FROSTBOUND

~Odessa~ It struck me at 12:00 am. That was when I discovered that my own sister, if I could call her one, was the one who orchestrated my kidnapping. She is the reason why I'm tied and dumped in a room that screams of agony and betrayal right now. The pain, sharp and agonizing, seized at the pit of my stomach. I struggled, pushing and wriggling, but the rope tied around me sang victorious songs in my ears, my strength failing me now I needed it the most. I shot my eyes as the pain and anger overpowered me, deliberately carving wounds I believed would leave everlasting scars right inside my heart. And I opened them again to let the lone tears drop, and then, they struck her—Maya Gerald; my half-sister. There she was, having the most beautiful smile on her face while her piercing green eyes mockingly ogled my weak body, enjoying her piece of satisfaction with watching me struggle uselessly, and then the menacing chuckle left her lips. I could smell the sting of betrayal right from the very air she exhaled. "So it was you who sent those men to kidnap me, Maya." I winced, my mind struggling to bridge the gap between sleep and wakefulness. Never had it occurred to me that the day I watched my father laid to rest six feet beneath this cruel earth would end with me fighting for my own life. The same day I'd waved a final goodbye to the man who taught me what it meant to be loved and cared for even though I was his adopted child. "How could you do this to me?" I coughed, the odor of the place hitching the free flow of air into my lungs. My brain was still foggy from the effect of the drug they had made me inhale to keep me unconscious before. My whole body shook with fear. Barely having the strength to speak, I managed to force the words. "How could you do this to your own sister?" "Sister?" She scoffed as if the word scorched, and then, a sudden strike of icy water braced my face, shutting off the last drop of sleep from my eyes. The cold chill ran down my spine, water droplets clinging to my eyelashes and trickling fiercely down my cheeks. "You know what that's for? That was to wake you from your dreams because you must be dreaming when you called me your sister," she spat, eyes piercing like a sharp blade. "Living as a freeloader all these years in the protection and care of my father has made you forget where you came from. But don't worry, I'm going to be good enough to not just remind you, but also send you directly to where you came from. Right to hell." "No, Maya. You can't do this to me." I shook my head, still not believing any of this. Still not believing that Maya could do this to me. "Somebody help!" I screamed, hoping, believing that someone might hear and come to my rescue. But that only prompted a shrill laughter from Maya as she husked, "Who exactly are you calling to help you? Oh, I think... Dad? You're calling Dad to come from the grave and rescue you?" Again, her voice burst into menacing laughter, to the point I saw her eyes pricking with tears. "Oh, Odessa. Dad is six feet under and do you know what that means, honey? You have no one else," Her gaze returned with that menace. She crunched down, letting our eyes meet. "Earlier, I'd felt sad that Dad was gone. But now, I think it's okay. With his departure, no one will be here to defend you anymore. You have no one else in this world. No family. So, that is why Mom and I thought it would be the best decision ever to get rid of you. We wouldn't want a pest that had been unexpectedly brought to our house to linger any second." "You... You're going to pay for this!" I spat, my fist clenching. "Tsk, who exactly is going to make me pay? You? So sorry dear, but it's too late for you to think so. Because right now, you're going to be sold. And that means... a few minutes from now, you will be gone, gone very far away from us forever." "No, you dare not do this to me!" I screamed, trying to stand but was forcefully dragged down by the ropes tied around me. Her statement clarified the loud music playing in the background and the noise of excited voices filled with pleasure coming from the far end of another room. I realized I was in one of those filthy bars in the city. The bars were crimes like selling women as s*x slaves, which were done. Maya kept laughing at me, enjoying watching me like this. Enjoying looking down at me like I was some trash she was desperate to dispose of. The pain and rage shot through me, keeping things blurry in my vision. "No, Maya, you cannot do this to me. Let me go now!" I whimpered, but instead, she stared disdainfully at me with no atom of remorse in her actions. My body throbbed, my heart raced with the knowledge that I was kept in a room away from the main bar. This meant there was no room to escape. No one would find me. No one would know I was kidnapped and was about to be sold. The door opened and someone stepped in. A man stood there, wrinkles cut deep into his face, hair graying away at his temples, shoulders hunched. My teeth gritted, glaring at Maya smiling, looking at me as if proud she was selling me off to an old sordid. Maya resigned with a step backwards to let the man take a closer look at me. So this is the man, the kind of man Maya was selling her sister off to? I fought the urge to spit on her face right now. She was a big scum, and now I am useless. My own strength failed me. "How much are you willing to pay?" Maya said to him, her voice cold. "15 million," he spoke without a blink of an eye. "15 million?" Maya gasped, glancing up at the man, obviously shocked at the amount he mentioned. "That's absolutely perfect." She agreed at the instant, her eyes blazing with happiness. "But I'll only pay such with a guarantee that no one will come searching for her in the future," he gruffed. "Didn't I tell you?" Maya spoke sharply. "There's nothing to worry about. This loser you see here is an orphan. Her parents had died in a car accident, leaving her alone in this world." Maya lied as if her life depended on it. "My mother and I are tired of feeding such a loser. We want her gotten rid of. Go ahead and transfer the money. And I assure you no one would come looking for her in the future." "Good," Without another word, I saw him transferring the money to Maya. Tears slid down my eyes watching how they traded my life. "Did you see that, Odessa? You've been sold. 15 million, and that's all it took for me to rid of you for good. Who could have thought that a loser like you would make such an amount of money? You weren't useless after all." She said, triumphantly. "Go on, take her now." Maya desperately urged the man, her words re-echoing in my head. You have been sold. Sold. This sounded untrue to me. She cannot just sell me off like this. She can't succeed in doing this to me. "Maya, I'm begging you, please don't let him take me away. Please let me go Maya." My voice a helpless whimper, cried. I struggled against the rope, my strength so useless to what felt like chains around me. Sweat trickled down my forehead, flooding down with tears. Pain consumed every fibre of my being. However, Maya did not yield to my plea.