Chapter 3 "Suck Her Dry"

• It had barely been three hours since I moved from the freezing floor where my strength gave out. I managed to find a hidden spot in the neighbourhood where I would usually come to feed the stray cats. Sadly, tonight, I was the stray. Amidst my thoughts, I slipped into a restless sleep.
• The sound of footsteps jolted me awake, and before I could make out the faces that hurried towards me, I was hit across the face and lifted from where I lay. But the perfume, I knew this scent. It was Zane!
• “Zane?” I whispered faintly.
• “Where are you taking me to?”.I asked loudly as I began to regain my consciousness, but he and the men with him didn’t answer.
• “Zane, let me go!” I screamed as they forcefully dragged me into what resembled a white Mercedes-Benz.
• “Where are you taking me to at this ungodly hour”? I sought answers but he remained defiant.
• My words seemed to have landed on deaf ears as Zane kept driving, with the other men seated at the back with me. The man I was once comfortable with now made me shiver in terror. I was scared I could be landed a punch in the face if I questioned him one more time.
• My eyes widened at the sight of what I saw. “Why are we at an abandoned warehouse?”. “What are you planning to do to me?”
• “Stop talking!” Zane growled at me, breaking his silence.
• Like a cow to the slaughterhouse, I was dragged out of the car by four men in black. A doctor was waiting outside, and two nurses emerged by his side carrying blood bags. Could this be what I thought it was?
• My eyes widened as I screamed. “Zane… what is this?”
• “Wait, are you trying to–” My voice was cut short by two nurses who seized my hands and strapped me to a table covered in transparent nylon. Like one a butcher would use to cut meat into pieces.
• Not sure what was happening, “Zane… Zane!”. “What are they trying to do to me?”. “You can’t just stand and watch!” I screamed, struggling to remove myself from the bounds placed over me.
• No answer.
• I looked around, trying to catch the face of any saviour I could find. There was no one. I was completely helpless. One of the nurses seemed to look at me with pity, but also an expression that said she couldn’t help me out of my situation.
• “You, Zara, would save a life once again”. “This time around, my fiancée,” Zane said flatly, finally meeting my gaze.
• “She has a pregnancy complication, and she needs a blood transfusion immediately. You were the only match I could think of. Knowing how much of a bitch you are, it had to be this way”. He scoffed after saying the most horrifying thing I had ever heard him say.
• It was almost like I started to choke on the air I was breathing. How could this be the man I spent every night with for the past two years?
• “I— would do what?”, “Save whose life?” I screeched, trying to make sense of all he had said.
• “I don’t consent to this... Let me go!” I yelled once more as I struggled to be free.
• The doctor came closer to me with his hands in gloves, lifted, and started tapping the syringe. It was then my fear of syringes kicked in.
• “Stop-stop-stop!”. I shook my head in denial, hoping this was all a dream and I would wake up soon.
• My heart started to pound loudly in my chest as the doctor leaned in to inject the syringe into me while the two nurses rallied around him with the blood bags ready to receive my blood.
• “Don’t please!”. “Zane– you can’t just stand there and watch!”.
• But he stood there, cold and unflinching. He didn’t even blink. Unmoved like a statue of wickedness with flaming eyes, I never once saw.
• “Suck her dry!”. He thundered at the doctor and nurses.
• The doctor pierced into my veins, my body almost going into a seizure at the entrance of the fear and pain that seeped into me. The prick of the needle penetrating and sharp with every draw of blood. The last thing I saw was the doctor’s face turn blurry, and then everything went black.
• Then a loud sound.
• I managed to open my eyes, weakly scanning through the warehouse.
• A bang echoed through the building, this time really loud.
• “What the hell is that?” Zane growled, reaching out for his belt like a soldier ready for defence.
• Before anyone could adequately prepare for what was coming, the gate to the warehouse burst open, revealing a vehicle entering with so much speed that the men flew to the side to avoid being hit.
• Then, it suddenly stopped.
• The door opened, and a figure came down from it. Like an avenging shadow, the tall and huge figure walked away from the vehicle towards us.
• As he moved closer, I was only able to see the dark blue eyes of this masked figure. They were fierce, wild, and blazing.
• “Let her go!”. The mystery man thundered.
• Zane and his men immediately flew into defence, lifting logs of wood littered around the warehouse. They engage in a fight, landing blows here and there.
• Still weak, I just lay there strapped to the table, watching all that unfolded before my eyes as though I were in a movie.
• Zane and his men moved fast, but this figure moved faster, like he had been training for a moment like this.
• “I said let her go!”. He screamed once more. I wondered who it could be. No one from my past could have possibly risked their lives to come save me. The only people who knew me closely were the models and officials who worked with me at the agency, but none of them could be this built and brave. His voice did not sound familiar in any way.
• Zane grabbed the surgical blade of the doctor who was next to him and wielded it at the man. But he kicked the weapon out of Zane’s hand and pinned him to the ground, breathing hard.
• At this point, the other men began to run away from the scene, fearing for their lives.
• Zane dragged himself up, grabbed the filled blood bags, and skedaddled away.
• “Are you okay?” The man asked calmly, his dark blue eyes darting into mine.
• “I—I—don’t think so”. I replied faintly as he unstrapped me from the table. My hands were bruised and numb, but I was free.
• “We don’t have time, they might return soon”. He gently helped me down from the table, steadying me on my feet.
• I released myself into his arms as I couldn’t stand on my own. The cold, the terror, the pain—they slowly started to fade away.
• And for the first time in weeks, I felt comfort.