Keeping his bride

“Aria! Aria!” I can hear Renato’s frantic screams from the cell phone, which is now lying on the floor next to our feet.

People are crying, screaming and trying frantically to escape, and anyone that moves is just being mowed down by the gunmen. I hold my hands over my ears, trying to silence the horrific sounds as panic bubbles up inside of my chest.

The gunfire suddenly comes to a stop. Aria looks at me with a wide, unfocused gaze. “We need to get out of here,” she pleads, her voice trembling. I think she’s going into shock.NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.

“Stay low,” I tell her quickly.

We climb out from under the table, and Aria snatches up her phone at the last second, holding it in a vice grip in her hand.

The nearest exit is by the restrooms, and so I pull Aria along towards them.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” a deep, familiar voice calls out to me.

My body locks up like a statue, and my feet suddenly freeze to the floor. I can’t even force myself to move, so I yell to Aria, “Go! Get out of here!” She needs to save herself. If Constantine is here, he’s here for me, not her. She needs to get as far away from me as possible if she has any hope of escaping and getting help.

“I’m not leaving you!” she cries, tears streaming down her pretty face as she pulls on my arm.

“Get out before it’s too late!” I hiss at her, pushing her away from me. It’s me he wants. It’s always been me. I refuse to let her get into this mess with me. She doesn’t deserve to witness the horrors I have. If I have to sacrifice myself to save her, I will. I always will.

Sobbing, she finally turns and runs out the door at the end of the hall. And a sense of relief passes through me knowing that she won’t be caught up in this mess.

I turn and look upon the devil himself. Constantine is in his normal attire – a dark and expensive tailored suit that costs more than most people’s monthly rent. His short, salt and pepper hair looks immaculately styled; not a single hair out of place.

“Did you miss me?” Constantine asks with a wry smile. He looks the same as the last time I saw him. Still as handsome as ever and pristine. Still with that ever-present cruel smirk gracing his lips. Still evil.

Aria’s screams tear through the hallway, and I watch in horror as one of Constantine’s goons manhandles her back into the club and forces her to stand beside me.

“I’ll go with you,” I tell Constantine quickly. “Just let her go.”

He lets out a deep, hearty laugh. “Oh, you think you make the rules now, my little pet?” he asks.

I cringe at his nickname for me. I never thought I would hear those words come out of his mouth again. I had nightmares about it, but I didn’t think I would have to live it all over again.

I was safe.

I was actually safe.

And I left my sanctuary.

What the hell was I thinking?

I want to be mad at Aria, but she didn’t force me to go. I wanted to go. I just wanted to be normal. Was that so much to ask for?

Yes, the little nagging voice in the back of my head tells me. Look what happened the moment you let your guard down.

For years, I’ve never let my guard down. Not even once. I never could when I was living in constant fear and distress.

Constantine walks over to us. His hand reaches out to touch me, but I grimace and move away from him. “It seems my little pet has lost her manners,” he says through gritted teeth. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you your manners again. I’ll beat the fucking defiance out of you until you can no longer walk.” He hauls his hand back and slams his fist into the side of my head.

The side of my face explodes with pain. Grunting, I fall to my hands and knees. I can’t even remember the last time I felt this much pain. I’ve grown weak in my time apart from him. It used to take a hell of a lot more than just a punch to make me crumble.

“Leave her alone!” Aria starts screaming, and I wince.

Looking up, I watch Constantine walk over to her. His fingertips graze along her cheek and her jaw, before he wraps his hand around her neck and lifts her face to get a better look. “And you must be Aria Vitale. My god, you look just like your mother,” he says in awe, and I can see the lust in his eyes. “Oh, I’m going to have fun with you. All the fun I was denied with her thanks to your no-good father.”

Anger boils up inside of me, overflowing to the point where I can’t contain it anymore. All the years of abuse. All the years of fear. Everything has built up to this.

Screaming, I pull myself up to a standing position and lunge for Constantine, determined to scratch his eyeballs out. My nails manage to score his cheek before I’m suddenly hauled backwards by one of his men. The man holds my arms down in a vice grip, and I fight him like a wild animal until I wear myself out and go limp in his hold.

Constantine pulls a white handkerchief out of his suit pocket and wipes at his face, staring down at the blood when he pulls it away. A hearty chuckle escapes his chest before his dark eyes lock onto me. “Save your strength, little pet. You’re going to need it for what I have planned for you,” he threatens. Then, he looks to his men. “Hurry up and frisk them, and then let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Where are you taking us?” Aria screams.

I know she still has the phone hidden somewhere. Hopefully Renato is still listening, but I doubt if Constantine will give our next location out that easily.

“We’re going on a little boat ride,” he says with an evil grin before leaving the club, walking over dead bodies as he goes.

Police sirens can be heard in the distance while four men roughly search Aria and me, tearing at our clothes and putting their fingers and hands in places they shouldn’t be.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Aria screeches. “Don’t! Stop!” Despite her best efforts to fight the men off, they manage to manhandle her until they find what they’re looking for.

“Cell phone,” one of the men calls out as he pulls it out of Aria’s bra. He takes the device, drops it to the floor and smashes it against the concrete with the heel of his heavy boot.

A sob escapes Aria then, and I know exactly what she’s thinking. They’ll never be able to find us now. We’ll be taken, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do to change that.