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“You have some serious money to make up for tonight. You’re lucky people are already joining the chat.”
My eyes cracked open, but I didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure I could. My skin was on fire despite that I was ice cold. It was a fever. That was obvious, but I was also in too much pain to force words free. If I opened my mouth, I might not stop screaming.
“Welcome to night four. Tonight, we bring in the toys.” Footsteps headed off in the distance. I turned my head just in time to see my captor pushing a two-leveled cart forward. There was everything from whips, to spiked paddles, to handles with strands sporting twisted hooks that were similar to barbed wire. My stomach sank as the bile rose in my throat. “I’m shortening the timeline and switching things up a bit. This is the last night before we go red. Come tomorrow night, there’s only one chance to win, and that’s at the beginning of the show. The winner calls the shots from start to death. Now, take in your tools. You have five minutes before we open the bidding.”
Although I wanted to close my eyes, I wasn’t able. One minute I was prone, the next the table shifted, and it was almost like I was standing. The straps held me in place, but my tiptoes were able to brush against stone, just short of the drain.
“Four minutes.” He turned to me. Seconds dragged on as his hard stare stayed connected to mine. I wasn’t sure how I wasn’t looking away. A part of me couldn’t. The agony made it to where I almost wished he’d kill me now. “Three minutes.” He turned to the far table, holding up a bottle of water. “Open your mouth. You’re weak. You won’t pass out on the first hit and ruin it.”
“No.”
Fingers dug into the sides of my jaw as he pried my mouth open. I screamed, trying to go crazy under the bonds holding me straight. All I could do was make small movements with my head, but the pain was nearly my undoing. Stars danced in front of my vision from the lightheadedness just as ice cold water splashed in my face. I gasped as my breath caught from the frigid temperature. It gave him the perfect opportunity to shove the bottle past my lips.
“Don’t you dare spit that out.”
He still had my face, holding me with an iron grip as I tried not to choke. One gulp. Two. It was all I could do to stop the water from drowning me.
“Two minutes! You get no choice on location tonight, just your preference for tools.”
“I hope I do pass out and ruin your show. I hope you kill me.”
Dark eyes glared as he turned towards me and stepped closer. “Hope is for the weak. Death will come soon enough, but only when I’m ready.”
A yell tore from my mouth as sanity slipped. I couldn’t do this again. I couldn’t endure another night of going through unbearable pain. I was barely managing not to get sick from being awake.
“Let me go or kill me. I can’t do this anymore. Let them bid now. This ends tonight!”
“Keep yelling,” he said, moving inches from my face. “Your fight is more entertaining. It brings me more money.”
“Then I won’t make a single sound.”
“We’ll see about that.”
My hand throbbed with my racing heart while he laughed. He walked away, heading to his computer desk a few feet over. I could see the movement of words, but I had no idea what they were saying. It didn’t matter. It was the other monitor in the back that left me frozen in horror. I was on multiple, small screens. Me: dirty, covered in mass shades of bruising and dried blood. Not that I could make out my face or body in detail. The pictures of the live feed were too small but from what I could see of the varying colors, I looked bad. So much worse than I could even comprehend in my hazy, confused state. The sight held me hostage, even as I watched the man in the video circle around me to the cart.
He stopped in front of it. There were no words, but I knew this part. He grabbed a tool, spinning and whipping his hand right towards me. I tensed, but the small delay in the video left me unprepared for the blur at my side. Fire flared over my thigh before I could brace myself. My toes tried pointing to push into stone, but it wasn’t enough to override the shock.
“Daddy of Nightmares wants you to feel his tacked belt. Have you been a bad girl?”
His entire body turned as his arm reared back. When he threw his weight into the swing, leather studded with what looked like small needles sliced over my hip with a loud crack. My eyes went wide, and the connection with my stomach quickly followed. The slicing force was nauseating. I tried scraping in every ounce of air I could, but it left me as he connected over my breasts.
“What was that?” My captor leaned in as I panicked from lack of oxygen. Beads and streaks of blood were beginning to appear all over me. “You were saying something earlier; was that right? Something…defying?”
Evil. It stared me down as time stretched out. Only when the room began to darken was I able to suck in oxygen. It hit hard causing me to gulp in as much as I could.
“You wanted to scream, right? You wanted to beg for mercy?”
I said nothing.
“Fighters don’t win here. Go ahead and cry. Ask us to stop. It’s okay.”
He leaned in so close, his lips almost brushed into mine. My head jerked back with my sobs, but not before my spit sprayed across his face. Where I expected him to hit me, he only smiled as he wiped it away and headed back to the computer. But he didn’t stay. He paced, walking between me and his desk.
“One minute. If you forget your tool of choice, I choose.” He turned, his gaze meeting mine. It was different—holding a threat I hadn’t considered yet. One I dared not even let enter my mind. But it was oddly on his. That smirk. It was as if he had a secret. Something only he knew, but that he was proud of. I didn’t understand it, but I didn’t have to. It gave me the creeps. I didn’t like it.
He walked back to the desk, his head cocking as he stared at the screen. For the first time during a show, he pulled out the chair and began typing. My entire body was trembling, and I knew I was on the verge of massive sobs so much worse than the ones already leaving me. Tears dripped from my cheeks. Stretching my neck, I tried to see around the man’s wide shoulders as he made a grunting noise under his breath.
“Cat. Good call.”
