At some point after Nicolas left the room, I must have passed out because I awoke on the ground, my arm muscles sore from being held up by chains.
"You're awake," came Nicolas' voice. Opening my eyes up more, I saw him seated in the chairs across from me. He was relaxed into the seat.
"What are you doing here?"
"You know I like to watch you sleep," he said, shrugging.
"You disgust me," I said.
"If I disgust you," he said, smirking, "I guess you won't want to eat anything, right?"
Just as I was going to tell him where to shove it, my stomach let out a loud growl. I groaned at the shitty timing.
"Well?" he asked.
"Fine."
He pulled out a plate that had a sandwich and an apple on it, as well as a glass of water. He slid them both over to me. Carefully, I picked up the sandwich and took a bite. It was ham and cheese. I quickly scarfed both the sandwich and apple down, not caring if it was poisoned. He was going to kill me regardless, so what did it matter poison or gun shot? I drank the water quickly, only now realizing how dry my throat was.
"Thanks," I said, sliding the plate back to him.
"Believe me, you're going to want some strength for what we have planned for you."
"Finally going to kill me?" I asked.
"Oh, no," he said, chuckling as he got up from his chair and disappeared behind me. "Not quite yet, love… I have plans for you…"
I was jolted upwards by the chains being pulled upwards, but this time, my feet were fully on the ground.
"You going to torture me?" I asked, masking the fear in my voice with a hard edge. "You know that I have no information, right?"
"You might not," he said, once again in front of me, far too close for comfort. His hand found its way to my neck, squeezing lightly. I let out a small puff of air, as he smiled. "I was in prison for years because of you…you deserve everything you have coming for you…but not yet."
"What are you waiting for?" I asked. "What are you gaining from me being here?"
"Timing," he said, shrugging and removing his hand from my throat. "We need you to guarantee safe passage out of the US… once we get that, I'll kill you myself."
"I don't know what you think," I said, "but I am not worth anything in the eyes of the government without you behind bars."
"Naïvety was never a good look on you," he said.
"I swear," I said, making eye contact with him, praying my tone didn't give away anything, "I'm not worth anything."
"Continue to believe what you want," he said, "but think about it…"
"There's nothing to think about."
"There's lots to think about," he said, his voice quiet. "Betrayal, lies, deceit, and so on so forth…"
"What about Charlie and Ben?" I asked, changing the topic quickly. "You never proved they were okay."
"Ah, of course," he said, gesturing his head to someone. A laptop found its way into his hands and he opened it and began to play a video.
It was Charlie and Ben, both unconscious, being set outside a hospital. The video was no longer than 15 seconds long. There was a shot of the sign, reading Henry Ford Hospital. That was a hospital in Boston or Detroit or somewhere.
They were safe.
"What do we say?" Nicolas said, his voice patronizing.
"Thanks," I said shortly. He handed off the laptop to someone behind me.
"Now, let's play a game," he said, sitting back down in the chair.
"What are we, kindergarteners?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I believe I'm in charge," he said.
"Fine. What game?"
"Truth or dare."
"What are we, middle schoolers? Besides, don't think I'll be able to do many dares like this," I said, nodding up to the chains. "But maybe if you-"
"I'm not stupid, love," he said. "But I'll keep that in mind… and the way this game works, is that you'll be the only one doing dares or truths…but as incentive, if you do all of them, I'll answer one question. Fair?"
"Not really, but do I have a choice?"
"No."
"Fine. Truth," I said, resolving to not pick dare. Who knows what he would have me do?
"Why'd you give me up to the police?"
"Because you sold people in sexual slavery. Truth."
"Why'd you go into Witness Protection away from your sister and her family?"
"Because you killed my parents… I wasn't going to let you kill more of my family, but I figured the best way to protect them. Truth."
"Are you going to keep picking 'truth?'"
"Yes. Truth."
"New rule," Nicolas said, "Dares only."
"That's not the game," I said.
"Now it is," he said, his eyes daring me to defy him. The voice in the back of my mind reminded me of my sister somewhere in this building or wherever I was.
"Fine. Dare," I said, shutting my eyes and praying that it wasn't something awful.
"Relax, love," he said, laughing. "Nothing awful, I'm afraid."
"What is it, then?"
"You're going to read this letter," he said as I felt to the floor as the chains lowered.
"A little warning would be nice," I said, wincing as I looked at my knee that hit the ground. It was already bruising.
"Here," he said, handing me the letter, ignoring my complaint. Taking one look at it, I knew what it was.
"You still have this?" I asked, meeting his eyes. His usually hardened gaze was softened slightly.
"Read it. Out loud," he said, sitting down and avoiding looking at me.
Sighing, I looked at my handwriting on the paper. It was water damaged slightly, but was still legible.
"Dear Nicolas," I read, "By the time you read this, I will have left and the police will be on their way…"