.

“We’re not saying it’s your fault,” my mom says, her sympathetic eyes meeting mine.

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