"Don't answer that." Roman says to me as he gets off the bed and heads towards his mother. "There is a lock on my door for a reason mom." "What do you mean by that? There's a strange girl in your room, and no one is saying anything." His mom says in a stern tone. "Come on, mom. Let's talk outside." Roman says before pulling his mom out of the room and locking the door behind him. Left to my own devices, I have a lot if time on my hands and I decide to use it to explore Roman's room cum lair. I limp off the bed and search the drawers, finding absolutely nothing in there. Now that I pay good attention, I notice that most of the room is just plain bare without any trace of personal possessions. Further exploring proves this theory to be right, apart from basic items like clothing and shoes as well as a first aid kit, the room seemed very bare. However what it lacked in personal items, it made up for with its sheer grandiose. A floor to ceiling window took up one entire side of the
'On your knees princess.' The order keeps replaying in my head as I scramble to kneel up in the bed. "Hands up." He orders. When I obey, he slowly pulls his shirt off me leaving me bare to his hungry eyes. "Fuck." He says while running his hands through his hair in almost frustration. I fight the urge to shield my less-than-adequate breast with my arms. I move to cover up while blushing furiously but Roman stops me with a hand on my wrist. "Don't ever cover yourself from me, because you're fuckung perfect." Roman says forcefully as if he truly believes that if he says it forcefully enough, maybe I will believe it. Roman leans down to my face level and places kisses just on the side of my lips, teasing me till I'm hungry and willing to beg just to experience the feeling of having his lips on mine. After a moan of frustration, he finally gives me what I want, only it's too much for me to handle. With a firm hand on my jaw, he forces his tongue through the meagre barrier that is my
I wake up with a pounding headache and a fresh bruise in the shape of a fist on my left cheek. I look around the dimly lit basement and feel a sense of deja vu wash all over me. I haven't been here since I was sixteen, too many traumatising events keeping me away from this room. I would rather risk the wrath of my stepmother than step into this moment, but look at me right now, lying on the same floor with no way to leave. I get up from the floor and almost fall back down from the bout of dizziness that hits me. I lean on the wall until I'm strong enough to move towards the door. "Please open the door!" I scream while banging on the door, almost bursting into tears when, after a few minutes, nobody responds. I feel around my back pocket for my phone, and when I find it, I almost die from relief. When I take it out, however, my mood turns sour at the total lack of network, almost as if my dad had installed a cellphone jammer in this room. I turn on my phone light and look around th
"I seduced the professor." I say the moment I'm back in the dining room. My dad looks at me in shock while both Kate and her daughter Mia are looking at me with poorly hidden smirks. "Are you sure of what you're saying, honey? There's no need for you to cover up for that vile evil professor." Kate says in a very caring tone, successfully hiding her evil plans and intentions. "I watched the security tapes, and I saw that man put his hands on you over and over again even after you told him to stop. There is no way you seduced him." Kate says in a tone that leaves me stunned. She buries her face in her hands, sobbing softly, like just the thought of what I went through was traumatising her. I finally understand her plan when I take a look at my father's face. She was literally setting me up for a fall. She was trying to act like she had too much faith in me to believe that I would do something as cheap as seducing a professor. She was doing it to stoke the flames of hatred my father
"Roman?" I ask beneath the gag."Yes, baby?" Roman asks in response while pulling the strong duvet off my body. "Get this off me!" I scream beneath the gag in words that I'm sure come out in incoherent mumbles. "I will remove the gag if you promise not to make a sound." Roman says in a patronizing tone. "Nod if you understand." I nod my head angrily, willing to do anything to get him to take the gag out of my mouth and off my face. He takes off the gag slowly, watching my face for any signs of defiance. Satisfied with what he sees, he takes it off fully, giving me a lopsided grin that almost melts my resolve. Almost. "What are you doing here?" I whisper yell at him while trying to get my hand out of the loose rope he has around my wrists. "To see you of course. What do you think?" Roman says giving me a dumb look while sitting up in the bed. I wiggle once more, trying to get my hands out of the ropes binding them together. "Why would you want to see me? You made it painfully
"Why? What happened?" I ask, wondering why I was concerned about the life of someone who was ready to sell me to a killer. "He's not answering his phone and when I tried tracking his phone, it's showing that he's tracker is disabled, and that's not possible because he had no idea that there was a tracker on his phone." Kate rambles. "Why is there a tracker on his phone?" I ask, my interest piqued at the absurdity of her statement. "Of all the things I said and all you heard was the tracker on his phone. I knew you were selfish, but I didn't think it would be to the extent where you wish your own father death." Kate says in a defensive tone, successfully diverting my attention from my earlier question. "Have you reported this to cops?" I ask, thinking of what to do in this situation. "No. Why would I? What if his kidnappers reach out to us? Won't we be putting his life in danger by contacting the cops? Do you really want him to die?" Kate asks in a cruel tone. "I really don't kno
