Rescue

Aelin woke up groggily. Her head hurt and she found that she was lying on a cold floor. Her hands were bound and immovable. She didn't make any sound. She pretended she was still unconscious and silently listened to what they were saying.

A cell phone suddenly rang in the warehouse.

"Hello?" One of the man answered the phone, Aelin was strung up.

"I'll give you seven hours to release our men. Seven hours later if I can't see them safely transferred out of country X, then you won't get to see this bitch either." The man said coldly.

She didn't know what was being said on the other side of the phone but the man hang up the call angrily.

"Bitch! Looks like you are not much important to him." Her heart sank. He pulled her hair, "Are you pretending to be unconscious? You think you can fool me"

She opened her eyes.

"You are just a whore, aren't you?" another man chimed in.

"Brother, let's have a taste."

For a moment, Aelin was confused finding it difficult to differentiate between reality and dream. She thought she was having another nightmare. She had the odd sensation of her nipples being tugged through her dress.

Instinctively, she pushed,  when she realized it was soneone's hand, she finally broke through the haze. She tried to scream and struggle but her hands were bound. When she felt a mouth on her breast, sucking harder, a yelp escaped her lips.

"Shhh, you just have to do what you always do." The voice was feminine – Mia's.  She tried to scream again and a hand covered her mouth. Too heavy and large to belong to Mia. "Why are you trying to pretend to be innocent, when you are clearly not?" She heard another voice from behind.

Fabric ripped and my legs was suddenly bare revealing my innerwear. The man on top of me wasted no time in sucking my breast into his mouth. I kicked wildly, but he forced his way between my legs and his naked chest lay on mine.

"Don't be shy baby, I have seen lots of bitches like you" And then he let out the shrill laughter.

"Flip her over," said the other man.

They bent her into an impossibly uncomfortable position. Her mind sober, flashed with horrific scenarios.  In one quick movement, She bit into a man's shoulder so hard his blood seemed to squirt into her mouth. He howled. The next moment, He grabbed her hair and she heard the awful crunch of his fist connecting with her face. He kept kicking her repeatedly in the ribs. Her breath protested and all she heard was Crack. Crack. Crack.

Then gunshots.

Then someone's voice.

Then she remember nothing because her body was shaking, and she drifted away.

...........

Darius and his men had already surrounded the area when they made the call. It was in an  broken down factory in the old industrial area. She was locked in the basement. His men were hiding in the other buildings surrounding the factory. The sniper's were also in position. Everything was ready. They just needed one moment of distraction and they can rescue Aelin. He thought.

Aelin, Please wait for me.

Just a moment, and I will be there.

And I will never let anything like this happen again.

I promise.

.....

Rat-tat-tat-tat. Creak. BOOM. The door was kicked in. Racing footsteps. Startled yelps and angry shouts.

More gunfire. Yells. Screams. His heart is pounding so hard, it sounds like a drum in his ears. This was the first time he was nervous in a mission. Darius has killed countless men, entered numerous battlefield. But his heart never pounded like this. He needed to calm down. He needed to be calm to rescue his Aelin.

He left the fighting to his subordinates and rushed towards the basement. Archer, my right hand was the first to kick open the last door. Two men followed in. Then more sounds of gunfire.

Everything was settled before he entered the room. But the scene that greeted him startled him.

His Aelin was lying there, clothes torn, bleeding.

He was terrified.

Was I late?

Oh God! No! No! No!

Please be alive! Please!

He ran towards her. Hugging her in his chest.

She was breathing. Barely.

He sighed in relief.

"Ready the helicopter, now." He shouted towards Archer.

"Call Vaskov. Standy him. We need to reach the mansion in five minutes"

Everyone moved swiftly. Just moments later, we were on our way back.