“Start walking, bitch.” I’m pushed forward roughly. I’m not prepared and I trip, skidding along the slippery pavement, my arms flailing when I feel a hard boot in my lower back propelling me forward. My hands come out instinctively to stop my fall and I land awkwardly. My left wrist snaps and I moan in pain when the rest of my body hits the hard ground. Blood sprays onto the light dusting of snow on the sidewalk.
A tear escapes, trickling down my face.
I didn’t think I owned any tears.
I’m lying awkwardly on the freezing pavement, shivering and trying to turn myself over. The cold starts to freeze my tears on my cheeks and then my blanket is being draped over me as I’m turned over. Mathias roughly cradles me in his lap as he sits on the wet, frozen ground. His body is rigid underneath me and he doesn’t utter a word.
He is stony, and I’m waiting to be yelled at, but instead, he grabs a fistful of my gown and slides it up my knees. “Don’t!” I grit out between my teeth. I’m in too much pain and want this nightmare done with.
He ignores my protest and slides the sodden socks down my legs, peeling them off my feet. He surprises me when he starts massaging them. I can’t look at him. I’m confused and waiting for the punishment for escaping.
“Kane!” he growls. He doesn’t stop massaging my feet, trying to bring life back into them. I don’t know why he is doing that for me. “Did you have to break her fucking wrist?” he roars at the other man, and I startle. “It’s bad enough the damage already been done to her, but now we have another injury to explain away, a further delay in getting her to him.”
“What? She slipped.” It’s then I realize both men don’t have their masks on. I can see their faces. I can see the long angry scar going down Kane’s cheek and those evil dark eyes that show so much darkness in his soul. I look at Mathias and notice the tattoo by his right eye, a symbol I don’t understand, and how pretty his eyes are.
Do they even realize I can identify them now? I quickly look down, keeping my head bowed. I don’t want to be able to identify them because they had masks on for a reason. They didn’t want me to know what they looked like.
What does this now mean for me?
“Do you honestly think you are secure in your position, high up enough in the food chain to not have repercussions for treating her this way?”
The other man retaliates, “Fuck off, Mathias.”
“Kane, you didn’t fucking think of that, did you?” he spits out. “This is on your head, not mine. I’ve done everything to stop any more damage, and between you and this bitch, everything is unraveling. You’ve deliberately added to what the doc now has to mend.”
I can’t help myself. I dare a look at Scar Face, his eyes are almost demonic black, and if looks could kill, I would be dead. He bares his teeth at me like he’s a hungry animal who wants to rip me to shreds, and mouths, You’re dead.
“Stop playing with her, Kane, and take your fucking gloves off and give them to me.”
Scar Face doesn’t move.
“Now!” Mathias is barely holding onto his rage. I’m surprised he isn’t dealing with this guy like he dealt with my abductors. He appears more senior. “I will not ask again.” The words sound so cold coming from Mathias’s lips. I want to be out of his arms.
Scar Face undoes his gloves and slaps them on Mathias’s shoulder. He removes them placing one on each of my feet, securing the velcro. My feet had been hurting badly from being so cold, and now they were inside dry leather, fleece-padded gloves. The warmth is welcomed even if they are Kane’s gloves.
“Take her from me so I can get up, and don’t do anything else to bring fucking harm to her. I’m warning you. Do. Not. Test. Me. You saw what happened to those other two in the hangar at the airfield.”
I’m jostled into Scar Face’s arms, and I feel the pure hatred oozing from his veins. I don’t want to be here, but I’m smart enough to keep my mouth shut and my head down.
He hisses in my ear, “Watch your back, bitch.” I snap my head away from his mouth just as his teeth graze my ear hard. He would have had a mouthful if I hadn’t moved my head.
Mathias gets up and his arms close around me as I’m scooped back into them. I lay cradling my wrist to my chest. He says nothing as he walks. His body is barely containing his anger.
I try to be as invisible as I can be and await my punishment. There is always a punishment for insubordination.
I bite down on my lip against all the pain my body is feeling. It’s fully woken up from the painkillers I would have been on. I try to take myself to another place in my head and instead concentrate on watching the little white clouds my breath is making, wishing I was far away, hidden from the bastards of this world who find it a sport to track me down. A place that is safe from harm and nobody wants to hurt or capture me. Where there is no pain or suffering, only happiness and sunshine.
I want to take one last look at the city skyline and what freedom looks like, but I keep my head down. Freedom is simply not in the cards in this life for me.
The cold is now attacking me. Before, adrenalin pumped through my veins, keeping me from feeling too much. The blanket is not enough. “I’m… so… cooold,” I chatter out. I didn’t mean to say it out loud; it just came out of me.
“Give her your jacket,” Mathias demands Kane.
I’m placed on my feet, but Mathias makes sure I’m standing on his boots, away from the wet ground. My body is flush against his. I will leave blood on him, but he doesn’t seem to care.
Snowflakes have started falling fast. With my eyes, I follow some that are falling on Mathias’s black beanie he’s wearing and are dotting it, making it look spotted. I have this childish urge to reach out and touch one until I realize I broke my rule of looking at these two men in the face.
He tears his beanie off, pulling the blanket away from my head, and roughly pushes it down over my hair until it covers my ears. It is wool, and already I can feel its warmth. Then the blanket is stripped from my body and replaced by a far too big, thick warm jacket. I can’t even think to complain that it belongs to Kane, because it staves off the cold.
Instead of being punished, I’m being clothed?
I keep my broken wrist held close to me while the large jacket is zipped up to my neck, cocooning my body against the cold. The hood is then placed over my head, trapping my body heat in, and then I’m swung up into Mathias’s arms again like I weigh nothing. I’ve probably lost a lot of weight, not that I was much in the first place.
“Put the blanket over her legs.” His words brook no disobedience; he is so angry. Kane reluctantly does what is asked of him and then snarls something about meeting Mathias back at the building.
This warmth I’m cocooned in is making me tired, so I close my eyes and let my head nestle into his neck. I’ll worry about the repercussions of running later. I’m sleepy, and some rest sounds like a good idea.
“Hey, little rabbit.” I’m being shaken. “Stay awake for me.” I hiss in a breath of pain while his beard tickles my lips. The smell of coffee assaults my senses and falsely offers me comfort.
I know it would be better for me if I kept on sleeping and never woke up again.
But, I won’t give in.
I open my eyes lazily when I’m shaken again. “Stop that,” I mumble.
“No!” And he shakes me again.
The movement is jolting my wrist and I need him to stop. I decide talking will help to keep me conscious. I no longer care if he’s noticed I can see his face. “Where are you from? I don’t know your accent.”
He walks silently as he decides whether or not he will give me this little slice of information. I try my best to stay awake.
“Norway.” His voice is a lot calmer now, more in control. I think Scar Face leaving to walk ahead has lowered his anger levels.