A shiver runs through me for what seems to be the 100th time since I hid under this table. I wait and wait for what seems like hours but is probably just minutes for the door knob to turn and for the door to be pushed open but neither happens. The footsteps that seemed to have been coming towards the door could not be heard anymore. I refuse to step out from under the table to lay on the bed, even when my neck starts hurting and my back starts aching. After an hour or two, I start to doze off, and the first few times I wake up with a start, banging my head on the roof of the table. I really don't understand why I can fall asleep in this kind of dangerous situation. With my head on my knees, I eventually give in and fall asleep right there. I don't wake up till I feel myself being lifted from under the table and placed softly on the bed. "Stubborn girl." A voice says from beside me, but before I can decipher who the voice belongs to I'm lulled back into a deep dreamless sleep. Whe
I read and reread the contents of the message sent to me and I wonder what I can do to save Ashley. The message which was sent by Roman contained a link to a school publication which explained that Ashley, my best friend, might face expulsion for the amount of drugs found in her possession l. The strange thing was that there was no mention of me as her roommate. Normally according to the school rules, if drugs are found in any room, both students staying in the room will be implicated, irrespective of who owned the drugs. My suspension was already over, and seeing as this was the weekend, I knew I had to return to school tomorrow. Even if right now no one is saying anything about me, I know by tomorrow they will because then I will be in their line of sight. I bite my lips in anger, before texting Roman; "what do you want me to do?" "I don't know. What do you think you should stop doing, princess?" His reply came in very fast like he had been holding his phone waiting for my respo
A hard choice has to be made. My past or my present. After my mother died, it was almost as if all the friends she had and her family as well vanished into thin air. It became clear to me when I grew up, that my father purposefully cut them out of our lives. I had sworn to myself that I would come back and look for them but life happened and I haven't had the chance to. But right now, the opportunity to reconnect with the only people who knew and loved my mother as much as I did has fallen into my lap but it comes at the expense of my future. If I stay back for even an hour longer, I will surely be caught which is why I refuse to turn back. With tears dripping down my cheeks, I forge forward as I run towards the motel. I barely see the road in front of me as the tears refuse to stop. I rush into my room and hurriedly change out of my dress and into some pants and a tee. I sling my bag over my shoulder as I head out of the room. I take a cab to the train station, and luckily for me t
A hard choice has to be made. My past or my present. After my mother died, it was almost as if all the friends she had and her family as well vanished into thin air. It became clear to me when I grew up, that my father purposefully cut them out of our lives. I had sworn to myself that I would come back and look for them but life happened and I haven't had the chance to. But right now, the opportunity to reconnect with the only people who knew and loved my mother as much as I did has fallen into my lap but it comes at the expense of my future. If I stay back for even an hour longer, I will surely be caught which is why I refuse to turn back. With tears dripping down my cheeks, I forge forward as I run towards the motel. I barely see the road in front of me as the tears refuse to stop. I rush into my room and hurriedly change out of my dress and into some pants and a tee. I sling my bag over my shoulder as I head out of the room. I take a cab to the train station, and luckily for me
“Is there any particular reason why I'm standing here?” I ask the security guard with a carefully practiced bored expression on my face. “I'm just waiting for confirmation, and then I will let you pass. I'm sorry. Instructions from the higher ups.” The man says once more before he continues his work. My heartbeat increases as I look around me. Most people were starting to look at me suspiciously and sooner than later, Roman is going to get me. “Fine. Where's the bathroom?” I ask the man after some time of thinking. “It's just down that way.” The man says with a polite smile on his face as he points me to a door at his far right. I don't say anything as I haul my bag with me towards the stalls. ‘Fuck!’ This is not supposed to be happening. I had to get on that train. And I have to do it fast. I weigh my options and come up with a hasty plan I hope is enough to get me boarded. I open my duffel bag and say a little prayer of thanks for having a bestfriend like Ashley. I take out t
