The only thing Bianca would know with certainty was the new names Maggie and Brandon were going to adopt when they had finally settled somewhere. That way she could find them someday. Until then her sister would be moving from motel to motel across the country.
She had planned the first part of the route herself, keeping her sister zigzagging from Virginia across the neighbouring states until she reached Illinois. That was where Bianca had been sending money to a rented PO Box that Maggie would empty when she got there. She had sold everything she had of value and had maxed out all her credit cards to give them everything she could. There wasn’t a price she wouldn’t pay for her family’s safety.
After Maggie had emptied the box she would have enough to start over someplace new. And now it was up to Bianca to make sure she had the time to get there in one piece. Sure, she was terrified of what she was about to face and if the abduction was any indication of times to come, she knew she most likely had an arduous and painful few days ahead of her. Nevertheless, she was determined not to let her sister down. No matter what.
Six weeks later
Bianca now looked back on that first room with fond nostalgia as she crawled to lay on a piss stained mattress, trying so hard not to whimper out loud after being thrown back in her cell. She didn’t want to turn the men’s attention back to her. All her energy was taken up doing that one small task.
Her body was battered and her spirit decimated. There seemed to be no end in sight to her pain and humiliation. She’d spent the last six weeks being punched, whipped and verbally abused by Dane’s hired heavies, Riot MC. She had never even heard of the club before she was taken and now she knew too much for a lifetime. The only light left in her life was the pride in herself. She hadn’t cracked, hadn’t given in, no matter what was done to her. The only peace she got was from the knowledge that her sister and nephew were safe. She knew they had to be as she was under no illusion that Dane or her captors wouldn’t hesitate to throw it in her face if they’d been found. As long as she was miserable, her sister was safe and that was all that mattered now.
She tried to clear her mind and became aware that Smoke, one of the Riot MC brothers and her personal nightmare, was taunting someone, and for a change it wasn’t her. As she heard him walking away she strained to hear who he’d been talking to but couldn’t make much out over the buzzing in her own ears. She hadn’t heard a friendly voice in what seemed like forever. There were no guarantees that the person next to her would be friendly or even pleasant but at least they were on the same side for now.
She tried to relax but tensed again as she heard a soft, quiet voice calling out to her. Bianca couldn’t prevent a loud weep from escaping her as she recognised the voice of another woman.
“Hello? Are you okay?” The voice was hesitant yet confident and its smooth tone was a balm to her ears that had become accustomed to wickedness.
She couldn’t answer right away; her mind was in turmoil. It was so overwhelming to hear a kind voice after so long, yet her temporary relief was tainted as she began to fret inevitably hearing that voice become tortured and distressed. It was bound to happen if the owner was at the start of a journey similar to hers.
She wanted to reach out, be reassuring, but she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Did she lie? Was this a trap to get her to trust someone and spill her secrets? How do you even start to describe what terrors may be coming their way? She couldn’t even be reassuring as there was nothing beyond hellish existence to be found behind these bars.
She couldn’t even be certain how long she’d been here. She knew it was weeks but didn’t know how many. No natural light penetrated the corridor in front of her and anytime she was taken out she was blindfolded. She could only guess as to the time of day. She wanted to laugh at how naive she was to think that Dane would give up trying to break her after only a couple of days.
“Can you hear me?” Surety and concern echoed from the voice this time.
She needed to answer. Even if this was a trap, she didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to someone who wasn’t one of the bastards she saw everyday. The voice was calm and soothing. She forced her own voice past her scream-damaged throat.