Chapter 3 She cried

Rosa awoke, her body a maze of pain and confusion. The darkness was suffocating, her panic rising like a flood within her. Her face, covered with a cloth, her eyes fighting in vain to pierce the darkness, added to her terror.

As she struggled to make sense of her surroundings, the remnants of the sedative clouded her mind, making her dizzy, her ears ringing like church bells. Her breath came in short gasps, each breath a struggle against the darkness that threatened to swallow her whole.

In the end, her body, battered and exhausted, relented. went back into unconsciousness.

When she woke up again, she lifted her eyelids slowly to confirm she wasn't blindfolded or blind. She viewed the environment, she noticed she was not in her hotel room or anywhere comfortable to be called a room.

Her head hurts, she tries to stand up, but she can't. She is chained to the bed.

Her mind was racing. What went wrong? Where was she? And who did she follow home?

In the dim light that seeped through cracks and crevices, Rosa surveyed her surroundings. The room was a twisted portrait of neglect, of decay, the sounds of rodents and insects a mocking chorus in her ears.

She wriggled against her restraints, desperate to free herself, her fingers aching as they clawed at the chains that held her captive. But her efforts were futile. With each passing moment, her heart sank deeper into the abyss of hopelessness.

She strained to hear the sound of footsteps, a voice, any sign that salvation might be near.Time seemed to stretch into an eternity, the only companionship the skittering of vermin and the scratch of her desperate fingers against the cold metal of her prison. The dress, once a symbol of her allure, now clung to her skin like a suffocating shroud.

The darkness, thick and stifling, pressed in on her, closing off any hope of escape. She could feel the panic rising within her, a dark tide of despair threatening to drown her. The damp, earthy smell of the room filled her nostrils, adding to the terror that consumed her. She needed water, she was thirsty, she wanted to throw up, she had a hangover. She wanted to scream, but her throat was dry. She tried shouting for help, but she didn't seem to be making a sound. After some few attempts, she gave up, Just then, a rat came to her feet.

She screamed 'Ahn'; somebody help!

She shouted for help. The noise scared the rat, but that was it. Nobody was coming to her rescue. She was feeling faint, she had used up her last energy on shouting... She started crying.

She hated her life. She just wanted to give up. Now she regrets her decision. She has always made the wrong decisions, she told herself as she wept. Just then, two hefty men came into the room with some polythene bags she was scared of.

Rosa's breath caught in her chest, her fist clenching tight, her face was full of terror, her mind kept telling her:' It is time they had come for her.

Oh, God!! She said loudly.

The two men paid her no attention. They went to her bed and adjusted the chains on her and repositioned them, so she could tackle her hands a little, and then they took some food and water out of the bag.

Guess they repositioned her chain a little, so she could eat, she thought to herself. After bringing the food and water to her, they switched on a light bulb which was so dim and left her without saying a word.

Rosa couldn't eat the food out of caution, but she drank the water because she was thirsty and her throat hurt. She suddenly felt sleepy. Her eyes were giving it, and before she knew it, she was already sleeping.

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Antonino was annoyed and shocked when he saw her at his underground factory. He knew she was following him, but he didn't know she would be this foolish to bang in like that before he could say or bring out his gun. Julian had hit her on her head with the back of his gun, and she had passed out.

Julian had seen her come out of the restroom. He was on his way when he also heard the gunshot. He knew Antonino must have shot somebody. So, he quietly followed her to know what she was going to find out. He knew she was drunk.

Antonino had ordered his men to carry her to his mansion and to keep her in the basement.

When he got home, he couldn't sleep. He wanted to know who she was and why she was spying on him. He kept watching her through the CCTV he input in the basement, he noticed she was awake, and he ordered his men to bring in something for her to eat.

His men were confused because he had never brought in food for a prisoner, so they put some antidepressants in her food and sleeping pills in her water. Maybe that is what he meant.

After some while, she woke up. She felt somebody staring at her in the dark. The room was dark, but the light bulb shone a little light. She tried to sit up but discovered the chain had been tightened.

Who a...re you? She asked slowly, her voice full of panic, what do.... you want..t for me? She asked again, this time a little louder.

A deep and hoarse yet sexy voice answered ''You don't get to ask questions here, I do, so you need to answer me and answer me correctly or that will be the last thing you ever say''.

Antonino slowly came out of the shadow. Now he was near her. He then leaned toward her and whispered 'Wakey, wakey'. It sounded like the devil was calling her.

She screamed out in terror ''leave me alone please''.

