Untouchable by Marii Solaria

Chapter 75 – The Trio

“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”— Laurell K. Hamilton

Violetta

“Piece of shit! Let me go! Let me go!!”

The world was a fucked–up place if it allows a seven–foot–tall, muscle man–animal to kidnap me. One minute I was heading to my hotel to meet up with my bandmates to discuss our next gig and the next, I was snatched into an alleyway. I didn’t stand a chance.

I could’ve fought back if only I could access power, but as before, it was like hitting an impenetrable wall. A wall that refused to budge no matter the amount of force I hit it with. Frustration boiled through me like a rumbling geyser threatening to shoot out of its prison. But there was not much I could do. I was a squirrel compared to this behemoth.

Arms bound behind my back in metallic wrist cuffs, my body was thrown into the back of a moving truck. Head hitting the floor, I groaned in pain as the buff man gagged me with a piece of cloth, tightening it on the back of my curly hair. Within seconds, the doors sealed me inside the truck, bathing me in darkness.

Breathing. I hear gentle breathing. There were other people here with me. I couldn’t see them through the pitch–black darkness, but I stay put than to risk a broken ankle. As the truck moved, I crawled to the wall and sat silently, thinking through all that happened.

Never have I thought I’d get kidnapped. I worked too hard to get my life on the path I deserved, and now it was going down the drain. Again. After escaping the underwater hellscape I once called home, to forming my new family with those I love, I ended up in a shitshow once more.

Life must love me. Note the sarcasm.

wasn’t

The ride is far from comfortable. With every bump in the road, it knocked me on my side. Getting up easy with my hands bound behind me. Heat rolled into the dark truck, trapping me and the others in a slow- stoking inferno. Breathing became a task comparable to pushing a boulder. My ears picked up the sudden changes of breathing in the darkness with soft moans, but it all soon fell into silence.

Having a conversation with my fellow kidnapees was off the table, it seemed.

After what seemed like hours, the truck came to a sudden halt. A minute went by and the truck doors open to reveal my abductor. Stone–faced, he yanked me out of the truck and tossed me on my feet, but his strength miscalculated the velocity of the toss. I ended up face planting on the ground.

Fucking hell! Fucking brute!

“Stay.” Was all it demanded, cold and firm. Like he was speaking to a lowly peasant. While I struggled to stand like a newborn fowl, the kidnapper forced two more people out of the truck, gargantuan hands wrapped firmly around their upper arms. One whimpered while the other struggled like a trapped bird.

One woman looked familiar. The strawberry–blond was a beautiful woman, but I’ve never seen her before. The shorter curly–haired one I had seen; I was sure of it.

Chapter 15. Treina

“Move. Try to escape, and I would crush your skulls.” With a hand bigger than my face, the threat became real. He’ll kill us if we tried anything funny. I couldn’t die! I have so much to live for and a partner who must be so worried about me.

the thought of Manny and Marina, frantically calling my bandmates about my whereabouts. They all must be freaking out. I’ve never

have

an isolated path in the middle of a heavily dense forest with the brute behind us, watching our every move. The sun was setting below the

leave me with a good feeling.

echoed as we drew closer to a large facility. Concrete, grim, secluded–not an ideal place for kidnapees. My brain was the worst at handling stressful situations because every horrific possibility floods my mind

Sexual slavery. Human trafficking. All morally depraved scenarios continued swimming in. And my knees buckle with every step I take. Walking toward the entrance, the

also didn’t

working to maintain the place. The prisoners were pulled by chains

fuck

dressed weirdly in a gloomy place like this. Her blue eyes and exhausted and held the weight of sadness. Like she was forced to do this. Blond

around her neck. “T–Take them…” The woman took a deep breath. “Take them downstairs where they’ll stay before

muffles because of the cloth gag around my mouth, heavy in my mouth by saliva.

like we had

Someone was down here cleaning up, probably to hide evidence of what happened before our arrival. We passed by several steel

one of my fellow kidnapees. I don’t know why,

15 The Tro

further.

empty holding cell,

Kiya

No!

not going into a cell! I couldn’t go

every bodily system I have. Fight or flight mode activates, and I was given the choice to stay and fight or flee. I chose to flee. Flee from the impending doom that laid behind the steel

how cockroaches were hard to get rid of? Like when you thought you got rid of them all, they come back at the most inconvenient of times? That’s like my memories. Dark memories

One.

Five.

Twenty–Five.

Hundreds.

gentle, palpitated in a beat I was all too familiar with. Bronchial tubes tightened as my lungs burned for the oxygen they couldn’t get. As fast as I

It laughed at my choice of flight, reminding me

he threw me in the cell with my arms

We’re trapped.

the first time in five years.

Artemis yelled in worry. “Focus on me, please! Don’t let the pain take

breathe. I couldn’t stop crying or shaking. I didn’t want to be here. I felt like Halima. I felt like the little girl forced to live in prison for years, making

through my body, bringing forth special

forced to exist with the reminders of my family’s hatred and neglect. Reminders that I’ll never truly be loved. Or