WRITER'S POV
Araceli woke up for the umpteenth time with a groan. Her head pounded as she tried to regain her vision to know where she was. She barely remembered the last place she was, because every time she awoke, they injected her with something to make her pass out. All she could remember was it somehow felt like she was moving.
She hissed as her blurry sight cleared up and she was hit by blinding lights from just a single bulb in an empty room that looked larger than her apartment. Fear creeped into her immediately as her memories came back. She was kidnapped and all because of her stupid brother and his ways. She hated him at that moment.
Hate wasn't a word that she ever associated her feelings with, but she was very convinced she hated her brother that very moment. She warned him and he never listened. Now she's paying for his wrongs. It made her think of how her father would have hit him so many times for putting her in trouble when they were younger. The irony of all that was, Araceli was always the one getting into trouble and Mateo would always be there to clean her mess up and take the blame for it. Their father never found out and viewed Ara as the good child, while Mateo was the mischievous child.
Now look how the tables have turned as they grew up. Araceli wondered if the way they were brought up had anything to do with how Mateo turned out to be. But then she reminded herself that grief turned him into this. He only became this way after their parents died and in contrast, Ara became more responsible
The thoughts of her parents' death brought tears to her eyes after so many years. She didn't know why it now affected her again. Maybe it was the fact she wouldn't have been in this situation if they were alive. Mateo would have grown up well and everything would have been fine. She'd finish college, marry a caring and simple man like her mother always wanted and have children.
Her tears turned into hysterical laughter as those dreams of hers were now nothing but dreams truly. She was never going to live that life. It'd be a miracle if she were to even be alive to see daylight again.
Araceli's breath hitched as soon as she heard the sound of the large room's door opening.
Three men walked in with guns that almost had Ara fainting on the spot. She'd never seen one before, unless you count watching them on the TV.
Oh God, what has Mateo gotten me into, she thought with a fresh set of tears streaming down her face.
The three men separated to different positions and that was when Araceli noticed a very old man standing at the door with two other men behind him. No doubts, the old man was the boss. She didn't need anyone to tell her. It was especially obvious because amongst the men, he had a huge crooked grin on his face and held no weapon.
Ara at that moment thought how funny it was that the leaders were never seen with weapons. Obviously they had it hidden or tucked away somewhere in their clothes or shoes but you'd barely see them walking around with it. That job was left for their men. It was their very own way of keeping their hands clean unless a bigger situation called for them to showcase their skills.
Ara let out a scoff through tears at the hierarchical nature of theirs. The sound of course, didn't go unnoticed by the old man. His face grew dark and he finally walked towards her.
Ara visibly shook in the chair with every step he took and she cried harder without sounds as her mouth was gagged with clothing
He reached her and pulled the piece of cloth away from her mouth.
"Seems you have something to say, little girl" he sneered and Ara shook her head profusely in fear
He laughed with a clap.
During his time of amusement, Ara now familiarized herself with his face. He had a mark running from his two eyes to both cheeks. It looked scary and only worsened Ara's situation. Her mouth grew dry and she swallowed. The man was very short compared to her and that's saying a lot because Ara wasn't on the tall side. His movements made Ara notice his right ear looked unreal like it was an implanted one. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to his original ear. Lastly, she noticed his yellow teeth and swallowed the vomit that threatened to come out of her throat. She's never seen a troll before but if Merlin the movie was right, then this man shared similar looks with them
"My favorite kind of girl!" The man suddenly exclaimed, turning to smile at one of the men. "You all did good" he praised his men before turning back to her
"I like them feisty. Always have" he touched her hair tenderly, "It's sweeter to break them myself" his hands shifted to her scalp and he tightly held her hair back
"Arghhhh. Please, it hurts" Ara whimpered, but it only just made him laugh
"But I'm only just getting started, Niñita" (Little girl)
Hearing the familiar language, Ara felt relief flood her, knowing they were probably still in Mexico
With his hand still tightly wrapped around her hair, his ugly teeth revealed themselves in a smile. "You're so beautiful"
Ara felt sick being this close to him
"How much does Mateo owe you? I'll pay back, I swear" She pleaded, trying her best not to wince from his tight hold
He laughed again and Ara added one more bad thing about him to her list. Bad breath
Ara couldn't find it in her to pretend as her nose scrunched up in disgust. He noticed this and hit her on the face
"You dare scrunch your face at me?" Another hit
Ara saw her death coming as he kept on hitting her.
"I…I'm …so…sorry. Please" She begged as she tried to shield her face from him but there was only so much she could hide without her hands.
He kept up his assault till he was tired and pushed her chair back, making her fall back and hit her head.
Ara saw stars and her vision became blurry. She heard him instruct them to call the doctor and then she passed out.
************
Ara woke up hours later with mild concussion and bandage wrapped around her head. She was surprised she made it out alive from that fall but as usual, life didn't want to give her an easy way out
Another thing that surprised her was the change in her surroundings. She was no longer in the empty and smelly room. This one was a real room that screamed luxury. The curtains were a lilac purple and she was laying down on a huge bed that could fit herself, Mateo, her best friend Leila and her employer, Estelle. She even thought they'd still have enough space for three more people.
The rooms were painted a dark purple and the ceilings were white. There was a big vanity table and chair set with the clearest mirror in front of it. The table had all sorts of beauty products and her curiosity got the best of her as she walked towards them and picked up products after products.
"Wow" she breathed in awe.
The vanity set was a lilac purple like the curtains and she almost rolled her eyes at how it befits a princess, which she was definitely not.
There were three adjoining doors to the room that made her bite her lip in anticipation of where it would lead to. But she also hoped she wouldn't open the wrong one that led to the monster that assaulted her. It was obvious one of them led outside this room and as much as she wanted to go through that particular door and run away, she knew she needed a plan to embark on such a journey.
Her inquisitiveness got the best of her and she walked towards one door close to the vanity set and took in a long breath before closing her eyes and pushing it open. When she heard nothing, she popped one eye open and immediately the second eye followed as she saw what was in front of her.
Ara's mouth dropped open as she took in the large closet filled with clothes and shoes. She walked in like one hypnotized and just by the end, she noticed bags were also in the closet. She felt like she was in paradise, she'd never seen a room as beautiful as this. She loved fashion so much and being in a room full of what she could never afford in her life made her remember her dream of wanting to be rich and buy herself every trending cloth, bags and shoes
She heard the jingling of keys and her legs quickly ran back to the room, taking her sleeping position back on the bed
The door opened and the old man stepped inside with two of his men that remained by the door.
He walked towards Ara's sleeping form before sitting beside her and outstretching his hands to touch her face.
Ara's half opened eyes saw this and she quickly opened them fully, stopping his movements
"Oh, you're awake!" He exclaimed with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
If Ara thought he was scary before the first time they met, then she was shitting her pants right now at the look she saw in his eyes.
He looked livid. Not like the other time. This time was different, raw like he was ready to kill someone. She couldn't explain it. She just knew the other time was not up to a fraction of what she was seeing in his eyes right now
She also wondered if maybe she was overthinking things because of the way her head felt all fuzzy due to the hit
"Have I already beaten sense into you? You seem to be mute little one" He looked pleased and Ara forced back the eye roll she would normally have replied with.
"Good then. Because I have come to take you today. You see, I'm in a terrible mood and only you could make it better"
Ara was confused but stayed quiet
"Bring her to my room" he ordered and stood up, walking out the door.
Ara's eyes went wide with fear as the two men walked towards her and before she could protest or do anything, they dragged her away from the room as she screamed to be let go of.
She was taken to his room and that day became her worst nightmare. She vowed to get out of that house, either alive or die trying