As he pulls into the parking lot of the concert, Diablo finds a spot almost immediately and answers his ringing phone that had been going off for the entire drive. He hadn't been able to respond to the call while he was behind the wheel. He sees that people had been texting him as well for him to pick up and that it was about Blanca, so he senses it's quite important.
"Hola, Karla..."
"¡Dios mío, Diablo, finalmente! Why weren't you picking up?" Karla sighs. "Doesn't matter, you were probably on your way to el concierto, pero anyway...I got some bad news." She sounds like she's on the verge of crying. "It's-um...Blanca, Alison, and Lourdes have been taken hostage! They were at the bodega, and these three savages just took them-"
Oh my god, Diablo, finally!
He can't hear much after that. It's like he's been run over by a train. He can't possibly concentrate on giving a wonderful performance onstage with his girl being who the hell knows where. He pounds his fist on the wheel. "What the fuck?!" he asks softly, his eyes quickly pricking with wetness. His chest is constricted and he puts his hand on his heart. Diablo suddenly feels empty inside.
"I know...I'm devastated, too! Also, angry...how could this happen?"
"Did you call the police?"
"Of course I did! They said it'll take 'em thirty minutes to get here..." Karla sniffles at the other end and Diablo shakes his head at their slowness. "Charles, the only helpful cop, his line is busy...I'll try him again."
"Alright, and I'm at the place now, so I can try finding him, I know he's here with his novia."
"Lo siento mucho..."
"Esto no fue tu culpa, Karla," Diablo assures her.
It wasn't your fault
"Gracias..."
"They were kidnapped!" Margarita announces as she approaches the men. She shows Leon what Aleida tried to write him. He instantly wears a panicked expression, as do the other guys. "I went in when no toilets or sinks were working. The security guard was bein' weird too, I'm sure he watched 'em go in first, then hung an out of order sign on the door, and then let the assholes in there to take 'em. If it's really true nothin' was workin', they would've gone someplace else. The name Herrmann mean anything to y'all?"
"Oh my god! He's the only corrupt cop besides Clarke that the idiot captain won't fire and throw in jail, no matter what. They've never been caught for anything, even when he shot your boy, Margarita. Vee turned that around real quick and said he was threatenin' Clarke, so charges were dropped. I would've thrown him in prison myself, but he moved somewhere out of state. I'm calling this in, we can't stay here." Charles leads them outside. "Come on, I'm taking everyone down to the station! Fahri just rang me, Gloria was snatched, too."
"How will you capture 'em?" RJ asks, taking hold of Margarita's hand. "We don't even know who they are..."
"You gotta get Herrmann fired from this place, too," Leon puts in. "For negligence."
"Oh, believe me, I'm doing that too." Charles is about to dial nine-one-one, but Diablo comes up to them with drumsticks in his hands. "Hey, son, I'm sorry, I know you're probably busy setting up, but we can't see your show...Diane, Gloria, and Aleida are missing!"
"Ay dios mío, that's terrible, ¡lo siento!" His forehead creases in worry. "Blanca is, too, now...along with Alison and Lourdes. They were taken from Gloria's bodega. So, I'm not playing, I got someone to fill in for me. I'm about to give these to him and leave." Once Charles fully looks at Diablo, he notices that the boy's eyes are red. He can't blame the teenager; he feels like crying himself.
"I'll find them all, Diablo, I promise." Charles claps his shoulder gently.
"Muchas gracias."
Leon's cell phone rings and he holds it up to his ear. "Adarsh, hi...what?! Oh my god! I-I'll be right there!" He hangs up with a flustered look on his face. "Guys, I'm sorry, I gotta go to the emergency room...Daya's just been shot by Cesar, he's dead, but I need to check up on her and see if she'll be okay. Let me know when y'all find Aleida!"
"I'll give you a ride," Diablo tells him. "The hospital's right on the way to the bodega."
"Thanks, man..."
After her evening out with Shani, Poussey, and Franziska in the city, Nicky whistles at a cab and flags it down. Once it stops at the curb, they all get inside. "First Calvary Cemetery, please," she tells the driver. She turns to the other girls. "We'll split the cost, okay?" They nod in agreement.
"Wait, but why there, baby?" Shani asks.
