Threatening (Chapter-15)

I screamed so much my throat was hurting me. He sat there with a smug grin on his face enjoying every second of it. 

"But you are."

"How?"

I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. I didn't want to look at his disgusting face of horror. 

"Figure it out. Then I will take the statement back."

Once again, he was calling me stupid because I couldn't figure out the statement. "You can't leave me, you never will leave me, nobody can help you, you can only help yourself." My emotions were out of control. It was the fourth month in. Four months of torture by the devil himself. We were finally going out. Where? I asked myself that very same question for hours as we drove on board a cargo ship and set sail. Once again, I was moving away from the UK. We were sailing for hours. Day turned to night, and I had drunk some water that Darren had given me. It had drugs inside it and knocked me out cold. Once again, he had won.

Another dark room in the middle of nowhere was my guess when I woke up. This time I was literally stuck inside a cage which surrounded a double bed with red covers. The tears instantly began to fall. I didn't even bother trying to get out because I knew that I wouldn't have been able to, so I just sat there until he entered in a full black tux. 

"Finally awake I see." 

I didn't bother saying a word. There was no point. If I voiced my concerns, then he would do something to make sure I didn't, so I just sat there and listened to what he had to say. 

"It's hot outside today. Too hot for this suit. You will be coming with me tonight. Don't ask where we are going. Your just an extra face attending the event. There's a red dress over there and a shower through that door on the left. You have twenty minutes. Be ready or meet your fate."

More threats. He opened the animal cage, and I walked across the room slowly. I wasn't in the mood. I entered the shower, sat down on the floor and allowed the water to fall down on me. It was red hot, but I didn't care. I didn't have anything exciting to look forward to and I knew that he would find a way to have a go at me. That didn't make me move slowly. I got washed and threw the dress on as he entered the room with a brush in his right hand.

"Get here."

I did what he told me, and he worked quickly to throw my hair up in a hair tie before twirling it up into a bun on my head. Grabbing my hand, he dragged me out of the room and down a set of stairs. They connected into one at the bottom where groups of people stood. They all looked presentable, and, in my mind, I did not. I was out of place once again. 

"Head up high. Don't slouch your shoulders and stay by my side."

I nodded my head, and he gave me a smirk before pulling me through a door on our left. It opened up to a big ball room filled with hundreds of people. I instantly dropped my head. 

"Straighten your body. Head up I said, didn't I? Didn't I?" He spat through gritted teeth. 

"Yes." I whisper shouted and he gave me a swift nod. "Do it then."

"Get your head out of your arse!" I snapped and he stopped us in our tracks raising his eyebrows. An amused smirk tilted up at the sides. 

"Confident reply. Where did that boost come from?" 

"You are attacking me. Leave me alone!" 

He laughed before walking me over to a seat and pushing me to sit down. Walking over to a bar, he kept his eye on me before he made his way back to me quickly. 

"Here. A wine." 

It was red wine and I stared down at it mumbling. "Thanks."

"Yeah. Whatever. Oh hey."

He smiled holding his arms out as a brown-haired woman walked over to him. She had an elegant walk, and her hair was curled to perfection. A black dress hugged her body. She truly did look beautiful. I looked down at the wine glass taking a sip as the two of them wrapped their arms around each other. Darren placed his hand on my shoulder squeezing it. I snapped my head up to see the woman smiling down at me. 

"My name is Grace. Who may you be?" 

I didn't know what to do but I decided to stand up and hold my hand out. I hoped that it was the correct way to introduce yourself to somebody in Darren's world. I wasn't too sure, but it seemed to work when she accepted my greeting and the two of us shook hands. 

"Hi, my name is Cody. It's nice to meet you, Grace."

"Are you with my son?"

She looked from him to me, and my eyes widened. Darren just stood there with a stoic expression on his face. He looked bored while I was being placed under pressure. 

"Oh no. We are friends."

"Are we fuck friends. She's, my toy."

Darren became tense and I felt embarrassed as he squinted his eyes. His jaw was stiff as he grated his teeth together. I didn't expect him to throw me into the path of mass destruction, but he had, and I couldn't turn back time. 

"Darren. How dare you treat a lady with so much disrespect. Ignore him. He's groggy like his father."

So, his name is Darren I thought to myself as Darren crossed his arms. He looked like he was ready to strangle Grace who wafted her hand in the air. She looked at me as my hand started to shake. It was obvious because the wine in the glass was jumping around. I was going to be the one to blame now. 

"I am not groggy. I'm uptight."

"Have you hurt her Darren? Has he hurt you?" I shook my head and Darren laughed. 

"Yeah, I have. Now if you will excuse us, we will be moving away from you. Ta ta."

I couldn't believe it. The way that he spoke to his mother was appalling. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me with him and when I almost spilled the wine, he took it from my hand walking quickly. I glanced over my shoulder. Grace was standing there watching him pull me away from her. Was there a breakup in the family I asked myself as he stopped on the other side of the door. Pushing me against the wall he moved his body closer to mine as he placed his arm on the left side next to my head. 

"Don't lie about shit. They ask you a question and you answer it correctly."

He told me. He was running on fuel that had been lit on fire. His eyes turned darker as he glared at me. 

"Why would you tell your mum that?" I looked down at my shaking fingers. The sadness that I felt in that moment was overwhelming. 

"What, the truth? Because I don't lie."

"You lied about your age."

"Because I needed to. It was my only way to lure you in. Listen, and listen closely. Stop giving people the answers that they expect. Give it to them straight. If they don't like it, then so fucking be it."

I nodded my head as he stared down his chest at me. Passing me the wine glass he watched me as I took a sip of it using my shaking hands. Was it adrenaline, humiliation or the unknown?