Sofia stood before the massive, dark doors of the mansion, her hand trembling as she reached for the heavy iron knocker. The silence of the forest around the house was deafening. Just as her fingers were about to touch the cold metal, the world suddenly shifted.
A pair of strong, rough arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her back into the shadows of the tall trees. Before she could scream, a thick, chemically scented cloth was pressed firmly over her nose and mouth. Sofia struggled, her hands clawing at the stranger's sleeves, but her vision began to blur almost instantly. The dark towers of the mansion spun before her eyes, and her strength vanished.
"Got her," a cold, unfamiliar voice whispered.
The mysterious men—not Alfred's men, but his enemies who had been lurking in the woods—lifted her limp body and threw her into the back of a dusty, unmarked van. They didn't head toward the mansion. Instead, they sped away in the opposite direction, tires screeching as they raced far away from the city and the safety of the hills.
Inside the mansion, Alfred was standing by the large glass window of his study, holding a glass of dark wine. He had seen a car approaching on his security monitors, but by the time he looked back, the driveway was empty. A strange, gut-wrenching feeling settled in his chest.
"Max," Alfred said into his phone as soon as his friend picked up. "Something is wrong. Someone was at my gates, and now they're gone. Check the trackers on the perimeter."
"Alfred, listen to me," Max's voice came through, sounding urgent. "I'm with Zara. Sofia is missing from her house. Her phone is still there. If she followed your car to the mansion, she's in grave danger."
Alfred's grip tightened on the glass until it shattered in his hand. The wine spilled like blood across the floor. He didn't care about the cuts on his palm. His eyes turned dark and lethal. He realized his enemies had used his own obsession against him—they had waited for Sofia to come to him, only to snatch her away at his very doorstep.
"Find out which route they took," Alfred growled, his voice vibrating with a terrifying power. "If they touch a single hair on her head, I will burn this entire city to the ground to find them."
The car sped through the winding roads, moving deeper and deeper into the dark, thick forest. The trees grew so close together that the moonlight could barely reach the ground. Finally, the vehicle stopped in front of a small, broken-down wooden house hidden in the middle of nowhere.
The men roughly pulled Sofia out of the car. She was still groggy, her head spinning from the chemicals on the cloth. They dragged her inside the dusty house, where the air smelled of damp wood and old smoke. They pushed her into a heavy wooden chair in the center of a dark room and tied her arms and legs tightly with thick ropes.
After a few minutes, the silence was broken only by the sound of the men's footsteps as they walked outside and shut the heavy door with a loud thud.
Slowly, Sofia began to wake up. Her head throbbed with a painful ache, and her vision was blurry. She tried to move her hands, but the rough ropes bit into her skin. She blinked several times, trying to clear her sight.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she looked around the room. The house was cold and empty. There were no paintings on the walls, no rugs on the floor—just shadows. She looked toward the corners of the room, her heart racing so fast she could hear it in her ears.
"Hello?" she whispered, her voice trembling and weak. "Is anyone there?"
There was no answer. She was completely alone in the middle of the forest. The only sound was the wind whistling through the cracks in the wooden walls. Sofia felt a tear roll down her cheek. She had gone looking for the man in the shadows, but now she was trapped in a nightmare, and she had no idea who had taken her or if Alfred and Max would ever find her in this lonely place.
The heavy wooden door creaked open, and the sound of heavy boots echoed against the floorboards. Sofia's heart jumped into her throat. Three men walked into the room, their faces shadowed and mean. They didn't look like the elegant, mysterious men she had met recently; these men were rough, dirty, and full of hate.
The leader of the group stepped forward and stood directly in front of her. He leaned down, his face inches from hers, and a cruel smile twisted his lips.
"So, this is the girl the great Alfred is so obsessed with," he sneered. He began to say nasty, horrible words to her, mocking her beauty and her career as a writer. He told her that she was nothing but a pawn in a dangerous game and that her life meant nothing to them. Every word was like a poison, meant to break her spirit.
When Sofia tried to pull away and told them to leave her alone, the man's expression turned into a dark rage. He raised his hand and struck her across the face. The force of the blow made her head snap back, and she felt the sharp sting of pain on her cheek.
"Don't talk back to me," he growled.
The other men laughed as they joined in, pushing her chair and treating her like an object. They beat her, leaving her bruised and gasping for air. Sofia felt the warmth of blood on her lip, and her body ached with every movement. She had never known such cruelty existed.
As she sat there, tied and hurting, she felt a flicker of hope fade. She realized these men were Alfred's enemies, and they were using her to get to him. In the middle of the pain, she closed her eyes and thought of the mysterious man who had tucked her hair behind her ear just the night before. She didn't know his name yet, but she prayed that zara and Max were searching for her.
Outside, the wind began to howl through the trees, as if the forest itself was mourning her pain.