"That's where Alex went with Aydin to visit his parents since he's apparently her late girlfriend's big bro or something, but he just rubs me the wrong way...like, it's been eating at me all night long. I wanna make sure she's okay...when we're close, I'll call Red to come and get us," Nicky responds.
"Why'd you let Alex go if you don't trust him?" Poussey wants to know.
"Uh, because I'm not her mother, dude. I can't tell her what to do or force her to come with us. I don't know him from Adam, never seen him, either, so who am I to judge, right? It's just that he was Kubra's right-hand man, according to her, and she says she's safe, since Kubra was arrested because he made lewd advances toward a minor, nothing to do with his illegal business." She lowers her voice and opens her bag while fishing out a gun halfway. "I brought this for protection, though."
"You've had that with you all night?" Franziska hisses.
Shani's jaw drops in disbelief. "Put that away and don't take it out again, please!" she begs quietly.
"Hey, it's not loaded," Nicky protests. "I'll put some bullets in just before we get there...I took it with me to scare off gangbangers that might bother us. I'll always protect you and our friends, Shani." She plays with the Egyptian girl's hair. "I know how to use it, I swear. I had one on me during our homeless days, if you remember correctly."
"I don't wanna see that anymore! In fact, if I do, I'll ask the driver to return us to your house!" Shani closes her eyes and Nicky reluctantly shoves it back in her bag.
"Hey, I think Nicky's got the right idea," Poussey says softly.
"Thank you," Nicky whispers.
"No!" both Franziska and Shani mutter.
"You too, Franzi?" Poussey groans quietly.
"Honey, guns are dangerous, okay?" Franziska points out, and Shani nods fervently in concurrence. "Remember when you almost used one on my dad and yours stopped you from being arrested just in time?"
Poussey folds her arms across her chest and rolls her eyes. "Fine."
Nicky leans into Shani and holds her bag close to her. She hopes she won't have to use her weapon tonight.
She hates herself so much. Gloria was truly prepared to fight Arturo off and get him when he wouldn't expect it, and she even has a gun hidden in her home. She hadn't thought he would return so soon, though. He lets her into a storage closet and she bends and flexes her fingers, suddenly feeling the urge to beat his ass.
"I ain't gonna go down without una pelea, cabrón," she tells Arturo courageously. She steps back from him and he lets out a sinister chuckle.
a fight
"¿Oh sí? Puedo vencerte fácilmente. Pero esperaré hasta que todas tus chicas lleguen aquí."
I can easily beat you. But I'll wait until all your girls get here.
Gloria punches him twice, creating bloody streaks on his naked chest, but he doesn't bang into the wall and flop down on the floor like she was hoping he'd do. She shields her face when he raises his fists to strike her, but he just pumps the air victoriously while groaning in pain. He simply stares at her. "Eres patética. Ouch..."
You're pathetic.
She feels weak looking at the scrapes she'd made on him, so she closes her eyes since she's dizzy and puts her head between her knees. She honestly thought she could handle the sight of blood. She'd seen it on herself and her sons plenty of times, but then again, she'd applied first aid fast enough so gruesome injuries wouldn't affect her. "¿Ves cómo se siente?" she mumbles.
You see how it feels?
"I'm going to patch myself up and get another shirt," he mutters. "Strip naked and drink the water from the bowl como un perro." He slams the door shut behind her. It's so stuffy in this confined area and she can barely breathe. She picks up the bowl, pours the water down her throat, and quickly starts peeling her clothes off with tears trickling down her cheeks.
like a dog
Gloria wakes Benny up gently and he clings to her leg while she walks, so she picks him up, wincing at the pain in her back. She also takes Julio out of his crib. Benny's and Julio's little feet patter after her and she says, "Buenos dias, mijos!" while ruffling their hair.
They giggle and then Benny shows her something. "Look what I made in school, Mama!"
He had drawn a flower and painted it all by himself. Gloria congratulates him and kisses his cheek. The tiny boy goes to kiss Gloria's bruised cheek and asks her what happened. Arturo is glaring at her, so she says, "I bumped into a door, don't worry about it."
After Julio stirs, Gloria puts him down. She has to serve Arturo first before he goes to work. Then, she can take her kids to school. It's just a short walk from where they live, and he can track her phone, so she and her boys aren't able to escape.
