BOUND TO HIM BY FORCE

23. MESS WITH ME AND DIE

“You are here to train?” Max asked with me swallowing.

“Yes sir,” I said back.

“What time is it right now?” Max questioned, his voice low and in a dangerous tone. I could not tell him what time it was because I did not know.

He flickered his wrist, staring at his watch.

“Ten o’clock.” He said as I swallowed.

“Do you know what time training starts?” He asked, probing me.

“No sir.,” I answered, already feeling my heart beat.

“Four o’clock. Even if you were late, all these hours though?” I did not know what to say, wanting to explain but felt my words weave away in my throat, leaving me just staring at him with pleading eyes.

“You see those men there.” He pointed, me turning to where he was pointing, finding the men that were carrying large tree trunks on their shoulders, heaving, and sweating. I felt my heart shatter, my head turning back to Max, wanting to apologize and beg. I felt the tears fill my eyes, wanting to drop as my hands shook.

His eyes stared back at me, seeing something flip in him. I quickly blinked my tears away but when I tried, they came back faster.

“Toby, come here boy!” Max shot out, my head turning to see the boy that came running towards us.

I did not know what would happen but I knew it was not good.

“I am sorr…” I could not even finish my sentence with Max gesturing for me to shut up. I did just that, sniffling the tears away.

“Each time you beg I want to vomit. Every time you cry or beg a person dies.” He had not even finished spilling out the words before he pulled his gun from the back of his pants and shot it out.

I jumped, blood all over my face with the scream just held stuck in my throat. My eyes filled with tears, shaking with Toby falling on the ground limply.

Oohh my God! Oohh my God!

“You are crying? Are you crying again?” Max asked with me shaking my head over and over, blood streaming on the ground, leaving it red as the soil soaked it up.

“Go join those men,” Max said with me nodding my head.

My mind was just on autopilot, stumbling over, rushing to the men.

I don’t even know when or how I got there. All I knew was a man standing before me, holding a chopped tree trunk. I stepped forward, holding it with my hands as the man placed it over my shoulder. At first, I thought I could survive but as soon as the man pulled his hands away, I nearly screamed, biting my lip so hard it bled, stumbling forward once or twice. I felt as if my neck was snapping. My shoulder was as if falling off. The tree bark rubbed on my skin and tore it apart, it burning hard.

My legs shook, feeling death come on me as I fell with the trunk falling over and rolling away.

I cried out, clutching my shoulder, the bark having torn my t-shirt and skin, it burning hard.

“PRINCESS!”

I rolled around, crying with a gunshot snapping me out of it. I froze where I was, the pain too much yet the realization that another person had died because of me. I could not feel my right arm, my eyes closing with the pain leaving my lips quivering.

A hand came on my bleeding shoulder, the scream in my tongue yet I held it in, swallowing it in fear of what would be done from the sound of it.

My body was gripped up, my legs moving up with fingers dug into my wound. I was pushed forward, Max gripping me again and quickly walking with me. I wanted to cry but I could not. I swallowed everything away, the ground spinning all around me, I could barely see.

My lower body hit something concrete and up to my waist, a hand on the back of my head with it pushed down. Just as I was trying to process what was happening my face was buried in dirty water. I tried to fight, my hands waving with the water filling my lungs and nose, choking and gasping with no air getting it. My eyes were wide, painful with my feet slipping from the ground.

Max pressed himself on me then pressed even deeper into the water.

I thought I would die, such a painful death it was.

My neck was pulled up with my upper body pulling from the water, gasping as the water fell over me. My head was pushed back down.

It was the same process again, so much pain, feeling myself break from within.

My body was pulled back up as my cells had begun dying one after the other, with no air to breathe in.

“Go pick that tree trunk up.” The voice came in my ear, Max pushing off me to drag me back up as my legs tripped over each other.

My body was pushed to the ground, falling with my hands first. Soil covered my face and t-shirt. No one could save me, I had to do it or someone would die. That person could be me and if I died Kane and Kane’s little sister would come along with me. I could not let that happen.

I pushed from the ground, turning and seeing the tree trunk. I did not even know how I could pick it up but a man ran to my assistance. He picked it up for me. I stood to my feet, my legs shaking. My hands held out, the man slowly placing the trunk on my shoulder with the weight crushing me.

My bones felt as if they would shutter but I tried with all I had not to fall. I took deep breaths, the tears crowding my eyes but I quickly blinked them away, Max there, watching. I took a step and it was hell. I took another and another. I could not take more; panic rose in me. I knew I was falling and there was no way to stop it. It hurt so bad, my knees buckled, the tree trunk fell away.

It was not even a second, my body grabbed, it dragged around with my face buried in the water again.

I could never get used to the pain, fighting with all I had but leading to nothing. My body was dragged back again, the other man there to assist me. He placed the tree trunk on my bleeding shoulder, taking it.

Four steps I could barely even breathe. I closed my eyes, telling myself that if I died I would but I would not fall. My legs shook, feeling them about to snap but I took another step and another. My eyes closed, feeling as if my stomach was curving in from the pain.

“Drop it.” A voice came.

My eyes flashed open, seeing that I had reached where they dropped the trunks. I did not know how I go there but I threw the tree trunk off me with it shaking the ground as it fell.

I stumbled back, heaving with sweat covering my whole body, pain unimaginable. My hands were pricked and torn apart by the tree bark, bleeding themselves.

“Go join that group,” Max said.

I could not even breathe properly, but I found the strength to talk.

