Page 46 of A Pawn in the Game
“That’s it for now.”
Ivan and Marko lift from their chairs and the three of us exit Leon’s office in total silence.
CHAPTER 23
Sophie
This might be weird to say because I’ve been in captivity for God knows how long, but the last few days have been total shit.
Luka hasn’t been here in over a week. Neither have the other guys I became familiar with. I almost miss them.Better the devil you know, I guess.
At first, I was apprehensive. Then, I tried to become friendly, or as friendly as possible under the circumstances. But I soon learned these guys are different.
Not sure what the reason is. When they speak to each other, it’s the same language—Croatian. They’re obviously a part of the same organization.
But they give me the chills. None of them play chess with me. My guess is they don’t know how to. I still play on my own, but it’s not nearly as stimulating. And stimulating my mind is what’s keeping me sane. They throw my food on the bed, rather than placing it, as if I’m vermin. And they comment on the girls upstairs all the fucking time. I was lucky enough not to understand Croatian, but they spoke about it so much that I was forced to partially understand what they’re saying.
Today is one of those instances. There’s a shift changehappening. Zvone just got here, and Stipe retells the story I’ve had the misfortune of hearing a few times before. You don’t have to understand Croatian to read the body language he uses describing the blow job he got upstairs. Zvone smirks with a gleam in his eyes as he listens to the story.
“How much did you pay for it?” he asks in English.
“Pay?Brate,we’re the bosses here. Why the hell would I pay?”
Bile rises in my throat as their laughter echoes the walls of my cage.
“You have a point there,” Zvone responds, licking his lips. He shoots me a quick glance that sets my mind spinning.
Stipe pats his back and leaves, leaving me with the worst of them.
None of them touched me. I guess I should be thankful for that, but his looks alone make me feel violated. Every time he has the night shift; I force myself to stay awake as long as possible but I’m so exhausted that I never make it through the night without falling asleep. Tonight’s no different.
I busy my brain with a thousand thoughts, hoping to make it forget about sleep, but my lids are heavy, and my mind gets foggy…
Asense of dread awakens me from my slumber. My eyelids struggle to catch up, but a chill runs up my spine.
It’s cold. My skin feels exposed even though it’s supposed to be covered with both the blanket and my hoodie. Catching a breath is a feat, but when I do, my eyes jolt open, instantly regretting it.
Zvone sits on the bed, eagerly peeling the clothes off me. My hoodie is already off and he’s now working on my pants.
My throat clogs up as I attempt to fight him, but I’m frozen in place. My mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out.
Zvone has now fully taken my pants off. With my heartpumping loudly in my ears and no oxygen making its way to my lungs, I’m on the verge of passing out. My vision darkens, but I won’t give up that easily.
Come on, Sophie. Fight!
I shut my eyes for a moment to collect myself.
Name five things you can see.
Opening my eyes, I count five things.One.The disgusting smirk on Zvone’s face.Two.My poor discarded hoodie. And pants. Four.My naked skin. Bile rises in my throat.Five.His gun is placed on the table, way out of my reach.
Four things I can feel.
I don’t have time for this!
I feel his grimy fingers on me as he works his way up to my panties. The only sound I hear is the pumping of my heart and the one thing I smell is his rancid breath, way too close to me.
I don’t get to the end of my exercise before my voice finally breaks free.
