The Taking of Lena Ch. 08

But then Lena's thoughts went to that last image she had of Renz, that split second before she'd left, immediately following her last angry words. It was an image she'd tried to forget, for she'd never before seen a person appear so hurt and broken. Lena thought that she could eventually suppress her desire for Renz. But she knew that vision of him would remain in her heart for much longer.

Lena felt the air begin to drop several degrees, and she knew then that night was soon approaching. Lena sighed and decided to return back to the pub, remembering she'd promised to clean for Georg. But mostly, she hoped that Erich would be there waiting for her.

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Renz entered the pub, slightly surprised to find that it was largely empty, with the exception of two drunken patrons passed out in a corner, surrounded by towers of empty beer mugs. The pub really was crude and shoddy, with odd odors and decaying furniture, but it would have to do.

Renz removed his jacket as he sat down at a small table, and twitched impatiently as he waited to be served.

A very large, round man eventually appeared, and Renz gave him a polite, yet terse nod.

"What can I get for you?" he muttered.

"Whatever your cook has ready, and a beer. I'm in a rush," Renz said.

He reached into his pocket and offered the man several marks, as a tip. The man didn't accept the money, and he frowned at Renz suspiciously.

"What kind of a rush?" he asked icily. Renz rolled his eyes, not at all desiring to be tested by the pub owner.

"I'm looking for someone," Renz muttered dismissively. The man folded his arms, continuing to eye Renz skeptically.

"Well I don't like secrecy in my pub. And I especially don't like strangers. Why don't you tell me who you're looking for," the man pressed.

Renz slammed his palm against the table loudly. The man slightly retreated, and Renz balled his fist in an attempt to calm himself down.

"I'm looking for a woman named Lena. She's eighteen, has brown hair and blue eyes...she's very petite and very beautiful. She is traveling with an Erich Beyer. As you can see...I am quite agitated. So unless you have some information about her whereabouts, please just bring me what I've ordered," Renz said, trying with great difficulty to keep his voice even.

When the man didn't move, Renz looked up at him in impatience.

"Well?" he asked. The man's frown deepened.

"What do you want with Lena?" he asked. Renz's anger was momentarily overshadowed by his surprise, and distant relief. This man knew of his Lena.

"You know where she is?" Renz asked. The man nodded tensely, but appeared reluctant to share anything else.

"Please tell me where she is...I will reward you generously," Renz offered. The man's frown turned into a critical grimace, and he appeared highly offended.

"Sir, I hope you understand...I have a daughter her age. I am not apt to volunteering any information about Lena that might condemn her," the man answered. Renz shook his head.

"Of course not. I only want to see her. I have no intention of harming her. Please...just tell me where she is," Renz said desperately.

The man gazed at him for several moments, but then lowered his head and nodded quickly.

"She and the boy are renting a room here. Top floor," he said.

Renz gratefully shook the man's hand, and offered him several more marks, which this time, he accepted. Renz ran towards the corner stairwell and climbed the stairs, two at a time, and he slightly paused in nervousness when he reached the door to the apartment.

He quickly shook away the feeling, and impulsively opened it. He rapidly scanned the sparsely furnished room, disappointed to find that Lena wasn't there.

Instead, it was just Erich, sitting in a corner. And he was badly beaten.

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Lena slowly walked into the pub, feeling weary and defeated. She was happy that the pub was largely empty, with the exception of two men she recognized passed out and snoring on a narrow table in the corner. It meant she could work in peace.

She removed her shawl and pushed up her sleeves as she headed towards the small broom cupboard, which held the bar's few cleaning supplies.

She reached for a basin and a rag, figuring that she would need to scrub the floors first. She returned to the main pub and began her work, but then two large men stepped in front of her, blocking her view.

Lena timidly looked up at them, and every alarm within her body began to ignite. They were staring down at her threateningly, and Lena knew that she needed to escape. She didn't know these men, but they were definitely dangerous.

"You must be Lena," one of them said. He was thin and bald, but very tall, and Lena gulped in fear.

"Yes...who are you?" she asked meekly. The other one, a dark-haired man who was shorter, but much more muscular, stared at her intently, as if he were appraising her.

He then slightly turned his head toward the first man, momentarily looking away from her.

"She's definitely pretty, Felix. But she looks sickly...will he even want her?" he muttered lowly.

Lena felt her stomach flip in panic, and she began trying to calculate how she would escape.

"We won't know until he sees her. But we need to give him something," Felix replied. Lena began to slowly and quietly crawl away from them, but Felix swiftly looked back at her and reached for her. He promptly brought his hand to her mouth, anticipating her scream, and Lena shrieked in terror against his palm.

