Almost Easy

“This is your own fault, Marina. You messed up, Kevin and Jeff got killed because of you, and what do you do? You run away like the little fucking bitch you are.” The Boss talks down angrily at Marina, kicking her ribs with his steel toed boot.

A sick smile twists creeps onto his face under his mask as she screams, rolling onto her back. Blood trickles out of the side of her mouth, tears leaking out of her bright blue eyes. She looks so broken, something that is absolutely beautiful on her. He had a weakness for the bruises on her body, the blood staining her delicate skin. The man would do anything to just ravage her body, but he knows that isn't what's meant to be. Not yet, at least.

“I did it to save myself,” She whispers, closing her eyes.

“You did it to save no one!” He roars, bending over her. “You did it to be a selfish, little girl. I've given you everything you could ever need, Marina. A job, money, safety from the police-I even kept your fucking secrets! I made you scream late into the night, allowing you to satisfy yourself under the simple price of your freedom. Was that not good enough? Is that why you ran away?” He yells in her face.

She lays there, her body shaking as she cries harder. Marina knew this day was going to come, she had just hoped it wouldn't be for a long while. She was so stupid for not leaving the country, getting a new house and starting over with her sad life. It was a possible option, something that she should have done. But for some reason, she couldn't let go.

The cold room grew even colder when The Boss moved away from over her. She tried desperately to take a deep breath, but her lungs felt cut off. He must have broken some of her ribs, maybe even punctured a lung. Marina was so fucked, and it was all her fault. Just like everything else was.

Slowly, Marina allowed her eyes to open again. Her body was frozen in place, her toes feeling like they're a few seconds from falling off. The Boss left her in nothing but her bra and panties, turning the air conditioner on in the room to make it at least thirty degrees in there. He knew that the cold was one of her weaknesses, one of the things she hated the most. It made her feel helpless.

He had beaten her so much, she didn't even have a desire to shiver anymore. Doing that seemed to make everything worse. She knew he wouldn't let her die here, though. Hypothermia would be too easy of an exit for the young woman, even if it was painful as hell. Slowly feeling the flesh in her toes and fingers die, starving to death as she knew there were two ways to go-blood poisoning or her heart stopping. It was terrifying to say the least, and scaring her was what The Boss took most pleasure in.

Off to the side, a door opened. The low thump of a body falling to the floor echos in the room before the door slams shut again. Slow footsteps get closer to Marina, causing her to close her eyes again. Why won't he leave her to die?

“Open your eyes, beautiful,” The Boss tells her softly, her eyes opening to see his deadly mask looming over her again. “That's so much better. I'm going to pick you up now, okay? We're going to sit you in a nice, comfortable chair so we can talk business. Does that sound good?” He asks her gently.

She nods her head slowly, scared to say no. As much as Marina hurts, and as bad as being moved sounds, being defiant and feeling the wrath is even less appealing. His large hands slide under her back, carefully lifting her small body off the ground. She whimpers in pain, his hands burning uncomfortably on her icy skin. The position he holds her in is awkward for both of them, so he wastes no time in getting her into the chair.

Baby blue polka dot cloth surrounds Marina as she sinks down into the large chair, still struggling to breathe. It's definitely comfortable, and as much as she wants to curl up and hide, she doesn't. Instead, she stares up at The Boss as he watches her with amusement in his eyes.

He doesn't say anything else to her before turning on his heel. Marina looks straight ahead at the door, seeing the outline of a person laying by it in a heap. Since the light doesn't reach that corner very well, it's hard for her to see if it's a male or female. She squints her eyes, trying to make anything out. Hair, skin, even the color of their clothing.

The Boss leans over, blocking Marina's vision. She hears him flip the person over, wincing at the sound of his large hand slapping against skin. He growls at the person to wake up, slapping them again. A low groan fills the room, giving Marina a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She knows that sound.