“Yes sir,” I said back, turning and dragging myself to the group that had an instructor. I could barely hear what was being said, the instructor doing a fighting style with the rest of the group copying and doing it but I found myself standing. I could not even move. My arm was heavy and blood dripping down my fingers.

“PRINCESS!”

I moved, doing what the instructor said I should to do. The instructor moved and I followed, doing the fighting styles.

My feet stumbled around but I tried, I tried with all I had and when all I had was not enough, I tried with all I did not have.

Time passed, my blood pooling all around me, going dizzy. I thought I would faint, I wanted to faint but Max could not let that happen. I was pulled, dragging me with my feet stumbling after him, my eyes lazy.

I did not even know what was happening all around me at that moment., I felt my weight being picked up, my body suddenly dropped.

I swear I felt my soul depart from my body before it snapped back in. I drew a deep breath, my eyes opening wide as if I had just got a h****n shot. It felt as if sharp needles kept pricking my skin, my blood as if frozen as I tried springing out from the tub filled with cold water and ice. Hands gripped me, holding me down, the water soaking in my skin as the pain exploded.

Fighting would not get me out of there so I stopped, my body lying limp, my skin turning blue by the second. When Max was satisfied, I was pulled out, gasping and heaving with my feet touching the ground, all of me wet to the bone.

“Go back to training,” Max said, me turning all around until I saw where training was. I stumbled away, literally stumbling through the day. I felt my heart beat so slow, thinking I would faint but I did not. I got into my station and continued fighting, grabbing as much as I could. If I just continued doing whatever was said the day would be over soon.

The sun finally broke through at some point but was weak. It moved across the sky, the wind cold, adding to my already cold body.

We trained until darkness fell and when I thought they would tell us to stop, they did not. I was hungry, I was hurt and exhausted yet I continued moving.

“If you were fighting any enemy all night, would you stop? No. Stop being bitches and fight!” The instructor kept screaming, telling us to fight harder, to fight harder than harder.

Every time I thought I would faint, I thought of Angelina and pushed even harder.

It went on and on until the dead of night.

“Go eat and sleep.” The instructor said, hearing other instructors shouting the same message as men dropped to the floor, tired to the core. I did not lower my body because I knew that if I dropped to the ground, I would not pick myself up. I stumbled away from there, moving back and forward with how bad it was. I was not even sure of the direction at some point. Turning all around to stumble until I hit a wall. I leaned on it, taking deep breaths, my eyes closed.

They opened, looking around to see where I was. I pushed off the wall, stumbling away. I walked through the building door of our cells, so many men there, talking to each other. They turned, staring at me with me paying no mind to them. All I cared about was getting to the mattress and falling on it. The bar door to my cell was pushed open, my body fell on my bed, avoiding the exposed springs.

My eyes closed, a sigh pulling from me with sleep coming at me. I did not know if it was really sleep or death but both accepted at that point. The noise the men made just too much but too tired to care.

My cell door was banged hard. I turned around quickly as my eyes fell on Max, carrying a metal plate with what I would say was food. He walked in, placing the food down.

“The pills are just for today; don’t think you will get them again,” Max said as I quickly crawled, taking the metal tray I had only seen in prisons. I picked the three pills.

“Thank you,” I said to him, taking the bottle of water and drinking them.

He turned, walking out as my eyes fell on the plate.

There was a large chunk of meat. I would not even say what it was along with two boiled potatoes and broth. I did not question, quickly taking the potato and eating it. I was too hungry I would eat anything.

“Where are your clothes?” Max asked, with me turning my head to him, then to the shelf I had put them on, yet there was nothing.

My eyes went wide, gasping.

“They were there…” I pointed out, the food was forgotten as I slipped from my bed to the shelf, my hand patting and indeed, there was nothing on it.

Max shook his head and walked out. I gasped, feeling like I was losing my sh*t with me rushing out of my cell, throwing the door wide open to stand on the hallway.

I was up to the neck, fed up, heaving with fists tightened and ready to kill someone if I had to.

“Who the hell took my clothes?!” I asked, heads turning around, Max walking away.

No one said a thing.

“Maybe a fairy took them princess.” A voice said with me snapping there and then.

“FVCK OFF! WHO THE FVCK TOOK MY CLOTHES!” I shot out, walking to the center of the hallway, the men laughing out loud. Some walked through the halls naked, from the showers, others eating.

I shook where I was, heaving to walk off.

“Are you going to tell on us, Princess?” Another voice came with laughter echoing all over the building.

I was so angry I wanted to cry, so angry I saw red. I knocked over their shoulders, walking out of there with one destination in my mind. I kept walking, the laughs getting distant, I just kept walking.

I got to the training grounds. The bodies still there.

I pulled the first body around, ripping the t-shirt soaked with blood off followed by the pants. I then went to the other body, stripping it naked. I went back to the first body, also slipping out the socks and boots. My body turned, walking away, heaving in anger. I reached the building, Max standing outside.

I walked past him, seeing his head turn after me. I walked through the hall, the men staring at me.

“Did she just?” I heard a voice.

“That’s cold.”

“That’s smart.” Another came, but I did not care for their conversations. I dropped the clothes on my bed, pacing around my cell before walking out.

“If anyone dares even breathe near my cell, I will see that they are dead before the sun breaks. All it takes is a tear from my eye and you are a dead man walking. Don’t tempt me or you will not like what you get!” I turned, leaving the hall pregnant with nothing but silence.