"Let's put on music!" Benny squeals. Gloria is so glad Arturo is out of the house for work. Now they can dance and have fun before leaving for school.
Later, Arturo goes on a business trip, but they can't leave the apartment since he has Dixon guarding it. To entertain themselves, Gloria and her children watch a movie. They cuddle into her side and she's glad she's with two of the many people who love her. She knows she's not alone when she's with them.
Thinking back to that moment makes her wish she had come up with an escape plan, but she was too afraid of Dixon reporting to Arturo what she'd done. Still, she could've gotten out via the fire escape with her boys, but they're so little, and it could be unsafe. All she'd ever wanted to do was keep them from harm. It would've been so easy to just leave her phone someplace on the walk to the boys' school and then have all three of them disappear like Houdini. She'd have reached her aunt from a payphone and took her along with them on the run to Frankie and Rita's in Florida.
Instead, she'd chosen to be risky by wanting a life in good old New York, thinking Arturo would be going to prison for good, and moving on from her past.
Stupid bitch, she mentally screams at herself. This is what you get...
"You have a lot of guns," Alex notes.
"Yeah, I know, I gotta hide those. My cousin Haluk sells 'em for an arms dealer from Iraq and I keep 'em for protection," Aydin states as he leads her into a remote cabin near the First Calvary Cemetery. Alex is surprised she has some cellular service. It's better in here than it had been on their walk through the woods. She sets her bag down on a bed and gazes around.
"I had no idea your parents owned this..."
"I know, neat, right? They should be here soon, they got stuck in some traffic." Aydin starts sliding the guns into a drawer that clicks when locked.
"Mm-hm." Alex lays down. It's weird that her mom isn't asking her how things are going, and Charles had rung her quite a few times. She almost immediately receives a voice message from him, so she listens to it.
"Hi, Alex, I hope that you're doing okay out there. I know the reception isn't that great, but I just wanna make sure you get this. What I'm about to say may be difficult to accept, but your mother has just been abducted, along with Aleida, Blanca, Alison, and Lourdes." Alex gasps fearfully and sits up, her heart pounding with nerves. She can't imagine anything happening to her beloved mom and friends. "I promise, though, we're doing everything we can to find them. Alright? Well, I gotta get to work, but I needed to let you know. Call me back as soon as you can!"
"Hey...Aydin, I'm sorry, but I have to go...my mom was kidnapped," Alex tells him frantically while dialing Charles' number. "I need you to give me a ride to the station..."
He seems to not be paying attention as he slides a videocassette into a VCR and turns on the television. "Not a chance in hell," he says coldly.
"What...why? I'm worried about my mom, and..."
"Oh, no bitch, you won't be needing this." Aydin snatches Alex's phone from her and texts something. "I just told Charlie-boy you were fine and coming in a short bit." He tosses her device into the flames crackling in the fireplace. "Take a look at the tape instead." He whips a gun from his back pocket and aims it at Alex. She holds up her trembling hands as her heart slows and she's probably completely pale at this point. Now she's too scared to say anything. He chuckles as he chews on a toothpick and drags her to his couch. "You ain't leavin' here alive. What I kill you with, though, is your choice." He stands behind her and bangs a knife against the counter, twisting it a few times. Alex eyes his weapon worriedly, gasping for breath. "Turn around, keep watching!" he demands, so she does.
It's of Kubra being arrested and Flaca injuring him at the wrecked engagement party. He turns it off five minutes later after replaying it a few times.
"Y-you know, your parents are gonna-"
"You still believe they're coming?" he asks curtly. "I'm not even related to your dead girlfriend! I was quite fond of Sylvie, though, and she chose to be a dyke after breaking up with me and going back to you, so yes, I was her killer...but because you never reciprocated Kubra's affections toward you or got hints that he was interested in pursuing a relationship, he asked me to get rid of you for good. He didn't want to be tempted any longer by seeing your face daily in his cartel. He wants a picture of your tits when I'm done with your ass. Blanca and Flaca are next for angering him."
"You're both insane," Alex says weakly, holding on to the arm of the couch for balance as she gets up. She's prepared to kick him in the nuts and run.
"Like I said before, this blade is so sharp, and it can kill you instantly if I were to drive it into your heart...but the gun...I could just blast a bullet through your skull and make your death much faster." Aydin shrugs. "You won't even feel it."
