(Reader discretion advised. 18+ mature content)
A splash of water on her face jolted her back to consciousness. Her head was pulled back by the hair. A finger pushed her right eyelid open.
“Wakey, wakey!” a mealy-mouthed voice teased her.
Ashley opened her other eye and stared at the person roughing her up. He was a bearded man, middle-aged, with pockmarked cheeks and a buzz cut. He had deep-set, cruel eyes which looked at her with disdain.
“Bre! Kurva je budna, Pav! (Ah! the slut is awake, Pav!).”
The man called Pavlov walked up to Ashley and took a gander at her face.
A dimmed spotlight hovered over her on a tripod.
“Izgleda lepo bez sminke (She looks pretty with ruined makeup too, eh)?” Pavlov observed with a grin. His teeth were black, perhaps from smoking and tobacco chews.
“Zaista (Indeed),” the bearded man replied.
As blood rushed to her head, Ashley opened her mouth to voice surprise at her plight. She quickly realized, however, that her throat was parched. In fact, it burned as if she had swallowed raw chilies.
“Wat-”
“Eh?”
“Water, please-”
Pavlov scoffed and left her field of view for a minute. He came back with a pet water bottle. The Serb put the bottle to his mouth and gargled with some water. Then he spat it back into the bottle.
Ashley looked on, barely able to comprehend what was happening. She was so dehydrated that her eyes could not focus properly.
Pavlov came over to her and shoved the bottle in her mouth.
“Ovako ti se sviđa, kurvo (This is the way you like it, slut),” he mumbled, sniggering.
Ashley gagged on the water at first. It tasted and smelled like tobacco and rotten meat. She guzzled it down nonetheless.
“Cak ni prostitutka koju sam danas posevio nije tako lako progutala moju pljuvacku!” (Even the whore I fucked today did not swallow my saliva so readily),” Pavlov quipped.
Both men guffawed and patted each other’s backs.
With water in her system, Ashley’s vision gained stability, and she looked down at herself.
She was secured by duct tape to what appeared to be an engineering table. The drafting surface had been inclined to make her stand up. The tape went across her waist, pinning both arms to the table. Her legs were firmly bound to the furniture.
‘Is this some weird dream I am having?’ Ashley wondered.
She tried to gain a perspective of her surroundings, still fighting to gain her senses.
It was late at night, perhaps a couple of hours before sunrise. She was on the terrace of a building. The terrace was at least fifty feet across. It was under construction. Mortar, bricks, and masonry equipment were scattered around. The engineering table made sense after a survey of her environment.
The two men muttered to each other in Serb and sniggered unabashedly.
“Pogledaj kurvu, pokusavajucci da dobije smisao (Look at the slut, trying to make sense of this),” Pavlov remarked.
Ashley turned her head towards the duo.
Her memories flooded back all at once.
‘The Blaznavac! The luksuzni! The coffee!’
‘I was drugged again!’ she figured.
‘Stupid, stupid, stupid Ashley!’
‘Not again! Not fucking again! Goddammit!’
“Pogledajte je u panici (Look at her panicking).” The Serbs laughed at her some more.
“Who are you?” Ashley demanded. “Let me go at once!”
“Ona govori! (Ah, she speaks!),” Pavlov declared. “Razgovaras sa njom, Nic (You talk to her, Nic). Moj engleski je sranje (My spoken English is shitty).”
The bearded man leaned closer to Ashley and spoke.
“Greetings, Miss. I am Nicolai. My associate here is Pavlov. You took your time waking up. As you can see, you are under our, uh, protective care.”
Ashley widened her eyes, mustered some strength, and screamed at the top of her lungs.
Both men covered their ears, and then Pavlov approached the table and clocked her across the face.
Ashley saw stars. She tasted blood in her mouth.
“Miss, no one can hear you,” Nikolai continued. “We are on the 22nd floor of a building under construction. However, we would appreciate it if you did not make any noise. My associate, Pavlov, is sensitive to loud noises. He once cut off the tongue of one of his captives. Consider it a friendly warning. Please give us a sign that you understand this much.”
Ashley nodded. Getting her tongue cut off right then was not at the top of her list. Her head was still reeling from the last punch.
“Excellent! Now let me explain the situation to you.”
“I know the situation!” Ashley fired back. “You are Scarlet’s lackeys! Doing her vengeful bidding!”
Nicolai and Pavlov exchanged glances.
“What nonsense you speak, Miss? We do not know this Scarlet you speak of,” Nicolai replied.