Page 90 of Hawk's Sapphire

The control room.

There are three men inside the room with security cameras and computer screens lining the walls.I make a mental note to pay even closer attention to the path we’re on so I can find my way back to this room and signal Tate and the guys to our location.

We come to another room.This one looks more like a doctor’s office, complete with the cushioned table and stirrups at the end.I glance around at the metal tray with various tools and bandages, making a special note of the sharp scalpel and a couple of long metal tweezers.Armand waits until an older man enters the room wearing a long white coat and glasses.I guess he’s their medical professional on staff.

And the first of many about to die.

“Armand.You may wait outside.I would like to speak to the young lady alone,” the old man orders.“She will feel more comfortable talking to her doctor without you glaring at her.”Armand doesn’t look pleased with being told what to do, but follows the order anyway.

“There now, my dear.What is your name?”

I don’t answer, covering myself with my hands and forcing myself to appear frightened and insecure.Okay, I am a little frightened, but this situation is probably the most advantageous and has me feeling the most hopeful since my capture.

“Of course.Allow me.”The older gentleman hands me a cloth gown one might get in a real doctor’s office, then turns his back as I cover myself up.I don’t know if this is just a part he plays to gain our trust or if he’s here against his will as well, but I don’t trust him.

Once I’m covered, I gently reply, “Thank-you.”

He turns back to me with a wide smile and claps his hands.“You’re welcome, my dear.Now, what’s your name?”

“Does it matter?They’re going to sell me and kill me anyway.What does my name matter?”My eyes glisten as I pinch the side of my thigh.

“Well, I’m not going to sell you or kill you, but if you don’t wish to tell me your name, then perhaps I’ll just call you my dear.”He nods.“How old are you?”Again, I don’t answer.

“When was your last menstrual cycle?”Silence.“Have you had any children?”I wrinkle my nose at that question, and he smiles.“There, we have an answer to one question.Have you been or are you now on any type of birth control?”

“No.”He looks up at me and grins.

“See, now.When you answer my questions, it makes my job easier.I can be of more help to you when you cooperate with me.”

“Can you?Be of help to me?”I ask, sounding hopeful.

He sighs, his hand resting on my thigh.“I can’t free you, but I can make your time here a little less painful.Of course, that will depend on you.”That’s the moment I notice his kind mask falter.He’s a predator like the rest.He’s here to do a job, but he has an ulterior motive.One I want to know.

“W-What does that mean, less painful?How?”I stutter, curling in on myself as I watch his hand stroke my thigh a little higher with each pass.

“Well, that depends.I could give you some medication that will prevent you from feeling any pain for a short while, at least at the beginning, but I would require afavorfor my help.”Both of his hands are now on my thighs.I grip the gown closed over my chest with my hands, and his eyes watch my every move.

“W-What favor?Why will I want to be numb to the pain?What are they going to do exactly?”I ramble off question after question, hoping to keep him distracted.I scoot back on the table, which brings him to move closer, forcing the metal tray up toward the head of the bed.

“Well, they will punish you.These men like to hurt their women.I don’t know who you will be going with, but well, they’re mostly all the same.Barbaric and mean,” he says it as though he’s describing the bad guys in a movie to a child.Thoughts of the poor little girl from earlier flash through my mind and I wonder if this bastard gave her the same speech before he tried to get her to dofavorsfor him.

“You will most likely be brutally raped and passed around to many others who will also not be gentle.”He looks up at me with a soft smile.“But if you allow me to play with your pretty little cunt, I promise to be gentle and when I’m finished, I’ll give you medicine to make you forget and feel no pain for a few hours.Wouldn’t you like that?To forget and be pain free?”

“A-And all I would have to do is have sex with you?Here?”I ask, slowly letting go of my gown, giving him a glimpse of my breasts.He pushes the gown open, sliding the material over my right shoulder, and I use the momentary distraction to grab the scalpel from the tray and jab it into his neck.Once, twice.Three times.He gargles and flails, dropping to the floor.I know Armand can hear the noise, so I groan and pant, making it sound as though we’re getting it on in here.

I drop behind the doctor on the floor and twist his neck until it snaps.I don’t have time to process the fact I just killed a man.I need to get the fuck out of here as quickly as possible.

Searching through the drawers and cabinets as quietly as I can, I find a pair of scrubs and slide them on.Then I grab a handful of sharp objects from the drawer and lay them on the table.I shove the table a few times, making the table hit the wall and continue to grunt low as I peel away the plastic sterilization wrap on each instrument and shove them in my pocket.

Once I’m sure I have what I need, I knock on the door for Armand and wait behind it.He opens the door, sees the doctor on the floor and before he can spin to catch me, I’m on his back like a fucking spider monkey with a scalpel in his neck, too.He doesn’t give up as easily as the doctor and from this position I can’t quite get the grip I need to snap his neck, so I do the next best thing and shove a set of tweezers into his eye and another scalpel through his ear.The last one does the trick, forcing him to stumble and drop to the ground.

The cameras have undoubtably caught me by now, but I don’t have time to consider that.I need torun.

I crawl my way out from under the big asshole and move through the hallways back toward the control room.A sharp burning sensation in my shoulder catches me off guard, but I keep moving.It takes just a moment for me to realize what’s happened.

Someone has turned on my tracking device.

The design hasn’t been perfected or tested on a human before, but our tests have shown that when the device turns on it heats up, a small price to pay to know someone is coming to find you.

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