A few seconds into the walk, I heard it again. The footsteps. I exhaled sharply and began quickening my pace. The footsteps did the same.
Lightning struck again, and in a split second, I caught a glimpse of a shadow stretching along the wall behind me. My breath hitched, and my eyes widened in fear.
When I glanced back, I saw him. The same figure from earlier, and he was moving toward me.
“Fuck.” I took off running without thinking twice.
My feet pounded hard against the pavement as panic tore through my lungs. A loud thunder rumbled across the sky, and then it began to pour.
I sprinted down the lonely road, nervously glancing over my shoulders. “Help! Somebody help me!”
Unfortunately for me, my voice was drowned out by the rain, and the figure was catching up behind me.
At the end of the street, a black van rolled to a stop, forcing me to slow down. I watched in fear as three huge men hopped onto the pavement, their intense gazes locked on me.
I swallowed hard, knowing this was it. I was done. They had me cornered and couldn't escape. It turned out that two men were behind me, and now these three appeared in front of me.
Instinctively, I bent over and picked up a rusted rod from the ground. “Stay back!” I warned them, wildly swinging the thing like a makeshift weapon.
Before I could birth my next thought, one rushed at me from the back and grabbed my waist. Another snatched the rod from my hand while I struggled against their strength.
My fingers found one’s face, and I raked my nails across his skin. I threw a series of wild kicks, and my leg soon connected with someone’s groin. Their groan was deep as they staggered backward.
I drove my thumb into another’s eye, forcing a chilling scream from his mouth.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” He retaliated with a slap that turned my cheek.
The ringing in my ear left me disoriented, and the stars I saw had me distracted for a second. From behind, a hand covered my nose with a handkerchief. The smell was so harsh it forced my eyes wide open.
I kept struggling, scratching and throwing kicks in the air. However, the longer I inhaled that scent, the weaker my body became.
My eyes suddenly felt heavy, so heavy that they began closing by themselves. I tried to keep fighting, but whatever I’d been drugged with was too strong for my body to handle.
The sounds around me were now distant and almost inaudible. My vision was blurry, and by now I’d stopped struggling. I felt myself being whisked into the air and carried toward the waiting van.
Too weak to even form a thought, my eyelids closed, and the world went pitch black.
Chapter 4 – Artur
I sat reclined in my chair, puffing on a cigar as Konstantin and four other men stood in front of my desk. One had a bandage stained with traces of fresh blood over his left eye. Another’s face bore the unmistakable slash marks of fingernails.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he escaped a wild animal. Those claw marks almost made it impossible to believe they were done by a fragile human being.
“You’re saying thatshedid this to you two?” I asked, shifting my gaze between the two injured foot soldiers.
Embarrassed, they lowered their heads in shame and locked their jaws. I wasn’t sure whether to be intrigued or disturbed by this.
“She put up a fight, Boss,” Konstantin answered on their behalf, his tone laced with a hint of awe. “For someone her size, she’s stronger than she looks.”
I let out a puff of smoke but maintained my usual blank expression. “Where is she now?”
“In the basement,” he replied.
I paused and thought for a second before meeting his gaze. “You said she put up a fight.”
“Yes, she did.”
“How are her combat skills?” I asked, curious.