President's Daughter's Bodyguard-Chapter 79: Trapped With A Monster

Chapter 79: Trapped with a Monster

Darkness pressed against Danielle like a blanket she could not push away. Her eyes fluttered open and the first thing she felt was the sting in her wrists and ankles. The straps dug painfully into her skin.

She tried to breathe but pain stabbed beneath her ribs where the electric torture had burned her.

Her lips parted. "Theo..."

For a moment, she hoped she was dead, hoped this was heaven or something close. But the smell was too rotten.

Heaven didn’t smell like smoke and blood.

Footsteps crunched nearby and Danielle stiffened immediately.

Ethan stepped out of the shadows with a calm smile, brushing dust from his cuff as though he had walked out of a meeting and not an explosion.

"You are a surprisingly durable little princess," he said softly. "I almost thought the roof would finish the job for me."

Danielle stared back without a word. Her throat was hurting.

Jackson followed behind him, and Danielle immediately noticed his tensed shoulders and his eyes darting around the destruction. He looked as if he had aged years in minutes.

"What now?" Jackson muttered with a shaky voice.

Ethan ignored him and approached Danielle. His fingers grazed the strap at her collarbone as though he admired his own handiwork.

"You ruined the view," he whispered. "But I will rebuild somewhere better."

Jackson stepped closer. "The police are still outside somewhere. Frank must be outside. They think we are all dead."

Ethan smiled at that like it was a gift made of gold.

"Perfect...the underground really worked. How long has it been? three days?"

Danielle’s heart pounded. They were still inside that warehouse, but underneath it and probably still with bombs.

"You are insane," she breathed.

Ethan leaned close until she could smell the metallic taste of his breath. "Maybe. But insanity wins wars when logic sleeps."

Jackson flinched at the word war. He stared at Danielle for a moment and she noticed fear in his eyes. Not fear for himself, but fear of Ethan.

"Ethan," Jackson began carefully, "we cannot stay here. The structure is unstable. And she needs medical care if you want her alive."

Ethan finally turned his head and studied Jackson. Silence stretched between them like a blade suspended in the air. Then Ethan nodded once.

"Fine. We move."

Two remaining men rushed to unbuckle Danielle. She fought the urge to yell at them when they lifted her and agony shot through her legs.

They dragged her outside but Danielle saw none of the police. None of Frank’s units. The area was cleared. They must have believed everyone inside was dead. They had left...

Her voice came out broken. "Please... someone..."

No answer came...

She was thrown into the back of a black van. Darkness swallowed her again when the door slammed shut.

As the vehicle rumbled away, she heard Ethan humming a quiet tune in the front seat. As if kidnapping and torture were daily hobbies to enjoy.

Danielle tried to sit up but metal pressed against her wrists again. They didn’t trust her even half conscious.

Her vision swayed but she searched the darkness until she found Jackson sitting across from her. His hands shook in his lap.

"You should have left me..."

Jackson swallowed hard. "I tried."

Danielle narrowed her eyes. "No. You chose him."

Jackson’s breath stuttered. "I owe him many favours."

"He will take it back," she hushed. "And he will do worse to me."

Jackson flinched at the truth in her words. He leaned forward just a little.

"I will get you out," he muttered very quietly. "Just trust me."

Danielle wanted to laugh. Trust felt like a dead language.

"Why help me?" she asked.

Jackson looked to the floor. "Because I was blind and now I see exactly what he is."

The van slowed and the ride turned rough like they were no longer on roads built for normal travel.

When the doors opened, Ethan stepped out first with an expression of satisfaction.

A large metal facility stood before them, partly inside a rocky cliff. The building looked buried inside the earth. A prison disguised as a bunker.

"Home sweet home," Ethan stretched his legs.

Danielle’s knees buckled but Jackson caught her before she could fall. His grip was gentle, protective.

Ethan noticed and his smile faded instantly.

"Careful with what you think you are doing," he glanced at Jackson.

Jackson nodded quickly but his eyes stayed on Danielle’s.

When they got inside, Ethan shoved Danielle into a room with no light except some hanging lamp above a bed that looked more like a medical table.

"Get her comfortable...We begin soon."

He closed the door and left.

Jackson waited. He counted the footsteps fading down the hall. Then he moved from the doorway to Danielle with urgency.

His voice was barely a breath. "I am going to shut off the camera for one minute. You will listen closely. There is a service tunnel in the back of this room. Behind that metal panel."

Danielle glanced weakly toward a seam in the wall she had not noticed.

"But Ethan..." she whispered.

"He thinks you are too weak to stand," Jackson rushed. "Use that to your advantage."

Danielle felt hope flicker like a tiny spark struggling not to die.

Jackson reached under the bed and cut through her new restraints. His hands trembled so much the cuff fell with a soft clink.

The camera above them blinked red... then black.

Jackson’s voice turned urgent. "When I tell you to run, you run. Do not look back. Do not wait for me."

Danielle grabbed his sleeve and her voice started shaking. "Why are you doing this?"

Jackson looked at her as if he finally saw the horror he had helped create...

"Because monsters do not deserve loyalty...and consider this as my repayment for what I’ve done. And when you’re out there...tell your father that I was the one who helped you escape."

"I-I..."

"Tell him that he needs to release my parents from prison."

"What-?"

Suddenly a loud metal lock slammed behind them.

Ethan’s voice echoed through the hidden speakers.

"Well now," he purred. "What a touching little scene."

Jackson’s blood drained from his face. Danielle’s heart froze like new ice.

Ethan continued. "Let us see which one of you breaks first."

A second lock clicked and another door opened loudly.