Page 9 of All The Way Under

CHAPTER FIVE

saylor

They called me crazy. They called me an insane woman. They said that I belonged in an insane asylum. All for what? Asking to use the toilet I know they have in their building, instead of the hole in the ground that’s attached to the back side of my mountain cage .

I see Nery and Ravelo dragging a monstrous man toward me, so I decide to show them what crazy really looks like. Screaming until my voice physically gives out seems to be the only thing they respond to. Nothing else gets their attention.

I hear them laughing about something, but their voices are low, so I can’t make out their words.

The man looks up, and I recognize the confusion.

He’s coming off the drugs, the jab, and must be a recruit for our island in paradise, sans the paradise.

Ravelo laughs again, and I know he’s said something about me because the captive man meets my eyes.

Mostly, I look at him long enough to know if he’s someone I can trust or someone who is going to complicate my life further.

When I decide his vibe is not passing the first check, I yell as loud as I can, and as wild as I can manage with a sore throat. Gripping the bars, I shake the door as hard as I can, to no avail.

Ravelo drops the man and comes forward.

“Your roommate just arrived. Move back if you don’t want a jab,” he says in English.

Interesting. Usually, they speak in Portuguese. This must mean the man only speaks English.

“This cage isn’t big enough for both of us,” I scream. “He can go somewhere else,” I say.

Nery drops the guy’s other arm, unable to hold him up on his own. He’s big, muscular, nothing like the two scrawny men trying to hold up his weight.

“He’s going here. Rain is coming, and it’s the only room that doesn’t flood.”

“It always rains here,” I wail. “Every day it rains. How could you engineer something so simple so badly? How? You guys are a bunch of damn morons. I swear to God above, you’re going to kill me with your ignorance before you get your money!”

I suck in a deep breath.

“Let me out of here, and I can fix it for you. I’ll improve this whole island prison, so it’s more habitable. For you. For me. For the damn ogre you’re lugging around without a home.”

My gaze drops to the man who is crawling away unsuccessfully. Ravelo drags him by his boot back to my door.

“And you! Just knock these bastards out and let me out of here. Do your muscles even work?”

I’m seeing red and breathing fire at this point. They’ve left me alone all day. I haven’t seen a soul until now. I’m grasping for anything at this point.

His eyes are blue. They flick up to meet mine, and a hint of disdain flashes like a bolt. He doesn’t speak.

“Asset twelve, move back.”

Nery pulls a fucking syringe out of his pocket and loads it into his blow dart gun. I swear they think it’s a carnival game. The jab.

“Move back,” he says again, then repeats himself when I don’t move.

I take a step back, then another, keeping my eyes trained on the stupid blow dart gun. Ravelo pushes the man into my cage, and they lock it behind us.

“He takes up more than half the space,” I say. “This isn’t fair!”

Nery lowers the weapon and smiles with crooked, grimy teeth, black outlining each one.

“This isn’t a hotel, princess. This is captivity. This isn’t about fairness.”

I blow out a breath.

“And who is this?” Nodding to the man on the ground in a fetal position. He’s facing the wall.

“How do you know he’s not going to kill me? I’m not worth a cent if I’m harmed. I know Bianca has made that clear.” I use her name because they’re all terrified of her.

Like I suspected, Bianca came into negotiations like a hot lead pipe. Fired up and ready to crash through everything.

“How do I know he’s not going to kill me in my sleep?”

Ravelo shakes his head.

“We don’t know. Maybe he will. You aren’t worth all the noise you cause.”

Nery shakes the brown blow dart gun. I should be thankful they don’t have real guns, but somehow that stupid brown pipe is just as terrifying. I killed two of their best men, and they are making me pay. That’s what this is. It’s retribution in any way they can.

The men leave, their pants dragging across the dirt, getting peppered by rain.

They grab one of the torches on their way back to their main area of the base, leaving us with one outdoor torch and a small lantern I have on the floor opposite the man.

When they go out, I’ll be in pitch blackness with a stranger.

“Who are you? I know you can hear me. The injection puts you out quick, but you wake up quickly. I saw your eyes. I know you’re back.”

He rolls over but stays on the ground, lacing his hands behind his head. I move my lantern to see his face a little better.

“Has screaming got you anything except a blow dart, or is that a viable tactic to get things around here?”

