A raucous cacophony of heavy male voices fled into my ears, only worsening the terror my body was withstanding. My skin fluctuated repeatedly between the epitome of freezing and scorching while ceasing to prevent the shakes that riffled throughout my veins. The tissue around my heart was diminishing with each second that passed by; the uncontrollable hammering of the organ being certain to take a toll on my body. My chest had tightened as if it were attempting to shroud itself from the evident danger that was palpable within the room, though this only made my breathing harder to control and resulted in my panic stricken state to worsen to the point in which my vision was no longer clear and any hope of rational thoughts was beyond futile.
"Adelaide," Bennett hissed, squeezing my palm as he took note of my frenzied state. "Look I need you to breathe. I'm going to get you out of here, but for that I need to you breathe. This probably won't make any sense, but I know what I'm doing, okay? I need you to listen."
"I'm listening," I stammered, finally settling my breathing.
"We can't just sit here, they're going to find us. We're not sheltered enough, and we don't have many options, so we're going to give away that we're here. That sounds insane, I know it does, but I promise you that I have this planned out. Just don't take your eyes away from me okay? They want you alive. They're not going to do anything to you. I can assure you of that."
"And you?"
"They clearly want me dead, but they'll be sure to drag that out, which will give me time to get you out. Watch for my signal, and then you run. I need to you ignore the pain, and run, run as far and as fast as you can. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes."
"I love you," he rushed, gripping my body rigidly against his chest as if it was going to disintegrate right before his tear swelling eyes. "I love you more than anything, you know that right?"
"It's what's keeping me alive right now," I sighed. "And I love you."
"We need to go," he reminded, pulling away from our embrace to take my hand and hoist me to my feet.
After one final kiss to my temple and conformation that I was okay for him to proceed, though I doubted that I ever would be able to prepare myself for what was to unfold, he released the magazine from his pistol. The sound of it contacting heavily with the floor hurled to each corner of the room, silencing the blather that had previously suffocated the area.
A small murmur met my ears not a second later, and before either Bennett or I could make another move, steady footsteps were pounding our way. I tried my best to keep my breathing at bay, my ears on high alert for every minimal sound.
Bennett kept my hand gripped tightly in his palm, his back shielding my chest as we anticipated our trackers motives. The firm tread was the only sound audible, aside from the miscellaneous hushed whispers which increased in volume as the seconds passed by. Then, within the blink of an eye, Bennett was strewn from my grip and shoved aggressively into the threatening hold of two men.
"It's them sir," one of them commanded, somewhat in elation, a sinister grin spreading across his face as Bennett struggled helplessly in his grip.
Another two men came idly forward, dressed as the rest were, in all black and shifting menacing rifles within their hands. They clenched my arms, their restraint leaving my skin aching and begging for a release of their clad hold, but their aggression ceased to mercy as I was thrown brutally across the floor and into the centre of the room.
The lights flickered on, letting my eyes catch full sight of everyone around me, though I dismissed all of the armed men around the room, aside from one. Legrenzi. He stood smugly at the back, a parade of men guarding either side of his body as he watched Bennett carefully. His hair, which had been black for the majority of his life time, was now showing evidence of aging with silvers strands being more than noticeable at the corners of his hairline. His skin, likewise, was aging and showed clear evidence of a life of crime, with various scratches and scraps craving deeply into his flesh. One scar in particular was most striking, and ranged across the entirety of his left cheek, only aiding to disfigure his already sinister smirk.
"Look who finally decided to show up," he sneered, his feet stalking forward in the process. "You know, I always thought that you'd had a good upbringing, been taught the correct manners but considering you haven't been answering my calls for months, then I suppose that I was mistaken."
"You're the last person I'd answer a call from," Bennett spoke dryly in response. "I want nothing to do with you. I think I made that very clear when I left."
"Left for that little girlfriend of yours?" He retorted as he slowly trailed his eye line from Bennett to me. "You've caused me a whole lot of trouble Adelaide, and you of all people should know that I don't appreciate trouble. Especially when it involves hunting you down from across the other side of the country. Surly you must have realised that we were going to find you, no matter how hard your prince charming over there tried to protect you. It was inevitable. Handing yourself in would have therefore made the whole situation easier for all of us."
"It's not really me that you want though is it?" I spat, finding the confidence in my words from an area that wasn't sourceable in my mind. "This is your twisted way of getting your son back."
The courage that had once loomed over my body dissipated the second that Legrenzi stepped forward, slashing his hand against my cheek in a menacing slap. "Considering your current situation, I suggest that you bite your tongue."
"Don't touch her," Bennett seethed from beside us, his shoulders fighting against his abductor's grip in rage.
"Oh I do apologise," Legrenzi mocked, titling his head to the side patronisingly. "I wouldn't want to damage that pretty face of yours, but then again you had no problem disrupting mine, so why shouldn't I do the same to your little bird?"
"You deserved that. You deserve everything that's coming your way."
"Too bad that you won't be here to see all of that happen then," Legrenzi sighed, feigning upset. "You're lucky that she's still alive, after all, it is your fault that she's gotten tied up in all of this."
"She doesn't need to be involved, you just dragged her in for your own psychotic thrill."
"I won't deny that it amuses me, seeing you all worked up over her," he laughed threateningly. "But this is just a phase, you'll soon realise what a mistake it was leaving my co-operation."
"The only mistake I made was not leaving when mum did," Bennett hissed.
"I've told you before to be careful with your words son," he reminded slowly. "They're only going to make this worse for you to watch."
My body at this point, having gone through an uncountable amount of hours consumed under the relentless agony, seemed numb to pain, so when Legrenzi's palm once again made forceful contact with my skin, the wince that left my lips was one out of instinct rather than pain.
I kept my eyes slammed shut, unable trusting myself to not crumble to pieces if I were to catch sight of the anguish that was certain to be clawing at Bennett's features. A second strike fell upon my face, followed by another as I unwillingly fell to my knees. The pain soon began to seep into my senses as my mental defence began crumbling with every hit that was thrown my way. His slaps morphed into assaultive punches, beating all areas of my swelling face, from my jaw to temple and left my body weak to the extent that if it weren't for the men holding up my hunched body, I would have surly collapsed onto the cold flooring.
Bennett ceased to stop his shouts of protest and although he knew they were useless, the words were still ripped relentlessly from his throat as he throttled his body around, my eyes only having the ability to open partially enough to catch sight of his tear drenched face once.
It wasn't long before all the energy had been drained from my body completely, only leaving my mind to slowly slip away as it attempted to comprehend the agony my entirety was exerting itself under, though any mental strength to stay conscious slipped away the second that Legrenzi hurled his leg in a kick at my ribs. My body lurched backwards until my spine slammed into the concrete of the floor, the screech that left my lungs silencing the instant that my head made forceful contact with a solid object scattered on the floor. The rest of my body lay motionless, my mind only staying awake for a second longer to hear the demented laugh leave Legrenzi's lips as his son screamed out in unexplainable agony.
