CHAPTER FOUR - ROSALIE
I fall asleep. I don’t realise exactly when I do it, but I haven’t eaten or drunk anything in ages and I’m so tired now, so exhausted.
I know where they’re taking me.
I know soon I will be back, with Silas.
That he’s going to hurt me, torture me, punish me for what I’ve done, and a part of my wishes I could shut my eyes and never open them again. That my heart could just stop. That I could die here, in this trunk and escape whatever hell is waiting for me.
I wake as the car comes to a stop. My adrenaline is racing through me. My body is trembling. As I hear the trunk open, I whimper, and try to scoot back further away, but I’m simply dragged up by hair.
I look around and with relief, I see we’re still on the road. That we’re not back at the city yet.
One of the Wolves pulls the bandage from my mouth and sticks a straw in. They’re giving me water. I don’t know if it’s drugged, and a part of me suspects it might be, but I drink it anyway. I’m too thirsty not to.
When the Wolf goes to ram the fabric back in my mouth, I moan.
“What?” He snaps.
“I have to wee.” I say. I’ve been desperate for hours. Painfully desperate.
He sighs, annoyed, and yanks me from the car, half carrying me round to the side so that we’re concealed from the road.
“Get on with it.” He says moving his hand to grip my shoulder.
I gape at him, open mouthed. He’s still holding me. Does he expect me to wee right here in front of him?
He lets out a low growl. “Do it now or piss yourself in the trunk for all I care.”
I scrunch my face up, looking away, pull my leggings down as best I can, and squat. It’s dark but not nearly dark enough. Werewolves have excellent sight. I’m sure they can all see me as clear as day.
The Wolf beside me watches the whole thing like he’s determined to humiliate me as much as possible.
When I’m done, I yank my leggings back up, and he hauls me back to the car and where the other Wolves are stood around smirking.
I want to hit them. To punch each and every one of their god-damn faces, but I know there’d be little point. They shove the bandage back in my mouth the lock me back up in the trunk.
I’m transported like this for what feels like days.
They stop occasionally to give me more water and let me wee, and every time they watch as if they’ve never seen a girl pee before. It’s humiliating but I know full well it won’t be the last degradation I suffer.
It certainly won’t be the worst.
Gravel crunches under the tyres and I can hear from the sound of it that we’ve slowed down. I don’t know where we are, it doesn’t sound like we’re in the city, but everything about this tells me we’ve arrived. That we’ve reached wherever our destination is.
The car stops and I grit my teeth. I can hear my breath coming faster and faster. I feel like I’m shutting down. Like I’m already compartmentalising. Withdrawing. Fading back to nothing once more.
The trunk opens and I shut my eyes. I don’t want to see. I don’t want to look and know for certain that he has me.
Someone hauls me out and forces me to stand. My legs are so cramped and stiff from being cooped up in such a confined space that I can’t keep upright. I fall, crumbling to the ground and someone curses.
“Pathetic fucking humans.” The Wolf behind me mutters, yanking me back up, and this time he holds me so I can’t go anywhere.
“You’ve done well.” Someone says stepping closer as if to examine me. I don’t recognise the voice, but I stare at his shoes, he’s wearing what looks like cowboy boots. Expensive, dark brown, beautifully decorated.
“We had a little incident on the road.” The Wolf holding me states.
“Did you hide the evidence?” Cowboy boots asks.
“Yes. No one would ever know.”
“Good. Bring her in. We’ve got a nice cell waiting.”
I don’t even fight. I don’t make a sound. I just let them drag me into the huge house that’s been looming over us and then down into what was once a basement but now is clearly more of a dungeon.
The Wolf holding me tightens his grip and another cuts my leggings and hoody from me as I whimper, trying to get away. I’m now only wearing just my top and my underwear.
They remove the bandage from my mouth and throw a bucket of water over me as I gasp. It’s freezing cold and it covers me entirely.
“Chuck her in the end room.” Cowboy Boots orders. The Wolf holding me follows his instructions to the letter, tossing me in as if I were trash.
I cry out as my body collides with the freezing cold concrete.
There are no windows. No lights. There’s just a single mattress against one wall and a toilet in the corner. The door slams shut and I’m thrown into almost total darkness.
My hands are still tied. My legs are tied. I have to crawl to where I think the bed is and I curl up into a ball. I’m soaking wet, freezing cold, and scared for my life.
A hear a small click. A tiny green light comes on in the far corner and I realise there’s a camera, that they’re watching me, that he’s probably watching me. Silas. I shut my eyes tight and look away.
He’s going to come, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he is and when he does, all this right now will seem like paradise in comparison.
