Chapter 13

Right on schedule, the doors lock clunked and unlocked for the maid. Aromas of freshly cooked eggs, bacon and toast radiated through my nose. Saliva pooled in my mouth from the smell, I had no idea how weak and famished I was. I spent majority of the night in the bath alone, picking out what-ever glass remanences from my body I could. Crawling was my only solution if I actually wanted to get out of it, the pain was more bearable on my knees than it was to walk. Fortunately, Caine had left the bottle of pills on the newly added bedside table.

I caved and took two, and I had gone into a slumber the moment my head hit the pillow. If the kind of bullshit they endured on me was going to keep happening, I was going to need a doctor. They couldn"t keep doing this, could they? They said they were going to kill me, and yet here I was. Breathing. It wasn't an easy task, getting back to my bed. I was mostly immobile, not paralysed, but being mangled didn't exactly leave much ability to walk. By the time I was done picking at my wounds to my best ability, the bath had turned stone cold, and I was left more dirty than I had been when I first got in the bath. The water was redder than red. If that was even possible. And I was exhausted.

The last couple days, or weeks- however long I'd been here- had been vexing, and I was starving. I figured that I'd need to get off the bed for the maid anyway, so after my trip to the toilet when I woke up a few moments ago, I sat wrapped in a towel on the chair Caine was sitting on last night. It smelt like him. Which shouldn't have made the flutter in my stomach dance, but it did. But there was something about his kindness that clung to me, giving me that hint of hope that I clearly needed. He didn"t seem like the others, and if I was being honest, having watched a few movies in my life… murderers and crazy kidnapping freaks simply do not just hand over medication to relieve the pain of the victim. Nor do they give them a somewhat nice cozy room, one that wasn"t a rotting cage.

That was what messed with me more than the carnage done on my feet. The morning sunlight kissed the sky, and I watched the shadows of the forest I was running through a mere 24-hours ago dwindle away. Whatever pills Caine brought in were strong. But now that I was upright, they had worn off, and I needed more. Stat. There were at least another five days of them left in the bottle, so I'd need to ration them out. Caine waltzed out in a huff last night for whatever reason, so God only knows how long I'd be here alone, without access to a refill. I rolled my eyes to the use of the word God. God. Pshh, fuck him.

Gah! That reminded me of something Eli had said. ‘You don't belong to that God anymore'. Whatever the fuck that meant. The fuckers, all of them. Toying with my head with their fucked-up game they're playing. Breaking me from my mental case, the maid walked in. I frowned, unease stirring at the pit of my stomach. It seemed that every time that door opened, something bad happened. Her body language was not weak like normal.

Perhaps this was a new maid. Come think of it, they probably sacked the last one for letting me escape. Sacked? Killed more like it. I involuntarily imaged Eli's hand around her throat, it wouldn't take much. He was a monster of a human, one tight squeeze and her head would pop off her shoulders like a ping pong ball. There was something about Eli that I couldn't quite put my finger on. He was loyal to the shadow man, no matter the cost. But why? And given what he"d said to me, something about me being an offering and whatever I was here for, seemed to have only just begun. I figured if they were going to keep me alive, I'd have to behave.

Escaping wasn't on the cards, so I was just going to have to let this pan out and see what happened next. My feet are already fucked, so it wasn"t like I was going anywhere in a hurry. The maid wheeled the trolley of food and fresh linens into my room, or at least who I thought was the maid, followed by a second person. Shit. It was Ruby and Damon. The mother fuckers. That was a face… no… two faces I'd like to have never seen again, but here I was, looking right at them. Damon offered his signature self satisfied smirk, and Ruby creased a brow at the blood all over the carpet. I shuddered, it was everywhere. No doubt it was also through the hallway and the stairs from Eli carrying me here from the warehouse. It was like a scene from a fucking horror movie.