I pull the car I had driven to a stop in front of Ashley's house. I barely have the time to turn off the car and step out of it when Ashley comes running out of the house with a bag in her hands. I had called her on the ride down here and had given her the watered down details of what went down explaining in very clear terms that I was leaving. “Drive! Drive! Drive!” Ashley exclaims as she slips hurriedly into the front seat of the car. I do as she says and zoom off, watching as the bodyguards who are supposed to be watching her attempt to pursue our car on foot but have no such luck. “What the hell, Ashley? What was that all about?” I ask once we've gone a considerable distance away from her house. “I had to lose the guards. It's not like you would have appreciated it if I had brought them along with us now, would you?” Ashley asks while settling down further into the seat, putting on her seat belt. “What do you mean ‘us’? You aren't coming with me.” I say to Ashley with a slig
“She's working hand in hand with someone in your house.” I say to Roman the moment he steps back into his office. His shirt sleeves are folded and his tie is a bit loose, his hair also looks like he had run his hand in it countless number of times in the last few hours. “You don't believe me.” I say in a quiet tone when I'm met with his silence. “It's not a matter of believing you or not, it's about who led you down this part, princess.” Roman responds in a quiet tone. “I don't know. There were a couple of people involved. Oh, wait. There's one. The man that tried to kill me in the massage parlour. The person who lured me outside and pushed me into the pool in the hotel in Seattle. The person that has been sabotaging all my work right in this office.” I say angrily until I'm panting heavily.“You told me you fell into the pool.” Roman says in a deadly cool tone. “Do you need me to continue?” I ask Roman, ignoring his questions. “Ever since I woke up from this godforsaken coma, my
“Where are you going, Roman?” I ask in a confused tone as I step into the office and find Roman packing up his stuff. “I have an urgent meeting to attend. I will have the driver take you home, princess.” Roman says in a response as his intense gaze roves over my face. “I have something to show you, Roman.” I say in an urgent tone as I take a step closer to him. He starts to say something in response when his phone goes off ringing. “Fuck!” He curses as he sees the caller Id. “Go home straight, princess. We will talk when we get back. Don't give me a reason not to let you off on your own again.” Roman says while giving me a pointed look. I nod my head and give him a tight smile as I pack up my things. Files and documents I want to work on when I get home. There was no exposing Lily now. I have to wait till he gets back home as promised. This was all even better. At least she won't be present to try and sway him or lie to him about everything. Just as I'm finishing up, a knock s
“Ashley?” I call out in urgency, the need to see her safe overriding my need for self-preservation as I step out of the car and hurry into the house. “Aella?” Ashley calls from inside the room where I hear voices. I rush into the room and find Ashley sitting on the bed where she looks pretty comfortable. “Thank God you are here. Please help me these people that I'm indestructible and there's no need for the fuss.” Ashley says with an exasperated sigh as I hurry to her bedside. I spot a cold-looking Ethan standing by the window, staring sharply at the doctors surrounding Ashley and totally ignoring the nurse who made it her life's mission to attract his attention. “Tell me you are okay, Ashley.” I say in a wobbly voice as I pull her into my arms. “Of course, I'm okay, Aella. I told you, they can't hurt me.” Ashley says in a strong tone, but she still tightens her arms around my midriff. I get on the bed with her as I try to quiet my sobs, and I don't say anything when I feel my
“Where did you take her to, Roman?” I ask in an extremely calm tone that I have a hard time recognising as mine. “Calm down, Aella, he had nothing to do with this.” Ethan says as he steps into the house, immediately reading the situation. “Where the fuck did you take her to?” Roman barks at Ethan, barely sparing me a glance. “That's not important right now. I need you to let go of Ashley, right this minute!” I say to him in a trembling voice, wondering why I'm afraid of him finding out I was out with Ethan when he could possibly be holding Ashley hostage. “Why would you think I'm the one responsible for all this?” Roman asks me in a confused tone as he takes a step towards me. “If you aren't involved, then what are you doing with those pictures? I saw you take them out when I came in.” I respond with tears rolling down my cheeks. “I saw them lying outside when I came into the house. To look for you, but apparently you weren't here.” Roman explains in a hard, sinister tone as he
“Tell your boy toy to let your father go, Aella! How could you be this wicked!?” Kate asks me in a tone laced with anger. “Mother, I'm not holding his hands now, am I?” I asked in an innocent tone as I give Ethan a subtle sign to let my father go. “We should have indeed sent you down to a nondescript orphanage deep in the woods all that time ago. All you've done since you grew up is insult us and punish us for all the good we've done for you!” Kate says with teeth bared as Ethan finally lets my father go. “Why didn't you?” I ask in an angry emotion-filled tone. At this point, anything would have been better than growing up under their care. “You ungrateful bitch!” Kate says as she takes a threatening step towards me, stopping short when I don't cower back in fear. I see the uncertainty in her eyes and I can't help but feel smug about it. Ethan finally lets go of my father and he drops to the ground, coughing violently while clutching his chest. “When you sleep at night, let Aell