Chapter 3

My blood ran cold in my veins as my brain found it impossible to comprehen the sight before me. I felt my heart quake fearfully in my chest, my beats harsh and rapid as i wondered worriedly how on Earth did I end up here?

And then it happened again.

My hearing...

I lost it again.

"Let's start the bidding from $10,000!" Was all I heard the brunette shout before my ears decided to block the things I didn't want to hear, leaving me to depend on my sight alone.

This has to be a dream!

I told to myself, trying to get my head to think straight. My head was a hurricane by now. I wanted to pinch myself, wishing that all this was just a nightmare but the chain piercing the skin of my leg was enough of a wake up call.

The chain shook violently as i backed away with my gaze still fixed on the white masked audience who slowly started raising their hands before moving them back down the next minute.

You need to get out of here.

My mind screamed but my body didn't listen. I sat there, facing the audience looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Unknowingly, I felt my gaze fall upon the only person who now held up their hand. I pushed the bile back down my throat as I found it hard to breathe.

Panic began to claw throughout my body and I jumped in fright when I felt someone roughly grab my shoulders from both sides. Two bulky men, dressed in all black roughly pulled my body from the ground as I tried my best to push them away when my efforts were clearly in vain. But I didn't give up.

I screamed, kicked, hit, and tried to squirm out of their hold and to my relief, i had kicked one of the guys in the face, during the process. He bellowed something in rage while covering his nose with one hand.

I hope I broke it.

But before I could celebrate, I suddenly felt something hard slam against the right side of my face, forcing me to whip my head to my left.

My ears rung, as I tried to understand what had happened while my hand unconsciously moved up to my cheek. It didn't take long before the right side of my face began to burn.

He hit me!! The bastard hit me!

I whipped my head to my right, ready to give him a piece of my mind but stopped when I heard the brunette shout, "don't damage the goods!"

I could hear again!

A click sound before me, made me whip my head towards my feet to see another mysterious guy unlocking the chain around my leg. And so, I took the opportunity to thrash around even more but the two men in black ignored it this time and dragged me, effortlessly, back stage.

"Ah! There she is!" I heard a man say as we entered a room which I presume was a hall way. I look up front to see a grey haired man in his late forties, in a blue-ish back suit, standing a few feet away from us.

Frowning, I quietly watched him as he made his way towards us with his gaze fixed on me. His smile widen as he came to stand two feet away from us. He was only a head taller than me. "Has my little princess calmed down?" He placed a hand on my right cheek causing me to flinch and immediately move away from his touch.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed his eyebrows furrow and he made a 'hmm' sound. He stayed quiet for almost a minute leaving me confused until....

"How dare you touch her?!" I flinched at his sudden outburst as he yelled at the men.

Man! Is he loud!

I opened my mouth to scream at him at stop yelling in my ear but stopped when I realised that none of the men where holding me now. But before a smile could creep onto my lips, I heard the man in front of me, call out. "Princess?" He asked again, grabbing my attention. I blinked a few times and lifted my head to look at him.

"Yes?" I answered on a reflex, only to regret it the new second. He smiled at my response, clearly satisfied with it and held out his hand.

I glanced at his hand and then back at him only to raise an eyebrow and give him the 'do you expect me to take your hand?' expression. He smiled again before motioning the two men in black to leave.

What's with this guy and smiling?

I thought to myself as I watched him walk away from me and sit on a bench-like-chair in the corner while the two left. He turned to look at me again and patted on the bench, motioning me to take a seat beside him but I ignored him as my mind kept thinking of ways to escape.

If I just run now then there is a 100% chance that he will shout for the men to come back and I didn't want that. I could just listen to him and then knock him out when the time is right.

He is all skin and bones after all.

Deciding to go with the second option, I continued to study him before taking a deep breath and then walking towards him. His black orbs watched me as I came to sit as far as I could from him on the bench-like-chair. My eyes gazed now fixed on my hands resting on my lap.

"What's your name?" He asked calmly, making sure not to scare me but boy was he doing the opposite. Shivers continuously ran down my spine as he continued to creepily move his body closer to mine.

Thankfully, he stopped at a certain point when he noticed that I was uncomfortable with it and apologised which caught me off guard. "Daddy just wanted to get closer his little princess."

“What do you mean? I ain't little. I am 17 and I am not your princess. And have a father of my own.” I snapped but I made sure not to raise my voice. The last thing I needed was attracting unwanted attention but that clearly wasn't the case for him.

