Chapter 18

"Umm, Emma." The girl's voice was sweet, perhaps even a little too calm given the circumstances.

"What's going on? Why is there screaming?" As if on cue, another scream bellowed, shaking me to my core. But the dialect was different than the last, it sounded… pleasurable.

It was coming from another section of the basement, maybe even the same corner when they took me to the chair. A weird tingle ran a course through my veins, fluttering between my thighs.

I frowned at my intrusive thought. Soon becoming clear that they weren't just pleas, and screams for help. They were moans. The erotic calls were getting louder as they ricocheted from the walls. Her sobs and agonized screams melded with her pleasure. Begging, pleading. Crying. I shivered. Suddenly, it went still.

"What the fuck is going on?" I repeated. Was she having an orgasm or dying? It sounded like both. The girl demanded.

"Shhh. Keep your voice down. Or you'll be next. That freak dragged one of the other girls over there after bringing you here. So shut your mouth!"

"You mean the one with the horns?" I had to clarify.

"Yes." she whispered back, her voice holding onto horror that I couldn"t possibly miss.

I scoffed mentally, or you'll next, pfft. This fucker has had plenty of opportunities to kill me and still hadn't. He had prime opportunity in the garden, but he didn't. Yet I still didn"t understand why.

"Did you go to the ball?" I opted for a different conversation. She paused in disbelief. "What? No. Wait, you went to a ball?"

She paused, as if in disbelief. "Yes. His brothers made me go. They teased, and tormented me, in front of all those people… then I woke up here."

"Wait, so you've seen him, outside? Other than in here?" she stammered, her words tumbling over each other in a frenzy. It was like I had been given some kind of special fucking treatment.

Unease pounded through my veins. Silence. It was clear that whatever was happening with these girls, was very different from what had happened to me. I opened my mouth to reply but multiple gasps simultaneously echoing interrupted me.

A flicker of light emitted from the other end of the basement, where the sounds came from. Filling the void of the darkness was the shadow man, holding a candle in the palm of his hand. The sound of my heart pounding drowned out almost all thoughts, sounds, and feelings. He was pulling a body behind him with the other hand. A dead body.

The visual forced tears from my eyes and down my cheeks, my chest struggling for a breath. He walked slow, with a predatory gait. Between each footfall along the concrete had to of been two painful seconds. It was utterly haunting. Wicked, and all I wanted to do was hide under a bed from him like scared little children did in movies. But I was nowhere near a bed to hide under, and this wasn"t a movie.

His breath was rigid against his mask. He stilled, before tilting his head towards me for a moment. I blinked my tears away so I could get a clear view of the carnage, seeing that his fist was tangled in a loop around the woman's hair. He was dragging her lifeless carcass behind him, with a thick trail of blood following.

And just like the eerie shadow that followed him, the shadow man was gone into the darkness once more. Instinctively, I tried to cradle myself for comfort, but the only thing that straddled me was a torn-up, silky green dress, and cuffs. Eventually, time passed for long enough that the tears felt like razors shredding from my eyes, and the silence was so loud, all I could hear was white noise.

I sighed. I figured no one was here to tell me off for talking.

"Where will he take her?" I whispered, though, I wasn"t sure exactly to whom, and I didn't really need to ask, I already knew. The lake. But I guess clarity was better than curiosity.

"The lake." A different voice called, tinged with a hollow sadness. As if they were resigned to their fate by now. I let the words sink into my head for a moment before asking another question.

"So… how long have you been down here?"

She sighed. Her breath sounded fractured, and laced with fear. Like I could almost hear her reliving the exact moment she had been kidnapped, and brought in here.

"I don't know. A few weeks, maybe. Give or take." The girl squeaked the sentence.

I blew out a breath. "Oh. Fuck."

She shuffled before continuing. "It's hard to tell time when every second of the day is black, and the only sounds you hear are screams. Whether you"re the one screaming, or not." Jesus. How many people were they killing? Or was this a one man operation?

"From what I can gather, they get bored quickly, so rotation is key. Obviously. They get their fix, he gets his." Fuck. My immediate thought was Tilly. Had he killed her too?

"Tilly?" I whispered. "Are you in here?" My throat thickened in anticipation, waiting for her reply. But the silence was the only response. My stomach churned, nausea taking hold at the thought of what they may have done to her.

"Sorry." The girl spoke softly. Her voice seemed genuine, and sympathetic. I cried, hard.

