Page 4 of Stolen

Fucking. Animals.

Looking over the guards, they were all dressed similarly in black cargo pants, dark jackets, AK-47s strapped to their backs, and Tasers at their hips. If I could just get my hands on one…

“Eyes forward, sweetheart,” the lead guard said.

I turned my head back to the wall and stared at my hands, now realizing I had bruises with dried blood on my knuckles. How had I not noticed that earlier? I must have put up one hell of a fight.

Not good enough, Jaden.

Yeah, my inner warrior was pissed.

The lead guard leaned up against the wall and sighed. “This isn’t standard procedure, but considering the damage you did to some of my men the other night, you’ll understand why we have to take certain precautions.” He smirked at that, looking down at my knuckles.

I tilted my head at him, narrowing my eyes in confusion. If I was such a fucking risk, then why bother taking me in the first place? Wouldn’t they want girls who wouldn’t put up a fight? I didn’t fit the profile, but what the fuck did I know about their slave qualifications? I had tits and a vagina. Good enough.

The lead guard then turned to stand behind me, taking my hands from the wall and placing them behind my back to bind them with whatever he had pulled from his pocket. It felt like zip ties.

It was so hard to let him cuff me, but I wanted to get the layout of the compound while I had the chance. I needed to determine how many men guarded it, where their posts were, and any other little secrets I could pick up. I figured my real chance for escape would come later. But hell, for all I knew, they could be unknowingly leading me to my freedom. Guess we’d find out.

The lead guard then took my arm in a vise grip and turned me to face him. “You try anything, and I will personally chain you to the wall and beat your ass till you can no longer stand. Got it?”

I gave him the glare of death but nodded. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough. Dissatisfied with my answer, he grabbed my throat and squeezed slightly.

“‘Yes, sir,’ would be the correct answer, you little bitch,” he said, his face hovering a few inches from mine.

With his ugly mug so close to me, the familiarity of his face grew and grew, but I still couldn’t place it. I squinted as I studied his face, but the recollection of his identity never appeared. He then squeezed my throat a little tighter as I had yet to answer him.

I thought about kneeing him in the balls at that moment, but considering his height and the fact that they had me outnumbered with my hands bound behind my back, I decided against it. I would need more than my legs in that situation.

“Yes, sir,” I finally croaked through gritted teeth, lacing my words with a bit of malice.

“Good girl,” he sneered, releasing my throat and pulling me along at his side.

I cringed a little at his word choice of approval. I wasn’t a fucking dog, but who the fuck was I kidding? I’d been sleeping in a kennel for God knows how long.

He hurried me toward the steel double doors as I awkwardly walked at his side, doing my best to keep up with his stride. Normally, it wasn’t difficult for me to keep up with taller people. My boyfriend was six-foot-three, and after so many years, I had grown accustomed to his stride and pace. Shaking my head, I buried the thought of him in the back of my mind. Thinking about him made me want to cry and I needed to stay focused for this.

As we neared the door, I noticed a black camera dome stationed in the left-hand corner of the wall. I’d have to make my attempt quick.

Once we were past the doors, we walked down a hallway that looked similar to the one I had just come from. We took a right turn and walked through another set of steel double doors, coming to a short set of stairs. I recognized more black dome cameras. They were mounted on the walls in just about every other corner.

As I was pulled along up the stairs, the other two guards remained close on my heels, never taking their eyes off me. I smirked at their need for higher security around me. If I hadn’t been so pissed off, I might have taken it as a compliment.

Past the stairs, we walked by a few doors on the right-hand side and finally came to a pair of silver elevator doors. The lead guard pushed the button, and the doors opened. Without even thinking about it, I hesitated slightly as he tried to pull me in. It was stupid, but I honestly didn’t want to be in any tightly closed spaces with the likes of these men.

“Move,” the lead guard said, easily pulling me into the elevator.

He pushed me to the back while the other guards followed in, turning their backs to me and keeping me pushed tight against the elevator walls. Stupid, in my opinion, not to keep their eyes on me, but I was obviously no threat to them as I was restrained and outnumbered.

Know your limits, Jaden. Be smart. Observe. Then make your move.

Being stuck behind them put me at an enormous disadvantage. I wouldn’t be able to see anything ahead of them because I was too goddamn short. That was my one limitation, my only true weakness. I was a short little fuck, and I knew it. Topping out at five-foot-three, I really didn’t look like much of a threat, but that was fine. It gave me the element of surprise, which was a great advantage.

When the doors finally opened, we were up to the third level. Carpet touched my bare feet as the guard dragged me out of the elevator and took a left before coming to a set of wooden oak doors. The lead guard then stopped and looked down at me.

“When we go in here, you’ll follow me in. Wherever I stop, you’ll get down on the floor and sit back on your legs. Eyes always on the ground unless directed otherwise, understand? This is the one place I would seriously advise that you not fuck up if you want things to go smoothly for you.”

“Yeah.” I was irritated as fuck and didn’t even bother to look at him.

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