AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERTWO
A few days later
I’m drifting. Floating somewhere between being asleep and awake when I hear the distinct sound of the lock on my door shift. It’s a tiny disruption. One I probably shouldn’t notice. But I’ve always been a light sleeper and being in this place has trained me to stay vigilant.
I keep my eyes shut as the overhead lights flicker on and the door slowly creeps open. Pretending to sleep never stops them, but I’m greedy for any moments of reprieve I can get.
“Good morning.” A chilling voice calls out, cutting into the silence that normally fills the room. Even without looking, I know who it is. Dimitri’s right hand man, or as I like to refer to him as, The Zombie.
I’m sure he has a real name, one Dimitri’s called out on more than one occasion, but I refuse to learn it. Fuck humanizing the enemy. Besides, learning anything else about him feels a little morbid considering I plan on slaughtering him.
The Zombie’s footfalls are slow and methodical as he approaches me, almost as if he’s purposely taking his time to scare me, but I stuff the fear down before it can take root.He’s not worth it.
“I know you aren’t sleeping.” He taunts, stepping deeper into the basement. “If I’m honest, I couldn’t sleep either. I stayed up all night thinking about you.”
His little confession makes me want to gag. Having him visit me is bad enough, but just the idea of this sick fuck thinking about me on his downtime makes me want to scrub my skin off.
He stops moving, and for a moment; the silence is deafening. I try to listen for him, but the only sound coming through is the rhythmic pounding of my own heartbeat.
“Open your fucking eyes.” He snaps, reappearing within inches of me.
Before I can even think about following his orders, he latches onto my the back of my head and pulls. Yanking my hair back so violently that it feels like my scalp is literally being ripped off.
I don’t scream, because fuck giving him the satisfaction, but the sudden burst of pain is blinding. I have no choice but to move to relieve some of the pressure.
I try to inch closer to his hand, but the ropes around my wrists keep me practically glued to the chair and I have no choice but to sit and wait until he’s done for the pain to stop.
I’ve lost count of how many times he’s greeted me like this in the last few days. Three times? Five times? Nine? It’s hard to discern one memory from another in this place.
“You have no one to blame but yourself for that.” He says as he finally loosens his hold and relieves some of the pressure. “Now how about you be a good girl and do as I ask?”
Begrudgingly, I force my eyes open and glare at the monster standing above me.Jesus.I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing him this up close. I nicknamed him The Zombie for a reason. The man looks like Dimitri ripped him out of a fucking horror movie, and not the psychological thriller kind, the gory, gives-you-nightmares kind.
His shiny bald head gleams under the fluorescent light and his sickly pale skin is so thin it’s almost transparent. He has over-exaggerated features that only add to the air of otherworldliness about him, with cold, lifeless eyes, a prominent nose, an oversized mouth, and jagged, silver scars covering nearly every inch of his skin. He cocks his head as he takes stock of me, a cold chill instantly climbs up my spine.I hate the effect he has on me.
“I said good morning.” He hisses, gritting his teeth as he glares down at me. “It isn’t very polite of you not to say anything back.”
I almost scoff at his words. He wantsmeto be polite? He can’t be serious.
I blink at him, like he’s the stupidest person I’ve ever met, because, well he just might be and his lip curls in response.
Wow… he isn’t kidding.
I guess it makes sense considering how deranged his boss is.
Dimitri swears his intentions are pure. That he orchestrated all of this, not to punish me, but to help me see howgeneroushis offer is. He’s convinced I’ll come to thank him for this in the end. Now, if that doesn’t speak to how delusional the man truly is, I don’t know what will.
“What’s the matter?” The Zombie asks, grabbing ahold of my face and letting his hot breath dance across my skin. “Cat got your tongue?”
He painfully squishes my cheeks together, using his filthy fingernails to dig deeper and deeper into the skin until I have no choice but to pry my mouth open and relieve the pressure.
“Nope.” He says, staring at my tongue with a smirk. “Still there.”
He runs his thumb across my bottom lip and I dig my nails into the arms of my wooden chair to stop myself from repelling. “It would be a shame if your bad attitude forced me to cut out that pretty little tongue of yours.”
He’s bluffing. Dimitri lets him get away with a lot, but he’d never let him cause me any permanent damage. Not because he cares about me, but because if I agree to his offer, I’ll need to look like I’m doing so willingly. Cuts and bruises can heal in a few days, but anything more severe will raise some serious redflags.
I can’t smell much of anything, thanks to the mixture of blood and sweat permeating in the air, but I make a show of dry-heaving from the stench of his breath just to fuck with him. It’s juvenile, but part of surviving means doing whatever I can to get under his skin. After all, every second I’m in his head is a second he isn’t beating into mine.