A squeak of the door pulled me from my limp, teary gloom. The mutters of terrified women peaked in unison. I swallowed, and the shadow man filled the void of the doorway once more.

I had the gut-churning thought, that I would be next. My eyes widened, I peered around hurriedly, but the darkness was still all that filled them, other than a hint of a glow.

His sluggish footsteps neared, and I caught sight of a green luminance bouncing off the walls. My heart pounded, catching sight of him as he stepped into my peripheral vision, stopping at the gate of my cage.

His flawless metal mask, the horns, and a fluorescent light trapped in a little glass charm that shadowed his broad, athletic chest made me tingle all over my skin.

A tingle that should have been resentment. Was what I feeling excitement? I shouldn"t have been feeling it. But I was. He was a fucking killer, and my brain still couldn"t let that bit sink in. What the fuck was wrong with me?

My lips parted, and I drew in a sharp breath. He was breathing heavily, like he had just run a marathon. I mean, I guess dragging a dead body to the lake, in the middle of a forest, and then walking back was a marathon.

I observed the shadow man as he stood at the gate of my enclosure, almost like a mannequin. He tilted his head. It was weird how he always did that. The paint on his body had faded slightly, and had drip-dried down his torso, the faded trail leading to the V of his hips. I guessed from sweat, or from being in water.

I would have said from kinky, criminal, man-whore business, but I couldn"t let my mind wander more than it needed to.

I already had a hard enough time stopping my eyes from gawking at him. I squirmed, trying to lull the butterflies that were dancing through my veins. Shit. Not again. Come on, Esme, get a fucking grip.

He grabbed the key around his neck, and began turning it in the lock at my enclosure. It was as though he was smiling at my terror. Tormenting me by moving slowly, and quietly, not speaking a word, or a slither of a threat.

Nothing. He unlocked my cage, and my heart skipped a beat. I shuffled further against the concrete wall, my back was as far back as I could manage, left with nowhere else to go.

I gulped, and went utterly still as he stopped before me. Don't show weakness. He wants you to be weak. I sighed, and it was there and then I decided not to fight him. I wouldn't give into his game. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of begging for my life. Not this time. He liked me weak.

I gasped from the electric twang that flowed through my veins when he grabbed my waist and pulled me against him, my arms tugging tightly above me. That stupid charged touch, I was sure he felt it too. No, I knew he did. My arms tingled at a full stretch, pulling at their sockets, and I bit my mouth shut again. I closed my eyes to block the pinch of pain.

But still, I didn't shriek or struggle. He lowered his gaze down at the split up my thigh from where the dress had ripped further, no thanks to him.

I wondered just how much he could see out of that mask, whether he could see the green of my panties that poked out from the dress"s tear. He groaned, and his finger trailed along where my flesh was exposed. I sucked in my lips, muting my sounds for I only knew it was going to be illicit. Well, that answered that question. Clearly, he could see very well.

The shadow man. Darkness was his ally, and no matter how dark it was it was clear this was his haven. He liked the dark, and the dark liked him, taking victims one by one for his own fantasies, and the forest was his playground. He sighed, seemingly withholding anger or some kind of frustration, and released his grip from my waist. He pried at my cuffs, toying with them until the metal clunked and freed my wrists.

Instant relief hit me as my arms fell to my sides, the pins and needle sensation bubbled as the blood returned to my arms. I held my composure as he wrapped his veiny hand around one, squeezing hard as he pulled me beside him.

I complied without a murmur or protest, letting the thump of my heart echo in my ears. I had barely gotten a step forward before he pushed me, not enough for me to stumble but enough to wobble awkwardly in my heels. I hadn"t noticed until now how much I was aching. I needed to take these fucking shoes off, the pain was now almost unbearable. "Wait." I pleaded desperately.

He paused, surprising me, and gripped my arm tighter, vexed by my distraction. "Can I at least take my shoes off?" I asked, or begged, I wasn"t sure. My feet hurt because of you, fucker. He hesitated but finally sighed, dropping his gaze to my feet. I was quick to hover on one leg to grab at the shoe and rip the darn thing off.

He let me pull the first off but I winced as I went for the second. I cried out as he squeezed around my arm harder, and growled. A warning to stop what I was doing or to hurry up.

Well, I can"t walk around with one shoe, fucking idiot.I cocked my brows in disbelief as he dropped to his knee, and his warm hand cupped my thigh. I shuddered as it trailed down my leg to my ankle. It took everything I had to keep my mouth shut. He tapped at my ankle, and I lifted my leg in compliance, planting my hand on his shoulder for balance.