Alex shudders and holds back sobs. "You-you don't want to do this...Charles is gonna track my phone if I don't get back to him, you know he can, because he's a cop...and you'll go to prison, just like Kubra. Let me go, please, I swear on my life that I won't tell him about you if you..."
"I told you, I spoke to him already!" Aydin grips her arms firmly while she's trying to back away from him. "Listen to me!" he snaps. "You weren't getting it. The reason Kubra wanted you to dress sexy was for him. He barged in on you using the toilet on purpose. He took his shirt off in front of you so you could see him half-naked and suck his dick."
She does her best to stare him down. "You...disgusting...son...of...a..."
"Don't finish that sentence!" He pushes her away from him and pulls open the door to reveal Michelle, gagged, bound, and sobbing helplessly. Alex inhales and exhales sharply and her eyes widen as she reaches for Michelle. He yanks her away from Alex and holds the knife to Michelle's neck. "You're gonna lose her, just like the others. You stole my girlfriend, too, so I need to end her life, and you'll be my witness...before you join her in dead lesbo cunt land."
It sounds like someone is nearing the cabin, though, so he drops Michelle and takes off into a sprint. Quickly, Alex unties her and removes the tape from her mouth. They grab each other's hands and escape out the back, hurrying through the cornfield.
"Hey!"
Lorna jumps at the male voice and turns around. She breathes a sigh of relief, seeing Juan. "Oh, it's just you."
"Who'd you think it was?" he asks rhetorically with a short chuckle. He snakes his arm around her waist and takes her to his car. "You said you were alone in that place and you needed company, so I came right over. Where are your sister and her friend?"
"At a nightclub that I can't go to on account of my age. Everyone's busy, so I was gonna go to Vinnie's house, so thanks for offering me a ride there. The bus isn't safe when the sun goes down!"
"Smart thinking, sugar." Juan lets her into the passenger seat, goes around his vehicle, and she puts on her seatbelt and closes her door. After he buckles himself in and gets situated behind the wheel, he shuts his own door, too. Then, he drives off.
After a while, she wonders if he's lost, even though she'd kept repeating the directions to where Vinnie lives. "Juan, you went the wrong way," she lets him know. He doesn't answer, he just sets his mouth into a grimace. "Excuse me, Juan!" she says louder, tapping him on the shoulder, but he shrugs her off. Alarm bells ring in her head and the panic rises in her chest. "Fuckin' answer me, will ya?!"
"Just shut up, Lorna la Loca, so I can concentrate!" His tone is much unfriendlier now and more vicious than she's ever heard him sound. "Jesus Christ, you're like a squeaky mouse. Worse than my fiancée. Don't you ever be quiet?! Do you even know what that means?"
"I don't know why you're acting like this," she says in a smaller voice. "Vinnie's aware that I'm going to his place, if I don't show up, he'll be worried about me and think something is wrong! He'll call my sister and my besties...and then I'll be a missing person."
The craziness in his eyes suddenly disappears. "Oh...I'm sorry. I only wanted to spend some quality time with you at my home before you see your boo, if that's alright?"
Lorna breathes in and out deeply, trying to compose herself. "Okay, I'll let him know. Who should I say you are since I've never mentioned you to anyone?" She pulls out her phone from her purse and he yanks it away from her while swerving.
"God damn it!" He rolls down the window. She screams in frustration, trying to grab it, but he pushes her away and throws her cell out the open window. "I said no phones!"
"No, you didn't! I thought you were my friend, asshole!"
"I am!" he protests. "I wanted us to go off the map, too."
"I could've just gone on airplane mode...you owe me a new phone," she mutters.
"I'm not giving you one. You chose to disrespect me and use technology. Ignoring me is what gets you beat up, cunt." Juan thunks his fist on top of her head and she's suddenly dizzy and seeing stars, but not in a good way. Her brain is throbbing. "Now we're here. Get the fuck out of the car."
"I didn't mean to offend you," she apologizes.
"It's not okay," he states gruffly. He reaches over her and opens her door. "Go on, git!" He gives her a push and she winces, but quickly leaves his vehicle. "I would like your assistance with something important," he says, much calmer now. "Follow me."
