Javier unbuckled his seatbelt. He pushed the heavy door open and stepped out, his leather shoes echoing sharply against the concrete floor of the empty garage.
Ella fumbled with her seatbelt. Her fingers shook as she pressed the red button. She practically fell out of the car, scrambling to keep up with his long strides.
Javier walked up to a set of brushed steel elevator doors. He pressed his thumb against a glowing biometric scanner. The doors slid open in total silence.
They stepped inside. Javier hit the button for the top floor. The elevator shot upward with a force that made Ella's stomach drop.
The doors chimed and parted. They stepped directly into a massive penthouse. The walls were floor-to-ceiling glass, the furniture sharp, modern, and completely devoid of warmth.
A middle-aged woman in a crisp uniform stood waiting in the foyer. Brenda Doyle.
Brenda's face stretched into a wide, overly eager smile the second she saw Javier. She hurried forward.
Javier shrugged off his overcoat and shoved it into Brenda's hands. He pointed a long finger at Ella. "She is your responsibility now."
He fired off a rapid list of instructions. He listed Ella's dietary restrictions and sleep schedule with the cold efficiency of a military briefing.
Javier pulled his leather wallet from his inner jacket pocket. He slid out a solid black metal credit card and tossed it onto the silver tray on the console table. It landed with a heavy clink.
He checked the heavy silver watch on his left wrist. His jaw tightened.
He turned back to Ella. "I am leaving for an overseas assignment. I will be gone for fifteen days."
The air left Ella's lungs. Her eyes widened in pure panic, and she took a desperate step toward him.
Javier ignored her movement. He turned on his heel and walked straight back into the elevator. The steel doors snapped shut, cutting off her view of his face.
The numbers on the digital display rapidly decreased. The penthouse fell into a suffocating silence. Ella stood completely alone in the center of the massive room.
The moment the elevator reached the ground floor, the fake smile melted off Brenda's face. Her eyes narrowed into a look of pure disgust.
Brenda pointed a finger down the long, dark hallway. "The last room on the left. Don't make a mess."
Three days passed. Brenda took the black card and disappeared for hours. When she returned, she brought back cheap, frozen microwave meals.
Ella sat at the massive marble kitchen island. She stared down at the greasy, processed meat on her plate. Her stomach churned, but she forced herself to swallow it, terrified of causing trouble.
The cheap additives in the food began to build up in her system.
On the seventh night, Ella lay in the freezing guest bed. Her skin burned. Thick, angry red hives covered her arms and chest. She shivered violently under the thin blanket.
She forced herself out of bed. Her legs felt like lead. She stumbled down the hallway and knocked weakly on Brenda's locked door.
"Go to sleep and shut up!" Brenda yelled from inside. The volume of the television instantly blasted louder, drowning out any further noise.
Ella's knees buckled. She slid down the wall, hitting the hardwood floor. Her throat began to swell shut.
She gasped for air. A high-pitched wheezing sound tore from her chest. Black spots danced at the edges of her vision.
Whisper, the stray cat Cale had delivered in a sterile carrier two days prior under Javier's strict "pest control and asset pacification" directive, jumped out of the shadows. The cat paced around her legs, meowing frantically.
Ella's hand fell limp against the floorboards. Her eyes rolled back, and the world went completely dark.
The next morning, Brenda unlocked her door and stepped out, yawning. Her foot kicked something soft.
She looked down. Ella lay motionless on the floor, her face a terrifying shade of blue, her chest barely moving.
Brenda screamed.
Her hands shook violently as she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed 911. Ten minutes later, the wail of ambulance sirens pierced the quiet morning air outside the building.
