Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
I start to sob the moment I wake up, quickly realizing I'm tied to somebody else.
"It's me," Ivette whispers "Don't let them hear us talking."
"What happened?" I ask, my voice breaking over the words. "Is it Xavier?"
"I don't think so," she admits as if she seems disappointed by the fact. "This must be a random attack. Think they are a new cartel in this city. I don't know why they would target us here, though. All the other cartels are friendly to us and try to help us. This is awful."
"They killed Maria," I whisper. "I can't believe they killed Maria."
"They killed everyone," Yvette admits.
"What about the kids?"
She shrugs, not meeting my eye. "The kids and their mothers. All of them are dead."
"Why did they keep us then?" I ask, shivering all over.
"I guess they thought we were valuable," Yvette mutters, making me feel sick.
There are only two options here. Either these men realize who I belong to and return me to him... Or they'll sell me into a prostitution ring where my body will be abused every second of every day within an inch of its life. Neither of those two options seem good to me.
"I can't go back to my husband. I'm begging you, Tallulah, don't make me go back to him. I can't take it, I can't bear the thought of going back to that madman."
"Neither of us is going back," I promise her. "And we're not going to stay here, either. We're not going to let these men steal this freedom we fought for. We're going to fucking fight them. Where are the guards?"
She nods over to the door, which is left open ajar.
I can see three men outside talking and laughing about what they've done to us all. I want to throw up on the floor, but I force myself to stay composed. I still see my gun, the one that was knocked away from me, on the floor next to the guards.
"All we have to do is get free of these handcuffs," I whisper to Ivette. It doesn't escape me that what's happening to us is a metaphor for what Xavier and Ivette's husband did to us.
"How are we going to get out?" Ivette asks. "There is no way we can get free. This is hopeless."
She begins to sob, but I have another plan. My parents put me through training for a reason. And I know I can get us out of this mess.
"I'll be able to get us out. I promise you, but can you hold my hand, Ivette? Right now. Please."
We're handcuffed back to back, but she somehow manages to grab a hold of my palm behind my back.
"I need you to pull on my fingers really fucking hard."
"Why?" she asks, her voice still strained with sadness and tears. She's still crying.
"You need to break my hand, so I can get out of these handcuffs, and help us get the fuck out of here," I tell her.
"You're crazy," she whispers. "I'm not going to hurt you just so you can save us."
"If I don't do it, things are about to get much worse for us in a matter of seconds."
I glance at the guards who are now beginning to notice that one of us is awake. I'm sure they're going to come in here sooner or later.
"Please. We're sisters, remember? They'll hurt us so much worse... This could be our only chance, so we need to act fast. Just do it Yvette," I beg her. "Take me by the fingers and pull as hard as you can. Until you hear a crack."
She's still crying, but she does as asked, pulling on my fingers. I clench my teeth and force myself not to cry out when I feel my bones cracking. When she finally does what she has to do, I breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
The pain is far from over, but I didn't make a sound and I'm proud of myself for it. My hand easily slips out of the handcuffs now that it's broken.
I don't dare look at it. Instead, I just hide on the side of the wall and slowly crouch, walking over to the gun on the floor. Right as the first guard notices me, I grab the gun and point it at his head.
"Holy shit," another guard chokes on his drink. "Do you fucking know who she is?"
"She's got a gun," another guard screams at his gang, but he doesn't get to finish his sentence because I shoot the bullet right between his eyes, smirking as I watch his blood and brains splatter over the wall behind him.
The next two are on me in a second but I fight them off. The last guard snaps a photo of me and my heart rate speeds up as he runs off.