So she does. He leads her into his house and right away, she sees horrific images of torture including bondage with chains and whips pasted all over his walls and even his ceiling. The surfaces are also covered with pictures of her and her entire clique, and the adults she's close to, doing everyday things, including taking showers. There's even some photos of the couples such as Aleida and Leon, Blanca and Diablo, Alison and Hassan, Nicky and Shani, and Flaca and Maritza having sex, and each of the significant others making out passionately and cuddling. She gazes around a few more times, suddenly fearful. His lair is very disturbing, and the biggest one of all is in the center of everything and framed.
Gloria hugging this Juan character, who is acting shadier with every second. She's kissing his cheek and smiling broadly.
"What the..."
"Can't you see the love between us?" Juan moves behind Lorna and rubs her arms. She begins getting goosebumps, though she's not cold because the air outside is frigid. It's for a whole other reason. "When she left me, I was heartbroken. That memory of her, Gloria Mendoza, will always stay here until I die. She's not physically with me, but I can feel her whenever I stare at that picture of us together and talk to her. It helps me remember what she looked like, and I will never forget the day I got arrested at her bodega thanks to those two brain-damaged morons and banned from ever being with her again." He tsks and then swivels her around. "I'm fixing that tonight. Come!" he barks at her and then pulls her along with him to his larger-than-life computer. The screen saver is of Gloria, fully naked, lying on her side and sleeping. "What a big ass she's got, huh?" He sniggers. "Groping it at the quinces was the most fun I've had in a while."
"You...you tricked me..." She gasps softly when he logs in and she sees his real name on top of the screen. "Arturo Cazador...you were her abuser..."
The animal lets out an evil laugh. "Oh, I never hurt her, though. She's just insane. I only did what you did, the stalking. So I can't be that bad."
"Ay, nena..." Trina gasps and runs over to Karla, who's huddled up in a corner of the bodega. Behind her are Diablo, Hassan, and Alison's mother. Right away, Karla embraces Blanca's mom and sobs into her shoulder as several cops swarm the area, talking about how there was no sign of forced entry. A bald white male officer with a brown mustache places the police baton and Alison's pink hijab into clear plastic baggies and a dark-skinned policewoman snaps photos and collects the blood on the floor.
"That the victim's or the kidnapper's?" the man asks. He looks at Karla. "Do you know?"
"Of course I do, I was here," she snaps tearfully. "It-it came from Blanca, and she's alive. Don't you dare talk about her like she's not!"
"Honey, they're trying to get the story, that's all, okay..." Trina attempts to comfort her, but Karla's in too much distress to care.
"Well, you better find my girl and Alison and Lourdes quick." Diablo tells the cops in a gruff voice while pacing the store. "I know they ain't dead!"
"What are you doing with my daughter's hijab?" Ms. Basara asks sharply. "The DNA on that will only give you her last known address."
"We might be able to reach some relatives of his if he tore this off of her head and his fingerprints are all over it, as well as hers," the woman officer explains.
A gray-haired woman comes in just then. "Lourdes, why haven't you been picking up my calls?" She looks around and her annoyance turns to worry. "Oh my goodness, Captain Hopper...what is going on?"
Karla sniffles. "Who are you?"
"Celeste Chapman, dear. Lourdes' lady friend. Did something happen to her, where is she?!"
Alison's mother guides her to a seated position. "I'm sorry...she was captured by some savage beasts, along with my daughter and her friend...spooky how they all just vanished!"
"The poor woman's nearing fifty!" Celeste almost yells. "What do they want with an innocent middle-aged lady?"
"I haven't even told Farah yet, I don't know how to..." Hassan wipes his hand over his face with a groan. "How can I tell her that her mommy was abducted?"
Diablo punches a vending machine. "God damn it! Stupid fuckers!"
"I'm sorry I didn't stop it from happening..." Karla bawls.
"No one is blaming you, querida, it's okay," Trina soothes her while stroking her hair. "We'll save them!"
"We don't even know where they are, Trina!" Celeste tells her.
A bespectacled cop with the nametag of Alvarez kneels down next to Karla. "Young lady, can you describe the suspects and their vehicle for us, please?"