Ruby ran her eyes up and down my body, pausing briefly at my feet that was were entwined in ripped up pieces of the sheet I used as bandages, before peering back at the bed where the sheet was with a perplexed look on her face. Pleased? Sick fucker. Damon sauntered across the room towards me. My breath hitched, and I mindlessly sank into my chair, dreading where this was going to go. I couldn't survive another attack. Another torture session. I had learned my lesson: Don't run. I summoned whatever bravery I had in me to not cry or show weakness, but it wasn't much.

"There"s my favourite toy." Damon mocked. "Get away from me!" I snarled in pure fear, but it was far from a threat. It was more antagonizing for them than anything. Tears pooled at my eyes, but didn't fall, I managed to lock them in somehow. He chuckled and knelt in front of my feet. The illicit thought of me dragging glass over his pretty little baby face ran a delicious thought in my head. I frowned, he was so young. Sporting peach fuzz stubble. Hardly a man, couldn't grow a beard even if he wanted to. He began un-twirling the wraps on my feet, pulling me from my twisted daydream. I instinctively kicked slightly. Clearly I didn't learn my lesson the first time. He growled. "Do that again and you'll lose these pretty little fucking legs. Haven't you learnt your lesson enough?" His tone was empty, barely a whisper, and disgustingly playful. I didn't want to go through that again, or anything like it so I softened and loosened my body, submitting to his intrusive hands. If I valued my life at all, I was to obey him. Even if the thought made my lip curl.

This fucker will get his way no matter the cost, if things won't go willingly, he will take it. "Good minx." He caressed my feet, tormenting me gently with the insincere praise. Nice wasn't Damon"s thing. He was as much of a condescending pain in the ass as he was evil. And he looked good doing it too. I hated that. But it was true, nonetheless. I say nothing as I observed him running his hands gently around the painful wounds on my feet. Regretting that I hadn't taken my chance earlier this morning to pop those pills.

His lips parted, and an enticing glint in his eyes formed. Making the lump in my throat choke me and the tear free from my eye, I had done well to keep it at bay until now. "Mmmm. He did good. That"s what naughty girls" get for running." He craned his neck towards Ruby. "Hey Kit Kat, let's take her to the ball." Did everyone have nicknames in this fucking hell hole? "Ha, are you trying to get castrated?" Ruby scoffed, crossing her arms. She seemed annoyed, yet amused by his outburst. A fucking ball? I vaguely remembered Jesse mentioning them at the club.

Something about an uncle and charity events. My mind wandered, why would he get castrated? I frowned. Damon waved her off with his tongue over his teeth, and a glint in his eyes. He was up to no good, stirring the pot perhaps. "He's not here, he will never know." Damon added. "Your funeral." She shrugged. They bickered on for a bit like I wasn't here, though he still had a hold of my leg. He looked up at me through his long, pretty eyelashes and danced his brows, the schmuck freak of nature.

"Come on piggy, let's go. We"ve got shit to do." He mocked. "Piggy?" I mirrored without realizing, squirming from the sting of the word. He smiled with a purr, leaning in close to me. I melted a little further into my chair and gulped, loudly. "Piggy," he whispered through his teeth before continuing, "because you bet that sweet fucking ass we"re gonna play that game. Piggy… in… the… middle." I swallowed again. Fuck. Panic and curiosity marrying each other, not the best combination. "Now, get up."

"What? I can't, look at me" I grunted. Was he fucking blind? He tutted with a laugh, "That? That was just a scratch. There"s much worse to come." He dragged the last part of that sentence in a way that etched into my soul, painfully. He really was an antagonising ass-hole. I pinched my eyes, throwing daggers at him like I had been practicing. Fucker. "Don't threaten me with a good time."

"I didn't say anything." I muttered. He cocked a brow and a smoulder crinkled his face. "You didn't have to, I can see it in your eyes."

"See… what?"

"How much you want to fuck me." He added. "I don't… I…" I stuttered, but the words were mostly inaudible and crackled. I gulped, hard. Guilt and impish thoughts stapled me. Granted, he wasn't wrong. And that's what made everything in my body squirm, like my skin was crawling. What was wrong with me? He laughed. "I'd destroy that little cunt in two seconds flat." I choked at his words, completely baffled. They led me down the hallway, I winced and panted heavily through each step, but they wouldn"t take no for an answer. The pain radiated so hard my legs were tingling with pins and needles. I was thankful somewhat for the wall that I held myself against for balance and strength.

