Isla
A bucket of cold water startles me awake, followed by a pair of hands yanking at my feet. I’m dragged down a hallway despite clawing at the walls and floors to gain some sort of leverage. I take in my surroundings, noticing we go in a different direction this time. We pass an old and dusty–looking reception area. The large, semi–circular desk reading “Ward B” as we pass. We round a few more corners before I’m dragged into another room, equally as old and abandoned. The fight flickers above as two hands reach down to grab my arms. I swing my head to the side, latching onto skin with my teeth as the victim screams, yanking their hand away and I spit a chunk of flesh onto the ground as I smile up at the retreating figure. A second man kicks me harshly in the ribs and then the face before he grabs me and I’m quite literally tossed. My hand hits something hard before my body is submerged into icy cold water. Before I have a chance to react, a metal plate comes down and I’m squinting through the water as it burns my eyes. There’s one hole near my feet that I can see the flickering light through, and I quickly maneuver my body around to place my face through it as much as possible. I take a large breath of air just as Pedro’s smug face appears above me.
“Good morning, Princess.” He spits out.
“I’m going out today. Don’t cause too much trouble in my absence, okay?” He laughs out and then he leaves. I can’t move my face at all unless I don’t want air, but I’m pretty sure everyone has left the room. It’s just me and my shaking body inside of a god dam ice tub from hell, oh and the little blinking light from the camera placed directly above me. Great.
Ariana
It’s been six hours since our last update on my baby girl. We’ve taken it in shifts to rest, much to everyone’s protesting. It’s early morning, well before the sun is up as I sit on the couch in Nico’s house watching the blank TV screen, waiting for any sign of life from my daughter when the TV finally lights up. Another soundless video plays and I tilt my head to try and figure out what I’m seeing. At first it just looks like a flooring of some sort, but then it ripples. It’s water…a tub maybe, definitely metal. A minute passes before a body is thrown in, I’d notice that hair anywhere, just as dark and unruly as my own. It’s a few seconds before a big metal lid is slid over the tub. I watch the hands, taking note of any features, I can make out to distinguish who I’ll be killing. One of the four hands is bleeding, missing a chunk of flesh. “That’s my girl“, I think to myself. There’s a singular hole in the lid, but Isla was thrown in at the opposite end and I hold my breath until I see her face come up for air. I get one glimpse at her before the back of Pedro’s head covers her. He hovers over her for just a minute before he leaves and I’m left looking at my daughter’s chattering teeth as she stares directly into the
camera.
Yesterday, ECT, today, submersion. Typical torture methods that were used in old insane asylums. They have her in an asylum. Now I just need to figure out which one. I grab the laptop, and split the screen to start researching any old and abandoned sites even remotely close to where we are. I consistently look back at Isla’s face as she holds her composure. After some hours I see something flicker in her eyes, then her mouth opens. She’s saying something, but I can’t hear it. She repeats, over and over and over again until I think I make out, “W–w–w–w–w a–a–a–a–a r–r–r–r–r d–d–d–d–d–d b–b–b–b- b“. I write down each letter as I recognize them and I have now written on the note pad in front of me “Ward B.” She must have figured out that we might possibly be watching. She’s trying to tell us what she knows. My girl is fighting.
The sun has finally risen and I’ve been watching the same screen for hours as Isla continues to mouth ward B.
“What the fuck?!” Nico says as he scrambles to my side. “Why didn’t you wake me?!”
“And risk taking my eyes off the screen?” I say without looking at him.
He grunts, rubbing his eyes. “What happened?”
“She was tossed into the tub, Pedro might have said something to her quickly before he left and she’s been alone since
2/1
then.”
“What is she saying?”
“Ward B. I think she’s being held in an insane asylum. Ward B must be where she currently is.”
“Any other updates?”
I quickly check the time. “No, but the twelve–hour mark is approaching. Go and wake everyone.”
People begin filling the room again. Luciano brings me a breakfast wrap and coffee as I refuse to take my eyes off the screen and Matteo takes the information I’ve found and starts his own investigation as we wait for the update. Every minute feels like torture until the screen changes. Words fill the screen, and the same location drop from before.
“Ariana Donatello. Come alone and unarmed or your daughter dies.” It shows a countdown timer of one hour, so I get to my feet, pulling the weapons off my body and laying them down on the couch.
“You can’t go alone!” Mason says quickly.
“I can, and I will. That’s my daughter in there, and you might not understand just yet, but a parent will lay down their own life for their children.”
I look at my husbands who have fleeting emotions of fear and worry before they replace them stoically. Luciano puts his hand on my shoulders.
“If anyone can get Isla out of there, it’s my wife. As much as I hate this idea, I’ve learnt over these years that you are more than capable of holding your own. Do what you need to, kill everyone you can, and we’ll be here working from the outside.”
I nod, giving my family each a minute of my attention before I’m ready to go. Matteo quickly scrambles to the door with a little device.
“GPS tracker?” I smirk.
“Of course. Lead us right to them, Donna.” He winks and I take the small chip and the knife he holds out. I cut a small hole in the wiring of my bra and shove it inside and Matteo shows me a thumbs up that it’s online and working.
“Alright, time for me to roll some fucking heads.”
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