The man covered in tattoos growled. “No, they’re not. The sirens are coming closer.”
All three men looked at each other.
“I’m not going back to jail, fucker!” the other man barked at Holloway.
Keeping his boot firmly on her cheek, the man holding Brie down growled fiercely, “You promised no one would know we were here.”
“Nobody does!” Holloway insisted.
Pointing in the direction of the sirens, he snarled, “It doesn’t sound like it to me. I’m out!”
Lifting his boot from Brie’s face, he headed to the exit with the other two following behind him.
“You can’t leave!” Holloway shouted. “This bitch needs to be punished!”
The tatted man turned back and growled, “Then do it yourself, you fat fuck.”
Brie took advantage of their exchange and scooted as far away from Holloway as she could. Not caring that she was completely naked, Brie stood up and sprinted toward the exit door.
Holloway called out to her in a voice as cold as ice, “If you go out that door, I will kill Mary.”
Brie stopped in her tracks, knowing with certainty that he would.
With her heart breaking, she turned away from her freedom to face him. “Don’t you dare hurt her.”
The kid in the ticket booth burst into the theatre, his voice cracking when he screamed at Holloway, “The cops are heading this way! Follow me, I know a way out.”
Holloway grabbed Brie’s arm and followed the boy. He led them to the front of the stage and opened a hidden panel. “This tunnel goes underneath the theatre. If you take the first turn to the left, it will lead you straight to the Spielberg Theatre. They won’t be looking for you there.”
“Grab her clothes!” Holloway ordered.
The boy rushed over to pick up the scattered clothing and then raced back, tossing them into the tunnel. “You gotta go!”
In a calm voice, Holloway instructed him, “Escape out the back and drive home. If the cops question you, tell them the theatre was closed for maintenance. The owner will back up your story.”
Holloway pushed Brie toward the tunnel as he continued, “Lock the front door, grab the bitch’s phone and purse, and turn everything off before you head out the back exit.”
Turning to Brie, Holloway spoke over the sirens that were now wailing loudly. “I planned for every situation. Understand that if anything happens to me, Mary’s life is forfeit and she won’t die quickly.”
Letting Brie go, Holloway grabbed her clothes scattered in the tunnel and shouted at her, “Go now!”
Brie’s heart was beating out of her chest as she started down the darkened tunnel. Her fear of dark, confined spaces was intensified by the surreal aspect of what was happening. Here she was, willingly remaining Holloway’s captive, even though rescue was just moments away.
But she would never forgive herself if Mary died…
“To the left! To the left!” Holloway growled, panting heavily behind her.
As Brie made her way down the tunnel, cobwebs clung to her naked body making her skin crawl. She tried desperately not to think about the spiders that had created them.
The sound of the sirens blared behind her filling Brie with hope. But it was tempered by knowing that if they were found, Mary would end up paying the price. Either way, Holloway would win.
It filled her with rage.
Brie heard the muffled sounds of people shouting behind them. She imagined the police bursting into the theatre but finding nothing. She could only hope they would find the drops of blood on the carpet and know that Holloway had been there.
She couldn’t fathom how Sir had been able to locate them after Holloway had broken her phone. It seemed impossible, but she felt certain he was the one who had tracked them down.
Brie imagined Sir searching every inch of the theatre hoping to find her. Tears pricked her eyes realizing how devastated he would be when his search came up empty.
Don’t give up! she silently cried out. Mary and I need you.
When Brie finally made it to the other theatre, Holloway threw her clothes at her. “Get dressed. I can’t have you drawing any attention.”
With shaking hands, Brie only slipped her dress over her head after she found her bra and panties were ripped and unusable. She shuddered, knowing that would have been the state of her body if it hadn’t been for the sound of the sirens.
Before leaving the tunnel, Holloway pulled out a cheap looking cell phone and called someone, “Meet me at the corner of Selma and McCadden in ten minutes, and don’t go anywhere near the Egyptian entrance.”
Once outside, Holloway slammed the phone to the ground and crushed it with his heel. He nonchalantly tossed it in a nearby dumpster before grabbing Brie’s arm. “Although I did not get the entertainment of seeing you punished, I do get perverse satisfaction in knowing that you are choosing to stay with me. I’m certain in the days ahead that decision will eat you alive.” He nodded with a self-satisfied grin on his face. “Yes, it is fitting that you will come to blame yourself for what is about to happen.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, now terrified.
“Your training is about to begin, Miss Bennett. By the time I’m done, you will willingly offer yourself to the likes of those three men and take pleasure in their violation because it pleases me.”
Brie hissed. “Never!”
His smile broadened. “You say that now, songbird. However, you will soon be singing a much different tune.”
Brie stared at him in disbelief. “You’re delusional!”
His eyes darkened and he raised his hand to strike her. But, after studying Brie for a moment, he seemed to have second thoughts and lowered it.
Cocking his head to one side, Holloway smiled coldly. “I will take extreme pleasure in teaching you to respect me, Miss Bennett.”
“I will never respect you.”
He chuckled coldly. “You will come to eat those words.”
When Brie met his hostile gaze, fear began to worm its way back into her heart. Mary’s warning suddenly rang in her head. “You have no idea what you have unleashed, and I have no way to stop him now.”
Swallowing hard, Brie recalled the numerous times Mary had warned her that Holloway was exceedingly cunning and cruel. She had never taken it seriously—until she looked into his eyes just now.
Brie was hit with the cold realization…
On the night of her triumph in Hollywood, she’d mistakenly believed she’d won by taking Holloway down in front of his peers.
The truth was she had only awakened the beast, and now she and Mary were about to suffer for it in unimaginable ways.
Captive
Holloway kept a tight arm around Brie until they were safely in the vehicle and miles away from the theatre.
When the driver handed back a new phone, Holloway finally let go of Brie and sat back in his seat. With a sickening smirk, he began texting furiously.
Once again, Brie was struck by the surreal nature of her capture. When his driver pulled onto the avenue and they were stopped by traffic, she looked out the window at a family in the car beside her. She saw a little girl with blonde hair in the back seat staring at her intently. The girl reminded her of Mary.