Bounty Hunter

Zinnia

Bethel and I were not friends. I would say the right word to describe what we have is “acquaintance through a wall”. So, I shouldn’t have expected much from her. In a place like this, everyone fights for survival. Everyone fights to be safe. A part of me had hope Bethel wouldn’t be one of those who selfishly fought for survival, putting others life on the line. I should have known better. The escape plan seemed too good to be true.

One would wonder why I couldn’t just give into what he was asking. In reality, it wasn’t an easy request. It’s one thing to have my body forcefully taken against my will and its another to willingly offer my body to one of the men who helped define my fate. I couldn’t do it, even if my ticket to freedom depended on it. I would rather he forcefully takes from me, then have me offer it to him.

“Bethel, how could you?” I repeated the words as the man played with a strand of my hair. He leaned in and sniffed it. My entire body cringed, almost of it bugs were crawling their way up.

“Zinnia, we need this okay? I had no other choice. It will be over before you know it. Just lay down and let him do whatever he wants,” Bethel tries to convince me. I couldn’t help but rolled my eyes. True, we need to leave this place, but why was I the one paying?

“Okay, but why am I the one sacrificing? Why can’t you do it?”

Bethel sighs in frustration. “Because he specifically asked for you,” she replies nonchalantly.

I shrugged the man’s hand off my hand and pushed him away from me. “Well, I won’t do it. I can’t do it. You better sort something out with him,” I said angrily, my gaze shifting from Bethel to the man, who threw a mocking stare my way.

“Zinnia! Don’t be hard-headed. Just think about the nightmare that awaits us. You barely survived after what those assholes did to you back in the dungeon. How those men brutally gang-raped you, taking turns in doing whatever they want with your body. Who is to say there isn’t more where that came from? If you think about it, this is just a small price to pay if it means you don’t get to relieve all that,”

“It’s easier said than done when you’re not the one offering your body!”

“I would in a heartbeat if he asked for mine! I don’t have much to lose. He will just be another man who took from me,”

“Hey! Don’t compare me to those assholes. And don’t forget, your ticket to freedom lies in the palm of my hands. You might want to watch how you talk about me,” he interrupted, visibly taking offence to the words Bethel had uttered.

I rolled my eyes at him and Bethel. “I’m sorry but I can’t. I refuse to offer myself to someone who contributed to my nightmare,” I spat, folding my hands under my breast to show how serious I was.

“But he is not directly related to it. He was simply following orders from Roman, who by the way will kill him should he find out he ever let us escape,” Bethel defends, still, I refuse to abide by her rules. She made the agreement with him, why was I the one paying the price? Should she have asked for my opinion before seeking his help, she would have known I would never have agreed.

“My answer is the same,”

“Don’t be selfish, Zinnia!” Bethel spat, clearly pissed off at my continuous denial. “You’re not some princess who has everything handed over to them. You’re not the only one who has been used against the will. You’re not the only one who has been degraded and left to die after every torture, so stop with the superiority complex. In here, we’re all the same. Sex toys. He’s freeing us from the hell that is our life and you’re stalling because of what? I have been raped, beaten, tortured, you bloody name it. What difference does it make giving into his demand when we get to be free?”

“If its so easy why don’t you do it!”

“I would, but he clearly wants you!”

“That’s enough you two! If you can’t come to an agreement then I’m sorry, but you have to go back in,” the man interrupted, clearly unbothered by my exchange with Bethel. He had nothing to lose. He was no different from Roman. He may or may not have participated in my gang rape, but he was asking for my body in exchange to set us free. He was a selfish bastard.

“Come on, Zinnia. There’s no time. Just take off your clothes, lay down and let him do his thing. I’ll keep watch,” Bethel insists.

“And I said no!” I fired back, getting more angry at her every passing second.

“Okay! I tried,” the man spoke up, throwing his hands in the air in defeat. “You girls have to go back in,” he reached out to Bethel first, grabbing her by the hand and leading her back inside. Just as Bethel crossed the threshold, she turned, taking the man off guard by kicking his groin. I gasped in utter disbelief and whilst he cried out, Bethel strides passed him, running away.

