The Rosey Thorn

Chapter 4

I don’t know how long it’s been since I was taken. Night and day just pass along, and yet here I am still locked in a cage. The searing pain on my shoulder has finally left and all I’ve done was comfort Cielo. She was branded a couple of days ago. I can still hear her screams echo throughout the building. Did the other women hear me scream as well? Did the world hear us? I try to figure out where we were, but the echoes make it hard to determine if we’re in a warehouse or in a cave. They kept it so dark that it’s hard to make out.

“How long till your fiancé finds us?” Cielo says softly that I hardly heard her.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. Where was Jake? I know planning a mission takes time, but he should have been here by now. What’s taking so long? I’m afraid of being sent to the man who bought me.

I heard a door opened and voices came down the aisle. I quickly moved away from Cielo, moving to the opposite side of my cage. Two men stopped in front of my cage. I looked up and recognized one of them. He’s the leader of this operation. The other I don’t know. He’s dressed in a business suit. His dark hair was slick back, and his face showed no emotion. His eyes were so dark and menacing that I wanted to cower. No man had that effect on me. I’ve never been afraid of anyone. The military taught me that, but this man had nothing but darkness surrounding him.

“This is her?” The dark one asks. God, even his voice was dark.

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“Has she been branded?”

“Yes.”

“Broken?” The leader remained silent. He can’t say yes. He knows why. “Has she been broken?” He growls.

“No, she’s a fighter. She’s not like the other women.” No, every time they drag me out, I fight back. I could hear the broken bones I gave each one of them. I smile every time. “We looked into her background,” the leader continued. “She’s military, Air Force intelligence.”

“Mhmm, leave it to El Toro to buy a strong woman. But she’ll break, they always do.”

“We’ve tried everything,” the leader says.

“That’s why I’m here.” Oh, no. He’s here to break me, and he won’t stop until he succeeds. “I need a private room with no disturbances. El Toro wants her broken before we send her.”

“Anything else you need?” The leader asks.

“I’ll give you a list.”

The mystery man gave me one more look then left. I don’t know if I can take him. He looks very strong and lethal.

El Toro.

He’s the one that bought me. I touched the back of my shoulder trying to trace the symbol they burned on me. I traced the outline of my skin but couldn’t make it out.

“Cielo, the brand what is it?” I asked, turning my back to her.

“It looks like a longhorn, a bull,” she says.

Makes sense. I look around at the other girls trying to see their marks. Some were different, some I couldn’t make out, and some didn’t have any marks. They haven’t been bought yet. I looked at the strange girl who told us to lose hope. She hadn’t moved the last time she spoke to us, but she had no mark. Well now thinking about it, the only time she moved was when the leader would come for her and only her. He personally would come to her cage, help her out, and guide to wherever. Every time she came back, she was clean. Her hair would be washed; her skin would have that bodywash smell, nails trim and clipped. She always looked healthy. The leader has an interest in her and she never fought back. Why her? But I could not focus on that though. I had my own problems to figure out.

“Cielo, turn around. Let me see your mark,” I demand. She slowly turned and her brand appeared. Sadly, it’s not a bull, but a lily. I don’t know what sadistic bastard bought her, but we won’t be together.

“Is it the same as yours?” She asks. “Please tell me we’ve been sold to the same guy?”

Oh, God. This was going to break her heart. “No, Cielo. I’m afraid we don’t. You have a lily and I don’t know who has that symbol,” I croaked.

“No,” she whimpered. “How can I survive this without you?”

I didn’t know what to say. She’s so young, so innocent. She’s become a little sister to me. I’m a little sister in my family. My older sister was engaged once. Her fiancé was Jake’s best friend, Wade, but he died on a mission. My sister grieved for two months then moved on. She did it quickly. If Jake died, I couldn’t move on.

Before I could even respond to Cielo, shouts were coming from the outside, then the door opened. Dozens of men came with handcuffs.

“Get them out and ready for transport!” one yells.

I don’t know who was being taken, but I hoped to God it wasn’t me. Man after man bypassed my cage, but one stopped in front of Cielo’s. She immediately grabbed my hand and I grabbed her.

“Don’t let go!” She screams.

“Just hold on.”

They took hold of her chains and pulled them, but I didn’t let go. “No!” Cielo cried. “I don’t want to.”

“Hold on Cielo.”

“Don’t let them take me!”

“I won’t.”

Suddenly something jammed into my stomach, taking the air out of me. I looked to see a metal rod pulling back, then hitting me again. I immediately want to hold my stomach, but if I do, I’ll lose Cielo.

The rod hits me again and my grip loosens. I look Cielo in the eyes and she knows. “Cielo, whatever happens I will find you,” I say.

“No!” She screamed.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“I will find you.”

They yanked her from me screaming as I cried out her name. I can’t save her. I can’t even save myself. I can still hear her screaming as the world went black.