Cuts

My eyes fluttered open as I slowly regained consciousness, groaning quietly. As my body squirmed around, I rubbed my eyes, clearing my vision as much as possible. The brightness of the room made me squint, but soon enough I was able to look around.

My pupils moved in circles as I tried to examine my surroundings. There I was, lying on a bed, looking around at the interior of an unfamiliar room. There was a door to the bathroom on one side, slightly open. The walls and curtains were jet black, and the bed sheets were patterned with shades of gray and charcoal. The furniture followed along with the color scheme, and the doors did nothing less. The bed frame was a golden color, as were the designs on the black marble floor. This room was beautiful, and it was big, too. But I still couldn't pinpoint my location.

Then the memories all flooded back.

Zeke had pretended to need the bathroom, and when the guard finally decided to show him the "bathroom," Zeke knocked him down. I knocked down the other guard, then started running to Zeke. But while I was running I saw a man chilling on the doorframe, then I heard a gunshot and blacked out.. and now I was here.

My body jolted up as I looked around, panicking. I seemed to be alone, given the fact that Zeke was nowhere to be seen. I jumped on my feet before fixing myself up as much as possible and running to the door. Before I could open it, I froze.

Calm down, Athena. You don't want to get killed right now, I thought to myself.

Or maybe I did.

Shaking off the thought, I pressed my ear gently against the door, trying my best to listen for any indication of human activity on the other side.

Unfortunately, I couldn't hear anything.

I stood there for a few more minutes before finally giving up. I sighed as I slowly twisted the door knob, opening the door and peaking out. No one seemed to there, and so I slowly made my way out. I closed the door silently behind me and walked around on the tip of my toes, observing the house I was in.

The house itself was huge, and everything was either black or gold. Chandeliers hung on the ceiling, but other than that, there were no decorations of any sort. Nonetheless, the simplicity of it all was beautiful. I didn't dare to open any of the doors, due to the fact that I was afraid I might see something or meet someone I didn't want to.

I stopped once I reached a set stairs. The railing was a metallic golden color, and the steps were a polished black. It spiraled downwards, meaning I was upstairs. As I stared down hesitantly, I contemplated on whether or not it would be the best choice to go down.

Why am I doing this again?

I took a deep breath in and started walking down to the floor below. I made sure to take my time, wary about the fact that if I go too fast, a guard might assume I'm trying to escape and kill me on the spot. As I gradually got closer, I listened carefully for any sort of sound. Eventually I could hear someone talking. Step by step, the noise grew louder, and soon after, I was able to make out what they were actually saying.

"One million. By the end of this week. If you do not bring the money, I will kill both your daughter and your stupid little recruit," a familiar voice said.

So Zeke's alive, just not in the same room I'm in.

There was a long pause.

"Hendrix, I am not fucking playing with you. If you do not bring the money, I will burn your daughter alive and give you her corpse. Don't fucking underestimate me," he said before banging something on what sounded like a table. I flinched, still hesitant about showing myself.

Wait... did I just hear that right?

My eyes widened at the realization of what he had just said.

Based off of that conversation, it sounded like he had been trying to blackmail my dad. And he had demanded a ransom..

For me.

I wanted to laugh.

But before I could react, Callum appeared out of nowhere, pausing once he saw me.

Wrong damn timing to let your thoughts distract you, Athena.

I felt my muscles tense up as I stared down at the man below me, a few steps away. His eyes were cold and his facial expression was enough to indicate that he was frustrated. I watched as the hand he had wrapped around the railing tightened its grip. "What the fuck are you doing out here?" He spat out.

I bowed. Right now all I wanted to do was stay alive.

"I wanted to confirm whether or not my assumptions were correct. And based on what I've already observed, it seems as if they are. This is your house," I stated looking around. "And who said it was okay to come out? You're supposed to stay in that fucking room," he huffed out. I stared down in silence.

"How long have you been standing there?" He asked. "Only a few seconds before we collided," I lied, not wanting to admit the fact that I had listened in on their conversation.

As much I wanted to give him an attitude, I decided to hold back in hopes that he wouldn't hurt me. The last thing I need is to stay in a house with a man who wants nothing but my head on a platter.

Although I felt like I've been living in that sort of situation since birth.

"Get back in that room and stay there."

I nodded and scurried away. I

• • •

About two hours had passed since he told me to stay in here. I thought it was going to be suffocating, but it was quite frankly the opposite. I felt relaxed, knowing that I didn't have to worry about my dad calling for me or my mom taking advantage of me.

For once I felt.. free. Or at least, freer than usual.

How odd to say that under the possession of your biggest enemy.

I furrowed my eyebrows, remembering that Zeke had tagged along. "I wonder where he is," I thought to myself. I had assumed he was dead, but Callum mentioned him in the conversation held with my father. He was probably in another room somewhere in this humongous building.

I winced as a sudden pain pierced through my thigh. I looked below and quickly pulled my pants down to my knee, my eyes falling to the area that hurt the most.

I totally forgot about that.

I groaned as I looked down at the bandage soaked with blood, some of it already dried. Some parts of the bandage were brown, while others were freshly soaked with crimson red. The pain increased once I removed the tape, my face expressing my body's pain. I slowly unrolled the bandage. A sudden burst of painful shock ran through my body as the bandage stayed put.

The blood had dried and caused the bandage to stick to my skin.

And it hurt.

I stared at the bloody bandage, agitated that it wasn't cooperating with me the way I hoped it would.

I bit my inner lip, trying to bear the pain. "One, two, three.."

I pulled swiftly, tearing a small fraction off.

My eyebrows knitted together as I realized the pain was too overwhelming to be deemed as "normal." It wasn't only painful because the bandage stuck to it.

It was painful because it was getting infected.

A frustrated breath left my lips before I resumed. "One, two, three.."

I pulled again, tearing another small fraction off.

I stared down at the small portion of the cut, seeing a sort of liquid-like puss seep out to greet me.

I bit my inner lip as I kept a straight face, trying to withstand the burning sensation that ran through my thigh. But even with my face lacking any sign of pain, I couldn't hold back the tear that had escaped and rolled down my cheek. The pain was excruciating, yet I hadn't even torn off all of the bandage. For the most part, I had only tore off about one-third of it.

I took a deep breath in, preparing myself for another wave of agonizing pain to rush through my body. "Stop being a pussy and just do it," I whispered, attempting to "reassure" myself.

"One, two, three.."

The hand I had clasped onto the bandage immediately froze as I heard the doorknob twist. My eyes shot up towards the door as my face went pale and my body stiffened with surprise. Only then did my stomach knot up in realization.

I forgot to lock the damn door.