BOUND TO HIM BY FORCE

8. I MET THE DEVIL

The door was wide open with Brute the first to go in. His head was bowed and I was right after him. I tried to move but my feet were rooted where I was. I could not take a step; I could not move. I tried so hard but lord I could not move.

My body felt as if to collapse, sure they could hear my heart even in the room. It was shaking my whole chest as if it would tear apart. My hands were fisted only to unclench, my tears rushing up only to blink them back. A hand pushed me forward and my body jerked forward on its own, having already stepped in.

Brute turned and stared at me with crazy eyes, literally screaming at me through the eyes. I took another step, followed by another until I was right next to him. The door closed shut, Snake-face man behind me. They lowered their heads and I did so too because I did not want to see all those that were in the room. I did not want to face my destiny. The men rushed, taking chairs and placing them only to sit down, me in the middle chair. As I sat, I could see a couple of chairs before us. The room had been quiet but someone cleared their throat then proceeded to talk.

I could not hear what they were talking about. My ears rang as I sweat buckets, shaking so badly I thought I would fall off the chair.

The voices were echoing in my ears, the fear in the men’s voices. They took turns to state the matters they were bringing to their boss. They were fast and direct and I could see that they were talking according to a line. When one finished, another spoke as quickly as they could.

Then there was silence. The silence was so loud it scared the hell out of me. I did not want to be there; I wanted to go home and listen to some Billie while complaining about how hard school was. I wanted to attend Kane’s game on Friday and hold up my messy and terrible board with so much glitter there was no way he could not see it. I wanted to accept all the party invites and dress up only to just fall on my bed with my anxiety acting up. I wanted to eat dinner with my family with nothing but laughter and chatter filling the table. I wanted to play video games with dad and kick his ass in soccer. I wanted to grab a beer with the family while we watched soccer.

I wanted my life back; I wanted my family back.

The tears were blinked back from the sound of a gun going off. No one moved, no one said a thing with me so shocked I could not even scream, the scream just stuck deep in my throat, nothing but blood coating my head, dripping down my face. I shook even harder, my eyes wide while staring down at my hands which were also coated with the spatter of blood, some of it dripping onto my jeans. I had never shaken so badly in my life, holding the sounds in, my head bowed even lower as there was a thud. My eyes snapped to the body that had just fallen off the chair.

The gun went off, again and again, two more bodies dropping with more blood on my skin. I felt as if it was burning through my skin, I felt as if it was burning my skin, felt as if it was burning tiny holes into my skin. I was sure I was as pale as paper and my chances of getting out of there alive getting lower and lower.

A chair was pushed back, hearing the wheels move, then nothing but silence.

It was not even a second later and another man began talking. I tried not to heave, I tried not to make a sound because everyone in the room was holding their breaths, my heavy breathing would just stand out. The man finished talking, then another talked, but as I stared at the chairs, I saw that after the man that was talking it was going to be our turn.

I did not even know if I had to say something, if I had to stand up. I did not know what I would do and I felt as if I would lose my mind. The tears flood my eyes but I knew such men hated tears, especially because I was selling myself for him to marry me. I had to be strong, blinking them away. I tried to calm my heart but the more I tried, the more it drummed.

Come on Masha, channel the inner Thyra in you. I tried with all I could to be as strong as I knew my mother would be. I tried not to shake but it all became futile. It felt like death as the man that had been talking sat down, the room quiet with Brute standing up next. I quickly gripped his hand and squeezed it. His hand was shaking, it hot as hell.

He pulled his hand away gently and stood up with mine falling away to my lap.

The room seemed to be spinning all around me, it seemed to be crushing right there and then.

“I am here to present Masha Vasiliev. You sent me to find a suitable bride for you boss and, after weeks of searching, I think I have found the right one. She is from a family that has bonds in the mafia world. Her father led one of the strongest cartels twenty-seven years ago. He took out thirty-three cartel leaders all by himself. Her mother is also as skilled and Masha was raised as a fighter. She can fight, she is smart, and currently at the university studying business. Masha is flexible, can easily adapt to situations.” Brute finished, the silence spreading with my lips trembling so badly, not knowing what to do.

“Her home was attacked a week ago by some of the cartels that wanted revenge along with some Russians. Her parents were taken and her brother, Ivan Vasiliev, is gifting her to you and in return, he begs for your help in finding their parents.”

With that, Brute sat down, the room falling so silent. I wanted to die because the last time that room got so silent three people died. I did not want to die; I did not want to be gunned down like a dog. I would never see my brother again; I would not hold and hug him. I would not tell him how I forgave him. The tears came and I blinked them back as quickly as I could, trying to get ahold of my emotions.

“You are telling me that there are Russians in my territory and I don’t know about it?” A voice came. It was so low, the words were spoken slowly with fear taking root. I had never heard such a scary voice. I had never been so afraid of someone just from their voice. It was pure agony and I thought I would pee on myself. The room went dead silent, no one daring to answer the question.

“Yes sir.” Brute answered as my heart dropped just then. Being that scared should not have been possible, being that frightened of someone I had not even seen should not have been possible.

“Wess, what do you have to say about that?” The voice came again.

It was a calm voice but, somehow, I felt every man in that room shaking. It left my mind in chaos, wanting to just run out of there. I did not even care if they shot me on the way out, but that would have been better than actually staring at the man himself.

I never thought I would be so scared to stare at anyone, just to stare at him. What world was I getting into?

“Sorry sir, I did not….” The man was stopped right there. I did not know why he stopped, but I was expecting to hear a gun ring off but it did not.

“If people want to get into my territory without my consent, I want to hear about it just after they even think of it, nonetheless talk about it. I don’t care if you have to read their minds or be invisible ghosts. I do not want unwelcomed people in my territory, especially Russians and Mexicans.” That voice came again, the tension so thick I could just scoop it with my bare hands. If I was scared before, I would die of it from then.

No one said a thing for a minute, followed by another and another.

“Stand up.” The man spoke suddenly and I knew, gaddamnit, I knew he was talking to me. I wished to be invisible, I wished I could be someone else in that room. I wished and prayed to wake up and realize it all to be a dream, yet it was not.

I had to stand up no matter how hard my legs were shaking.

My hands grabbed the sides of the chair, taking a deep breath, and pushed my body up. It felt like an out-of-body experience, just moving and not even sure how. Some of the blood droplets dropped as I stood to my full height, seeing the heads of the men that were sitting before us. There were ten of them, all with their heads bowed.

My eyes fell on the shiny, wooden table. Not even a single paper on it, not even a computer, just it. I saw the waist of a man, taking in the crisp white shirt with the jacket on the sides of it. He was seated back, relaxed on the chair as if this was high tea with the boys. I could not move my head further, I just bowed it lower, staring at the table. One thing I knew was that he was young and brutal. He could kill without a conscience, killing his own men. Then who was I? I was sure he would not even recall what I looked like nor my name. I bet he would not even recall killing me in a month. I would just be wasted away with no one knowing what happened to me.

It was hard to stay collected. In my head, I knew I had to be strong, yet my body was not getting the message, the emotions were too much to rail in. I felt so tired at that moment, tired of feeling so scared, of feeling as if my own feelings would kill me.

“Look at me.” The voice came again and I nearly died.

No, no.

I could not do it, lord, I could not do it.

Run. My brain was shouting yet I was sure I would not be able to take even five steps before I met my death. All the strength drained out of me and there was no one there to help me. I was on my own. The tears came hard, blinking them away as fast as I could. I just knew he did not like being kept waiting, yet I could not bring myself to look up. I screamed and screamed in my head as I saw death just come at me.

My head slowly shot up but the tears were not tamed. At first, I could not see anything, but suddenly everything cleared, with me staring at the face of the man that would either marry or kill me. To me, it sounded the same. It was either I died from the world or my soul ripped apart.

I could not recognize him, to me he looked more like the devil than a man. He did not look human at all to me with how scary he was. His face had this dark aura to it, he had this dark aura to him that left my brain fried with fear. I nearly fell away, his jaw sharp, eyes dark and soulless. There was no humanity in there. It was like staring into a killing machine and I found myself taking a step back and nearly falling. My breath was held, my heart beating in a way I was sure something would rupture. There was no way I was marrying him, there was no way I was getting tied to him.

He looked like a monster. He stared back at me, no emotions on his face, nothing, just blank. He stared up from my legs to my face with me trapped in his eyes suddenly. I swear I saw a fire roar in there, I saw a fire just waiting to burn me. His beauty was something that could only be unnatural, everything about him just having you insane.

“What is your name?” His voice hit my ears, the words not making sense, the words not clicking in my head as my eyes went wide, fighting to hold the tears.

He waited, not saying anything, and for a second, I forgot he had asked me something.

I closed my eyes, trying to get my emotions in check. I took a deep breath then opened them, as they fell on his handsome face.

The words played around my head until they made sense again. My brain cells seeming to have rebooted, having some sense back in me.

“Masha Sir,” I replied politely, my voice shaking but controlled, laced with nothing but respect. Respect was something that was drilled into me. Respect yourself and respect others. My dad would say, and it was a value I really liked.

He nodded his head, not saying anything after.

“What happened to your parents?” He asked again with me perplexed because he knew the answers to the questions he was asking. I took another deep breath, my head playing around with the words before settling.

“They were taken by the people that attacked our house, Sir,” I replied, with him nodding his head again.

The fact that he was asking me questions was actually giving me hope. Maybe I had a fighting chance.