She presses her lips together and breathes in and out slowly. "All males. Two of them were white, one of the blancos was very large with a square face. He looked like a giant. I don't know his name since I'm new here and I never saw him before, but the other is Dean Juarez. There was also a Filipino guy named Carlos Litvack. The girls and Lourdes were taken in a huge white prison van." It had taken all of Karla's strength to say this. Witnessing the brutal kidnappings of her friends and her counselor had been so horrible, as bad as seeing her husband get shot dead in the street and being stalked by a wolf on her trek to America.
"Okay, thank you." The officer writes something down on a notepad.
"You're welcome," Karla murmurs and clears her eyes free of tears.
"You're brave," Diablo compliments her and sits on the other side of her and Trina.
She offers him the tiniest of smiles. "Gracias, but I'm barely keeping it together, just like you and everyone else. Blanca's like my sister, though, and I'm gonna help fight like hell to get her and her fellow captives back to us."
"So am I," Diablo states strongly. He sniffles and wipes his hand across his nose.
"Me, too," Trina tells them.
Hassan, Ms. Basara, and Celeste agree with them in unison.
At the mall, Flaca and Maritza are just casually strolling along, searching for Lorna, who had invited them for a shopping spree. "Yo, chiquita, it's so weird that she's not where she said she'd meet us."
"We're fashionably late too sometimes," Maritza points out.
"True, but...wouldn't she just tell us she's running short on time and she'll be here soon?" Flaca asks.
"Hi, I'm lost and I can't find where my mommy's car is. She left me in the store," a little blonde girl says, staring up at them with wide, frightened eyes. "She said I have to meet her in the parking garage since she has a lot of bags and I should've followed her...but I'm scared to go alone since it's dark and scary in there."
"Oh, well, let's take you, it's safer that way. You shouldn't be walking around by yourself anyway, sweetie!" Maritza tells her. They take her hands and lead her to her destination.
"What color is her car, what brand?" Flaca wants to know. "Can you describe your mamí?"
"Ummm..." The child wrinkles her nose. "She's tall with short, brown hair to her chin. She has a pretty black dress on and matching shoes..." She points to Maritza's three-inch heels. "Like those."
"Okay." Maritza grins down at her and they go down each row of parked cars until the kid's face lights up in excitement. "Mommy!" she squeals as she runs to none other than Linda Ferguson.
"What the hell..." Flaca mutters. "She got a daughter?"
"Now you know not to run away from me, dearie!" Linda scoops her up and kisses her cheek.
"Holy shit, that's strange, seeing her be nice and all."
"Totally, who knew that monster had a sweet side-" Flaca stops herself when she spots Linda giving the child a few lollipops and patting her head before driving off. Two dark shapes get out of another vehicle and lumber toward them. Something is amiss, and Flaca quickly grabs Maritza's hand as they sprint back to the mall.
"I'm getting chills, hurry, Flaca!"
They're not fast enough, though. The figures spritz pepper spray at them and Maritza covers her now reddened eyes, squeaking in pain. She blindly stumbles back into Flaca's arms. Their screams echo through the empty space, but one of the assholes punches Maritza to the pavement. "You motherfucker!" Flaca pushes him and kneels down to Maritza's side and glares up at him. Soon, she's trembling and she feels faint, knowing exactly who he is. Humps is right next to him.
"I wouldn't call him that if I were you, my vampire queen." Humps yanks her to her feet and raises a gun to her head while stepping on Maritza's crotch so she can't move, although she's struggling under his firm foot, scratching at his ankles. "Keep going, I like that," he mutters, looking down at her. He glances back up in Flaca's direction.
"Put your tiny partner in crime on your back like a monkey, tattletale. You both are coming with me, and if you don't do as I say, I'll kill her and put her skeleton on your front porch. Humps here will eat the rest of her." Flaca opens her mouth to shriek again, but Arturo hits her hard with the gun. She holds her cheek, gasping shakily in pain and blinking rapidly. "If you so much as breathe, I'll land a bullet in your skull," he growls, his menacing tone chilling her to the bone. "Do you understand me, you overgrown ditz?"
Flaca nods slowly and then reluctantly picks up Maritza and gives her a piggyback ride to his car. Humps is directly behind her, pushing her forward. She can feel Maritza having a panic attack, and she's not far from sinking into one of her own. Arturo opens the trunk with his gun still aimed at her head. "Throw her in. We're going on a long road trip. You idiots like that, right?"
