Breathe

The gun that was pressed to my head clicked and my eyes screwed shut tightly, but the chamber was empty. The gun had shot a blank. I opened my eyes slowly when I realized this, and I watched the man in front of me smirk.

The smirking man then turned slightly, pointing the gun at someone else besides me. He didn’t even hesitate; he squeezed the trigger and introduced the muffled sound of a shot into the silence of the room.

The gun hadn’t shot a blank this time.

There was a thud, the body of that person hitting the floor, and I inhaled sharply. “What’s the matter, beautiful? Were you scared?” The man taunted, walking around the metal table so that he stood in front of me. He yanked me up by my arm, his cool breath suddenly washing over my face. I kept my eyes closed and hung my head, my arm throbbing in pain from the way he gripped it.

The man gripped my chin with the gun in his hand and tilted my head up. I kept my eyes down as he leaned in close. “Look at me! C’mon! Do it! Look me in the eyes!” The man shouted, causing me to wince in displeasure as I felt little drops of his spit hit my face. “That’s enough, Leon.” A deep voice rasped out. My eyes shot open almost instantly. I nervously attempted to peer around this guy, Leon, to see a broad-shouldered silhouette in the doorway. The man there was tall, and I could swear his voice seemed familiar, but he stood just outside of the light. “Okay, boss.” Leon huffed out, shoving me away from him.

I stumbled backwards, losing my footing but thankfully landing in the chair behind us. I huffed quietly in annoyance and looked up, watching Leon walk away as the other man entered the room. I tensed, waiting to see where this man would go just in case I needed to protect myself. Hard to do, considering I was cuffed to the table. Whoever this man was, he seemed much more frightening than Leon, and obviously in a place of power above him.

The man came to a stop in front of me and peered down from his height, but instead of craning my neck to make eye contact with him I kept my head down. The man stood there for a moment, doing who knows what, before he made a ‘tsk tsk’ sound and pivoted. Confused, I waited until his shoes were a good distance away before I looked up just in time to see the man’s familiar backside retreating from the room I was being held in. “Don’t touch her anymore. I’m keeping that one.” He spoke before the door closed behind him. My eyes widened in terror at his words, and a slight tremble began shaking my body as I sat there in shock.

Leon turned to me, a feral grin adorning his face as he took a couple steps in my direction. “Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks you’re pretty. Lucky you caught the eye of someone else before I got to you.” He admitted, shrugging as though this were a normal conversation. I shook my head. “W-who was that?” I asked, my voice raspy from all the screaming. “Mmm mm. You know better than to ask questions, princess.” Leon shook his head, his finger wagging as though he was speaking to a child.

I shivered at his proximity as I returned my stare to the table top before me. I clenched my jaw, knowing if I wanted to survive whatever this was, I was going to have to learn to watch my mouth.