Page 99 of Reaper Released

“Fuck, what are the chances of her still having her phone on her? Shit, here goes nothing!”

Catalina

I stay behind after school to finish a paper in the library. I’ve requested the driver pick me up an hour later than normal, but I’m finished earlier than expected, so I head out of the gates and down the street. There’s a coffee cart there that does amazing hot chocolate, so I grab one while I wait. Hearing a screech of tyres, I spin on my heels as a van skids to a halt. One man slides the door open in the back and steps out. Another gets out of the door nearest to me, and one comes from the other side of the van. I can still see one of them in the driver's seat. I step back.

“Can I help you?”

Two of them surround me as the other steps closer, grabbing my arm. As I struggle, the others come closer and snatch me up into their grasp and bundle me into the back of the van. I’m pinned face down on the van floor with one of the guys straddling my back while he ties my wrists together behind my back. I’m still wearing my backpack as he slides down my body. He ties my ankles together, sitting back on the bench, the other two are in the front, and there’s one guy on the floor at the side of me.

I’m frozen in place, terrified. The guy at the side of me slowly and gently slides his finger up my thigh and starts lifting my school skirt. I start thrashing, and the guy on the bench states, “Do not fucking touch her. Cerberus will string you up!”

“Only wanted a look. Chill, man!”

“Don’t be stupid, man. You know what she’s for. Keep your hands to yourself!”

I roll onto my back and scoot away from them, sitting against the back doors of the van so I can see them all, we travel for about an hour, and the road seems pretty straightforward. It doesn’t feel like they are detouring to throw me off. When the van stops, I’m dragged out of the back doors, my eyes darting around to see where I am. There’s what looks like a truck stop as they drag me over to an SUV. A larger man gets out.

“Are you fucking serious? You haven’t even blindfolded her. What the fuck are you idiots playing at?”

They hang their heads and shove me towards the guy with the SUV. He grabs me by the hair and shoves me towards the boot of the vehicle. Opening it up, he shoves me in and tugs a bag over my head. After setting off, it’s just me and him. We drive for another ten, maybe fifteen minutes.

I’m dragged out of the back of the vehicle, held by the scruff of the neck, and pushed forward. I’m pushed up a few steps. The only thing stopping me from falling on my face is the guys’ bruising grip, a door opens, and it’s the smell that hits me first, stale beer, stale cigarette smoke and another smell that’s sweaty and like sex but also not.

I know what sex smells like as I’ve walked in on my mum with her… I don’t know what to call him… Viking. Anyway, he’s kind to me and seems to like my mum, and when he’s at the villa, she laughs a lot. She seems to relax around him. I wonder if I will ever see them again.

After the overwhelming smell, the noise is next: clinking glasses and chatter, mainly rowdy men, possibly a bar. As I’m pushed through, there are a few hands running over my body as I wriggle and thrash in the guys’ hold. I hear another door open, and I’m pushed through it. Then the noise and smell fade slightly, there’s a knocking noise, then a creak, and then I’m lifted off my feet and carried down some stairs. I think I’m in a basement. A musty, damp smell wafts around me, then a sweaty sickly smell. There’s a dripping noise, clinking noises almost like chains, and a cold bite around my ankle.

I’m pushed down on a camp bed-type cot, and then nothing but the sound of boots walking away from me. I shuffle up the bed and feel the cold, damp walls till I find the corner and sit with my back against it. Still, hands bound behind my back and bag over my head. I rub my head against the wall, sliding the bag off so I can see my surroundings. There are some crates of bottles in one corner, and there are five more cots with chains. There are three other bodies down here chained to the walls like me.

“Hello?” My voice cracks and shakes. I'm terrified.

“Shh!” a voice sounds from one of the beds.

Taking a deep breath. “Where are we? What's happening?”

“Will you keep it down, or we will all be beaten!”

With a gasp, I settle back against my backpack. It’s so uncomfortable. I try to wriggle it so I can get into the zip compartment. My phone is in there. If I can call my mum or Ray or Viking, they will know I’m in trouble. They can help. I start to thrash, trying to bend my wrists towards the bag. Four guys appear as the hatch flings open and heavy boots sound down the wooden stairs. The one at the back is bigger. As the two at the front grab me and untie me, they remove my backpack and toss it over to him.

He rummages through it to find my phone and walks over to me, he slaps me so hard my head hits the wall, and I see stars. “You're gonna phone your mum, you little bitch, and tell her you’re staying at a friend’s place for a few days. Do not test me, motherfucker. If you tell her we have you, we will kill you!”

I nod, my head still swirling, and I can taste blood. How the hell am I supposed to let her know I’m in trouble? I can’t, but then I nod again at him, knowing full well I can get her to give Ray a message. Then these guys will be toast. After passing the message to Mum, I hope she will get in touch with Ray. They throw my phone on the stack of crates near the door and leave again.

“Can anyone reach the crates? Can you get my phone so I can get us help?”

“What makes you so special, princess? We’ve been here for weeks. No one’s coming for us.” My phone starts ringing till the answer phone cuts in, then it stops and then rings again. Then when it starts ringing for the third time, the hatch flies open, and the big guy comes down, picking up my phone.

“Who the fuck’s, Ray?”

“She’s a friend of my mum's, she’s… persistent, she freaks out when people don’t answer, that's why I always do. She will think there’s something wrong if I don’t talk to her. She’s a nightmare.”

“Fine, speak to her, get her off the phone quickly. You say anything, and you're dead, you hear me? Don’t screw with me bitch, okay?”

I nod, and he puts the phone on speaker and calls Ray. “What the fuck, Catalina? You know I hate it when I don’t get an answer.”

“I know, Ray. I'm sorry!”

“Okay, it’s fine. Your mum gave me the message about your project, well done, kiddo!”

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