“I need to use the restroom,” I said loud enough that if anyone was paying attention to me, they could hear.
One step at a time I walked toward the bathroom on the ground floor. Once I closed the door behind me, I released a deep breath. This was not being the good little kitten. This was not behaving. What would Eddie do?
Trying not to picture his face, or think of how a belt would feel whipping across my ass again, I reached behind myself and pulled out the cat tail and placed it on the bathroom counter. It was the ultimate act of defiance, but I couldn’t exactly make a run for it with a large butt plug up my ass either. Looking at myself in the mirror, I could see that I wouldn’t be able to take off the collar without a key, so that would have to remain. And I couldn’t figure out how to remove the chained leash either, so I would have no choice but to carry it as I ran.
Taking another deep breath, I opened the bathroom door and hoped none of the women would notice I had removed the tail or that I was heading toward the exit.
But then I froze.
Dylan.
I couldn’t just leave here without Dylan.
Heading toward the door leading to the basement, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that no one was paying attention. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for both Dylan and me to get out alive, but I had to try. I couldn’t leave my friend down there. Before I lost my courage, I opened the door and ran down the basement steps. I gasped in shock as I saw a bloody and limp Dylan still tied to the chair as I had first seen him. I knew I was naked, but it didn’t matter. I rushed toward him as fast as I could.
“Dylan, oh, my God, Dylan,” I said as I placed my hands on his blood-coated, bruised, and swollen face. I didn’t even know if the man was still alive. I shook him and raised my voice. “Dylan!”
He moaned as he opened his eyes, and I could see it took him several moments to process that it was me standing before him. “Nayla? Oh, thank God, Nayla.” He glanced around the room. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to get out of here.” I ran behind him and began untying the knots in the rope that held him prisoner.
“Where are they?” Dylan asked, his voice cracking and raspy. It sounded as if he had swallowed gravel.
“Busy for now. We don’t have long.” The knots were tight, and my fingers fumbled around them as panic was setting in. I knew we were running out of time. It would only take so long to smoke a cigar.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe them,” he said. “I knew you would know they were lying.”
I kept working the knots, feeling some relief when I began making headway.
“They’re lying.”
I didn’t know what Dylan was talking about, and there was a slight warning bell going off in my head, but considering that the man was beaten to a bloody pulp, I figured that Dylan was half delirious anyway. I didn’t have time to figure out what he was talking about and who was lying. Was there more to this story? Hell, yes, but I was running out of time and needed to focus on escape.
“The knots,” I whispered. “I can’t undo them.”
Dylan struggled against the ropes as if his attempt would help, when in fact, they only tightened all the work I had done. “Get me out of here. They’re going to kill me. You have to get me out of here.”
Panic stole my breath and my ears rang. “I can’t untie these.” I glanced at the stairway. “I’ll run for help.”
“No,” Dylan cried. “Don’t leave me here.”
The decision was made for us when the door of the basement opened and heavy footsteps stormed down to join us.
“What the hell are you doing down here?” Eddie asked, with Tommy and two other men close behind.
I froze and wondered if my trembling legs would even hold me up. What could I even say? There were no words. No excuse. No way out of this situation.
Eddie glared at Dylan and then at me. He pointed to the door. “Upstairs now.”
I didn’t hesitate and did exactly as he asked. I couldn’t play the hero. I had tried and failed miserably, and I feared that if I angered him or pushed Eddie in the slightest, he would kill Dylan right then and there as a punishment for my defiance.
I walked right past Eddie but paused just enough to look into his eyes… silently pleading for mercy.
“Now,” he repeated between clenched teeth.
I nodded and scurried upstairs, praying that Dylan wouldn’t pay the price for what I had done. I held my breath and waited to hear Dylan’s screams of pain.