Sacrifice

Chapter Sixteen

D rip.

Drip.

Drip.

I keep trying to count the blood droplets, but lost track at around twenty-five. The man they brought in after they made me talk into the camera, likes the knife—little knicks. Not enough to cut too deep, just little slashes all along my chest and stomach.

Even to myself, I sound dismissive of my situation. But it's the only way I know how to cope. Otherwise, I'd have already fainted, and I have too much adrenaline pumping through my body to faint. They might do something awful to me. Well, more horrific than what they've already done. I'm not sure I would be able to handle them using my body in even more unspeakable ways than they already have.

"You're going to talk." The man slices into the skin around my navel and the burn comes back full force.

Although the floaters in my eyes keep getting larger, I refuse to give in. Keeping my head held high, I don't say a word. It's not like I have the answers, anyway.

Slap after slap makes my cheeks heat with pain, but still, I say nothing. I'm not sure what they want from me.

"Where's the money?" I don't know. I want to smart off and ask what money, but another man comes in and whispers to the man doing the slapping.

“I don’t know,” I whisper, completely exhausted.

“You’re brother stole money from us. We want it!” The man spits at me, but I can only seem to sway between awake and wanting to faint from the pain.

"Give her the salt treatment." The growly voice says as he pulls the other man away from me.

I'm expecting another man, but a woman comes up to me with two boxes of salt in each hand.

"You should have told him what he wanted to know," she whispers as she opens the first box. “This is going to be excruciating."

At first, I don't feel anything. But as the woman rubs the salt on my arm, I scream. She doesn't stop. I beg for her to stop, but she continues without pause.

"I will not take a punishment for you," she whispers and keeps rubbing salt into my exposed cuts. When she comes to my stomach, she stops. Sitting the salt down, she picks up the scissors from the table.

"What... what are you doing?"

My eyes are blurry, but I can make out her delicate features. She has scars on her face and arms.

"I have to remove everything. Your entire body will be treated to the salt."

"Please don't, please." I have enough medical knowledge to know that if she keeps doing this, my open skin will start dying. And if she puts that on my vagina, the effects could be catastrophic for me.

"I'm sorry," she says as she continues to cut my clothes off. "There are cameras everywhere. I must keep going."

Instead of pleading any further with her, I take a deep breath and try to keep calm enough to stop my blood pressure from rising any higher. Staying alert is the only way I can somewhat control what happens to me.

My brain laughs at me. There is no control here.

"Leave us," a man’s voice says from behind me.

The woman stands up from her squatted position as my pants fall away from my body and exits the room.

Embarrassment floods me, and I look down at the floor.

"Look at me." The man who looks like Vincent demands. I raise my head even though I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I've only ever been naked in front of Vincent, and this man doesn't deserve to see me.

He takes the salt once he hits play on the camera that's sitting against the wall. "You see, Vinnie, I have your girl. Even if you call this family meeting, no one is going to go against me."

The man runs his salty hand along my stomach. I can't keep the scream of agony from leaving my mouth. I can feel every single cut on my body with the salt rubbed into it burning and eating away at my skin.

"Your pretty little property won't be pretty for long. I plan on letting every man in my territory have her. She'll be nothing but a washed-up whore by the time I'm done with her."

Squirming, I move away from him, and he laughs at me. "This feisty show is going to earn her a punishment that I think you'll like, Vinnie."

The man places his lips against mine; he pushes his tongue into my mouth. I want to gag, but I bite down on him instead. He laughs and pinches my nipples until I'm whimpering in pain.

"Stupid bitch." He punches my face five times until my lips are split open and I hear my jaw break.

"Vinnie, you'll be lucky if I let her become a whore. I may just keep her for myself and teach her some goddamn manners." He pours the salt into my mouth as he holds my head back, forcing me to swallow it down.

He spits the blood from his mouth and grabs the vinegar from the table. I'm still coughing and gagging from the salt, but he grabs my hair and forces me to look into the camera.

"Open your mouth," he demands, but I refuse to do so. The door opens and the girl from a few moments ago walks in. "Come, hold her mouth open."

She says nothing and keeps her head down as she walks toward me. Her hands grab my broken jaw and I scream at the throbbing pain and stinging sensations running through my body. I'm unable to move as the man pours the vinegar down my throat.

"Hold her mouth shut now so she can't spit it out." The girl looks at me, pleading with her eyes to do what I'm told. I can't move my mouth without pain, so I do nothing. She sighs, pushing my mouth closed.

Tears run down my face as the vinegar burns my throat. The man grabs the girl and leaves the room. The lights turn off and I hear the door lock. I let myself cry as I think about Vincent, Espresso, Mossimo, and Miss Terrington. I hope they are all alive and uninjured.

Time moves differently when you are being held captive. It doesn't matter though, because it's not long before someone else will show up.

If I thought being naked in front of others was embarrassing, I was wrong. Peeing myself is the ultimate disgrace. My lower lip trembles as the hot liquid runs down my legs. I must have fallen asleep because I thought I was dreaming I was peeing. Instead, here I am, peeing on myself.

"You filthy slut," someone says, and I look up to a person I know I've seen before.

The longer he stares at me, the more ashamed I become, but his face looks so familiar. He's Vincent's guard, isn't he?

I try to speak, but my jaw doesn't move and the feeling of air touching my throat makes me whimper. Then it hit me. I saw him at the house. He is most definitely a guard for Vincent. He had on a red tie, a walking cane, and his name… I think hard about it. Frank? No. That's right—Luis, Arman? I don’t remember. I’m distraught trying to figure out how I know this man.

He laughs and stays next to the door. "I'm here to see for myself, the girl who's responsible for the downfall of Vincent, The Beast Domingo.”