“Oh, Marina, it looks like our friend isn't ready to wake up yet,” The Boss calls over to his beautiful traitor, grabbing a handful of the person's hair.

Marina wants to scream in protest as he drags the person along the floor, but she holds her tongue. Don't blow it, she tells herself. Don't mess it all up more. She closes her eyes for a second, silently praying for that person to be okay.

“Didn't I tell you to open those eyes?” The Boss whispers, his hot breath fanning over her face.

Marina opens her eyes again, staring dead into his mask. His hazel eyes are cold, the sign of slow anger flaring in his pupils. She's pushing him too much, wearing his patients thin by doing everything he doesn't like over and over. A small whimper escapes her lips, making him smile again before he backs away, allowing her to see who's in the room with them.

The first thing she notices is the black hair. Her heart nearly stops in her chest, eyes skimming down to notice all of his tattoos. This can't be happening. Why him? Why did she let him get into this?

“Surprised?” The Boss whispers in her ear, soaking in her horror. “I figured it'd only be fair. You murdered two of my brothers, now I get to murder yours.”

“NO!” Marina screams, thrashing in her bed.

Sweat covers her body, the sheets tangled around her. Her lungs start closing in. Fear boils over inside of her as she starts to panic. The anxiety strangles her in the worst ways and she knows she's trapped. Orderlies come into the room, grabbing her thrashing limbs.

“NO NO NO! I NEED TO SAVE HIM!” Marina keeps screaming, fighting against the orderlies.

“I'm going to need a sedative,” One of them says, the fear in Marina becoming stronger.

“STOP!” She screams, pushing the orderly off of her arm.

They all freeze instantly, allowing her to shimmy out of their grasps. She's sweaty and cold, a wild look filling her eyes as she tries to dash for the door. The blond doesn't even make it two steps into the hallway before a large male orderly is catching her, trapping her again.

The fight or flight mode in her is overwhelming, causing her to bite and kick and hit anything and everything around her. People are shouting all around her. She's scared. She's failed Jimmy. He's going to die. It's her fault.

A sharp needle jabs into her arm, peace slowly taking her over. The fight in her leaves as the drugs flood her system, her body becoming limp. Another orderly grabs her legs, helping the one that still has a death grip on her torso carry her off to the “Safe Room”.

The last thing Marina sees before she's completely out is the emotions poster tacked to the wall.

~\~\~\~\

A man sits in his car, two blocks away from Jimmy's house. He smiles darkly to himself, scrolling through his phone. Today had proven to be successful for him seeing as that dumb ass gave him plenty of information about a certain female just through deep speculation. Jimmy went to his sisters' house again, giving him and his men a hint as to where she hid all of her secrets over the passed five years she's lived in that house.

Jimmy was very smart, but sometimes he was too smart. By taking every single paper in that room, he made himself look very suspicious, like her knew someone was going to come. Taking just what was under the false bottom would have been the smart move, but he broke that. Just because he's smart doesn't mean he has loads of common sense.

Hell, clearing out even that drawer would have been okay, but he demolished every lock in that room. For deciding he wanted to be discreet, he did it wrong. That screamed “invaded” and his fingerprints were all over it. This man could easily get a neighbor to call the cops, say they were out inspecting the fields and noticed two suspicious men breaking into Marina's shed. But he couldn't do that. It wasn't that simple.

Searching through his contacts, he reached a number he was very familiar with. After pressing the call button he brings the phone up to his ear, listening to the ringing. It barely reached the second one before his employee was picking up.

“Hello, Boss. What can I do for you?” A rough voice speaks through the phone.

“I need you to break into Jimmy Sullivan's house tonight. He has two white garbage bags full of papers stored in his study. I'll get you a floor plan of his house, they should be easy to find.” The Boss tells him, staring straight ahead.

“Sullivan? As in-” The Boss cuts the man off with an angry click of his tongue.

“Yes. Your old partner. Her brother has some very important information regarding her well-being.”