"Help me restrain her," he said to the other man.

Lena writhed and jerked in panic, heart pounding loudly in her ears, as the two men bound her wrists and ankles with thick rope that chafed her skin.

"I will have none of this in my bar! Put her down!" Georg's booming voice suddenly said. Lena was suddenly filled with hope as Georg confidently approached the two men, with a large kitchen knife in his hand.

The two men shared a look, and the dark haired one nodded. Lena screamed into Felix's hand as the other man reached for a pistol, and coldly shot Georg in the chest.

Georg's large, heavy body fell over, knees loudly cracking against the floor of the bar. Tears spilled from Lena's eyes when she saw him shakily cup his wound, hand quickly saturating with rapidly flowing blood.

"Let's move. And get her quiet. I don't want to listen to her crying all the way back," the shooter said.

There was a sudden, hard blow against the back of her neck, and then everything went dark.

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"Herr Wolfenbarger," Erich said, his voice faint.

"Where is Lena?" Renz asked in return.

Erich stood up slowly, and began to walk towards the center of the room.

"I don't think she wants to see you," he said eventually. Renz inhaled deeply, attempting to remain calm.

"I think I'll wait for her to speak for herself. Where is she?" he asked.

Erich shakily made his way over to what looked like a bookshelf that had been converted into a wardrobe, and he reached for a clean shirt.

"Haven't you hurt her enough?" Erich said accusingly. Renz balled his fists and lowered his head.

"I'm not here to hurt her. I just want to talk to her. Please tell me where she is," Renz said, voice strained. Erich shook his head.

"If she wanted to talk to you, she wouldn't have left you," Erich said flatly. Renz released a sharp breath, and tried not to let his words daunt him.

He looked away from Erich and surveyed the small room once more, struggling to maintain his composure. What he really wanted was to beat Erich until he revealed where Lena was, but Renz knew he needed to control his temper. It also didn't seem like Erich would survive another blow, and he wondered briefly just who Erich had been fighting.

Renz noticed then that there was only one bed, and that effectively sobered his anger, creating instead a sense of loss and pain. He realized then that he really had lost Lena. She'd been living with Erich for over a month, and had obviously given herself to him already.

"Does she love you?" Renz asked, eyes still on the bed. He heard Erich's feet shift against the creaking floors, but he didn't want to look at him.

"Yes," he heard Erich say. Renz suddenly felt a painful tightness in his chest, and he found he needed to put more effort into breathing to keep from feeling lightheaded.

"And...is she happy?" Renz asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"It's been an adjustment. The work is challenging for her. But otherwise she seems very happy," Erich said.

Renz turned around then. He'd heard all he needed to hear.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large stack of bound banknotes. The eye that wasn't bruised widened, and Erich stepped towards Renz in confusion.

"Here. Lena doesn't need to be living in a place like this. Contact me when you need more. She doesn't need to know," Renz said, extending the funds to Erich. Erich eyed the money warily, but then he nodded appreciatively.

"You're very generous, Herr Wolfenbarger," he said. Erich extended his hand to accept the money, but the tattoo of a red spade on the inside of his wrist caught Renz's eye. He recognized the symbol instantly, and he was suddenly filled with dread and fury. He knew precisely who'd beaten Erich, and he knew that Lena was in danger.

Erich cleared his throat and tried to hide the spade, but Renz advanced on him angrily. Erich retreated, attempting to put as much distance between himself and Renz as possible, but Renz was fuming dangerously.

"It's not what you believe—"

"You are a goddamn fool. Where is she?" Renz demanded. Erich shook his head furiously.

"I don't know, she hasn't been here all day, I swear!" Erich cried. Renz reached for the collar of his shirt and yanked roughly. Erich tumbled pathetically, but Renz was not at all sympathetic.

He was about to strike Erich, but a loud crack, like a gunshot, suddenly echoed throughout the entire building.

"What was that?" Erich asked. Renz dropped him on the floor, and quickly raced downstairs to the main pub.

He found Georg on the floor, clutching his chest tightly. He was losing a lot of blood from the gunshot wound, and Renz rushed over to him.

"What happened? Who did this?" he asked frantically. Georg's face was very pale, and he grabbed on to Renz's jacket, large hand trembling.

"They took her...Lena," Georg said, voice barely a whisper. Renz felt his blood boil in fear and fury, and for several moments, he was unable to hear anything except an insistent, harsh ringing in his ears.

