Page 16 of Collapsed

Alexie reaches down, grabbing my hand with his and bringing it to his mouth. He places a gentle kiss on the back of my hand. “Never again will I do anything that requires your forgiveness.”

I look over to Alexie, who is staring intently at me. “Don’t think your sweet words mean all is forgiven. I will find a way to make you pay for lying to me.”

A big grin forms on Alexie’s face. “The face of great beauty, but a tongue sharper than my blade. I do not believe these men know what is coming for them.”

I’m not sure any of us know what’s to come after we rescue Nat. All I do know is that I’m finding myself more and more excited to find out. But first, we need to make sure Nat comes back to us safe and sound. I can’t lose her again, not after getting her back so soon.

Nat

Deepbreaths,Nat.Takedeep breaths.

Things are going according to plan. As much of a plan as someone can have who’s been tied to the bed for who knows how many days. I get myself completely untied and swing my legs over the edge. They feel like jelly at first; not being able to move them for days will have that effect, but I push myself up to stand. The room sways slightly from the sudden movement, so I allow myself a few moments to regain equilibrium.

The bits of fabric left from the hospital-type gown and undershirt have fallen off, and I'm only left in my sports bra. That isn’t my biggest concern right now. My concern is to get the fuck out of here. I don’t feel fully like myself, but I’m ready to take down anyone who gets between me and getting the hell out of this place.

There is no window or clock in this room, so I can’t tell what time it is. Then it hits me, the dead asshole on the floor probably has a phone. I walk through the blood pooling around his lifeless body. Luckily for me, he landed face down, so I don’t have to worry about flipping him over to search his back pockets. Pulling the phone out, I gently tap the screen to see that it’s12:32 PM.

The phone is locked but looks like it only requires a thumbprint. Luckily for me, I have that readily accessible. Lifting his hand and wiping away any blood, I press his thumb to the screen, andVOILA, it’s unlocked. I need to call Conrad. He needs to know where I am and that I’m alive. The numbers are punched in, but it won’t let me call out.What the fuck?

I try again and again, but it won’t let me do anything. The directory in the phone only has five numbers. This is definitely set up so these guys have no ability to talk to whoever they want. They are kept under strict orders and are only allowed to call these individuals. The name Boss stands out immediately, and I’m tempted to hit call. I stop myself because that would only give Ivan the upper hand again. Plus, I don’t even know if Ivan is still in this place. I click on his messages to see if Ivan gave any indication of when he would be back. There is nothing.

A sound on the other side of the door gets my attention. I start to look around the room and see the metal tray table full of Ivan’s torture instruments. Running over to it, I see a variety of scalpels, saws, and knives. After a moment of consideration, I reach for two smaller knives and head back by the door. Sure enough, the handle starts to turn, and a shorter, balding man walks through the door. He sees his dead friend on the floor and rushes over.

“Yuri,” the man says as he crouches down next to the body. It surprises me that Ivan hires such incompetent morons. This man has yet to check his surroundings and didn’t turn around to see that I was hiding on the other side of the door.

This is my opportunity to sneak behind him. I move too slowly because the man shouts out, “Grigor! Luka!”Fuck! I’ve lost the upper hand.As he turns his body, I lunge forward and tackle him. We fall backward onto his dead buddy, or Yuri as he called him. Gripping both knives tightly, I bring one up and plunge it into his chest and the other one into his side.

He goes quick, but footsteps coming down the hall have me springing back onto my feet. I turn as a man rushes through the door.This must be Grigor or Luka.He stands there, chest heaving, for a moment. His face is beet red, almost purple, and judging from the belly poking out from the bottom of his shirt, it took a lot out of him to run here. I start to run towards him, knives in hand, but am immediately stopped in my tracks as Grigor, or Luka, pulls out a gun.Fuck!

A shot rings out, echoing in the room. My ears are ringing from the sound, but then I notice a stinging sensation on my right bicep.He fucking shot me!I don’t have time to check my injury because the dickwad aims at me again. This time, I drop down low, and he misses. With everything I have, I jump at him as another shot rings out.

The bullet hits me in my side, but my adrenaline takes over. He turns his back to me, reaching for his phone and I lunge at him, snaking my legs around his waist. Raising the knife in my left hand, I bring it back down into the arm holding the gun. He drops it immediately but grabs my neck with his other hand. His hand tightens around my neck, and he backs me against the wall. I must have dropped the knife in my right hand when he shot me, so I start to slam my right fist into his face hoping he’ll release his grip. It doesn’t work.This guy is built like a very round brick house.He rams my body against the wall over and over. I yank the knife from his arm and jam it into the front of his neck. He drops me while his hands reach for his own neck. Blood is pouring out quickly, and I know he can fight all he wants, but it's over for him. He does me a favor and pulls the knife from his neck, causing blood to spill even more quickly. Ivan’s soldier sways a bit before dropping to his knees. His eyes look at me, and he tries to say something, but only blood gurgles from his mouth. He makes his final fall to the side, hitting the ground with a loud thud. I move back towards the wall where he dropped his gun and pick it up.This will come in handy.

Gun in hand, I lean against the wall for a moment, coughing and trying to regulate my breathing after almost being choked out.That was too close.Clearly, I’m weaker than usual, as that guy would have been a non-issue any other time.Shit, there’s at least one other person here.The other man shouted for Grigor and Luka, and only one came in. A few shots went off in here, so he must have heard them.

Cautiously, I move towards the newest dead body to make sure he’s really dead.I don’t need some random Die Hard moment where the dead bad guy isn’t actually dead.Sure enough, Mr. Brick House is a goner.

I head to the door and carefully peek around the corner. The room I’ve been in is at the end of a long hallway, and there are three other doors.Great. Time to play What’s Behind Door Number One, Two, and Three.

Gun in hand, I leave the room where I’ve been captive for who knows how many days. Finding Ivan and finishing this is on a constant loop in my mind. My adrenaline is working overtime because I barely register that I’ve been shot in my arm and side. Thankfully, the arm looks like a simple graze and should be an easy fix.

Making my way to the first door, I carefully turn the handle and open it. I take a step in, and immediately move into a crouched position.Always stay low.The room is empty, but the setup isn’t much different than mine was. The only thing missing is a bed. There are chains and hooks hanging from the ceiling and a drain that runs to the center of the room. The usual metal table filled with his preferred sharp objects is against the wall. I cringe at thinking how many women lost their lives in this room.

Again, I carefully leave the room because I still don’t know when Luka or another asshole will show their ugly face. The second room has the same thing as the first, with no one inside. A pit starts to form in my stomach as I approach the third and final door. I pull my gun up because my instincts are in overdrive right now. As I turn the handle, I’m already lowering myself, getting ready for what could be on the other side.

I enter the room, and this one isn’t empty. No Grigor or Luka though, instead there is a naked woman chained to the wall. There is a large metal chain attached to one of her ankles. She doesn’t look up as I enter, which tells me she’s been here too long and was likely next to be brought into my room. I move closer, seeing that her hair is colored a bright red.I’m going to make that sick fuck hurt so much.

“Hey,” I whisper to her, but she cowers further away from me. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I’m going to get us out of here.” She looks up at me, and her face is so swollen, and blood is dried around her mouth and down her chin. I want to pull her into my arms and tell her she’ll be okay, but I know that isn’t true. What Ivan did to her will stick with her for a long time, if not forever. I look around the room, foolishly hoping there is a hook with the key. No such luck.

“Do you know who had the key?” I ask her. She opens her mouth to respond, but only muffled sounds come out, and then she starts to sob. I look at her, wondering what is going on, and she notices me inspecting her. She opens her mouth, and I see it. He cut out her fucking tongue. Again, I want to hold her and take care of her, but I need to get her out of here. Ivan is my goal right now.

“Do you know which one had the key?” I ask her again. This time I get more specific, “Was it the really large man?” She shakes her head no. “Was it the short one with a giant bald spot on the back of his head?” She nods her head.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell her, but her hand reaches out and grabs my arm, and she continues to sob. I get it, someone came in giving her hope, and she’s worried it's going to be gone again. “The guy with the key is in the other room,” her face looks more distraught. “Don’t worry, I killed him, but I have to get the key.” I pull my arm from her hand and head back to the room I was in.

I return quickly with the set of keys that were in the man’s pocket. There’s still no sign of the other man, so we need to be careful. Making quick work of the lock, the woman’s ankle is free. She reaches forward and wraps her arms around me. “We need to gonow,” I tell her as I gently pull her arms away from me.

Standing up, I reach my hand down for her to grab. She does, and I help pull her to her feet. She follows closely behind me as we move to the door. Before we walk out, I decide it best to give her a weapon. Every person should be ready to defend themself. I grab a serrated knife off the metal table and hand it to her. She willingly accepts it. “Stick that into anyone you come across. Got it?” She nods her head back in acknowledgment.

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