How could he be so cruel? Sergei’s rough treatment of Lila seemed incomprehensible to Yelena - innocent Lila who had so much promise, who was really a good girl, who had nothing to do with…whatever this was.<br/><br/>It was unfair, too painfully unfair. She’d only meant to save her student, and now…now Lila’s life was hanging by a thread, at the mercy of this brutal thug, and it was all Yelena’s fault. And she was utterly helpless to stop it, to interfere.  The irony was a bitter pill to swallow.<br/><br/>Her heart hammered wildly in her chest as she watched Sergei’s brutish hands wantonly explore Lila’s figure, his strong fingers tangling in her hair and dragging the poor girl, caveman style, across the wooden floor of the studio.  Madeleine seemed to take in the scene almost emotionlessly, not moving to stop any of it.<br/><br/>Tears streamed down Yelena's face, obscuring her vision, and she gasped for breath around the gag. Sergei’s taunts were salt in an open wound, and she just shook her head in wild denial, struggling to free herself from her bonds. She didn’t know what she would do if she were free, but she had to do<em>something</em>.<br/><br/>But Madeleine was no amateur binder of knots. Madame Naumov was well and truly bound, no matter how much she wiggled, and she snapped her eyes shut as Sergei’s face drew near, unable to watch Lila’s demise.  The blonde winced, praying she wouldn’t hear a gunshot and feel the girl’s bloody remains splatter at her feet.<br/><br/>…and the shot never came.<br/><br/>Relief flooded through her, mingling with a new fear, as Madeleine tied up the traumatized Lila. These people were utter sadists, and bluffing her way past them would no longer work.