"STOP!" a deep voice breaks through all the commotion going on in the room, as I glance up the man who was torturing me backs up and looks in the direction the voice came from. It was the words that came out of his mouth that caught my attention, "Boss?" he says. I glance in the direction he was looking and my breath caught in my throat. Standing in the doorway was that same man from the mall. His face was stern and held no hint of emotion, a strange aura radiated around him... I began to squirm in my seat, as terror suddenly struck me.
As he approached me, he asked a question "What is your name?" I kept my mouth shut as I watched him edge closer. "What's the matter, don't you have a tongue?" again, I kept my mouth shut. "Damn it, answer the fucking question girl!" he yelled, making me jump as he raised his voice.
"It's Grace-Gracelyn." I cried, "Gracelyn Lauder." I wept, unable to control the tears or my sobs. The pain I was in was excruciating.
"Okay, Gracelyn I am going to ask you nicely since it seems as if my men didn't do so. Who are you working for? Is it the Blacks or somebody else?" he asked.
"No... no one. I don't work for anyone." I answered as quickly as I could.
"Then why did you have a very important flash drive?" he asked me, looking at me seriously. I was instantly overcome with a sense of dread after looking back into his eyes. My head immediately dropped.
"I-I don't know..." was my simple answer.
"I don't understand, how did that flash drive slip into an innocent girl's bag?" he asks, and I was surprised to discover that he wasn't angry yet. Those other men were so cruel and so harsh with me that I didn't want to answer any of their questions.
However, my reply was the same as before... "I am sorry, But I don't know?" by this point, my tears had very nearly all dried up. I was just sniffling at this point.
"So you are saying that it just happened by chance that I found the very drive that I have been hunting for the past month in your bag?" he asks. I shrugged my shoulders before he snaps "Fine!" He sounded dangerous, he stares at me with hard eyes and I glance up at him. Something seemed to be on his mind.
"Please, let me go! I really don't know anything." I pleaded with him, and he shook his head. I felt all the hope in me just drain away as he turns to one of the men and ordered. "Bring it here!"
I watch as one of the guys turn around and walk over to the table on the other side of the room, watched as he grabs a manila envelope off the table and handed it over to the guy. "Untie her," he barks at him. I was surprised, what was the reason he was having them untie me? Is he going to let me go? After loosening the rope, he slides them off my hands and I moved my arms around, then I feel as if he releases my ankles from the chains as well.
Not wanting to waste any time, I quickly stand up with a feeling of adrenaline. Only to stumble and fall to the floor with an "Ouch". My entire body screamed out in pain, and when I attempted to stand once more, my legs began to tremble unable to bear my weight and I fell to the floor again.
"My dear, it seems as if you are quite weak right now. Benjamin, why don't you help her up?" he says, and I see Ben approach me. His arms wrap around my waist as he lifts me up and walks me towards the table this time shoving me into one of the chairs. I settle in it, relief that this chair wasn't metal. I watch as the man who answers to Boss approaches me slowly, "So what's your opinion on these?" he asks, taking something out of the envelope and dumping it on the table in front of me. As I glanced down, I found several pictures scattered across the table... my eyes went wide as I realize that I was in each and every one of them. Me coming out of the supermarket; me standing by my car; me hugging my friends in the mall shopping bags in my hands. Additionally, I was shown standing by a man with a flash drive in his hand, while he extended his hand toward me. The picture of me had a full smile on my face, and I stared at it in confusion as if it had never actually taken place. "So, can you explain this?" he asks again with a sly grin.
I racked my brain for what to respond back, then I replied "Honestly, I don't even know why you have all of these pictures of me. But this one." I say pointing to the photo that didn't actually happen, "Didn't happen, I don't even know who that man is nor have I ever met him before. I don't know how the drive ended up in my purse because it didn't happen that way. I have nothing to do with it, please." I implore the man, looking into his eyes which seemed to be full of anger.
"That man has a name, that man is Bellamy Black which you know very well." He gritted his teeth, but I shake my head. He slaps me across my face so hard that I felt the sting and said, "Listen up Bitch, I'm going to get to the bottom of this right now! Granger, go and get that thing I told you to prepare a few days ago." My body trembled once more as fear began to sink into my pores.
