Electus (Regnum Series Book 1) (11 page)

The sky darkens above them, as the wallawillow twirls, forming into a massive tornado. Uprooting dirt as it moves, the tornado shreds through the arena, blowing the crowd around in their seats. Old women hold on to their hats as children cling to their parents. The massive cyclone barely fits inside the dome. Lightening strikes down in the dirt, and thunder rumbles. Audience members appear frightened, yet amazed by it’s power.

The cyclone dwindles and moves back to the center of the stage, where it breaks apart into twelve cardinals. Each beautiful, red bird, flutters off stage and darts for the center of the arena. They circle in and out of the stands, resting on people’s shoulders or laps. One man nearly faints when a cardinal lands on his head.

Then, at a high speed, the cardinals fly towards the center of the stage, smashing into each other. In a crash, the pieces form into snow flakes falling all around the stage, gathering, ever so gracefully, into place, completing Tia’s body.

The audience claps and cheers. Tia takes a bow and pulls a red feather from her mouth. Everyone laughs. This is the first stage in the Electus that Tia feels comfortable with the audience. She waves, then exits the stage.

The man congratulates her on a wonderful performance and scans her mark, once more.

“Thank you,” Tia responds and walks on. She is in a hurry to find a bathroom. Since she was one of the last few to perform, Tia held out to use the facilities.

She wanders along the back hallways of the arena, moving from room to room. Most of them are empty, as she peers inside. Tia drifts for quite a while, almost giving up hope that she will ever find the woman’s lavatory. She stumbles upon a closed door, with light poking through the bottom crack. Tia approaches it and reaches for the handle.

“What were you thinking coming here? You can’t be out in the public right now, and you volunteer as an assistant?!” A loud, deep voice protrudes through the entrance. Tia backs away from the handle, realizing it is a bad place to be hanging out. She stands off to the side of the door, listening in.

“I told you, Barney, I’m here to visit my granddaughter. As far as being an assistant, I just wanted to be of service to these candidates. That young man was rather talented and kind of funny, I thought,” the man’s voice answers calmly.

It’s the old man!
Tia thinks, leaning in closer.

“That’s not the real reason and you know it. We both know you don’t have any grandchildren. You don’t even have children.”

Tia’s heart pounds, the whole conversation appears intense. She is afraid of being caught, but can’t help overhearing. This man tried to grab her attention today, she knows it. If only she had a moment to speak to him, Tia would be able to discover what that symbol means.

“Barney, I do have children, you’ve met them, in fact. It was my brother who never had children.” The man is still cool as he speaks, even though he has someone screaming in his face.

“You can’t fool me. I’m going to figure out what’s going on, even if it is the last thing I do. I know Javan is not going to be pleased to hear about this.”

“I had lunch with him earlier, Barney,” the old man chuckles.

“Then you are both idiots.” The man storms toward the door. Tia panics and runs into an open room, across the hall from them. She catches her breath as his feet march down the hallway. Once she can no longer hear his steps, Tia realizes she didn’t hear the old man leave.

Finally, a moment to speak with him,
she thinks. As she exits the room, she notices the other one is dark and empty. He is gone, yet again. Tia wonders how he moves so fast for a man three times her age. Her mind doesn’t have long to wonder, because her bladder speaks up again.

Tia heads back to her hotel room, after the rest of the performances. Some of the other candidates offered for her to join in their dinner plans. Tia politely declined, to give herself a drama free evening. It feels like a long trip up to the fourth floor. She is relieved to find her key working, on the first try.

As soon as she turns on the light to her room, she finds two men standing in the corner with masks concealing their faces. Before she can scream, a hand covers her mouth from someone waiting behind the door. Next thing she feels is his arm around her neck, squeezing tightly. She struggles against it, but can’t break free. Before she knows it, the room fades out.

Chapter 9

Tia wakes inside a dark, cold room that reeks of mildew. Pressure weighs down on her body, and something foreign is going on between her legs. Heavy breathing resonates in her ear. She closes her eyes, tears streaking her cheeks, as the strange man tears away her innocence. Tia is afraid to make any noise, for fear he might kill her. Then again, what could be worse than this. The sweaty, foul man, forcing his way inside her, over and over. Tia attempts to move her arms, but realizes her wrists are tied together.

