He’d make me watch sometimes — people begging, bleeding, dying — and he’d whisper in my ear, asking if I still thought I could leave him.I’d throw up for days after, but he didn’t care.
Today was different, though.I wasn’t in the basement.No screaming.No bodies.Not yet.
“What’s going on in here?”Nicola’s tone was calm, almost casual, but it made my stomach twist.
“I brought her food,” the guard answered quickly.“But if you’d prefer, I can take it back down.You can eat with her instead.”
Nicola’s eyes slid to him, and the guard lowered his head instantly.For a second, I thought Nicola might shoot him right there.He’d done it before — no warning, no reason.Just blood.I didn’t want to see that again.
Nicola stepped closer, resting a heavy hand on the guard’s shoulder.“Voz’mi yeye yedu vniz, ya khochu, chtoby ona yela so mnoy,” he said in that same sharp Russian-accented tone he used when he wanted obedience.
The man nodded quickly, grabbed the plate from me, and left the room without looking back.
Now it was just us.
Nicola turned to me, wiping the blood from his shirt with the back of his hand, pretending to care because he knew I hated seeing it.He smiled, slow and deliberate.
“Don’t look so nervous, sweetheart,” he said, voice low, condescending.“You know I hate it when you shake like that.”
I couldn’t meet his eyes.My body trembled anyway.I knew the rules — stay quiet, stay calm, don’t make him angry.Anything else meant pain.
And I’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.
“How are you feeling, detka?”he asked, shutting the door behind him.
I looked up as he turned and came toward me.I forced a weak smile.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.“It was just a cold.”
I curled up against the headboard, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.The bed dipped when he sat down, and I flinched when his hand touched my head.
I was cold—bone cold.The fever from yesterday hadn’t left.I needed someone to take care of me, but Nicola wouldn’t let anyone near.I “didn’t deserve it,” he said.Whatever the hell that meant.
I pulled my legs in tighter, covering the bit of skin my trousers didn’t hide.My clothes were plain—white long-sleeve top, cotton pants—but even that felt like too much for him to stare at.
When I looked up, I caught him watching me like he owned me.I shivered and looked away, shutting my eyes.
“Come downstairs,” he said.“Dinner’s ready.Just you and me.”
“I don’t want to eat,” I muttered.“I feel sick already.Eating’ll make it worse.”
“What?”
That tone made my ears burn.I stared down at the space between my feet, stomach dropping.I knew that voice too well.It was the one that came right before he lost control.
I lifted my head.His face had changed—jaw locked, teeth clenched, eyes cold.He looked at me like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.His hand tightened around the gun he’d been holding since earlier; his knuckles went white.
“What did you say?”he barked, louder this time.
My breath hitched.My whole body went still.He was the kind of angry that ended with someone bleeding.I could see it in the way his jaw twitched, the way he started breathing heavier, the way that weapon became an extension of his hand.
He began to clench his teeth and tighten his grip around the gun he was holding from earlier.I was clearly able to tell because his knuckles turned white.
"What did yousay?"He bellowed and it intimidated me, my stomach hurt from the bundle of nerves that gathered.I was genuinely fearing for my life because when Nicola was angry, I knew that I would be dead at the end of the day.When I didn't answer him, Nicola began to load his gun.Once he did, he cocked the gun and then unexpectedly shoved it down my crotch.I gasped and snapped my leg closed at the spontaneous contact however, his hand was placed on my knees to keep my legs wide open.I squirmed when my gaze traveled between my legs, I was frightened for my life when I felt my heart just hammering violently against my chest that it began to hurt."I said, what did you say Ariana?"He repeated himself but this time, the tone of his voice lowered more as his gaze turned into a glare.
"I-I don't wa-want to eat, A-Nicola."I stuttered when as I began to move against the gun.The tip of his gun rubbed my opening very harshly through the fabric of my clothes and it hurt so much that I cried out in pain.My lips broke out a cry as I watch him with a desperate look of plead to just let me go.My eyes welled up from the excruciating pain between my legs but all he did was pressed harder and glare at me.
Nicola kept his firm grip on that gun as he scooted closer to me, his face was inches away from mine as his eyes bounced between mine with a glare stirring with passion of hate.His other hand travelled to my face to caresses it but all I did was whimper as beads of sweat rolled down my head.I inhaled as I focus on the pain, but it hurt so much I couldn't take it anymore so I pushed him away, it was a natural instinct to do which I deeply regret.