Erich suddenly came downstairs, and Renz had to fight the urge to attack him. Georg looked over to Erich, and even in his weakened state, his gaze was very harsh.

"This is your fault," Georg whispered accusingly.

Renz repositioned Georg, and turned his attention to Erich.

"They took Lena," Renz said lowly. Erich brought his hand to his forehead,

"Who—"

"You know damn well who!" Renz shouted. Erich slightly retreated.

"Her Wolfenbarger, I swear to you I had no idea—"

"Take the money I gave you and get this man to a doctor," Renz said, rapidly stalking out of the pub.

"Where are you going?" Erich called.

Renz stiffened where he stood, surprised by how angry the sound of Erich's voice made him.

"I'm going to get her back."

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"Looks like she's waking up. Alek will want to see her."

Lena opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes ached as they adjusted to the dim light of the sparse room she was in, and her head throbbed terribly. There were several men in the room, but the only one she recognized was Felix.

Feeling suddenly short of breath, Lena reached for her throat. Her panic escalated when she felt the heavy chain that had been locked around her neck, and she began to cough harshly.

"Where am I?" Lena mumbled groggily, once her coughing subsided.

Felix gripped the end of chain, yanking Lena forward roughly. She gasped for air as he tightened his grip, and she found that she had to crawl to keep up with him as he moved. With each tug of the chain, the grip around her neck tightened alarmingly, and Lena was terrified he would strangle her.

"You won't speak unless spoken to," Felix said harshly.

Lena's ankles and knees had been cuffed with cold dark metal, and linked with similar chains. It was very difficult and painful to move, but the pain was nowhere near as terrible as the humiliation she felt as she followed Felix, like a leashed animal.

They stopped in front of two dark doors, and Lena was grateful for the brief moment of rest. Her knees were beginning to scrape against the cold stone floor.

A man's voice called an invitation from behind the doors, and Felix pulled the door open, yanking Lena's chain again. She began to wheeze as the collar around her neck tightened even further, rendering her immobile, and Felix roughly gripped her by her hair and pushed her inside, causing her to tumble on the floor.

"That will be all, Felix."

Lena heard the door behind her close, and she was alone in the room with the speaker. She kept her eyes glued to the carpeted floor where she sat, and she was filled with an uncomfortable sense of recognition when realized it was patterned with red spades.

She shivered as the man approached her, completely terrified of whatever was to come. She began to cry as he kneeled before her, and she recoiled in fear when he brought his hand to her chin.

"Be still. Let me look at you," he said. Lena closed her eyes as he jerked her face around multiple ways, scrutinizing her.

"Erich was right. You truly are a lovely girl," the man said. His low voice was strangely smooth, and it made Lena feel even more uncomfortable.

"W-why am I here?" she asked, voice breaking from her sobs. The man released a low, sadistic laugh, and it made her feel nauseous.

"Because Erich isn't very wise," he said.

He suddenly stood up, and yanked the chain harshly. Lena coughed as her airway constricted, and she sobbed in defeat as he dragged her over to an X-shaped iron stand of sorts, with small holes sized perfectly for the handles of the chain.

"You'll learn not to move too much when you're in that," he said, turning his attention away from her. Lena slowly raised her eyes when her coughing subsided, and she flinched when she took in her first glances of him.

He was tall and well built, and wore an entirely black ensemble save for a blood red shirt. His dark blond hair was cut close to his scalp, but a few longer strands fell over one of his eyes.

"Are you...A.R.?" Lena asked cautiously. The man signed something on his desk, and began casually searching for something else. He seemed distracted, disinterested, and Lena was thankful that he'd distanced himself from her.

"Yes. I am Aleksandr Rikhard," he said. He brought his gaze to hers, and Lena froze.

There was something disturbingly familiar about him, and Lena realized with a sudden fright who he was. All of the other minor cues began to fall into place, from his mannerisms to the way he spoke, and even the texture, if not color, of his hair. His eyes held that same, steely gray hue, and Lena felt like her insides would rupture from her fear.

"May I ask...your real name?" she asked, hoping she was wrong.

He appeared to be somewhat amused by her question, and he approached her with slow, steady, familiar steps.

He kneeled in front of her once more, a threatening smile on his face. He brought his hand to the chain again, and pulled Lena forward harshly, and she toppled over, gasping desperately for air. He spoke slowly and authoritatively, and Lena cried in a pathetic heap of shame and iron chains.

"My name is Ludovic Aleksandr Rikhard Wolfenbarger. And you'd be wise to learn obedience."

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