"I'd watch that tone if I were you." He said firmly, completely changing his tone. I'm guessing he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. "You have a new life now so you better forget about the life you had before."

So much for the kind treatment.

What is he? Two face?

I opened my mouth to argue back but stopped when heard the brunette's voice again. She was announcing something again but what?

I felt my eyes widen and I stopped breathing when it finally hit me like a brick.

Ren!

I mentally slapped myself.

How could I forget him?!

I fought the urge to look towards the stage cause I knew that the old bastard was watching me. I didn't want him to know. "I.... I am sorry." I said, hoping that he would buy my act.

I need to stay here for the time being until Ren is brought over and then we can escape together.

The man stayed silent for a minute or two which lead me to think that he didn't buy it until his hand came into my view. He moved his hand over my lap before taking one of my hand into his.

"I know, Princess." He gave my hand a squeeze. "I am sorry for raising my voice."

He bought it!

He asked a few more questions after that and I answered quietly as I continued to keep my ears sharp. I felt a pang in my heart when I kept hearing the continues rattling of the chain. Biting my lip, I held back the tears as I imagined the situation Ren was in right now.

My heart broke into a dozen pieces when I heard Ren asking the brunette where I was, over and over again.

His name was at the tip of my tongue but I couldn't bring myself to say it. There were no men to restrain me and I could knock this guy out and run to Ren. But I need to wait.

The sound of lady announcing 'Sold!' was enough of a 'GO!' signal for me. I jolted up from the bench only to be pulled right back down. "Where are you going?" The old man asked as he continued to hold a tight grip on my arm. I tried to pull my arm away from him but he didn't budge.

So much for thinking he is all skin and bones.

"You aren't—!" He stopped when my fist came crashing into his face causing his body to fall backwards and hit his head pretty hard, against the arm of the seat before he fell unconscious.

That was fast...

"I should have done this before." I murmured, waving my hand in front of my chest to dull the slight ache in my fingers. He could be faking it but I ain't checking.

The voice of Ren's shouting became louder the next second which was good and bad news. I whipped my head from left to right then vice versa — searching for a place to hide. "Ah!" I whispered to myself as my eyes laid upon the huge painting in the corner, which was leaning against the wall. There were a few boxes beside it.

I took a step forward, ready to run towards it but stopped when i remembered the unconscious old man besided me.

Letting out a groan, I hurried closer towards the unconscious bastard, raised his skinny arm and pulled it over my shoulder.

Man is he heavy!

Gritting my teeth, I continued to drag the bastard to the dark corner. Moving the old painting away from the wall, I dropped his body behind it and I crouched down beside him before slowly pulling the painting to lean against us.

I could hear my heart wanting to jump out of my chest any second, leaving me to hope that it wasn't loud enough for others to hear. My breathing became rapid when a wave of negative thoughts filled my mind.

I started having second thoughts.

My mind was chaos by the time sound of strong footsteps came to a stop but Ren's shouting didn't. "Get your filthy hands off me!" Ren continued to scream his head off which was then followed by him shouting inappropriate words.

I wanted to take a peak but I didn't. The last thing I needed to was to get caught again. It was obvious that the two bulky men had dragged Ren here and they were still here cause if they weren't then Ren would have turned this place upside down.

"Leave us!" A dark voice echoed through the room, scaring the life out of me. I instantly covered my mouth with my hand, blocking any grasp that could manage to escape my lips.

"You heard him you—!" Ren suddenly got cut off before silence filled the room, leaving me confused for a little while before my eyes widened.

Wait!!! D-Did they—?!

I tensed when image of Ren's lifeless body came into mind but I immediately shoved it away knowing that it wasn't true.

Why would the guy waste money on him before killing him? He must have knocked him out.

Yes, that must be it.

Agreeing that Ren was only knocked out cold, I took a deep breath and decided to focus my attention back where it should be. Moving my head to my right, I tried to listen carefully as the footsteps of the two men walked away. I calmed down a little.

"You're gonna be really hard to handle." The dark voice sighed which was then followed by a few beeping sounds. "Bring the car around."

The guy had a weird accent which I couldn't figure out but there was one thing I was sure of, he wasn't French or Spanish. I had a friend who studied Spanish and a teacher who was French. And this guy sounds nothing like them.

I was pulled out of my train of thoughts when I heard footsteps slowly walk away. Getting the signal, I turned my gaze to the unconscious body beside me and quickly searched his pockets for the wallet. Pulling out the brown wallet, I then grabbed $1500 before putting it back in.

