Page 64 of Fight or Flight
“Yes, thank you. You see. It’s easy to let your guard down when you’ve been on top for so long. When you’re a shark, all you do is wait out for other, bigger sea creatures to circle you around. Having eyes on them, you wouldn’t think to keep an eye on the smaller fishes. You wouldn’t even notice their existence!” He booms, making me jump. “And you took advantage of that. And then took something of mine. Did it right under my nose. And to top it all off, you managed to escape us when we found you. Because even after the stunt you pulled at the club, we still underestimated you.”
He goes quiet for a while, and I wonder where he’s going with it.
“Again. Another lesson. So yes. Thank you. This time around, we won’t be making the same mistakes again.”
He jerks his head at me, and I flinch when a pair of strong palms grab me by the shoulders from behind, immobilizing me.
“What are you going to do?” I can’t keep the shaking out of my voice, even if it kills me to show him my weakness. Ramirez hears this, of course, and smiles cruelly.
“You see, Claire, I’m a businessman foremost. I have businesses to manage, people on the payroll who depend on me, and clients who are willing to pay for what I can provide them with. The girl you took...” he clicks his tongue and walks closer before grabbing my chin and making me look at him. “I already found a buyer for her. He was not pleased when I told him what occurred at the hands of a very nosy bartender at one of our strip clubs. But we came to an arrangement that will help me save my face while serving my client with the merchandise he ordered.”
My breaths turn harsh as anger spikes in me to dangerous levels. Merchandise? That’s what Nora was to this man?
“You’re lucky the coke didn’t take away your innocent, childish features yet because my buyer actually got excited upon seeing your photograph. Personally, I don’t see the appeal, but as they say in retail, the customer is always right. So, who am I to burst his bubble?”
“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to just sit quiet and be bought by some disgusting motherfucker.”
Sergio’s mouth twitches slightly as if my outburst is laughable to him. As if I’m a joke.
“Yes. That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’ve got too much life in you. You have lots of fights hidden in that little body. A spark. It’s probably what got my stupid brother so infatuated with you in the first place. But...” he lifts his finger as if to stop me from talking, even though I wasn’t going to. “I promised my client you will be docile, just as the child would be. Defenseless. So we’ll keep you for a while and make some... adjustments.”
“Adjustments?” I parrot, and my breath hitches when he reaches into his suit jacket again.
This time, he’s going to shoot me. But it’s not the gun he retrieves from his pocket. It’s a syringe, and I feel myself tensing.
“What’s that?” I eye the thin object.
He taps it twice and holds it right in front of my face.
“Your friend told me about your struggles with party drugs. And told me a bit about your story. Pitiful, really.” He glances at my right wrist, and I don’t think I can imagine the burning feeling on the part of my skin that wears signs of my darkest moment. Sergio grins at my visible discomfort. “She also mentioned your aversion to anything stronger. But I’m sure it won’t be long before you break your resolve.”
“What did you do with Christy?” I hear myself asking.
What she did to me was terrible, but I considered her a friend before the addiction took her away, and I still feel the worry about her well-being gnawing at me.
“After your friend happily shared every single detail about your life, she wasn’t needed anymore,” Ramirez states.
“You let her go?” The hope in my voice is unmistakable.
“Hmm, yes.” He responds, and I exhale loudly. “Such a shame what happened to her after that. I’m sure the neighbors were shocked to find her swinging from a streetlight pole by your building complex. I wonder how she got up there,” he muses, rubbing his chin.
“You’re a monster,” I choke out and blink rapidly to get rid of the moisture gathering in my eyes.
He leans into my ear and whispers, making me shiver, “We all have a monster within us, little girl. You should know that by now. The question is: Will you unleash it on others or rather destroy yourself? I choose the former. Weak people like you will always choose the latter.”
I swallow the heavy ball of grief and fury down and watch him as he moves away. My brows furrow when he bends in front of me and places the syringe at my feet.
“It will be fun to watch you struggle,” he says, leaving the room.
I feel the man who was holding me this whole time release me before he follows his boss.
My knees shake, and tripping, I move to the wall that’s furthest from the door before sliding down to my butt. There are so many things that circle my mind at this moment, but one peaks through above everything else. Aidan.
His happy face when I told him I was willing to try again. The way he looked at me on our first date when I started to blabber the full plot of the film, even though he was there next to me at the cinema to watch it too. The way his eyes glimmer when he thinks about something naughty. The way his body felt at the pier.
I love him so much. I want to be strong for him.
Despite my will to ignore the little syringe, my eyes move to it, and I gulp. Instantly, a little unwanted voice appears at the back of my mind. Calling for me to just pick it up and make it all better. Make the pain and fear go away.