Page 3 of The Broken Queen

Blood gathered at the tips of my nails as I clawed at the gray wall, aimlessly unaware of the damage I was causing. I swallowed, but there was no relief. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a glass of water. My strength was waning but I had to keep going.I had to get out of here.

My hands searched around in the darkness and found a small metal shard. The lightbulb had officially died earlier today and so far no one had replaced it, so I learned to live with it. I clasped onto the small shard with my fingers and reached around to find the wall. It was pitch black in the room with no sunlight or moonlight to fill the empty void.

My eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness. Darkness wasn’t so bad, after all.Once I found the wall, with all of my might, I shoved the shard into it. My hand jolted back when I’d gotten nowhere. There were movies about this, people who were kidnapped trying to escape their kidnapper, finding any way possible to dig at the wall until they found a way out. I huffed out a ragged breath. It was easier in the movies. After what seemed like hours of getting nowhere, I left the shard on the ground and collapsed. My head hit the cool floor, and it was a welcomed distraction.

My eyes had just closed when the door burst open. I kept myself as still as I could, contemplating the predicament I was in.How was I going to get myself out of here?

I looked over to the bright light in the doorway that lit the room up and erased most of the darkness. My eyes went to the big, burly man standing in the frame. I couldn’t see his face, but he seemed like someone I didn’t want to mess with. I had never seen this man before, but he had to be one of the bad guys. He was here to hurt me.

Quickly, I reached for the shard and raised myself to a standing position. I had a feeling I was going to be fighting formy life in this cell. I sucked in a sharp breath when he came towards me. I closed my eyes and jutted the shard out, hoping it would catch his skin, but it did no such thing. Instead, the man picked me up and threw me across the room like I was a useless rag doll. A scream barreled out of me, my back burning against the concrete.

“Come on, little Princess; I thought I was going to get a better fight from you.” The man’s voice was gravelly, as if he had been through many ups and downs in his life.

Ah, so this was another test.

With my jaw clenched, I let out a screech while I pulled myself up from the ground. As a twelve-year-old girl, I didn’t stand a chance with a man of his size, but I had to try.Maybe I could fight my way out.

I felt around the room trying to find the shard that was tossed, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Realizing I would have to use my hands instead of tools, I curled them into fists, hoping they would do some type of damage.

My thoughts paused when the man rushed me. He had a wide gap between his legs so I maneuvered beneath him, hoping to just escape at this point because fighting him would be a death wish. Before I could truly escape him, he grabbed my leg and sat on top of me. A scream rattled through my lips, but I was silenced. My head lolled to the side when he punched me.Ouch.I tried to wiggle free, but he was too strong. He crunched a fist into my face repeatedly until I could barely open my eyes.

Through blurry eyes, his satisfied smirk was written all over his face with the damage he caused to mine. A deep chuckle came from his lips as he leaped off me. My body was frozen, almost paralyzed with pain. If I’d gotten run over by an eighteen wheeler, I’m sure this was exactly how I would’ve felt.Maybe that times one hundred.

“You’re supposed to be the next Queen?” the man laughed as if that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard in his life.

My head was hurting, my body was sore and all I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep. He taunted me, making me feel as though I wasn’t worthy enough to be royalty.

What if I wasn’t? What if eliminating me from the picture was exactly what Father wanted? What if I died during this whole process and they just adopted someone who was worthy of the crown?All those thoughts running through my mind made my head spin and hurt even more.

A light kick to my shin brought me back to reality and the man who was still sharing the space with me. A groan escaped my lips. “Haven’t you done enough?”

“Hardly. Sorry little girl, but I have orders. You have to get up and fight me.” His voice transformed from someone with an ego the size of Mars to someone who harbored concern.It was too good to be true.

My eyes fluttered, hardly staying open anymore. I was losing this fight badly. Whatever Father’s plan was, he was succeeding in tormenting me in every possible way imaginable. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? You’ve already beaten down a child.”

“Hey now, don’t say it like that.”

“Like what? You took advantage. I’m not Rue in the Hunger Games for crying out loud; I haven’t prepared for this. Before Father took me down here, I was someone who didn’t know the horrors this life had to offer. I liked it better that way.”

“What way? Ignoring everything going on around you? Being completely oblivious to what your father does in his spare time?” He sounded like someone in his late twenties. Someone who had passion and wanted to gain status in the harsh world.

I sat up, but when my head started to spin, I laid back down. There was no use in moving; everything hurt. I was pretty sure my lip was swollen too. The guy, whoever he was, caused me tocome to grips with the fact that my life would never be normal again. The nightmare I was currently living in wasn’t in fact a nightmare. It was a reality I couldn’t escape.

A groan escaped my lips, “It doesn’t matter what Father does. It’s not like I can stop him from being a monster.”

“You can. If anyone can make an impact on him, it’s you and the Queen.” Surprisingly, the man came and sat down beside me, as if he wanted to have a heart to heart after beating my skull in.

“Oh, so now you want to hang around so you can see what damage you caused? Classy.” I scoffed.Oy, just talking makes my brain hurt.

The man laughed, “Well, I think someone needs to be real with you. Have you ever heard of the mafia?”

Why was this guy asking me hard questions? I can barely keep my eyes open.“No,” I said, wanting to give him all the capacity he needed to finish this conversation so I wouldn’t have to.Of course I’ve heard of the mafia. I’m not that sheltered.

“To put it simply, it’s organized crime. Think of everything illegal, and getting away with it. Your father is king of this country, but he is also king of one of the most ruthless crime agencies in the world.”

“And why should I care? He’s a monster; I think I’ve figured that out.” If this guy was going to sit here and have a conversation after he beat me up, then why wasn’t he trying to get me out of here? Was this another form of torture? Boring me to death?

“Youneedto care because there are some bad people after your father. Those people won’t hurt him, they’ll hurt the ones he cares about. Why do you think he’s making you suffer through this?”

---