The man moans, thrusting in one last time. Tia cries through her gag from pain, discomfort, and complete disgust. “Shhh,” the man silences her. She can’t stop sobbing. Her fear of this man, whoever he is, overwhelms Tia.

The man pulls Tia’s pants back up and binds her ankles together. “You just stay put, my dear. Now that you are awake, we have a lot to discuss,” he informs. His footsteps echo in the darkness.

From the one corner, she notices a stream of light, poking through a crack. Tia assumes they have her in a basement somewhere. He opens the door, light flashing into the basement, illuminating the steps.

This is it, this is how I’m going to die,
she thinks to herself. Her breathing becomes heavy, as she hears voices and footsteps above her. The words are muffled through the floor. All Tia can decipher is that the voices are all male.

The door opens at the top of the stairs, once more. Three men enter the basement this time. The last one closes the door as he enters. Two of the men fall down the stairs, due to the darkness.

“You idiot!” the man who raped her calls.

“Sorry, boss,” he responds. One of the men turns on a light, hanging from the ceiling. They are still donning ski masks. Two of the men are very bulky and muscular. The other one is a bit shorter, but still has a masculine build. He approaches her, examining her wrists where there are red marks from Tia attempting to break the binds.

“Looks like we have a feisty one here,” the one man comments. His voice is rough as though he smokes two packs a day. “You shouldn’t try so hard to break free, my dear. It’s just going to make your punishment much worse.”

The larger man picks her up, dragging her to a chair at a small table. Tia fights him with every ounce of energy she has left. Unfortunately, her efforts are in vain. He is too strong. He sets her down, and she lets out a gasp, due to the pain in her crotch.

“Now, when I take off your mouth gag, you have to promise not to scream. Do I make myself clear?” the short, rough man voices, standing just inches away from her face. His teeth are rotten, most of them ready to fall out of his mouth. The scent of his breath reaches out and chokes her.

Tia nods. The man removes the gag. “You were so compliant earlier my dear.” He kisses her cheek. “It’s a shame we had to wake you up.” After scanning her body, he sits across the table from her, in another chair. Tia stares daggers at him, her eyes a soft pink.

“I heard a little rumor the other day.”

“What was the rumor, Merve?” the man behind Tia asks. He is the largest of the three men.

“You know the rumor, idiot! And don’t use names. Who trained you in this business anyway?”

“Sorry boss,” the larger man hangs his head. From his voice, Tia can tell he was the last person to enter the basement.

The man, Tia now knows as Merve, focuses on her once more. “Now, like I was about to say, I hear that you are intimate with a Mr. Javan Leporem.”

Tia scowls. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Merve laughs, then signals to the other man behind Tia. He pulls out a large blade and slices Tia’s upper arm. She cries out in pain.

“Now, will you tell us how you know Mr. Leporem?” Merve questions, his dark eyes glued to hers. Her skin crawls at the image of him climbing on top of her. She wants to cry for so many reasons, but she remains strong.

“He is just the leader from Elatus. I danced with him at the Electus Introduction Dinner, but only for a few minutes,” Tia states, returning his gaze to ensure he knows that she means what she says.

“That’s not what I heard. My sources tell me you are rather close to Mr. Leporem.” Merve signals again to the other man behind Tia. She screams as the knife digs into her other arm, making a deeper cut than before. Blood trickles down to her elbow.

“You, my dear, are not a quick learner. For someone who was top of her class, I would expect more from you.” His mouth forms a smirk.

Tia’s eyes widen.

“Yes, we know all about you, Conscientia Trumble.”

“Who are you, then?” Tia snaps, realizing that was a poor choice.

“Leave the questions to us, Miss Trumble.”

The man with the knife slices her arm once more. Tia exhales, tears pouring down her cheek.

“Now, tell us what you know about Javan Leporem. Our men saw you enter his hotel with him. He doesn’t spend time alone with anyone,” Merve insists, placing his hands on the table.

“What?”

“Don’t play stupid.”

Tia just sits, afraid to confirm or deny anything, due to the massive injury that might result from it.

“Is it true you were with him last night?” Merve inquires.