So smooth. So calm. So unlike me when I woke up in this dirt-lined prison. I exhale, sitting down by the lantern.

“Who are you and why do you give off…those bad vibes?” I clear my throat. “Are you going to hurt me? Let’s get down to facts right now, before anything else.”

Might as well keep with my neurotic persona. It lends to an illusion of control—when I have zero.

“Name’s Brody. Pleasure to meet you,” he deadpans. “Vibes? What does that even mean? Some esoteric description for not being able to label something correctly using intelligence?”

He presses his lips together into a smug line. He lets his gaze slide over to meet mine.

“If what you mean by bad vibes is ambivalence, then yes. I don’t care about you or anything except getting the fuck out of here. So, no. Hurting you isn’t something worth my time or energy.”

He raises one infuriating brow as he surveys my absolute rage. Why are men patronizing, witless monsters?

“What? Not used to men not caring about you?” Another smirk. “So…back to the important facts . Does scream baiting work to get their attention? What do you know about them and their schedules?”

I lick my lips. They’re chapped and just as angry as I am.

“No. Screaming doesn’t do anything but make me feel better about making them uncomfortable.”

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I watch Brody carefully as he sits up, brushes off his pants, checks his pockets, and seems to miss something that was there before.

“They take everything while you’re out,” I explain. “Even though you present as an absolute jerk, I’ll answer your questions because I think if we work together, we’ll have a better chance of getting things done.”

He looks at me, and I can tell he’s nervous. His breathing is still slowing, and there’s a quiet unease in his blue gaze.

“Ravelo and the blow dart dick, Nery, were the men who brought you in here. The status of their hierarchy is questionable, but Raza, another one, is somewhere above them. They bring food in the morning, and that’s it.

I’m almost fluent in their language, so I understand things they say to each other. ”

I’m proud of that. I bet this moron can’t translate.

“What do they say to each other?” Brody asks in Portuguese.

I roll my eyes.

“Of course you speak it too. Do I have any advantages here?”

All of this is overwhelming, confusing, and downright disgusting. I spent the morning trying to wash myself with the bucket and sponge they brought with my food, and I was humbled down to my very soul.

“You have muscles, a bad attitude, and you speak their native language.” I throw up my arms.

He looks me dead in the eyes. “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You can scream.”

“You have something worse than a bad attitude. You have an awful personality. Is this due to the bad night, or do you radiate negative energy like it’s your job twenty-four hours a day?”

Brody wipes his hands on the sides of his jeans.

“What do they say to each other?” he asks again.

When he asks it in English, it doesn’t sound like an optional question. He ignores every mean thing I just said, almost as if he didn’t hear me.

“They talk about everything, even though they know I can understand. My ransom, my mom when she’s being belligerent in negotiations.

They talk about their food, my ass, the new house-type thing they’re building.

It’s made from bamboo and has a thatched roof.

It’s on stilts to avoid the flooding, unlike the shelters here, which flood constantly.

” I pause. “We aren’t in the highlands despite this mountain cage,” I say, sniffling as I readjust my legs.

“And by my calculations, I’d say we’re close to the beach where they store their boats. ”

Brody listens intently, shaking his head, like what I’m saying matters, and for a moment or two, I feel validated. Like something I know matters.

“If they’re already talking to your family about ransom, did they say how long this process will take?”

Closing my eyes, I try to ward off the wave of exhaustion.

“It’s political, so it’s not as cut and dry as they give them money, and they give them me. What’s a kidnapping for ransom without a little suffering?”

I tuck my face down into my arms and try my best not to fall asleep.

“The criminal groups who are taking a cut of the ransom have to align, and evidently that’s something that doesn’t happen with any regularity.”

“How long have you been here?” he asks.

I raise my head, setting my chin on my knees.

“A week, but it feels like a month.”

“Have they…hurt you? Other than the darts, I mean. Are they violent?” he asks.

I narrow my eyes. “Don’t think you can take them?”

He shakes his head. “I’m merely trying to figure out what makes them tick. I was sailing the channel, so I wasn’t completely blind to the risk and knew some things going in to my sail, but seeing this firsthand is something else entirely.”

“They haven’t taken advantage of me,” I deadpan. “Nothing but the blow dart. By all means, you tell me what you think makes them tick.”