Sofia

Water trickled somewhere, drop by drop. It echoed inside the dimly lit room I was put in.

Every waking moment since the past five days, I've heard the water trickle. The air conditioning kicked in around noon and the trickling fastened. By evening, more sounds hummed inside the room.

There was a small glass pane through which I could see the darker corridor. Nico, who had frequently visited me since my kidnapping, had ensured I had all the luxury of a comfortable chair I was tied up in.

My hands were tied behind to a metal chair. I was only set free when it was time to eat - a three-course meal - three times a day. A guard with a covered face and bulletproof jacket would tower over me, watching my every move.

Since the day I was kidnapped, I was put inside a dark room from where no amount of my yelling and screaming could be heard outside. I was foolish to believe Nicolas would capture me and put me in someplace where there would be people around.

Nowhere close to civilization - I presume - I was tired after the second day. My body had given up, especially my throat from all the screaming.

The only way to understand if it was night or day was from the arrival of food. Breakfast was lavish (according to the prisoner's standard I was in). Toast, scrambled eggs and a whole lot of fruits as if Nicolas wanted my energy up in the day.

During lunch, he was generous enough to let me see Aurelia. He would monitor our activity and constantly look over his shoulder whenever I fed her.

They say beggars can't be choosers and I was in a similar situation.

Though kept captive, I was allowed to see my daughter. It was a luxury I was thankful for. I even ensured I played nicely for Aurelia.

For the past five days, all I've been thinking about were the ways to escape.

Gemma had taught me a lot of survival skills but nothing prepared me for what motherhood does to a woman.

I was constantly worried for Aurelia and every thought of me escaping was marred by the fact that she was kept away from me.

I would never leave without her. I would never abandon my daughter.

Nicolas knew how much I needed Aurelia. He ensured any will I conjured to escape, was broken, as soon as I saw my daughter.

"Where are you Al," I whispered into my chest.

My eyelids grew heavy, and my breath staggered. The humid air inside the room was stale. The air conditioning hadn't kicked in yet. It was still morning, perhaps the wee hours of the night before someone would come and attend to me.

The metal door towards the corridor creaked.

I forced my eyes shut, leaning my head backwards.

Lights - dim and at a distance - suddenly shone brightly.

The inside of my eyes burnt and watered. My senses smelled something familiar.

The scent of something ebony.

Nico was here.

As soon as the door to my room dragged open, the rusty hinges cried, I looked away.

"Is that how you greet me now, darling?" Nico asked, stepping inside. He pushed the door to close, leaning on the side. "Looking away when I come."

I didn't answer. It enraged him further, I could tell from the way he spoke, words spilling from between his teeth.

"Sofia Salazar." His footsteps dragged on the floor, his boots crunched residual sand and dirt from underneath the sole. "Why are you still angry at me?"

"Untie me and I'll tell you, face to face."

"Ohh, feisty..." He clapped, leaning near me.

I looked away but he clutched my jaw and turned me to face him. The kindness that I once witnessed in his eyes, the way he used to smile - softly before his smile flooded his face - was gone.

The man I faced now was a vile and corrupt version of the once kind person I knew.

"Sofia," Nico dragged a chair from the corner. The harsh sound of metal on the cemented floor hurt my ears. "How about we both stop this."

"Stop what?"

"Being angry at one another."

"I've no reason to be angry at you, Nicolas. My husband will do that for me. In fact," I leaned back on the chair. "I'll have you know that my entire family can take care of the getting angry part. I..." I leaned forward. "...will do the opposite of being angry."

His eyebrows bridged.

"I'll take care of the getting to kill you part."

As soon as I said those words, his laughter echoed inside the room.

The air suddenly felt cold, and it wasn't the air conditioning.

It was the way Nicolas was peering at me - a vicious, crooked smile when he leaned nearer to the side of my face.

"I'll have you know, my darling," he whispered. "That you've already killed me. When I first met you, you killed me with your looks and your words."

My skin crawled backwards. As if every cell inside my body was dying, I felt nauseous and dizzy at the same time.

"And let me tell you one more thing, Sofia." Nico walked behind me. Something clicked. The zip tied holding arresting my wrists snapped. "It wouldn't have come to that had you simply decided to come back to Spain with me."

"And leave my husband?"

"He's not your husband." Nico hollowed. "He was never meant to be yours."

My left ear rang, and the side of my face where he leaned now, felt warmer. It wasn't the good kind of warmth. It felt like the marshy warmth when something died.

Maybe it was the way I conjured things in my mind - of my family rescuing me - and every day that passed since, a little part of me, a little hope that I held onto, died.

"Understand once and for all, Sofia." Nico pressed his weight over my shoulder and pulled me up. "Nobody is coming for you. Nobody can come for you or me."

Was he telling the truth?

I'd known Nico for a long time to know he didn't lie without his telltale signs.

He didn't stutter, neither did he look away from me when he spoke.

Was nobody coming for me?

Not even Alejandro?

Nico turned around and walked towards the door and pounded. The guard standing outside nodded his head and walked away.