The shadow man inhaled deeply, and his muscles tensed to stone, a quiet growl forming in his chest. I stiffened in unison, but I didn't dare move. He finally continued, and pried my heel off with ease, discarding it somewhere on the concrete behind me.

My head raced a million miles a millisecond. Was this… kindness? Or part of his twisted game? To mess with my head. If that was his intention, he was succeeding.

Like nothing had happened, he shoved me forward again, a different sensation on my feet. The painkillers Ruby had given me and the alcohol I had consumed had long since worn off, but I think adrenaline was keeping it at bay. The door closed behind us and I couldn't see a fucking thing other than shadows of whatever reflected from the glow of his amulet, and subtle reflections on polished cars.

I felt the cold polished concrete floor on my feet. The smoothness was oddly soothing against my welts. A light flickered on by a sensor inside an elevator in the distance at the other end of the garage. Now I could see the cars I had seen when I first got here, and the motorbike. Damon"s bike? There were so many modern expensive cars here, though, I couldn"t make out what they were.

We walked past them swiftly, not at the shadow man"s usually slow and tantalising pace. But seeing all these snazzy cars, I knew for sure I could get away, if I only had the key to one. I imagined disappearing into the horizon before my eyes had a chance to blink. My stomach fluttered from the thought of escaping again. Yeah, because that worked out so well for you last time, idiot.

The consequences I was walking on should have warranted an immediate stop to my thoughts. But it didn't. I pushed them aside, and kept walking, purposefully slowing my pace to gawk at the shiny cars a little longer, and plot my escape.

They were all in a row, tidy, and clean. Except one, I remember seeing it when the buff guy pulled me out of the trunk. I frowned, and unintentionally stopped, craning my neck to get a better look. It looked like an old car, like one you would buy as your first car for a few hundred dollars. It was shoved in the furthest corner of the garage, where as little light as possible could reflect against it.

It was nothing but a pile of twisted, crumpled, shattered steel with rust, and wheels. I could make out at the very least it was the remnants of an accident of some sort.

The shadow man pushed me again, growling in that way of his, only with loathe and revolt. I walked on with my head down. My mind wondered, it was as though whatever that car was, seemed to mean something to him, because he sure as heck didn't want me gawking at it. The elevator was bright, and I struggled to focus my eyes after being in the dark for so long.

I could remember Ruby taking me through it but I didn't remember it being this bright. I kept my eyes peering at my bare feet. Don't look up at him. Don't do it. Don't do it, Esme. But I knew I couldn't keep my curiosity from rearing its ugly head. In this light, I had to take a look at him.

I peered up at the shadow man through my eyelashes, and watched his muscles contract and release as he did the most human thing possible, breathe. His breath was hollow and strained, observing his chest expand with each draw of breath was quickly becoming an addiction. I swallowed over the lump in my throat and drifted my eyes further up, having forgotten just how tall he was.

I had only really glimpsed at him in the darkness until now, it seemed almost illegal to look at him under a bright light. A hell of a lot less scary. But I still couldn"t see past the mesh of the mask"s eye holes.

I gasped, throwing my head back down to my feet. He was looking straight down at me. Busted. A mocking blow of air escaped his nose, amused. Another pinpoint to him being human.

He adjusted the grip around my arm, and I peered up again, glaring at the veins that trailed up them. They were thick. The black paint had faded enough to see three thick colossal scars on his forearm. I winced.

They were old, but they would have had to of been painfully deep to have caused that much damage to the flesh. I darted my eyes around his bare chest, finding more and more scars over his body. He was covered in them. My heart rate rose, as did my temperature. I couldn"t help but sympathize with whatever pain he had been through, and I hated that.

This man wasn"t the type of person to be feeling sad and sorry for, he was a murderer.

But he really wasn't as terrifying under this light. My mind trailed off… did he get those scars? Did he have a car accident? Why doesn't he talk? Why does he wear a mask?

I gulped, and he repeated mine, only gulping louder, as though he was processing my curiosity.

The lift felt like forever before it finally came to a halt and the elevator doors slid open. My already palpitating heart was under enough stress, it didn't need any more.

I couldn"t help but assume the worst, that we would end up in another type of rape dungeon with no windows or a lion"s den, or whatever room"s murderers have.

But what I feared we would arrive to, and what was reality were two very different things.

It was a stunning room, and I think it was… his room.