“Yes, but only for an hour or so. He said he wanted to have dinner with me, celebrate my victory in yesterday’s fight. I just assumed it was something he did with a lot of people. I am sorry if I broke the rules of the Electus. I swear nothing is going on with him,” Tia is sweating, even though the air is still cold.

The men glance at each other. “What about today in the restaurant?”

“What about it?” Tia repeats. He cuts into her arm again, but she doesn’t make a sound this time, just grits her teeth.

“You think that we are dumb enough to believe it was just a coincidence you  were inches away from Mr. Leporem and Mr. Tersus?”

Tia is quiet for a moment, not sure if she heard wrong. “Did you say Mr. Tersus? I thought he was dead.”

“Stop pretending you don’t know what we are talking about!” he screams.

Tia is frantic, knowing that nothing she tells these men will make them believe her. The large man behind her slides the knife across Tia’s stomach, this time. She yells even louder than before. A gash is bleeding all over her now soiled pant suit. She wishes her mind would concentrate long enough to devise a plan for escape. Everything is hazy.

“I don’t know anything, why are you doing this?”

“You have to know he was the brother of the late Mr. Tersus! We saw you talking to him outside of the hotel earlier! What was he telling you? What would he want with Mr. Leporem, the man who killed his brother?!”

Tia begins to sob. “I don’t know. He didn’t introduce himself. I was upset. He just wanted to comfort me, I guess. Please, believe me! I don’t know anything!” Tia is hysterical.

Merve motions for the other man to come over to him. “What do you think we should do with her?” he whispers, watching Tia from the corner of his eye.

“Doesn’t look like she knows anything, boss,” the man shrugs, still holding the bloody knife.

“Well, maybe we can use her as a warning to Mr. Leporem.” His voice softens, and Tia can no longer hear what the men are saying. She steadies her breathing, as the room begins to spin.

Without a word, the man who had the knife wraps a blindfold around her, then puts the gag back in her mouth. Tia is too weak to fight, as he picks her up and carries her up the stairs. She is not quite sure where they are going, but she can tell they are in a vehicle.
Maybe they will burry me and this will be the end
, she thinks.

They drive for several miles. The car is quiet, except for the roar of the engine. Tia doesn’t attempt to speak. All she can concentrate on is staying awake. She doesn’t want the last memory she has, to be of this. Tia reaches her feet up to the handle on the door, but it doesn’t budge. She realizes it must be locked. Just that slight movement, wears her out. Her attempt at freedom is futile.

Suddenly, they stop and the man shuts off the engine. Tia hears a door open and feels arms cradle her and carry her a few feet. Gently, she is placed on the ground. She can sense the grass is beneath her, wherever it is. Then, she hears the car door shut and the engine start.
They are leaving me here to die. At least I can smell the grass one last time,
Tia thinks, in and out of consciousness.

The engine runs for a little while longer, before the sound dissolves, with the car driving off into the distance. Tia lays there for a severe length of time. Uncertain of her fate, her wounds searing in pain, as well as her back and legs. She tries to fight the binds, but her body is too weak at this point to make any head way. Then, out in the distance she hears foot steps, followed by someone calling her name.

“Tia!” the voice sounds familiar, but she cannot make out who it is. “Tia!” it echoes out into the dark, this time a little louder. She moans attempting to scream, but can’t due to the gag. Her throat burns, but she continues screaming, hoping any noise will bring attention to her.

“Tia!” This time she recognizes Javan’s accent. She starts kicking, pounding the ground. Tia’s legs fling, hitting something metal and hard. She continues to strike it, making as much noise as she can. It must be working, because the footsteps grow closer.

“Tia! I’m coming!” He is only yards away now. She screams and kicks as much as she can. Her body aching with each motion. Finally, Javan catches her, then sprints in her direction.

“Tia.” His breathing is staggered, as he takes her blind fold off and pulls the gag out. “Are you okay?” he questions, nearly sobbing.

Her eyes land on Javan, his face is contorted with horror.
I must look bad,
she thinks.

“Come on, we need to get you out of here.” He picks her up and starts toward the car in the distance. She turns back, noticing a playground. Her body was inches away from a metal swing set that she played on as a child. Tia winces, and it doesn’t take long for her to pass out in his arms.