“And did you see them taken away?”

“No sir, I ran away and escaped,” I said, with the boss sitting up from his seat and stared right at me.

“You left your family to die?” The question came along with the feeling of hurt. I blinked, my eyes not moving from the man because if I did, then I would cry.

“There was no help I could have offered, with me being there my parents would have been distracted and we all would have died, sir,” I answered as he sat back in his chair.

I could do this, I knew I could, standing firm and, no matter how hard it was, stared at the man I was supposed to marry. I could see him strangling me in my sleep. I could see him doing so many things to me that would leave me more dead than alive. Nothing from there would be right no matter what he would decide.

He looked from one face to the other, seeming to be in thought. The seconds ate away, eating my sanity away, waiting for him to make a decision.

His head turned, taking a breath, then he stood up. The guns were both in his hands, them hanging on his sides. I took a step back, my heart going insane in my chest. It was do or die. That was the moment I wished never arrived. His shirt had some blood on it, his hands also coated with some blood. The right hand raised up and I could not watch. I closed my eyes, saying so many prayers in my head with the tears dropping.

The gun went off, the sound ringing all over the room and echoing from the walls. I felt the pain, my body stumbling back with another shot coming and another and another.

The scream tore from me, my hands on my mouth, shaking with the tears dropping on them. Blood littered my body, the shots going on and on, never stopping. It seemed to all happen in slow motion, thinking I would faint.

By the time it was all done, by the time the shots stopped, I was still standing. I did not know how I was standing but I was. I did not dare open my eyes, them closed shut, wanting the horror to go away, wanting it all to stop.

Someone was standing right before me. I could feel him, I could feel his heat on my body, could feel the warmth radiating from his body. He was just a foot away, my skin nearly touching his, and I knew who it was. My eyes were closed shut, not wanting to see the horror he had created, not wanting to see the crimes he had done. I wished he would just kill me, not able to stop crying.

Something cold was pressed to me. I froze where I was, feeling it on my belly. Was it a gun? Was he saving me for last? The tears burned hard, my eyes betraying me by flickering open and I nearly screamed. I was staring right at the angel of death, coated by nothing but red thick blood all over his face. It seemed not to bother him; he was actually wearing it well. It was befitting for him, as if it belonged on him.

His dead eyes were staring deep into mine with the gun raised.

He slowly pulled my shaking hands from my mouth and placed the bloody gun in my shaking hand. I gripped it, it shaking even in my hold. I thought it would fall apart with how hard it was shaking.

The man walked around me, his hands on my shoulders. A shiver ran down my body, feeling my blood run cold from his icy touch. It was as if the devil was stroking my soul. My body was turned, my head shaking with my eyes falling on the snake-faced man. He was sitting in his chair, staring back at us. His head was raised, his eyes glistering with unshed tears, blood coating him. My head moved around, all the men that had been in the room lying on the ground lifeless as the carpet soaked up their blood. The walls were turned into a deadly masterpiece of art, blood and brains dripping off them. I gasped, never having seen such monstrosity displayed. It was the worst image that I would ever hold in my head.

I shuttered, never to be the same, death clogging the air and heavy on us. My hand clenched on the gun I held, the same gun that had taken so many lives.

Why? I could not understand. Had they done something?

But wait…

My eyes went wide with a sob breaking through me.

“Kill him.” The devil was on my shoulder, his voice low and commanding, finding myself backed in a corner with no way out. I wept; the snake-faced man staring back at me with his eyes wide as his face fell. He knew what would happen, he was accepting his fate. He swallowed and lowered his head in defeat.

There was no way I could do it. I shook my head. I would not do it. The gun was already slipping from my hand, it falling with a thud on the floor.

“No,” I said out loud. I had never killed anyone in my life. I could not and I would not.

I felt the hands slip from my shoulders. I knew what was to come and I would take it. The tears kept coming, the man stepping away from me. He walked to the snake-faced man and held out the other gun he had held in his left hand. I watched in horror as the snake-faced man took the gun.

I had had my chance and I gave it away.

The snake-faced man gripped it and stared up at his boss.

“Kill her.” He simply said two simple words that rocked my world. All the prayers I had been praying for were answered. The grim reaper was staring back at me, ready to take my soul. The snake-faced man raised the gun and I knew he would shoot. He was a trained killer. There was nothing that would stop him from killing me. He was not as stupid as I was, having seen death and given the chance to live, why wouldn’t he take it?

Tears would not help me, being naïve and stupid would not help me at all.

My life was over and I had to accept that.

The snake-faced man pressed the trigger and it was only just a split second with everything ending.

My eyes closed, my body moving on its own as I bent over backward, the air waving right past me with a whisper. My hand grabbed the gun on the floor, raising my arm to let all the bullets that gun held out.