Chapter Thirty-Three
I must have been off for hours. I blinked fully awake to find myself in an almost empty room, with just a bed. The window drapes were half open, a tray with covered dishes sat at the corner of the room, on a small stool. It took a full minute for my brain to register. I remembered entering my apartment and getting attacked from behind, with a piece of clothing pushed to my nose.
Who could have done that? Charlie? I couldn’t think of any other person that would have access into my apartment. Where was this place? And if it was Charlie, why would he kidnap me? My head was pounding and my tongue tasted bitter. Did he drug me? For how long have I been sleeping? The questions kept coming and I couldn’t provide answers to them.Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.
I managed to pull myself out of the bed, limping to the door to check the locks, if it was Charlie, he definitely wouldn’t lock me in. To my amazement, the door was locked. I banged a few times calling for someone to open, but there was no response. It dawned on me that this might in fact not be Charlie, perhaps someone more dangerous. Someone that could hurt me and there would be no one to save me.
I crumbled to the floor, unable to hold my weak knees, my eyes were stinging with tears as I thought of the danger I could be in. No one in the castle would know about my whereabouts, not Jacob, not Antonio. They will probably think in the first few hours that I would be in my room, not wanting to be disturbed. It will take a while before it finally dawns on them that I am missing. Even if it does, there would be no traces, as I was certain that no one had seen me leaving the castle.
The tears crawled down my cheeks lazily. This was all my fault. If I had not written that note in the first place, I wouldn’t have been so desperate to leave the castle in secrecy. Would Antonio bother looking for me? Or would this be an opportunity to return to his crazy ex? My chest tightened with the thought. I shouldn’t be thinking about this right now, I should be thinking of getting out of here, to safety.
But how? The windows were protected with iron bars, the room was high above the ground, it would be fruitless shouting for help. I banged at the door again in frustration, moved to the window to peer at the deserted environment, kicked the foot of the bed, before collapsing tiredly to the ground.
After lying on the cold floor for what seemed like hours, I finally felt hungry, as my stomach grumbled. I thought of the food on the stool,” what could it be?” I wondered at first. What if it is poisoned or drugged? Maybe there’s a camera somewhere with someone watching and as soon as I eat and zone out, they will do something to me.
Yet, I couldn’t resist the urge to reach out for the tray. It was a plate of baked beans. I slammed the cover closed, hoping to call somebody’s attention with the noise. As if it had worked, I heard the sound of footsteps from the corridor.
“Help!!! Please, help me! Can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?”
The footsteps went farther away from the door, disappearing in sound. It was quiet outside again, so quiet that I doubted if I had heard properly a minute ago or that was my imagination. Who could have brought me here and for what reasons? My curiosity intensified, but I had very little strength left in me to think. After much deliberation, I dropped the tray to the floor, spooning the beans to my mouth.
In less than five minutes, the dish was empty. I hadn’t realized I was that hungry. My attention snapped to the door as there was a turn in the lock. Surprised, would be an understatement to what I felt, when I saw who it was. Why didn’t it cross my mind for a second that it could be her? How did she get into my apartment? Why was she holding me locked up in this room?
“Did you enjoy your meal?” She inquired, a wicked smile lying on her lips as she leaned on the door, folding both her hands around her chest.
“What do you want?” I started.
She gasped at my question, giving me a shocked expression. “You really don’t know?” She questioned.
“I don’t know shit, I don’t know why you have me locked up in a place like this, knowing fully well that I could sue you for this,” I threatened.
Her tiny voice vibrated through the room in a wicked burst of laughter. “You have so much audacity, don’t you?” She took a step, drawing nearer to me. “What makes you think you’d live this place alive to sue me? You think I’m dumb to let you go out of here after seeing my face?” she asked.
“How did you get into my apartment? And how did you know I was going to be home?”
“One question at a time, hunny.” she bent low, reaching my level. “How did I get into your apartment? It wasn’t so hard to break in dear. It’s not like you have heavily protected walls like the castle. And how I knew you’d be home? Sweetie, that was plain luck. You know, I didn’t really think you were that cheap to be sleeping at Antonio’s house.”
“I guess you didn’t really think that this was a bad idea either?” I replied back, fighting the fear that struggled to settle in my belly.
“Why is that?” She readjusted.
“Antonio doesn’t love you anymore, I don’t think you’re so dumb not to have found out. But let’s keep that aside. If he ever finds out that you are connected to my kidnap, I bet you wouldn’t be smiling so widely the next time I see you,” I loved that my voice sounded so confident. The smile on her face was cut short.
“He would never find out. At least not after I visit the castle and tell him about seeing you with some random dude. Remember I once fucked that dude, so tell me why you think he’d believe you over me?” She maintained.
I thought of the few times Antonio had caught me in the arms of someone else other than him and how it made him feel. The man at the party that he had punched badly and Charlie. If Reina tells him about seeing me with a random dude, would it make him want to find me more, or would that make him despite me so much, that he wouldn’t care knowing where I was?
I didn’t see Reina leaving my front, as I was lost in thought. I only raised my face to the door when she spoke. “Stop wasting your time to scream, no one would hear you, and even if they do, it would be guard and he will never save you.” She winked, then turned again as if forgetting something, she added. “I’m going to the castle. I will tell you all about it when I get back. Just in case you were wondering how I knew where you stay, I made very little effort to get that information, you know why? Because you ain’t so important and nobody minds throwing your information around for really slim wads of dollar.” With that, she opened the door, disappearing outside it.
I tried to think of all she had said. Was she really going to kill me? Would Antonio believe her over me? Who had given her my information for slim wads of money? Was there really no way out of this trap? Is this the end of me?
A new wave of tears rushed out of my eyes. I did nothing to fight them off, allowing them to flow down my cheeks. If I had made an attempt to push her away from the door and run out, what would have happened? If there were guards outside the door, would I be able to outsmart them? Would they shoot at me at sight? That would be out of the plan.
If there were guards outside with guns in their hands, then I might just as well settle here and cry for help until I’m killed. Hopefully, someone thinks fast enough to put the puzzle of my disappearance in one piece and save me out of here.
If they had given me just a little chance to grab the note from my nightstand before taking me away, I wouldn’t be bothered at all. But lying down here and not knowing if the note was still at my apartment or in Charlie’s custody made me feel sick to my belly.
Debbie might be of help.