Within moments, I could hear the sound of tiny footsteps approaching, as soon as Nico opened the door.

Aurelia stood at the entrance, holding her raggedy doll and a smile on her face. I've been given the privilege of seeing my daughter once a day, and mostly during lunch.

Today, that schedule changed.

Something wasn't right.

"Mama," Aurelia said and ran towards me.

Her sprint ceased when Nicolas held her elbow and pulled her towards him.

"Leave my daughter," my arms sprang up, my feet fired. "Don't you dare touch her."

The guard at the entrance stood between me and Nicolas.

"What do you want?" I said to Nicolas, but my eyes were trained on my daughter.

Her smile had faded. Yesterday, she assured me that she'd be strong for both of us.

Seeing her mother in distress, Aurelia's brows bridged. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her doll. She looked up at Nicolas and back at me.

"You'd get to have your time with Aurelia as soon as you start obeying, Sof."

"Don't call me that," I yelled.

The effect I expected to have on Nicolas - of hurt - didn't happen. Instead, my daughter moved a couple of steps backwards.

"Look, Sof. Look. You're scaring your daughter."

Nicolas chuckled, tapping at the open door. Another guard emerged from the dark alley.

"Nico, wait..." I knew they had come to take Aurelia.

In the five days since my kidnapping, the only thing that kept me sane was seeing my daughter. In knowing that she wasn't hurt.

The way today was turning out to be, I wasn't sure if I could keep Aurelia safe. Hell, I wasn't sure if I would be safe anymore.

"Please." My fists intertwined. "I'm begging. Please don't hurt her."

"Why would I hurt our daughter, Sof," Nicolas signalled to the guard at the entrance and he walked away with Aurelia.

My daughter turned around as she was carried away. She smiled at me like it wasn't some strangers who were taking her but someone known and familiar. She waved at me - a signal she'd told me she'd show if she wanted to tell me to be strong.

Aurelia Moralez, a six-year-old kid was being strong for both of us.

I, on the other hand, crumbled.

My knees hit the floor. The weight of the incident, the fact that I've heard nothing about Alejandro, coupled with the fact that Nicolas called my daughter 'ours' hit me.

Something hammered from inside my head. My throat dried.

"What do you mean our daughter?"

I wished as soon as I asked, to have died. Because I knew what the answer would be.

"Come on, Sof. How can you act so dumb." Nicolas knelt before me, wiping away wisps of hair from my face. "You've known that I've loved you. You still know that I do."

"I'm married, Nico." My mouth soured in calling him something that I used to - something that I called when I knew he cared for me and would never hurt me. "I'm a Moralez."

"What marriage, Sof?" Like that question needed an answer, he leaned further down to match my eyesight. "What contractual obligation are you talking about? Alejandro doesn't want you. No less that you do."

"Things are different now." Maybe, if I explained.

Maybe. It was such a funny word. It gave us hope in the bleakest of times. And hope was the only thing I had. Hope, that my husband would arrive and take me and our daughter from this hell hole.

Hope that Nicolas would take pity on me.

Hope, that this was all a dream.

"You're better than that, my love." Nico chucked. "You should know by now, no matter what, Alejandro would never love you. He's never the one to take a wife, seriously. Don't you remember..." He grabbed my jaw and peered into my eyes. "Remember when you told him you were barren? And how he left you."

"And now we have a daughter. So you do the math."

"I did." His retort was quick. "And I still know that he cannot love you like I do."

"This isn't love, Nico. This is an obsession."

"Be as it may. Obsession. Love. Madness." Grabbing me, he shoved me back in the chair. "But you are mine and the sooner you learn that, the better it will be."

Nico walked towards the door but before he could open it, his head leaned into his chest. His fists coiled.

Thum

He punched the metal door.

As soon as he turned - face reddened with pain and anger - I knew something had snapped in him.

He appeared like a wounded wild animal. He was ready to hurt. He was ready to devour.

"Let's see what your husband does when I decide to have my honeymoon with his wife."

He grabbed me from the chair, grabbing a chunk of my hair.

"Nicolas..." I didn't know what else to do. "No."

In reflex, I kneed his genitals.

Growling in pain, he grabbed my hand. "You fucking bitch."

His face was closing in. My arms tried distancing his body but he was stronger.

Pressed against the wall, I knew it was barely a matter of seconds before he would violate me.

Nicolas kissed me.

Coppery tang hit my mouth as I bit into his lip. Every cell in my body was electrocuting me. It was do or die.

"You'll pay for this." Nicolas wiped the blood gushing from his wound. His white sleeve turned red. His face was pale. "You'll wish you were dead before I did my deed."

Grabbing the back of my head, he shoved it on the metal chair.

A chill ran down my spine. Darkness enveloped my sight, my senses.

Something gritty touched my face. I could feel a pulsation in my head and my ears.

Then darkness.

Boom.

~

We finally get to know how Sofia and Aurelia are...

Do you think Al and the Moralez Family would be able to get to Sofia in time?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments