Page 14 of Fortress of the Brave

“So Bratva is the Russian Mafia?”

“Got it in one.”

I slump down against the wall. It’s cold, but I don’t care. “They told me I’d be sold to a sex slave ring…” I say. “If I didn’t cooperate.”

“Threats to keep you compliant. That’s how these assholes work.”

“So they kidnapped you for bribery too? Seems coincidental. Rivals to one another’s families.”

“Nothing our enemies do is coincidental,” she says. “This is all planned. I just don’t know what they want from me. Nevertheless, they’ve picked the wrong bitch to mess with.”

A loud noise sounds, and for the first time I realize it sounds like a ship's horn.

Are we at the dock?

Fear almost envelops me from the inside out.Why are we at the dock?

I swallow hard, closing my eyes, hoping nobody enters my cell.

I just want to be left alone.

I like Kat’s enthusiasm, but there’s no way out of here.

The small amount of daylight turns into night as I fall into another broken sleep.

I try to keep myself upbeat, and with some spirit, as I splash water on my face in the tiny sink in the bathroom. I would give anything to be able to shower properly. I can only rely on this small sink and a tiny bar of soap for salvation.

I have tried every day since I’ve been here to not lose hope. To imagine the door being busted in, and somehow, someone has found me and will carry me to safety.

With Kat’s promise that people will be looking for her, it gives me a new sense of hope.

This is exactly what we need, the goddamn Bratva to bust in here.

I cannot let myself believe for one moment that this is going to be the end of my life or that everything I’ve done and survived so far is for nothing.

To die in a warehouse, in some shipping graveyard, where nobody may ever find me, sends a new sense of fear through my body.

No. I am not going to die here. I’m not.

I’ve been through a lot in my life. Surviving the crash that killed my parents so many years ago dragged me into a deep depression as a young child. I somehow survived that. I got through it and I can get through this.

I’m not a bad person.

More days go by, and Kat and I talk here and there when we can, but it isn’t easy to hear exactly what each other is saying through the walls. She sure as hell makes a lot of noise whenever the guards show up and always yells at them. She’s one tough cookie.

She’s a fighter in a different way from what I am. I just want to slither away quietly, somewhere nobody notices. Kat wants to burn the place down and send them all to hell.

Gotta admire that shit right there.

I kneel beside my mattress before I sleep and pray to my parents, like I have every night since I’ve been here. Something washes over me, not just exhaustion, but something else.

When I fall asleep once more, I’m sure I hear my mother’s voice as I drift off, telling me to stay strong. Everything will be okay. That my angel will come for me.

Maybe I’m hallucinating my way out of here, I don’t know. However, it lulls me into a deep, quiet, dreamless sleep.

And for the first time, since I’ve been here, I feel peacefulness wash over me.

I will get out of this.Someone is coming for me.

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