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“N-no.” Jakov shakes his head. “He actually–I came quite highly recommended to him.”
“Good for you.” I take a step forward, and Jakov flinches.Good. He believes you’re serious.“What did you do for him, when you worked there?”
I can see the gears turning in Jakov’s thick skull, trying to decide whether this is a safe question to answer, if giving me something will soften me towards him. He still believes he’s getting out of here alive. A man with hope to live who once worked for a dangerous man will try to keep that man’s secrets, lest something else terrifying chase him down in the dark.
In time, tonight, he’ll realize that I am what he needs to fear most. And when the moment is right, I’ll let him know that he won’t be leaving this place.
I can see the decision click into place. “Security,” Jakov says thickly. “I was part of his security team.”
“A career man. Good. It must have been a lucrative position.”
“Is that a question?”
My fist slams forward, directly into his mouth and nose. His head snaps backward, and he lets out a cry of pain.
“My nose!” Blood is streaming down his face. “Fuck, why–”
“You don’t talk back to me,suka.” I punch him again, hard, and then again before he can recover, leaving him reeling and breathless from the pain. Once upon a time, I left jobs like thiswith sore hands and bruised knuckles, but now I hardly feel it. My hands, like the rest of me, have hardened over time.
“Are you ready to be polite?” I loom over him. “You are a guest here. Is that how you behave in someone else’s home?”
He sneers at me, and it’s all I can do not to laugh.This one is so predictable.I can see him going through the stages that so many of them do, in this position. He began with fear, and now he’s shifted into anger.We’ll see how long his resistance lasts.
“This isn’t your home. Or if it is, no wonder you’re such an asshole. It’s a fucking dump.”
Another blow, and another. His lips begin to swell, and I refocus my attention elsewhere. He has to be able to speak–although all that really means is leaving his tongue intact.
“You should use that tongue to answer my questions, instead of insulting me.” I reach for his bound hands, undoing them from the chair. He starts to struggle, twisting, but he’s at a disadvantage and in pain. I deliver one hard blow to his gut, and while he’s wheezing, I drag his hands above his head and chain them. His feet are still touching the ground, unbound from the now-discarded chair, but if need be, I can drag the chain higher.
“Answer my question,” I repeat, as I see the reality of what’s happening begin to settle over his face. “Did Drakos pay you well?”
I can see him once again weighing the risks of answering. “Well enough,” he says finally. “Not enough to make any of us rich, but room and board came with the job, so I guess all added together, it was pretty comfortable.”
I nod. “So why did you leave the position? Was it too dangerous?”
That strikes a nerve. “Fuck you!” he snaps, twisting in the chains. “I’m no fucking coward. I would have stayed there as long as I could have. Working in a place like Santorini–”
“Ah, so you worked for himrecently.” I smile at him. “I knew that already, of course, but it’s good to hear you are beginning to be more forthcoming. So you didn’t leave. You were fired.”
Jakov’s expression turns sullen. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“That’s not for you to understand. All you need to do is answer questions.”
I can see the moment that his courage rallies a little, his anger warring with his fear. “Fuck you, man,” he spits out. “I was having a perfectly decent night at work. Even had one of the girls show a little interest for free, if you know what I mean. I don’t know what fucking information you think I have, but I don’t know anything–”
He splutters as I grab his chin, reaching for one of the implements on the nearby table. I see the sheer terror on his face as I reach upwards with a pair of pliers and feel the shudder that goes through him at the scrape of metal against a tooth.
“Think harder,” I advise, and yank.
Blood runs down his face as he screams. “Fuck! What the fuck!”
“Were you fired?”
“Fuck you!”
I shrug and pull out another tooth.
Three later, Jakov is sobbing. “Fine,” he splutters through blood and saliva, the smell of piss beginning to fill the air.