“Hey! Come back here you silky bitch!” He screamed, grabbing his groin. A chuckle erupted from within me as I took off, following behind Bethel.

I wonder what beef Bethel had to settle with Roman. I wonder what her life was like before she became his slave. Was she a runner? Did she do any sports that require running? Because she was clearly fast, even when I sped up, trying to catch up with her, she was still way, way ahead of me.

While still running, I looked over my shoulder, noticing that the man that had freed us was no longer on the ground crying out in pain, neither was he anywhere in sight. But I couldn’t pay much attention to it. All that mattered to me was running as fast as I could.

Bethel slowed down. I guess her feet were started to get sore, just like mine. But even as she slowed down, I couldn’t meet up with her.

We stopped dead in our tracks when we heard sirens. Shortly after, a deep voice grunted into a megaphone, urging us to turn back as there was no way to escape without loosing out lives. I looked over Bethel, the look of determination on her face was all I needed to keep me going.

Without missing a heartbeat, she turned and continued running, and I did same. This time, I was able to meet up with her. We ran as fast as we could, after all, our lives depended on it. Even when he heard tyres screeching behind us, the same voice blasting through the megaphone, threatening to end our lives, we never stopped.

We were so caught up in escaping that we did not realise we were approaching a cliff. And so, we halted just in time, right before the next step could throw us into the wild.

My heart pounded against my ribcage as the car pulled up before us. Next to me, I could hear Bethel’s loud breathing. Three huge men came out from the car. I guess Bethel kicked the other asshole a little too hard, because these men, I had never seen them before, but if they were here, they had to work for Roman.

One smiled as his gazed locked on me. “I told you it was futile running away. Hasn’t it settled in? You are in an island. The only way out of here is through a thug boat. Just give up already. Go back and face your punishment,” he spoke mockingly as he approached me.

“Never! I have come too far to give up! I would rather die than go back,” Bethel uttered behind me.

“No one cares if you live of die. I was talking about our precious little flower here. You can jump into the cliff for all I care,” the man uttered coldly, never taking his gaze away from me. I didn’t have to look at Bethel to know that the words he threw at her cut deeper than she’d expected. To hear someone talk so indifferently about your life, after you have fought for survival stings, especially coming from someone who has no right to decide whether you get to live or die.

Behind me, I hear Bethel sob. “Don’t listen to him Bethel. I care about you. Don’t take his words to heart. We’ll find a way out of here,” I tried to lift up her morals. With my gaze still locked on the man, I stretch out my hand to Bethel, but she never took it.

“Bethel, we outdid his colleague, we can still do it again,”

“Shut up you dirty bitch! If you weren’t the boss’s bargaining chip, I would have long taken your life. Now, I suggest your shut you mouth and only open it to take a dick down your throat,” he spat out angrily.

“I am your boss’s bargaining chip? How about I jump off the cliff huh? Will you still care if I die?” I teased, taking a step backwards. In a heartbeat, he aggressively grabs me. I tried shrugging my hand off, but he slaps me hard across the cheek.

“Don’t hurt her you slimy little bitch!” Bethel yells out. Just then, his other colleague walks past us to where Bethel stood. He grabs her arm and threatens to push her off the cliff.

“No! No, please don’t hurt her. I’ll go with you,” I cried out, my heart hurting for Bethel. The man grabbing my arm let’s out a mocking chuckle.

“You’re coming with us either way! Will, get rid of her,” I heard him say before he begins to drag me toward the car. Bethel’s cries had me fighting against him. I bit his hand, catching him off guard and while he groaned in pain, I kicked him in the groin and he freed me. I turned, but Bethel was no where in sight.

I ran toward the cliff, crying out for Bethel, but the other man grabbed me before I could get there. I kicked my feet in the air, tears streaming down my cheek at the loss of my acquaintance.

“Bethel, no! Bethellll!” I cried out, repeatedly kicking my feet, but the man was relatively strong and then he began dragging me back toward the car.

Bethel may had forced me into using my body against my will, but she didn’t deserve to die. Not like this.

Perhaps, if I had given into her demands, she would still be alive.

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