43 Operation: Save Lina
1581 Words
Lina was in a daze. Her entire body stung. She couldn’t remember when she fell asleep the night before. She almost forgot what had happened. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, as she leaned back on the steel chair that she sat on. She was tied to it. She felt her arms chafe against the rope, that was tied a little too tightly. She felt her lips dry, as she was completely deprived the two days that she was held in captivity by her unnamed kidnappers. As her head fell forward, she was held back from falling all the way by the rope that held her in place. It was when the blood was able to circulate back into her head that she remembered what had happened to her the night prior. It was then she began to tremble at the thought. She was questioned violently by one particular person who she could vaguely remember was named Locke, surrounded by a few other men. He would ask her about the location of the real Julia Thompson, but she wouldn’t give in. And so the man took a very sharp switchblade and wondered what kind of punishment he would inflict onto her. He then ripped her sleeves off and laughed maniacally at what he saw. He decided then and there that he would reopen the scars on her arms all over again. Slowly. Painfully. One became ten. Ten became a hundred. Eventually, he added new ones. And this continued until she was completely exhausted and passed out.
“P-please… S-someone comes to get m-me,” she whispered as she began to cry.
She wanted to curl up into a ball, only held back by the rope that bound her. It was then that she heard a commotion outside. She heard that familiar voice speak up again, and felt chills run down her spine. She broke a nervous sweat as she began to hyperventilate at the thought of being put through that initial night of torture. There was clanging on the door before it eventually gave way. It was him. The man with the cigar.
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“Has the boy been picked up?” Jasper asked as he arrived at the warehouse that he had held Lina.
“Our guys are on their way,” Emily replied as she stepped down the van that brought them.
“Good, it’s time to make this girl talk, once and for all.”
He unlocked the gate of the entrance gate to the warehouse and stepped in to find Lina who was completely out of her mind with anxiety and fear. He smiled at her and pulled out the switchblade that he had used the night prior. It glinted in the sunlight that peaked through the windows just beneath the ceiling above them. Then, in an almost performance type movement, he walked toward her. Every step he took made an echo in the large space of the warehouse they stayed in. In moments, he was face to face with the girl, who shook vigorously in her seat. Abruptly, he raised the knife to the side of her face. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. He traced the tip of the knife along her jaw. She jumped at the cold steel that grazed against her jawline and attempted to pull her face out of the way. It was no use, however, as she was completely held in place by the rope. He started to slowly intensify the pressure of the knife that she was scared that even the slightest move would draw blood.
“Do we feel like talking today, girl?”
“P-please… I just want to go home,” she whimpered.
He kicked the legs of the chair which made a loud clang that rang through the room.
“That’s not what I want, girl! I want to know where Julia Thompson is right now! You tell me, then I let you go!”
“I-I c-can’t.”
“Why not?!”
“She's my friend...”
“Go to hell with your friend bullshit! Tell me where she is, now!”
Lina didn’t speak and braced herself for another scar. He lifted her skirt, which revealed her legs that we completely covered in scabs formed the night before.
“Do you understand the situation you are in, girl? I could end your life right now unless you tell me exactly what I want. Tell me where she is! Tell me where she lives! Tell me where she walks! Tell me everything!”
“N-no! No, I won’t!”
“You little-”
He immediately placed the tip of the knife onto her thigh and dragged it across very slowly and painfully. Lina whimpered, as the blade slid across her skin, opening up another wound, which at this point would be in the thousands already.
“Even when I cut you, it’s like you don’t talk at all.”
He placed the knife again on another area of clean skin and pressed it into her thigh.
“You have a chance, girl. Tell me where she is!”
“N-no!”
“I'm losing my patience!”
He dragged the knife across her skin again, deeper than all of the other ones. It was at this point that she began to pass out. Her head fell back lifelessly onto the rest of the steel chair.
“f**k! Emily, get me some damn adrenaline!”
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Charlie waited by the front of the Brooklyn station and watched Ivan who had just arrived there himself. It took all of his willpower to not go up there and punch him right in the face. However, this was not the time to lose his cool. If he found out where Ivan was headed, then it could probably lead him to wherever Lina was. If there was anything that was more important than his need to exact his revenge, it was Lina’s safety. With a few deep breaths, he calmed himself.
Suddenly, a black van pulled up just in front of Ivan. As soon as it did though, he was pulled inside aggressively. The door was slammed shut and in that moment, the van took off.
“Ready to go kid?” the man, who sounded like he was around the age of 30, under the alias, Red Light, asked as he started the car.
“Yeah… Let’s go.”
Red Light took off at the same speed as the van in front of them, trying to make their distance as subtle as possible. Charlie had to act like it was just a routine ride for him so that they would not draw any kind of suspicion. They drove through the streets following the black van which took many turns before coming up to this large warehouse, with an arched roof at the top. He noticed that just outside of the warehouse was another parked car, with Jules sitting in the front seat. Charlie nodded at Jules, who seemed to be just as nervous as he was. Nevertheless, he had to focus.
As the van entered, he noticed that Red Light took a turn at the road perpendicular to the warehouse, and backed up in the alley in order to have a decent vantage point for observation. Immediately, he brought out his binoculars and watched the gate of the warehouse.
He saw Ivan be forcefully pushed into the entrance. As the gate opened he noticed some light inside, and he was barely able to see the room. It was cemented all the way around, with glass windows just beneath the arched ceiling. It was filled with men from the group. He assumed that they were all with the Wolfpack. He looked harder. Thankfully, Ivan was resisting quite a bit, giving him ample time to scout the room.
“What are you seeing, kid?” Reg Light asked.
“It’s pretty dark… But there are around six or seven people in there. All of them men. Oh, wait. There’s one woman there, and she is wearing a black hoodie. All of them are surrounding… something in the middle of the room. Wait-”
He zoomed in his binoculars just the slightest bit and focused on the area in the middle of the room. The group parted for a moment so that they could throw Ivan in the middle. Ivan was forced to kneel in front of a steel chair, in which was seated was a girl. With neon red hair.
“It’s Lina! Lina! She’s in there!”
“Alright! Get your comm out and contact the others! Now!”
Charlie fumbled around in his bag and grabbed a long distance walkie talkie. With a click of the button he shouted instructions to his fellow point persons. With a click he reached Jules.
“Jules, standby. I’m contacting the others. Over.”
“Copy that, Charlie. Over and out.”
He then reached out to Trae.
“Trae, the target location is West Manhattan. I repeat. West. Manhattan. Over.”
“I hear you brother. Over and out.”
He then clicked on Max’s radio. With slight hesitation he remembered the things that he had said to Max, and how bad Max probably must have felt. But now was not the time. In that moment, it was life or death.
“Max. The target location is West Manhattan. I repeat. West. Manhattan. Over.”
The radio static interrupted for a second, but then finally Max acknowledged.
“Copy that. Over.”
Just as Charlie was about to put the radio back into his bag, Max spoke again.
“We’ll all be there for her this time. I swear. Over and out.”
Charlie chuckled as he lifted his binoculars again and waited for the rest of his comrades to gather. At this point, it was now a full on the waiting game.
- Writer
