91 - Safe

"If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough.:

- Elif Shafak

. . .

Ashton

All I could smell was blood. All I could hear were screams. All I could feel was the thrill of taking a life. To play with mine.

My knife slashed open guts, my eyes moving from one target to another robotically. Kylie was safe. Giovanni had gotten to her after slaying open a few bodies.

"Alexi is not here," Zavier muttered to me. Then where the fuck is he?

. . .

Olivia

His grip on me was unbreakable.

No guard would be able to find us here. God, I doubted they'd even think we were here. Coming into the maze was a death sentence itself. They'd be looking for us everywhere else. Not here.

Tears tumbled out of my eyes as I led him. I could hear the faint sound of water. There was a fountain here, too.

And there were other things here. It smelled bad. So freaking bad. I could barely breathe here. It smelled like rotten flesh and my feet hit something

hard or slimey once in a while. I knew what was there and it made me want to sob harder.

If only I could break free from him. I'd easily lose him in the maze and then he'd be here till the Creeds came. He won't be able to get out.

But, as if he knew what I was thinking, his grip was tight on me.

I tried to stall as much as I could but the fear which clouded my head was too much. I led him where he wanted me to lead him, dreading coming out from the other side.

And then I felt it. Soft cold breeze on me. And then I saw it. The opening of the maze.

Tears slid out of my eyes. What would the Russians do to me?

I had never felt this kind of fear.

We stepped out. We were surrounded by woods and a broken fountain which had water pouring out of it in streams, falling on itself.

There were men, at least twenty of them, surrounding us. And the one in the middle made me suck in a breath.

Professor Daniver, my old art history professor, smiled at me and suddenly, it all clicked.

It was him who had followed me. It was him who had attacked me. It was him. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. How did I not realize this?

"Olivia." His accent was different. He sounded russian. He always had a russian tilt to her accent. I had never paid enough attention to it. "Alarick. Step back, please, you are not letting her breath."

The knife from my throat disappeared and my father stepped back. I stood there, the cold wind fluttering my hair and dress, my eyes wide with fear. I

took a step back, wanting to get back in the maze but my arm was instantly grabbed by a man.

"Not so soon, Miss Woods." Professor Daniver smiled again. His smile was sharp, expression amused as he looked at me like one would at a pretty toy. Something to buy, play with, and throw away when done. It made me shiver. "Bring her to me."

The man pushed me towards Daniver and I fell into his arms, his sharp cologne which made me want to gag surrounded me as did his arms. I struggled but he grabbed my wrists, chuckling. "You didn't tell me she is this fierce, Alisa."

Alisa stepped into view, brilliant blond hair up in a bun and face holding nothing as her blue eyes looked at me. She wore a familiar jacket, a jacket which I knew must have a rectangle hole on the back.

"Georgie."

Daniver cupped the back of my head, chuckling again. "It's Alisa, Miss Woods. Alisa Sokolov."

Alisa Sokolov. Alexi Sokolov.

"And do you know who I am?" He asked in my ear softly, making me shiver with dread. I shook my head, eyes closing as tears formed. Alisa Sokolov.

"Igor." He chuckled. "It was never Alexi. It was always me." Igor. I had heard of Igor Sokolov. I had heard that he died, too. But, apparently, he was alive.

"Tie her."

He pushed me off him and another man grabbed me. He tied a rope around my wrists, easily doing it even though I struggled and then he stuffed a cloth in my mouth, putting it so deep that it was only centimeters away

from choking me. I whimpered as he picked me up and another man tied my ankles together and put a blindfold on my eyes.

"From what I have heard," Igor said, his voice filled with amusement. "You should not have much problems with ropes."

Disgusting bastard.

The man holding me started walking. I tried to keep track of where we were going but it was too hard, making me lose track in mere minutes. Tears slid out of my eyes as I thought of Georgia. She was with them. It made sense now. She was the cause of the fire. She was the one who poisoned Zavier. It was her and my heart did not let me see it. How could I be so stupid? The one thing Creeds were scared of was happening now. I was in the clutches of the Russians and I wondered in what condition I'd be by the time they got me back.

They'd save me.

I knew that they would. No matter how much they lied to me. If there was something I trusted them completely with, it was keeping me safe. They'd find me and they'd keep me safe.

I just had to survive till then.

The guard's hand on me was warm and rough, making me want to flinch away. His one hard around me was touching my breast and the other touched too much of my thighs. If this was not the declaration of my fate with the Russians, I didn't know what was.

. . .