14Chapter 6: Reality is an Illusion
The air was stuffy around her. She was having trouble breathing. She could feel cloth against her face but she wasn't sure why, her pillows were made from cotton not cloth. Maybe she was dreaming. Which would explain the intense feeling that she was moving. She was lying still and yet there was that sudden jerking sensation that the ground beneath her wasn't staying put. If she was dreaming, then it must be the one where you fall and you fall and then you suddenly wake up.
So why wasn't she waking up?
The realisation hit her hard, as did the floor of the moving vehicle she was in as she fell back onto it after it had covered a particularly bumpy piece of ground. She was awake. She wasn't dreaming. And the cloth against her face also encased her head. She felt groggy as it hit the floor once more.
Her left ear stung, as though the eardrum had been hit. But she could just about make out the faint voices coming from the front of what she assumed was a van. She tried turning from her side onto her back but it made her head swim and nausea rose up from the pit of her stomach. She groaned as bile crept up her throat. She tried swallowing it back but her mouth and throat were too dry. She spluttered as the vomit filled her mouth, soaking the gag that was still present there. It coated her tongue in bitter moisture, and it took all her strength to force it back down the way it had come.
The nausea rose up again, swamping the last feelings of clarity her mind contained and the little she could see through the cloth started to fade. She sucked in air, desperately trying to get enough oxygen to stop herself from passing out again. But it was a completely useless effort. The cold and the dark surrounded her once more and all she could do was invite it in and welcome it.
Bella resurfaced again. It was the sixth time since the men had placed her in this small, dank and uncomfortable room. Whatever she did, she couldn't seem to get a handle on consciousness. She looked around the room, checking for any changes since she had last woken. She found the room to be in almost the same condition as it had been last time.
All that had changed was that a cushion and a thin blanket had been placed in the corner of the room. Small comforts. The cloth sack and gag had both been removed when they had originally put her in the room. It was only after she realised exactly how uncomfortable they had both been that she promised that she would never do bondage. Either that, or mock the common niceties that everyday society provided.
She sat up, managing to keep the non-existent contents of her stomach in her stomach, the first time since the incident in the van. She crawled over to the blanket and cushion, her weak condition almost disabling her. Her knees and elbows buckled several times on the short journey, but Bella got control of her joints temporarily, determined to make it the brief distance. She reached the two items and collapsed upon them; they were indeed small comforts, but comforts they were.
From her position low on the floor she was able to observe the room more easily, trying to look for traits in the architecture that might give away where exactly she was in Italy. There was a small chance that this would work, but unfortunately it didn't. There was a small window right at the top of the window. There might as well have been bars on it for all the hope of escape it gave her.
The room was a little bit longer than she was, making Bella feel a bit claustrophobic. It was a miracle that she wasn't panicking right now, even though she could feel fear spreading throughout her body. This wasn't helped by her noticing the CCTV camera in the opposite corner to the one where she now lay. There was a little red light shining at the bottom of the camera, signalling that filming was taking place.
It was only when she started to listen to her own heartbeat for peace of mind that she heard the voices from outside the door. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying but she was pretty sure that the voices both belonged to men. She dragged her head from the pillow so that she could listen with her good ear. She listened for a few minutes, frowning as she did so. One of the voices belonged to a heavy smoker, the gruffness and scratchy quality to it gave it away. But the other voice was smooth and deep. For a second she thought that she recognised it.
She shook her head, and the name of the owner of the second voice disappeared from the tip of her tongue. Her resolve strengthened and she got onto her hands and knees to once again crawl the length of the room, her palms and the skin of her knees scraping against rough concrete.
She reached the door, which loomed above her, the handle seeming miles away from her reach. She pressed her good ear against the wooden door, and the muffled voices became clearer.
'We have not heard a single noise from that room in over six hours, and that time was just a groan and a sigh. It has been approximately twenty-seven hours since we cleaned her up and put her in there. I am telling you that if she is in any way harmed he will see to it that I am no longer fit to carry out this operation.'
