Calm silence
1663 Words
Chapter 3: Calm Silence
Lila POV……
I heard a sound, and it felt like my head was about to explode.
It echoed deeply in my ears, lingering for what felt like an eternity.
I tried to open my eyes, but a sharp pain shot through my head, as if something was trying to split my skull open. I immediately shut them again.
I gave myself a few minutes before trying once more, determined not to close them this time.
Even though everything before me was still blurry, I forced myself to keep my eyes open.
Why didn’t this place feel like home? I couldn’t see clearly yet, but one thing was certain, I wasn’t in my house.
A terrible stench suddenly hit my nose. My face twisted in disgust as I wondered what could possibly smell so bad.
Finally, my vision began to clear. I looked around.
The room was dimly lit and terrifying. Skulls hung from the walls, and blood was plastered across them.
My heart lurched. Where am I? I turned around sharply, panic rushing through me. How?
I tried to move, desperate to get away, but I couldn’t move my hands or my legs.
I looked down. That was when I realized I had been tied up.
My panic surged, and I screamed. “Where am I?”
The events from earlier came flooding back into my mind, one after another, until I remembered everything clearly.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I looked around again, but there was no one there.
I was the only person tied up in this Godforsaken room.
Why me? Why did this always happen to me?
I buried my face in my lap and began to sob. I had never felt this terrified in my entire life.
And all I could think about was what would happen to me next.
What if I never made it out of this place alive?
Was this how my life was going to end? Like this?
A gentle creaking sound suddenly came from the door. My head snapped up.
I tried to move backward, even though it was impossible with my hands and legs tied.
My heart pounded violently against my chest as I waited for whoever was coming through the door.
Then my eyes met the familiar figures of the men who had kidn*pped me.
Even though I hadn’t been able to see their faces clearly before, I was certain they were the same men.
They were the ones who had taken me. But this time, they weren’t alone.
A man stood behind them.
He was tall and threatening, and there was something about his presence that immediately made the little courage I had left disappear.
“I see our beautiful baby is up?” one of the men said casually, before turning smoothly toward the man behind him.
He leaned closer and whispered something into his ear before turning back to me.
“My boss will take over from here.”
I stared at them, wondering if I had suddenly lost my tongue. Why couldn’t I say anything? Why couldn’t I beg for mercy?
Why was I just sitting there, unable to do anything but watch them, my face displaying every ounce of fear that sat heavily in my heart?
Was I really that scared of them?
They pulled out a chair and placed it directly in front of me. Slowly, the man behind them stepped forward and lowered himself onto the stool.
His eyes settled on me with such intensity that I felt as though I were being studied under a microscope.
My hands, which had been relatively steady until that moment, suddenly began to shake for no reason I could explain, and I found myself instinctively moving backward, like a frightened animal trying to escape a trap.
He didn’t say anything.
He simply watched me, his eyes slowly moving over me as though he was taking in every part of my appearance.
Slowly, he leaned closer until our knees touched.
A sharp, cold sensation ran through me the moment our skin made contact.
That was when I finally found my voice.
“Please don’t kill me.”
He didn’t respond. I desperately wished he did.
I wished they would just tell me my fate and stop leaving me trapped in this terrifying uncertainty.
Then, finally, he spoke.
“Aubrey Smith.”
My name rolled off his tongue like a forbidden prayer.
His voice was colder than his intimidating figure, carrying a deep mixture of power, authority, and control that made me gulp nervously.
“I… I didn’t see anything, I promise.”
His voice remained cold as ever. “You see, that’s the problem! The lies!”
His voice thundered through the room, so loud that I swore the walls themselves shook. How could he suddenly change from calm too loud?
I opened my mouth to speak, but loud sobs escaped instead.
“Please…”
I squeezed my eyes shut, holding on to the impossible hope that somehow I would survive this.
“I… I won’t tell anyone.” For the first time, he chuckled.
My eyes slowly opened. Was that a good sign?
He adjusted his mask and slowly lifted my chin, his touch sending an unsettling sensation through me.
“I can’t let you go.” My eyes widened.
I had expected him to say those words, but hearing them out loud felt completely different. The reality of what was about to happen suddenly became too real.
I looked up at him, my eyes pleading for my life.
“Please, tell me what you want me to do to stay alive.” I paused, sniffing hard as tears continued to roll down my cheeks. “I promise I’ll do it. Just don’t kill me.”
He stretched out his hand, and one of the men immediately placed something in it.
A knife. My breath caught.
“K… knife?” I stammered, almost losing my words.
“Trust me,” he said calmly. “It will only be a little torture before death.”
He moved the knife slowly around my face, letting the cold metal brush against my skin.
I held my breath. Then, without warning, I felt a sharp pain in my thigh.
I yelped, nearly losing my grip on the ropes holding me firmly in place.
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to let you go?” The pain seared through me.
I felt the warmth of my blood spilling down my leg, the sensation making my entire body tremble.
“I love the sight of blood.”
His smile widened as though he were watching his favorite show.
Slowly, he brought the knife back to the wound.
My eyes widened in terror. “No, please—”
He pressed the blade deeper into my leg, and a sharp cry escaped my lips.
“Ouch! Ouch! Please…” I could feel my strength slowly leaving me.
The blood continued to flow, spilling down my leg and dripping onto the cold floor beneath me.
Faintly, I saw him stretch his hand toward one of the men, who immediately placed a document in it.
He turned back to me, smiling with his eyes.
I could barely keep my eyes open, but I was too scared to close them completely. I didn’t know what would happen if I did.
“Let’s see your history.”
He began to rustle through the pages of the document, his eyes carefully scanning every detail.
“Uhmmm. Interesting.”
His gaze moved across the pages, and a sly smile appeared at the corner of his lips. But it disappeared almost immediately.
I noticed the sudden confusion in his eyes as he looked at me and then back at the document.
What was happening this time?
Had he found another reason to kill me?
His confusion didn’t last long before he suddenly asked the most unexpected question.
“Is he truly your father?” I stared at him.
He turned the document toward me, showing me the photograph of my father printed on one of the pages.
My heart tightened. They had dug into my late father too?
Was digging into me not enough? Who exactly were these people? How much did they know about me?
“It’s disrespectful to dig into the life of the dead.”
I didn’t know where that sudden flush of confidence came from, but the anger building inside my chest was heavier than my fear for the first time.
“You don’t answer my boss with questions.” The slap came without warning.
My head snapped to the side from the force of it.
I turned back toward the man, my eyes burning with anger as I stared at him, almost willing myself to tear him apart with my gaze.
I felt the soft trickle of blood escape from my lips, and the pain from the slap seemed to spread deeper across my face.
“Answer me.”
The so-called boss grabbed my hair tightly, pulling my head back until my scalp burned with pain.
My brain screamed for help.
“Yes… yes.”
The moment I answered, he staggered backward as though my words had physically struck him. He almost lost his balance.
The confusion, fear, and disbelief that suddenly appeared on his face were the last things I expected to see.
One minute, he had been seething with anger. Now he looked completely shaken.
What was going on?
“Sir, are you okay?” The men moved forward, attempting to steady him.
But the blow that followed felt unreal.
The boss shoved him away with such force that the man stumbled backward.
“Don’t you take thorough research seriously before bringing something like this in here?”
His chest rose and fell heavily with anger.
I stared at him, completely confused. What was going on?
What had he found in that document? “Untie her immediately!”
- Writer