"Why are you not believing me?" I shout back at him in fear, "I am telling you the truth." I try to stand up again, but my body would not cooperate and I fell back into the chair.
I watch as the man called Granger walked back into the room holding onto another black suitcase, which made me wonder what they were doing. Did he plan to hurt me some more? Seeing the boss nod his head at him, I watch as he places the suitcase on the table. A grin grew on his face as he said, "Okay boys hold her down tightly." then all the guys in the room grabbed ahold of me holding me in place as his devilish smile only grew bigger.
I try to twist my arms to get them free from their grasp as I ask, "No... what are you going to do to me?" Then they tightened their hold, nothing I did could help me.
Prior to speaking, he gave me a death glare, "You chose this, remember that when you look at it in the future!" he exclaimed, opening the suitcase, Inside there was what appeared to be a tattoo gun, what was he going to do? Give me a tattoo... of what? He turned on the gun and stepped closer to me saying "Hold her down guys, don't let her go." In no time I felt the pain of the pen as it made contact with my arm. As he did it, it burned... I couldn't see what he was doing but my instincts told me it wasn't anything good.
After finishing up with what he was doing, he held up the pen and glared at me "Who do you work for?" he asked, I glanced up at him in fear knowing that nothing I said to him would get him to stop what he was doing.
"What are you doing to me?" I asked instead of answering his question. My arm was burning where he placed the mark on my skin, I wanted to know what it was that he was doing to me.
"I am branding you, now that I have completed the first letter... it is up to you whether I continue or not." he cautioned with a chuckle.
"Please don't," I cried out yet again, "Don't do this to me!" I pleaded with him.
"So you're still not going to spill, huh?" he asks looking into my eyes, nothing was going to stop him from doing this. "Okay then, the next few letters it is..." he said.
Again I interrupted him, I don't know what went through my mind... but I had to try it again. "N-no... I've got something to say!" I stutter through the sentence, fear raging inside of me.
Holding the pen in the air, he looks at me and says "Okay, I am listening."
"Please listen to me this time, I don't know how I got into all of this. But seriously... I don't have anything to do with that drive. I don't work for that man... I am on no one's side here. This is all just a big misunderstanding, those pictures make no sense to me. I don't know you, or this Black guy... please just let me go, I won't tell anyone what happened to me. I just want to get back to my life." I cry at him, his face was stone cold and his jaw tightened.
His cold tone caused me to tremble with fear as he asks in a stern voice, "Are you done?" My mouth remained shut and I nodded my head, but then he quickly began pressing that pen against my skin again. With each stroke he made it feel as if he was pressing harder and harder, and the area began to burn. I wanted to stop him, I wanted to scream out as he branded me with some word. Still unsure what he was writing on my arm, all I knew was that I wanted him to stop. "Would you like to change your decision to keep quiet?" he asked in a deep husky voice as he held the pen up for a second time.
After I didn't respond to him, he leaned in closer into my personal space yanking me hard up into his chest and pulling me out of everyone's grasp. As he jerked me even more holding me in place while he stared into my eyes, the smell of his cologne engulfed my senses. His deep brown eyes beckoned to me, but when I realized that I was checking out my kidnapper I snapped myself out of the trance with a sharp curse. He let go of me and motioned for the other men to grab ahold of me once more. Once they had me in their hold he pressed the gun against my skin as he finishes his work, once again I felt the burn.
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST ADMIT THAT YOU WORK FOR HIM? WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING HIM LIKE THIS?" he shouted at me, and I looked up into his eyes, tears streaming down my face as I watched him take out a real gun from his back and point it at me. I began to sob uncontrollably as I blink back the tears, I feel the coldness of the metal touch my skin. I watched as he toyed with the trigger, and my sobs intensified...
"Please... D-don't..." I began to say, but the door slams open as someone screams out at him.
"Jasper... Stop!" Everyone looked to the door to find out who the voice belonged.