The smoker answered him in an even tone and there were small pauses in his speech followed by long rushes of air from his lungs. Each time this happened Bella could smell tobacco smoke that leaked into the room from the gap between door and floor. 'We have it under control. The camera is motion sensitive. Only the best for you, sir.' His tone had turned mocking. 'She moves every so often, although she has been consistently vomiting every time she does. Whatever you did to knock her out obviously did not agree with her.'
The second man scoffed loudly. 'I have used that technique several times, you were taught it as an effective way to coax someone into unconsciousness as well as I was. Nobody has ever reacted to it this violently. I do not understand.'
Another whoosh of air left the smoker's lungs. 'You don't have to understand something for it to be a mistake.'
There was silence. Shadows danced their way through the gap under the door when the men moved.
The second man spoke once more. 'Let me know if she does anything to suggest she has recovered.' Then he apparently turned on his heel and left, judging from the scraping sounds of rubber soles on small grains of loose concrete.
The other man, the smoker, stayed where he was. A quiet thud indicated he was now leaning against the wall.
Bella didn't know why she did it, but she felt compelled to try the handle of the door. Her thoughts were scrambled from the conversation she had just overheard and nothing made sense to her anymore. Not even the voice screaming inside her head telling her to wait until the man was gone.
She reached up, stretching the upper half of her body until it was contorted into an appropriate shape for her to slide her slender fingers around the cool metal of the handle. The voice in her head reached a crescendo, but now that she had got this far without any physical side effects her curiosity won. She had to see what the face of her current captor looked like.
She turned the handle, expecting to hear the click as it opened.
But nothing happened. The door didn't open.
She sighed in frustration. It had never even occurred to her that the door might be locked.
The man outside the door started laughing. The coarse edge to his voice made it sound sinister and it sent a shiver up her spine. It made her think of raw brutality that was instilled in every primal animal and of the violence that he would have no trouble performing. He sounded cruel. She was no longer curious to see his face.
He spoke through the door to her in Italian. 'Rise and shine, little girl. Today is a new day for you. Today is the day you learn just how much your daddy loves you. But first, an introduction.'
Bella backed away from the door as fast as she could on her hands and knees. She could hear a key being inserted into the lock and several clicks as it turned the barriers gave way. She dragged herself into the corner where the blanket still lay meekly and huddled into the adjoining walls, her knees drawn up to her chest for some sort of slight feeling of safety and protection.
The door swung open, revealing a man of about six foot two in height. The light from the hallway combined with the darkness in the small room to shadow his face. She could make out harsh stubble lining his jam and a chin that jutted out defiantly. His nose was long and straight and he had ice blue eyes. Eyes that seemed to emanate coldness and isolation. They were not the eyes of a man susceptible to pleas and the tears of another human being.
'Bella Cardinale. Or is it Walters now? What a pleasure at last to meet you face to face.'
He moved closer to where I was huddled, cigarette still in hand. He crouched down in front of me, bouncing for a moment before settling. His breath stank of smoke and Bella recoiled even further into the wall, a fleetingly harsh pain spreading across her cheek. She had grazed it.
'Don't I get a hello, at least? No? Nothing? Not even a smile?' He laughed again and took a drag from his cigarette. He exhaled the smoke through his nostrils and the cloud it created caught Bella straight in the face. She spluttered and coughed, eyes watering slightly. He laughed once more and stood up. 'Come on, I've got some people I'd like you to meet.'
Before she could say or do anything he grabbed hold of her arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. Without even waiting for her to regain her balance or fight the oncoming waves of nausea he yanked her out of the room and down the hallway. She stumbled along after him, trying to keep up without him pulling at her. She could feel bruises forming under the tender skin where his fingers were gripping.
She counted three doors both to her left and right before he stopped abruptly, causing her to crash into him. He looked down at her slowly and she once again recoiled from him, wishing that she could be stronger like her usual self.
