Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 199879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 999(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 999(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
It looks like Haidyn has used the man’s body as target practice. Different sizes of knives are sticking out of the man’s legs, arms, and stomach. Blood runs down his sweaty body and onto the floor as well.
My hand comes up to my mouth and nose to try to lessen the smell of blood, sweat, and piss. A knot forms in my throat. I almost forgot how sick this place is. It’s made of nightmares.
The man lifts his head, a strangled moan escaping his busted lips. His dead eyes meet mine when he speaks. “He-lp…me.”
I take a step back just as Haidyn turns to see me. I freeze, my body stiffening.
Haidyn has always had the power to tear a man’s head off with his bare hands. I once watched him gut a guy without blinking. So the fact he’s smiling at me right now with a bloody knife in his hand scares the shit out of me.
Without even looking back, he stabs the knife into the man’s stomach as he hangs from the ceiling. His head falls back, and he begins to sob. His voice is hoarse. There’s no telling how long Haidyn has had him down here.
Haidyn walks over to me, and I tremble as he reaches for me. “Haidyn—” He yanks me forward and wraps his arm around my neck from behind. I start kicking and screaming over the music as he lowers his lips to my ear.
“Shh, calm down, baby girl. I’m not going to hurt you,” he says softly.
Tears spill over my bottom lashes as my fingers dig into his bloody forearm. My throat is still sore from Saint yesterday, then the added pressure of his muscles makes it even worse. “Haidyn, please—”
“Watch him.” He interrupts me. “Watch him suffer, Ash. Like the piece of shit he is.”
The guy’s head hangs forward, and snot and drool fall from his face. He’s sobbing uncontrollably, and every breath he takes makes the knives move.
“Do you want him to suffer, baby girl?” Haidyn asks.
It’s a trick question. Suffering is what Carnage was built on, what the Spade brothers do. The man coughs up blood, and it lands on me, making me flinch. “No,” I say roughly.
“Go ahead.” Haidyn removes the arm around my neck, gently placing my feet on the floor and instead grabs the back of mine. His fingers pinch into my sensitive skin. “Go ahead, Ash.” He repeats. “Help him out. Show him the mercy that you think he deserves.”
“Pl…ease,” the man cries, his voice barely audible over the song that plays on repeat. It’s almost as terrifying as the bleeding man hanging naked before me. “Help me.”
I sniff, my nose running. But I reach out with a shaky hand and wrap my fingers around the bloody handle. When I yank it out, he screams. I pull another one out of his side, and he starts to thrash around. Blood gushes from both wounds, and his body begins to spasm, making the chains rattle. Blood pours from his mouth and down his naked torso before his head falls back and his body goes limp.
He’s dead.
I release the last knife as if it just burned me, and it clanks to the floor. I’m grabbed from behind, and I scream out in surprise. My back is slammed into a wall. So hard that the air is knocked out of me, and my watery eyes look up to meet Haidyn’s hard ones. His large hand wraps around my throat and he gives it a firm squeeze, crushing my collar into my skin as he holds me captive to the cold wall.
“If you don’t want to get hurt, I suggest you stay in your room, Ash. There are no cameras down here. Saint can’t save you if he can’t see who is hurting you.” His words aren’t menace in any way. They’re actually spoken softly.
I always loved Haidyn. Something about him terrified yet excited me at the same time. I wonder if he still keeps my secret.
Four Years Ago
I run out of her office, not caring that my mom’s therapist is calling out to me. I can’t hear anymore. So many lies. So much betrayal. And now a baby?
Sucking in breath after breath, I round a corner and run into someone. I scream as hands grab at me and lift me off my feet. I kick and fight, but they drag me into a room. It’s one of the fathers. She called them to come get me and take me downstairs. They’re going to kill my baby, force me to have a hysterectomy, and then throw me in a cell.
Saint won’t protect me. Not after what he finds out. A hand slaps over my mouth, muffling my screams, and I buck wildly since my nose is so stuffed up I can’t breathe through it.