Whomp.

I yelped from the sound of Damon's studded paddle across a hostage"s ass, drawing blood.

"Ouch!" she howled, but it seemed it wasn't just a howl of pain. Given the trickle running down her leg, she was aroused by it. He caressed the area he hit, softening the blow. Fucking hell. What the fuck was wrong with these people? "That's a good little slut, take it. You're no use for anything else, are you?" The girl didn't answer. "Are you?" His tone was aggressive.

"No." She weeped. It wasn't a weep of sadness or detraction, though. He looked rather pleased with himself and his punishment, if that's what all this was. I couldn't tell. It reminded me of my heated moment with the shadow man, the bastard. The marriage of pain and pleasure when it swarmed my body, his knife trailing along on the apex of my pussy. The memory had been scorched into my mind. Damon repeated the hit. It was harder than the last, but I"d endured worse. She took it well, even revelled in the torment. I watched from where I sat next to Eli while Ruby and Damon continued to take turns messing with the hostages. When they were done fucking around with one, they'd pull out another, like they had done with me when I first got here. Those girls didn't get the same treatment as me, though.

Damon took them back to the basement. Granted, most of the girls were absolutely fucking terrified, starving, deprived, and naked. Lost little souls. And were in great amounts of pain, but some of them were enjoying it. As was I. As much as I hated to admit it, my pussy was thumping from the illicit visuals between Damon and Ruby against the other girls. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was enjoying watching them. Forced to sit here and watch. Though, I wasn't exactly sure if ‘forced' was the right word. We had been here until nightfall, given the clock on the wall, telling me we had been here for eight hours, and they were nowhere near finished.

Squeezing my legs shut wasn't a cure for the pulse that beat between them. It only made it worse. If I saw another orgasm, I was going to have one myself. And that was everything wrong in one sentence. Damon had two sides to him. He was either the one putting girls on their knees to have them devour his length until they were foaming at the mouth, like I did. Tears ran down their faces as they choked on his ridiculously sized cock. But he didn't climax, no, he saved himself. For Ruby, showing his other side. Where he got to his knees and begged her for his release.

It was like no one else were in the room, she teased at his arousal with her fingers. In a forbidden area that God, never intended it"s use. Though, I remember Tilly mentioning it once or twice, anal. I had wrongly assumed that a person would only endure anal if maybe they were homosexual or whatever, but Damon was nothing of the kind. His liquid spiralled fast and hard, and as sick and twisted as it was, I never once moved my eyes away. The evening continued to boom and Scarlett and another girl, Violet, the strippers from the club, came in too. They came here of their own free will, not hostages, not tortured. The place turned into a whore house. And they were only happy to be up front spread like a buffet for Damon and Eli to munch on. And Ruby. A fucking sex dungeon. For many hours, I managed to get only a few words out of Eli. We had a few drinks, scotch I think, it helped with the pain. It was no pain killer like the pills, but it helped. Eli was much older than me, almost thirty-four.

I don"t know why he did, but he told me Caine had an important role for the hostages and me. He was the lure, the bait. Because of his baby sweet eyes and kindness, easy to rope the girl"s in. Of course, easy trap, Mr. Fairytale. Eli was the muscles of the operation. He seemed genuine and truthful, but I didn't understand it all. There was an uncle, Soren. The wealth behind the mansion, and everything else in between. But where was he? And why? I was always asking why, but it was always left unanswered. I guess I was going to die anyway so it didn"t matter if they told me some of their secrets. Above all else, I learned I was the only one who had been given a room of my own, a toilet, a bath, and a shower. And a toothbrush. But no matter how many times I asked why, and why they wanted me dead, Eli wouldn't tell me.