He let go of her arm and she replaced his fingers with her own, gently massaging the skin he had hurt. He knocked on the door and it was opened by one of four men. They were completely silent as the smoker lead Bella into the middle of the room. There was a table littered with cans of beer, old newspapers and empty cigarette packets.
The smoker stood behind Bella, holding her shoulders to keep her in place. 'Look who I found trying to get out of her room? Bella Cardinale/Walters, meet the men who kidnapped you and are planning to hold you for ransom. Men, Bella, Bella, Men.'
Several of the men standing before her started to smirk, looking her over thoroughly. She tugged on the bottom of her night gown, wishing Melanie hadn't bought her such a small one. She also thanked the lord that she always wore shorts under this particular nightie for some personal security.
'Isn't she a pretty little thing? While we're stuck here, we might as well have some fun.'
The surrounding men all laughed, except for one man who looked grim. He sighed in resignation; this wasn't the first time this had happened. He turned away from the scene before him and quietly left the room. The others stared after him before smiling more widely.
The smoker grinned. 'More for us.'
His hands slid from their resting place at her shoulders to the side of her throat in an almost threatening way. He moved to stand in front of her and started walking, forcing her backwards until she hit the wall behind her. She was trapped between the wall and his hard body, and not in the good way. He leaned in to whisper crude Italian words into her ear, his stubble scratching her skin. Up close, the stench of beer and smoke was almost too much. Her gag reflex was raring to go, despite the progress she had made when she woke up.
'Provocante signorina...'
Bella took a deep breath in, trying to ignore the churning in her stomach and in one fluid movement she brought her knee up and between his legs. He lurched back, face turning red and he clutched at his unmentionables, desperately trying to ease the pain.
'You fucking bitch! You fuc-'
Bella was pleased to hear that his voice had gone up in pitch momentarily as he gathered himself together, panting wildly. Next thing she knew, his large fist had connected with her cheek and her head had flown back to smash against the wall behind her. She felt the searing pain of skin splitting, both at the front and back of her skull. She felt something wet trickle down her scalp and felt a small amount of wetness in the new wound on her cheek. Her head was starting to go all fuzzy again and she knew there wouldn't be much time left before she passed out. Then they would be free to do whatever they wanted with her. The metallic taste of blood seeped from her gums, and in one last attempt to stand up for herself, she spat in his face. Her blood, mixed with her saliva, now ran down his cheek.
Her eyelids flickered as she became more and more disorientated. Her head swam with thoughts of the rape that was undoubtedly about to be committed. She felt herself being pulled upright and those ice blue eyes pierced through her daze. They were colder than ever.
He looked into the eyes she could barely keep open and started to laugh. It was slightly hysterical, but victorious nonetheless. He pulled her to him and ran his hand down her front, catching her breast and squeezing roughly. She winced in pain and this made his grin even wider. His hand continued its trail until it found the hem of her nightie. He yanked it up and his eyes took in the shorts she was wearing underneath.
The other men in the room were silent, all staring in excitement, egging him on with their eyes. He yanked down the shorts until they pooled around her ankles and exposed her most intimate part.
'This is going to be so much fun,' he drawled.
But before he could touch her the door slammed open.
Everyone turned to look at the source of the interruption, finding a man standing in the doorway. Bella's head was only getting worse and the throbbing pain was sending waves of both uncertainty and fear throughout her entire body.
The smoker had stopped supporting her as soon as the door had been opened and Bella slid down the wall and onto the floor before anyone could say or do anything. She couldn't concentrate, could no longer care about her modesty or whether she was about to die. She just wanted to make the pain go away.
Then a voice rang through the air with a tone of authority and anger. And suddenly she knew who the voice belonged to.
'Get the hell away from her.'
Oooo! Exciting stuff, eh? Hope you all like and thanks for those who added my story to their favourites and alerts :D It's nice to know this is actually being read lol
Nat x