There's no way to move my mouth and I grunt. Surely he didn't turn against Vincent. I shrink back into myself at the venom in his voice as he talks about how he's going to enjoy seeing Vincent dead. I want to tell him, he'll likely be dead, but nothing comes out of my mouth.

High-pitched shrieks come out of my mouth and I huff as I try to move from my position. The stiffness in my shoulders makes me want to whimper, but I know it won’t change anything. And I'm not going anywhere since I'm still tied to the ceiling. This gets him moving and when he is close to me, I use the last bit of strength I have to raise my leg and kick him.

This makes him mad as he stumbles back from me. He recovers and grabs me by the neck. Both his hands wrap around me, and he looks deranged as he squeezes.

"You fucking cunt. I was a spy for Alejandro. Of course, I want Vincent to die. But not before he sees me fucking you."

Another person comes in and laughs. "Not today, Joey. The bosses went to the family meeting. While they are out, we are going to hit all of Vincent's whore houses. Leave the bitch alone."

"Go without me." He tells the other man and turns back to me. "I'm busy, or did you not see that?"

"Boss’s orders. Let's go." The other guy cocks his gun at Joey. I have never wished anyone dead, but I would not be upset if he shot him.

Joey releases me and I'm grateful. When they leave me alone, I have more questions than ever, and it doesn't seem like there will be answers anytime soon.

"Shh, mi reina," Vincent whispers to me as he kisses my lips. "Hold on to me, baby. I've got you."

I relax into his arms and moan his name. "Te amo, you feel so damn good." He moves until he's between my thighs, forcing my legs wide. He pulls out of me and I cry out for him to be inside of me again.

"Aribella!"

My eyes pop open, and I begin to cry. My beautiful dream shatters away as I see the woman is back.

"I need you to walk. They all left and we only have an hour or so before they are back in the house," her voice is urgent, but I'm groggy and take a moment to comply.

As I try to talk, my jaw hurts and I cough, causing my throat to burn.

"Don't try to talk. But I think you want to know why I'm helping, huh?'

Nodding, I answer her question without speaking this time.

"Because I was once the lover of Leo Domingo. I was stolen away from him a long time ago by greed for the lifestyle he lived. There’s no reason to get caught up in a man like a Domingo. They think of only themselves and will never know how to love anyone. Besides, I don't think you should be in the same boat. Come on."

She releases my arms from the chains, and I fall to my knees. My wrists and shoulders are weak and stiff from hanging there. My brain is trying so hard to grasp the situation. Is she helping me? What about the cameras?

"I promise to get you some clothes and get you cleaned up. But we have to get out of here first. Just lean on me."

I guess there isn't much of a choice? For now, I will have to trust her to get me out of here. Let's hope I'm not making a mistake. Besides, if I'm going to run away with her, I might as well not question my own motives. She's a means to an end. That's all.

God, when did I get to be so cold about another human being? Oh right, she tortured me with salt only hours before, causing me pain and probably irreversible damage.

"We have to go faster. Come on." I'm already going as fast as I can. I'm exhausted, hungry, and still bleeding. I cough again and realize that my throat is burning from the air I'm sucking in.

"Don't try to talk. The salt and vinegar have done a number on your throat and I'm sure your jaw is broken. It's fixable, but you can't talk. Soon, I'll get you water and it will help. For now, just keep walking. We are almost there."

I'm mostly hobbling along, but she doesn't complain about it as we get to a door. As she opens it, I see Mossimo through the slits of my eyes. My face is too swollen for me to open them all the way.

"Mossimo." I rasp, and another bout of coughing hits me. We walk into the room and the girl looks at me. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Something grips my heart, and I panic. Taking her hand, I grip it tightly. She smiles gently at me. "I'll be back in five minutes. You're safe for now."

"Don't trust her," Mossimo mumbles weakly, and I nod. "Go through the window." He looks at the wall opposite him.

When he doesn't meet my eyes, I look down and realize I'm naked in front of him. I blush and fold into myself, trying to hide. "Don't worry about your body, you have to get out of here," he says urgently.

I'm stuck to the wall, too scared to move, afraid I might fall or faint. My stress level has reached its peak, and I can feel my head trying to shut down.

God, why am I like this? I need to be strong.

Mossimo huffs, causing me to look at him. He's not looking at my body. No, he's looking me straight in my eyes. "Deep breaths. You have about three minutes before she comes back. She's Alejandro's daughter. If she gets you out of here, you'll be sold into slavery. She's the one you should really be afraid of."

So my gut was right. I move and wobble. "You’ve got this, Aribella," Mossimo encourages me and I feel myself trying to succumb to the darkness.

Blinking, I straighten my shoulders, not worrying about my naked flesh.

"Ten more steps. You can do this, Aribella."

Sure, ten more steps and then what? Taking a deep breath, I move further into the room and away from the relative safety of the wall. I close my eyes. Please, God, help me.

"One in front of the other. Keep going, Aribella."

Looking at Mossimo, I see the pain in his face. He's put his own needs on hold while he's talking me through my panic.

Nodding, I make myself get a hold of my nerves. I feel centered, and I move again, this time not wobbling.

"Grab the blanket," Mossimo says as I struggle to lift the window. "I know it hurts and you're tired, but keep going, Aribella. Do not stop running. Go now."

The window goes up and I sigh in relief. Despite the pain, I mumble, "What about you?" I can't leave him here.

"Don't worry about me. Get out now." His voice comes out strong, but I can hear the pain. Feeling like I'm letting Vincent down by not taking Mossimo with me, I wrap the blanket around my body and climb out of the room.

My feet land in the grass and I look around. There are woods everywhere. Which way do I go? I decide to head to the left. Maybe that will be the city. The only hope I have is to find someone kind and not involved with anyone around here.