Page 7 of Their Stolen Obsession

I missedthem. Sin and Saint. My missing pieces I never knew I needed until they were gone. Until the love they forced upon me wasn’t forced anymore. The strong affection had broken me piece by fucking piece until all I saw was them, and all I wanted was my dark phantoms because I was their universe. I was everything to them and now I was gone. Missing. Dead, for all they knew, but I knew that wouldn’t stop them. Those blackened souls would find me and bring me back to them. I prayed to the God I wasn’t sure existed because I could feel my strength slowly slipping away. The stubborn will to pull through was dwindling after days rolled by that I couldn’t even account for, and I experienced weakness I had never known. A tiredness before a raging storm. Frail, unsure, and cold. I was freezing.

Where the hell was I now?

My arm ached as I remembered the injection. The needle Knoxlee had administered before all the lights went out.

Where was Knoxlee?

I couldn’t see. Everything was dark. Frantically, I glanced around on a cool hardwood floor and tried to sit up. Once. Twice. But the third time was the magic key.

My nerves eased when my eyes adjusted, and I saw a stream of light. The brightness illuminated from a small hole no bigger than an eye. I crawled along the floor toward the light as if it was my last hope, and I clung to its radiance unlike anything I had ever known. I needed to see something, anything, other than the blackened hole I had been tossed into. I was in an enclosed room with no window and a door, but I could only make out shadows underneath on the floor.

The bit of light gave way to a single mattress and a bucket, but nothing more. No human should live in such a room of filth, and here I was, thrown right inside of it. No other solution and no way out as I reached for a doorknob to discover there was none. Assholes locked me in from the outside.

Who does that?

Monsters. Evil beings with no regard to human emotion. Preston Pitrone did this to me, executed this plan while my goddamn abusive dirtbag fiancé started it all, and now I fought to stay alive.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps from the other side and pressed my ear against the door. Ready to pound my fist against the wood for help, but I thought better of the natural reaction. Whoever was on the opposite side of the door was an enemy. No one here wouldhelp me escape and lead me to freedom. I was on my own.

Instead, I listened. Eavesdropping could assist with an escape plan. Besides, I had nothing better to do than sit here and rot.

“The latest shipment is coming in at midnight,” a rushed voice said with a shuffle of shoes on the floor. “Boss wants us there a half an hour before the beans arrive.”

“What for?” another male voice questioned.

“Because, you idiot, he has a big shipment of drugs rolling in.” A smacking sound followed.

Illegal narcotics. The candy of choice.

Easy bundles of fun the Mafia imported to make millions off. Sebastian was in deep, and I was in more trouble than I had imagined.

“Ouch. What the hell, man?”

“You best smarten the fuck up or you’ll be as good as dead.” Another shifting of feet went across the dirty floor. “They’ll lock you up like this bitch awaiting her execution.”

Me. The asshole was referring to me. I knew it.

I could imagine him pointing at the door and cussing at his low-life friend. His buddy appeared uneducated about his job as a criminal and would probably end up face-to-face with Preston’s savage beasts soon. Unless his thug pal helped him out.

“Shit. I’m sorry. Okay?”

“Jesus Christ! You better pay attention when a job comes in through Cuppabeans. We need to be on top of this stuff.”

Cuppabeans. I knew that product! I had tried their coffee, but it was awful. No wonder. The java came with a load of coke.

I tore my ear from the wall as their voices disappeared, and I leaned back against the door. I shivered, not from the cold, but from fear. Preston wouldn’t return me to Sebastian even if he paid back the money he owed. I was as good as dead.

Five

Their Universe

Liv

Iblinked once. Twice. Shit. I was still in this shithole.

The dream I had was far from my reality, and I must’ve passed out after a breakdown. I cried heavily but kept my sobs silent from anyone walking by the door leading to my cramped room of confinement. Slouched against the wood, I let self-pity eat away at me while no one could see my vulnerability. Not one ruined soul here deserved to see me shed a tear.

I wallowed in helplessness at the situation I had placed myself in. There was no one to blame but me because I had wanted to save my family. To be the person to get us out of the mess my father had created with his gambling addiction. I wanted to be a savior for once instead of an unsuspecting victim. The heroine aspect hadgotten away from me, and unknowingly, I had placed myself in harm’s way. The one place I had tried desperately to save us from.