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His face went stony as he replied to me. “Well, firstly, I had a game back in the city, which I couldn’t miss. But also, I wanted you to know what it’s like to be locked up,” he said, voice practically dripping with acid. “The indignity. The mixture of terror and boredom. You’ve felt that now. You know exactly what I felt for fucking months back then.”
“You deserved to be locked up forever,” I hissed back at him, nostrils flaring.
“Shut the fuck up, Sienna!” Paxton roared, hands clenching by his sides. I flinched and skittered farther up the bed. “Do you have any fucking idea what it was like for me? What I lost?”
“Am I supposed to care?” I said. “I mean, look what I lost. You don’t see me kidnapping people as a result.”
He took a few steps closer and lowered himself to my level, eyes burning with utter hatred. “To this day, my own family won’t look me in the eye. They think I did it and just got lucky. And they aren’t the only ones. A lot of other people still think I did it too. They treat me like I’m fucking radioactive. Like they’re worried I’ll snap at any second and kill them. They think the only reason I’m walking around free now is because I had help whitewashing my image because of my athletic skills. As if that’s even remotely fucking feasible.”
“Uh… it is feasible, actually. Because that’s exactly what happened,” I replied in a low voice, meeting his hate-filled gaze with a glowering stare.
Paxton rose back up to his full height, eyes remaining laser-focused on me. “You know what I think?” he said. “I think you made up all that shit because you wanted it to be me.”
“Huh?”
“I think you fantasize about that stuff. You’re like those women who write to serial killers in prison,” he said. “I looked it up. It’s called hybristophilia. It turns you on to picture yourself fucking a killer.”
I swallowed hard. “That’s not true.”
“I think it is.” He paused and narrowed his eyes. “So here’s what we’re going to do. Part of your punishment. I have a feeling you’re going to love it just as much as you hate it.”
My heart was beating so fast I could hear it pounding in my head. “What are you going to do to me, Paxton?”
“We’re going to play a game.”
“What sort of game?” I asked. My voice was cracking with fear now.
“I told you there’s no one around here. No one to hear you or help you. So I’m going to let you go tonight.”
I stared at him, forehead wrinkling with confusion. “Let me go?”
“Yes. So I can hunt you.”
My stomach lurched. “What happens if you catch me?” I asked.
“You mean when I catch you?”
“Yes,” I said, voice barely above a whisper.
He smiled, eyes glittering with malice. “I think you know exactly what happens then, Sienna.”
Oh god.
I was wrong earlier. He didn’t intend to keep me here for a long time. I had no chance of slowly convincing him to let me go, either. He was going to kill me in the woods outside this cabin.
Tonight.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key before leaning down to tinker with my ankle cuff. “Do you need to use the bathroom before we get started?”
I stared at him through bulging eyes. “You mean… it’s… it’s happening now?”
He nodded curtly. “Is that a yes or no to my question?”
“I… I don’t need to go. But please, Paxton. Please. Let’s just talk about this,” I said in a shrill, quavering voice. “We can work something out. Please!”
He sneered. “We’re a long way past that point, Sienna,” he said, yanking the cuff away from my ankle. “Get up.”
“No!”