Antonino's men who were guarding the door ran in and turned on the light, and then she saw her kidnapper. She was in awe.

Her kidnapper was handsome and strong, she thought to herself. She kept reassuring herself that she had seen his face. She was lost in thought when a cold shivering ice water splashed all over her face. This brought her back to reality, and tormented her heart sank.

After the water, came the electric shock to her body. One of the guards had used a Taser on her. She screamed so loud and painful, she wanted to cry, but she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of watching her cry.

Now answer me. Why are you spying on me? The handsome guy asked again.

Everywhere seemed to go silent waiting for her to give out her answer, but she didn't say anything for a while.

The first word that came out of her mind was ''hmmm, why am I here? I don't un...

Thwack!!

Before she could finish up, he had slapped her.

Antonino hates it when he is not in control or when he is not asking questions, so he asks her again who she is working for.

With fear in her eyes, she stammered to reply 'I can't remember what happened', she said.

Antonino was pissed. What? What was she playing at? He thought to himself. Maybe he would help her jog her memory, he told her.

With a wave of his hand, he motioned to his men. They scattered the breadcrumbs, like the breadcrumb trail in Hansel and Gretel, luring the rodents into Rosa's prison, since he noticed she was afraid of rats.

Rosa's eyes were bewildered with fear when she heard it, but she couldn't say anything because she didn't know what was going on.

She thought to herself how could someone so handsome and yet maleficent and wicked? What have she done to deserve all this?

The men, accustomed to their Don's ruthless brutality, were taken aback by the subtlety of his request. They had expected torture, instruments of pain to crack her resistance. But rats, they thought, were for amateurs, for those who sought to merely break the body.

Their confusion was palpable as they approached him, their eyes questioning, their words loaded with hesitation. "Sir, are you sure?" they implored, their disbelief a silent accusation. "The stun belts, the knives-these are our tools of choice. The rats, they will take too long."

But Antonino's response was chilling.Antonino's words hung in the air, their weight tangible, the silence in their wake deafening. "I do not want her pain to end quickly," he said, his tone cold and devoid of emotion. "I want to watch her spirit bleed away, drop by drop, until there is nothing left but the truth."

His eyes, like daggers of ice, pierced the men, a silent warning to those who questioned his methods. They nodded in acquiescence, their reluctance hidden behind the façade of loyalty. But in their hearts, a shadow of doubt had taken root.

What is wrong with him? He thought.

Rosa hadn't washed up or used the toilet for two days now. She hated herself. She kept on telling herself 'It's a dream'. She needed to wake up because she was dirty and hungry, and then she heard the squeaking again, but this time it was loud.

Rats!! She screamed.

The rats, like a sinister, scurrying swarm, invaded her space, crawling over her body like a sea of nightmares. Her skin prickled with revulsion, her cries of terror echoing in the chamber like the sound of a heart breaking.

In the dark, Antonino watched her suffering with dispassionate eyes, his mind a whirlpool of suspicion and intrigue. Who was she working for? What had brought her to his doorstep? The answers, he knew, lay in her confession.

As her screams and pleadings pierced the air, he felt a momentary pang of doubt.

The two men who were guarding the door were surprised when they heard Rosa screaming. They were shocked, they had thought of her as a rough opponent since she was asked to spy on their boss, rats could make her scream with so much terror.

Maybe the boss got the wrong girl. One of the guards who was slim and had mustaches spoke first. He was shushed by his colleagues. He was rather short but muscular, the boss never made mistakes and, besides, we saw her at the underground factory, he replied.

Rosa was getting tired and weak from all the screaming, so she braced herself and tried to gather herself in one piece. Antonino had loosened the chain just a little. She had given up with the rats and the cockroaches all over the place.

The keylock, a cruel and mocking sentinel, offered no salvation. But Rosa, her survival instincts ignited, refused to accept her fate, her fingers prying and scraping against the lock in a desperate bid for freedom.

Suddenly, a shadow fell across her, the scuttling of a massive rodent like the scythe of Death. With a scream that shook the walls, she recoiled in terror, her head colliding with the unforgiving surface of the wall.

Bang!!

Consciousness fled, leaving her in a void of oblivion, her head a throbbing, pulsing ball of agony.!

She woke up with a severe headache, the back of her head was swollen, and she was quite dizzy. She remembered she had hit her head on the wall when trying to avoid the rat that jumped on her face.

She felt a sharp, subtle pain in her head, then the memory of that night started coming back. She screamed. I remembered! Come open the door! I can explain!