Damn that night… The night I was plucked away callously, the night I lost sight of Esme Pierce. The night my life changed forever. I was a hostage with a death wish I had never asked for. I was an offering, but for what? And why? I was getting sick of no one telling me no matter how many times I had snaked my questions for an answer. Time passed by without knowing my fate. I hated the fucking bastard. H, the shadow man. Whatever the fuck he went by. Nothing would ever compare to the hate I had for the shadow man, and this sick twisted game he had.

The title ‘sex slave' just didn't settle with me. I mean, sex did, but slave didn't. Eli eventually got slightly more comfortable with me after drowning himself in liquor. Though, it was mostly untranslatable. He waffled on about something to do with the shadow man being on the hunt for something for six years. By then the alcohol and sexual haze had messed with my head entirely, that and the word "death", constantly echoing in my head.

I tuned Eli out unintentionally, drawing my focus to the sexual encounters being made. The heat in the room elevated, and it began to stench of sex. "-In the lake, he kills them all." He muttered clearly, with a laugh on the end of a stumbled sentence. My heart pounded, the words pulling me from my trance. Remembering that the shadow man was a murderer. A cold, hard murderer. And I was his prey. "Are you bragging or gossiping, brother?" Damon hissed, pulling himself back into his jeans as he stumbled over. "What I say and do is my decision, and you"d do well to remember that." Eli scoffed back, his tone had a possessive twang to it. As if he were going to guard me, for some reason. But then he continued. "He"s going to kill her anyway, so no harm in telling her about the Whitlock brothers."

Damon rolled his eyes and tutted. "Fucking softy." I struggled to hold down the bile in my throat. What good feeling I had sweltering between my legs were now long gone. I had forgotten where I was. Get your mind out of the gutter, you fucking idiot, Esme. The shadow man was a sick freak. And to think this man has been near me on multiple occasions… God, it made me wish I wasn't breathing. It"s funny, when you know death"s going to be knocking on your door, but you don't know when, you just want it to be over, but only he knew when he was going to come pay you a visit. He wanted you weak, when you least expect it. He already haunted my dreams, and I was already weak. Why wait? Why make me go through all this?

"I hear you"re coming to the ball?" Eli slurred. Loud enough so that Damon could here, though he was talking directly to me. "What?" I responded numbly, not really focusing anymore. I didn't think Damon was serious when he said it earlier. Why in the fucking hell would I be invited to a ball? But the more my mind wondered, the more it made sense. I was their little toy to play with. Of course there was a fucking ball. I was a rat in a cage to poke and prod. I dreaded the idea of it, but did I really have a choice?

And how the fuck would that be possible? I was useless. It's not like I could do the fucking waltz, not with my feet. "Tomorrow night. Oh, this should be good." Eli clapped his hands, rubbing them together like he had just won a pot of gold. He and Damon both fixed their gaze on me with devilish grins. I shrunk into my seat. "Damn, if he finds out, whooo-ee. Damon's a goner." Eli slapped the back of his hand against Ruby's arm, who was neck deep in a bottle of whiskey on his lap. She snapped her neck to face him with tightened eyes, her hand quick to her knife at her thigh. Ready and waiting to clock him, but she didn't. She huffed and rolled her eyes. Like she was the older sister watching sibling rivalry, like they were the mischief makers, naughty little boys and up to no good.

Damon waved him off. "Ahh, fuck. Come on. He won't find out. As long as someone doesn"t loud mouth. He's too busy down the lake anyway." It was then that my heart sank again. The lake. The murders. My unsteady breath echoed the room, but they bantered between each other like I wasn't there. Like the threat of death was no different than turning a pot of water for a coffee, like every other day. Did they really care so little about the lives of those they took? The sick fucking freaks. Gah.

"So, that leaves us with the burning question... whose date is she gonna be?" Eli questioned, and three pairs of eyes burned curiously into me. Eli's grin spread from ear to ear. His shiny white teeth popped from his lips. As handsome as he was, he was amused in a way that made my head race. My mouth dried. What the fuck. These people were insane. Damon"s lips parted, about to speak, but another voice called from the doorway and cut him off, startling me.

"Mine." A jealous edge curled Damon"s lips. My heart skipped a few beats before returning to its normal pace again. It was Caine.