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Pain gripped my heart, bringing tears to my eyes. “Nice try,” I snapped, ignoring how thick my voice sounded. “He’s already dead.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s what my father wants you to believe. I know how he works.”
I stared at him, trying to keep up, but it was impossible.
The video.Marc’s car flying off that cliff. The explosion.
So many games. So many lies. I didn’t know anything anymore, and the more I tried to make sense of it, the thicker the net I was trapped in grew. All I knew was that it hurt. But the pain of having my whole world crumble around me wasn’t going to break me. I refused to let it. If there was even a small chance Marc was alive, I’d cling to that hope. It was my only lifeline.
“You’ll do exactly as I tell you. And I’ll consider keeping your bodyguard alive. Do we have a deal?”
I gaped at him. He sounded so sure. Too sure.
I narrowed my eyes and whispered, “What have you done to him?”
My eyes snapped open, catapulting me back into consciousness with a scream tearing from my lips. A terrible burning overpowered my senses, then as I tried to move away from it, another, deeper and sharper pain shot through me. It was so strong I nearly blacked out a second time. Gasping for air and trying not to choke on the icy cold liquid entering my mouth and nose, I fought desperately to catch up. To understand where I was and what was happening.
“Good morning, sunshine!” A voice callout out. “How do you like your water?”
My eyes darted to the direction of the voice, and the moment I sawhim, everything came back. I didn’t die, even though the constant burning in my shoulder made me wish I had.
I tried to speak, but all that came out was a deep groan. I remained still, not daring to move one muscle. I knew damn well what it did to me, and I was already sweating under the layer of icy water the motherfucker threw on me. From the salty taste in my mouth, and the goddamn burning through the shoulder, it was not just tap-water.
“Aren’t you going to get up and say hello?” Mr. X asked as if I was simply lazily taking a nap on the floor.
“No thanks,” I growled, and he laughed.
“I thought you’d be dead by now. You’re stronger than I gave you credit for. Mr. Maddox.”
To be honest, so did I. I was convinced this was it. But I got through… what? One night? One day? A week? I didn’t have a clue how much time passed.
“Why don’t you just fucking shoot me.” I was surprised how my voice remained strong when I felt the complete opposite. “Get this shit over with.”
Mr. X laughed. “What’s the fun in that?”
“You’re sick,” I hissed. “You’re fucking insane.”
“That’s not very nice, now, is it?
I almost laughed.Almost. And I would have, if attempting such a thing hadn’t made me wince.
“You want to die?” He challenged, and I knew before getting the chance to think. I didn’t. Even though I lost everything. Even though I wished for it, so many times when it was the only way to shut out the memories, I didn’t want to die. Now was no different. But it was no longer in my hands.
“I promise you; you won’t get out of here alive.” He said it as if it was supposed to serve as comfort. Instead, it filled me with a deep dread, and a sense of finality. I believed him. How could I not? I couldn’t even move to get off the floor.
He tossed something at me. It hit my chest, and I winced at the impact before the item rolled off me and across the floor. My eyes followed it, and as it came to a halt, I realized it was an apple.
“Fetch.” Mr. X chuckled at my dark expression, then he shrugged, and turned to leave and I squeezed my eyes shut in a weak attempt to escape this cruel world I was trapped in.
I must have blacked out, because the next time I opened my eyes, my clothes were dry, and I shivered from the damn cold trapped within my skin. The cement floor dug into my bones. I had to get up. To do something, even if it would be the end of me. I rolled to my back, and over to my healthy side while biting back the screams that tried to claw themselves out. I was gasping for air and fighting nausea when I finally got to a sitting positing. My skin glistened from cold sweat, and the small gray room flickered along with my consciousness.
I couldn’t move my left arm, even the tiniest movements made me want to scream. Whatever the damage was, it got worse instead of better. From how he chose the right spot to lodge that bullet into my body, how the pain that followed was worse than anything I ever felt, I’d say he blew my whole fucking shoulder to pieces and left me to suffer the aftereffects. It hurt like a motherfucker and there was no relief. The knowledge almost made me knock myself out a second time. How long could I stand this?
*
I found out during the following days. Mr. X came to check up on me. To taunt me. He even went as far as to bring his dinner and eat it right outside my cage. The smell of his juicy steak made my stomach growl, but it was my mind I worried about. It no longer stuck with me, and instead drifted off to places I didn’t want to go.
Images flashed before my eyes.
