Chapter 21: Ransom, Part 1

Michael

In utter horror, I watch the monitor, the scene unfolding; Charlotte, all but helpless in her advanced pregnancy, assaulted, drugged unconscious and taken.

And on the point of going into labour...

Even in her current condition, she fights back, punching out at her assailants, landing a punch on the one with the hypodermic, screaming for help...

There's no sound, it's video only, but her cry is so obvious...

"Mast..."

... as she shrieks for James. And is cut short.

Her Master...

Her sworn protector...

So close... Only in the waiting area...

So far...

The back of a hand across Charlotte's face sends her reeling, rattling her long enough for the needle to drive in. Within seconds her eyes roll closed, and she sags into the arms of her attackers.

And I was barely any further away than James... Probably strolling into the hospital as they took her. Exchanging chit-chat with him as...

Nausea billows up inside me...

It's not real...

This can't be real...