Sniffling, she obeys, but she does it gently so Maritza won't hit her head. Both girls are openly wailing now, and Humps pours some liquid on a piece of cloth. He gags Maritza with it and smirks to himself as he rips off a piece of duct tape from a roll and presses it on her mouth. Then, Humps slams the trunk closed and manhandles Flaca into Arturo's backseat. She's shocked to see Lorna in the front seat.
"Girl, what you doin' here?" she whispers just before Humps gets in beside her.
"I'm so sorry," Lorna tells her, turning around slightly so that Flaca can see that the Italian's cheeks are streaked with black tears, probably from her makeup running. Her curls have gone limp. She reaches her hand back, so Flaca squeezes it. "He made me..."
"Hey, I didn't say you could talk! Face forward, Miss Cherry Bomb!" Arturo commands her as he takes off, and she complies reluctantly. "The only reason I brought you with me is that I can't just leave you at my house by yourself!" He points at Flaca. "You, the snitch! Stop your sniveling and look out the window or something. Don't say one more goddamn word. Cross me again and I'm breaking both of your legs and murdering tu mamá y tus hermanos. You got that?"
your mom and your brothers.
"Sí señor," Flaca manages to say.
"Good. Let's enjoy the drive."
Maritza's vision is hazy through her burning eyes. She tries to sit up, but she can't. She realizes then that she's inside the trunk of a moving vehicle. She feels around for the release, its cable, or something to beat the trunk open, but she finds nothing. A few moments later, one of her abductors unlocks it. They must be stopped somewhere. She gasps sharply and turns around. Of course, the place is in the middle of nowhere.
"Hello there, pet. Did you need us for something?" Humps grins at her sadistically. He bends down, tears the tape off her lips, and forces his vile tongue through them while zip-tying her wrists together so tight that the plastic strips cut into her skin. She clamps her teeth down hard, but that only makes him more irate. He pulls back from her sharply and punches her in the mouth. "You like to play rough, don't you, hottie? Well, so do I! Only, you don't get to draw blood. I just wanna suck yours and eat you alive."
Maritza breathes in and out heavily. "I need agua...please, I'm lightheaded...and you don't want to kill me, my mom is a lawyer and she'll make sure you and Arturo go down for what you're doin'...if you just let us go, we won't say nothin'-"
"Your begging is so pathetic, but it's sexy at the same time. How your voice trembles at all the right moments gets me hard." She cringes when he runs his tongue over his gleaming, sharp teeth, and her new wound is burning. She's dizzy and her eyes drift closed. "Oh, that's a well-behaved inmate. Embrace the darkness and quit trying to escape. I'll get you water when I'm good and ready. In fact, I'll take you in first, just because I'm a nice guy."
"Oh my god, how are we gonna get outta here?" Michelle asks frantically.
"We'll be near society soon, I hope..."
They're searching for any kind of light and finally, they come to a clearing. It's the graveyard, and Alex knows that they're now near the road where cars would pass. All they need to do is wave one down. This place is huge and like a maze. The sky is dimly lit by the full moon and nearby streetlamps.
Suddenly, Alex feels a giant pressure on her back as Aydin knocks her down. "Get help!" she shrieks at Michelle.
Alex screams loudly a few times and dodges his blows by rolling over as fast as she can. She kicks the knife out of his hand and then shoves her foot into his groin, giving herself enough time to pick up the knife while still staring at Aydin. She clutches the handle tightly as he gets up again. They fight for the weapon once more, but it's over in a heartbeat when she drives it right into his stomach. He falls over like a sack of potatoes and she gasps in and out shakily. The blade falls from her trembling hand as she turns away from Aydin's seemingly motionless body with blood spatters all over his blue shirt. She's sobbing in relief, and then Nicky comes up to her, holding a flashlight and a gun. The curly-haired blonde drops her items and embraces Alex tightly.
"Oh my god...I just stabbed him..."
"Hey...you're alright, kid, he's gone now..." Nicky assures her, and Alex winds her arms around the shorter girl, her whole frame quivering violently. She rests her head on top of Nicky's.
"I'm sorry..." Alex blubbers as Nicky leads her away from Aydin lying in the snow, her hand on Alex's back, supporting her.
"Don't be, you had to survive somehow."
The gun suddenly goes off a few moments later.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, Juliette45 and VeraRose19!
