Chapter 8 - Trapped

It was hours later when Wren Austin came to. Her sides hurt, her throat was dry from screaming so hard and her head hurt whenever she tried to recall what happened.
Despite the pain she felt, she tried taking in her surroundings but she flinched when the pain in her head became worst.
Deciding to give up, Wren Austin felt her eyes slowly close and she didn't fight it.
The next time when Wren opened her eyes, the pain from her head had subsided and she was able to take in her surroundings, only then did she realise the room where she laid in wasn’t her apartment.
Her heart dropped in her stomach.
At once, her vision became crystal clear and she felt the hairs on her body stand on ends. She stood abruptly but regretted it from the raging pain she felt in her stomach, but that didn’t stop her from getting up.
Slowly, she got to her feet, all the while taking in her surroundings.
The room was cold with only a single bed to it, and one source of ventilation and light which was a window above her. Once again ignoring the pain in her stomach, Wren pounded frantically on the door whilst screaming out for help.
“Help! Someone help! Get me out of here” Wren banged and banged on the door until her hand began to ache and the pain from earlier remerged, but this time, making her legs weak, causing her to fall to the ground and break down in tears.
Images of what happened flooded her mind. She knew Hunter was behind this because he had sent his minions to pounce on her, which she assumed must have been a pleasing order for Reik. But she couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out why. She has been up to date with her job, followed his orders to the latter and she never once disobeyed his little whims. So why would he send Reik to beat her up?
Did one of her clients complain to him? Maybe the hunky hairy ugly fat looking man she was lastly with? It should be him, getting back at her from telling him off back at the Watford mansion. But looking at it, Wren Austin didn’t utter a word to him, so why would he do that to him?
Wren Austin’s thinking was cut short when the large metal door was abruptly pushed open, causing the young girl to fall backwards and adding to the pain she felt.
Standing above her, was Reik and he was wearing a smug and sarcastic smile on his face.
“Ah, perfect place to be for a dirty little whore like you” Reik commented contemptuously.
Normally, Wren would fight back. She never ran out of snarly remarks whenever she ran into an encounter with Reik. But today, she didn’t have any sardonic and provocative replies for him. She was too hurt and confused to get into their little game of cat and mouse.
“What? No replies?” he added this time when Wren got on her feet.
Because the door was abruptly pushed open, Wren fell causing the pain in her stomach to quadruple. Standing on her feet was a luxury she couldn’t afford. She wanted to cry out in pain, but the young girl forced herself to hold it in. She refused to give Reik the pleasure of seeing her in that state.
“Get me out of here” Wren Austin spat, getting ready to walk past Reik when she was pushed back, causing her to grumble internally.
“Not so fast. Hunter wants to see you” he said.
“Why?”
“That’s for you to find out” and with that, Reik was out of the way, and Wren took it as her cue to follow behind him.
The hallway was dark, and the air reeked of mould, sweat and cigarettes, all of which made Wren’s stomach grumble. Soon, Reik took a bend and the moment Wren followed, she was greeted with light.
“Hurry up! You know better than to keep him waiting” Reik murmured ahead of Wren, who ignored him. It wasn’t long before Wren was standing before Hunter, the sight of him frightening her to the core.
Wren swallowed a gulp, took in several deep breaths and summoned some courage.
“Wren” his ever-soothing voice sounded in Wren’s ear and she froze on the spot.
“You look beat up” he stated and Wren Austin couldn’t quite decipher if he was speaking sarcastically, but her doubts were answered when he burst into a fit of laughter, and just like his voice, it frightened Wren.
“Oh, God! That was a great joke. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long while” he mocked, wiping away the corners of his eyes. All this while, Wren Austin had been quiet, she had nothing to say.
Literally.
“Now Wren, do you know why you are here?” his voice was back to its normal tone.
Wren braced herself but didn’t reply.
“I heard you’ve been busy” this time, Hunter got off his seat and began to walk toward Wren.
She began to panic and was literally shaking on the spot. Slowly, he walked around her, trailing his hands up her bare arm, making Wren’s hair stand on ends.
“I heard you’ve been naughty” he commented standing inches away from Wren, and she could smell his breath on hers, and that alone was enough to make her throw out the contents of her stomach.
“And I can’t let that happen,” he said before walking away from her and back to his chair.
Now, Wren could process everything that left his mind, and she was concluding that he was becoming schizophrenic. As a result of stealing and double-crossing his partners, he was starting to think the same thing was happening to him.
“Whatever do you mean by that? Please, do explain” this time, it was Wren’s time to question and she was sardonic about it as she folded her arms. She wanted to hear what he meant by her being “naughty”
“Was that sarcasm coming from you? Because I would hate to think it is” Hunter’s tone was full of threat making Wren swallow a gulp and her confidence from earlier disappeared into thin air.
“I can tolerate being lied to, but what I will not tolerate is someone making a full out of me. I know you’re planning on stealing from me and escaping Craigsburg and the fact that you’re trying to play it off, and as a result, making me look like a fool pisses me off” Hunter yelled, making Wren flinch in fear.
Hunter massaged her brows, let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“I’ll let it slide for now. But I trust you’ve learned your lesson. In case that thought ever crosses your mind again, just remember, you will not live long enough to effect that thought. You are mine. The only way you can be free from me is after death. Let that sink into your head”
Wren didn’t know where Hunter had fetched that story from, and she didn’t care. What she knew what that, her life was at stake should she ever think of leaving Craigsburg.
She was trapped and there was no escape for her.
At least not alive.

----------