Taking a deep breath, I waited till I could hear no footsteps and then carefully pushed away the old painting slightly — in a way that I could see if any one was around or not.

Thankfully there wasn't anyone as far as I could see so I took the risk and crawled out behind the painting before getting up to my feet and running towards the exit with every strength I had left in me.

Grabbing the small door knob, I moved it downwards and push the door open. I only caught a glimpse of Ren's mocha hair as his unconscious body leaned against the window frame — before the SUV drove away.

As I ran after it— like a maniac on the loose to be exact— I kept repeating the number on the licences plate making sure to search for a taxi every now and then. The SUV took a turn and I did the same, only to slip on the wet side walk.

"Damn my luck!" I winced, pushing my body off the ground before getting back up to my feet. Thankfully, I didn't hit my head nor did I twist my ankle when I fell. The hoodie and trousers that I was wearing made sure that I didn't scrape any part of my body.

The SUV soon came to a stop at the at a red light and I took the opportunity to run like a maniac between the cars and look for a taxi.

Come on! Come on!

Checking every taxi that came in my way, I continued to give the drives a heart attack as I slammed my hands on the widow frame before checking the back seat creepily and running away. I bet looked like someone who came out of a horror movie. I mean, I did have the hoodie over my head and my hair wasn't actually combed so yeah.

"Ah!" The words escaped my lips when I noticed an empty taxi parked in front of the SUV. Not caring whether they see me or not, I rushed towards the taxi and knocked on the drivers window— not too impatiently. I didn't want to scare him before I got the chance to explain.

Turning to look at me, the driver jumped at my appearance and hesitated to whether listen to me or pray for the light to turn green and drive away — until I pleaded him. "It's an emergency!" I pulled the hoodie off my head and brushed away the hair from my face, hoping that it would make things better. He studied me for three seconds before unlocking the doors.

Letting out a sigh of relief, opened the back door, hopped in before slamming the door shut. I apologised immediately when he looked over his shoulder, towards me and gave me a 'are you planning to break the door?' look.

"Where are we headed to?" He asked, turning his attention back on the road.

"Um... I need you to follow the SUV behind us."

"Behind us?" He asked, turning to look at me again with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." I replied, not paying attention to him as I brushed away the stands of hair away from my face again before pulling the hoodie over my head. "Just don't drive when the light has turned green and they will have no choice but to take another lane and drive ahead of you." I said in a 'it's that easy' tone. He gave me another look but I just ignored him.

"Alright then." He turned his attention back at the road while throwing his hands half way up into the air before dropping them back down on his knees in a ‘whatever’ manner. I thanked him quietly, earning no response from him.

As light turned green, I quietly watched the cars drive past us. It didn't take long for the cars behind us to start honking. They went on and on and then changed the lanes, clearly annoyed. The first one to drive past us was, of course the SUV. As it drove past us, I noticed it's driver give my driver a deathly glare to which he shrugged in response — before the SUV zoomed away.

We followed.

I kept my eyes on the SUV ahead of us, fear building up inside of me.

Would it work?

I kept asking myself as i unconsciously dug my nails into the leather seat underneath me. I kept biting my lower lip while my breathing became rapid again. I needed to calm down before I make myself sick.

It had only been about fifteen minutes since we started following them and I was already freaking out. I looked around for a distraction and the world outside wasn't doing much at the time being. I turned to the look at the driver, choosing whether to start a conversation with him or not.

After a minute of thinking, I decided not to disturb him but study him quietly. The guy looked like he was in his late twenties. He had caramel coloured straight hair with light brow stripes and hazel eyes.

Hazel eyes...

The image of Ren's smiling cheekily crossed my mind and I lowered my gaze.

That baka...

"Uh lady, they stopped." The driver informed causing me to look back up.

That was fast.

I thought to myself as I leaned a little forward to take a closer look. It was true that they had stopped and so had we, just a little farther away from them and there were no cars parked between us which was not good.

"I will be getting off here." I said after thinking about it for a minute. I pulled out the crumbled up $500 that I had stolen from the old guy and handed to him. He studied it for a minute before turning to look at me. I only gave him a shrug, telling him that I didn't have the change.

It took him two whole minutes to run through his wallet and then hand me the change. I thanked him before stepping out of the car.

I heard the guy call me but I didn't turn to look at him. Taking a deep breath, I closed the car door — gently this time before heading towards the SUV.

What I was I going to do?

I wasn't sure myself.

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