Ever hated the place on sight. Something about it made him feel this staggering sense of dread deep in his belly. He didn’t say that, though. It had been hard enough getting Arsen to agree to let him come along.
The door of the facility was heavy iron, and it made a horrible racket when Arsen and Seven pulled it open. Arsen said the whole building belonged to the Mulvaneys—one of several properties purchased behind a wall of paperwork and left empty for their personal use.
As they entered, Ever’s head was on a swivel, taking in rust-colored stains on the concrete floors and walls and large, industrial machines that were as baffling as they were terrifying. There were only windows along the very top of the two-story building, leaving it feeling a little like a tomb. Large plastic sheeting separated the rooms, but provided just enough privacy to make it feel like something terrifying lurked around every corner.
“What is this place?” Ever asked, voice barely above a whisper, half afraid he might wake whatever ghosts still lingered there.
“Meat-packing plant,” Arsen answered at the same time Felix said, “A slaughterhouse.”
Slaughterhouse? “What’s a slaughterhouse?”
“It’s where they kill and butcher animals for meat,” Felix said. “Only now, we use it to butcher bad guys.”
Felix, Lake, and Seven had cleared their schedule when the call came in, refusing to be left behind. Levi and Nico had gotten stuck at work. Cree had opted out of the torture. Ever didn’t know him well, but he liked him. He was a gentle, quiet soul.
Arsen fixed Felix with a pissy look. Felix shrugged. “What? It is. Why are you trying to coddle him? He’s about to watch us torture a girl to death. I think we’re past the kid gloves. No?”
Ever’s stomach churned. Arsen didn’t want him there, he’d made that really clear. But he’d been overruled, first by Jericho then by Atticus, who assured him that Ever was entitled to help punish his abusers and that, in the end, it would be cathartic. Ever hoped they were right. At the moment, he just didn’t want to throw up. There was a weird scent in the air, like iron and rot, and it was making him sick.
Asa popped his head around a corner and waved them back through the clear flaps. Ever held back a shudder as he noticed strange dark spots on the cold plastic as they passed through it. They ended up in a large tiled room filled with stainless steel counters and a large table. Ever’s eyes went to the large drain on the floor beneath it.
Cherry was on that table, eyes darting around, but otherwise, she was perfectly still. She was naked, though someone had used plastic to cover her head, chest, and hips. When Avi saw them staring, he waved a hand over her. “Like it? Very Dexter-like, no?”
Ever didn’t know who Dexter was or why he strapped people to tables, but he couldn’t imagine it was for anything good. He looked at the others, who loitered around the room. Jericho and Atticus stood off to the side, a large brown bag open beside them. Seven went to stand with them. Lake and Felix moved closer to Cherry on the table.
“What’s happening? Where am I? Why can’t I move?” Cherry asked in rapid succession.
It was only then that Ever realized she couldn’t move her head. Was she just now starting to realize her predicament?
Atticus glanced up from his phone. “I’ve given you a paralytic. Just from the neck down, of course. We need you to be able to talk.”
“And scream,” Asa added, unrolling a black cloth, revealing a bunch of wicked-looking weapons that made Ever’s stomach swoop.
The twins and Atticus were so…calm. Felix and Jericho, too. They looked almost…bored. Ever didn’t know how to wrap his head around it. How could these people be the same people who had helped him at every turn? How could they be so composed?
“You should be thanking us,” Avi said. “At least you can still blink.” He hovered over her, adding, “For now. If you don’t tell us what we want to know, I have these bad boys here.” He held up two strangely shaped metal contraptions. “These hold your eyelids open. Do you know what happens when you can’t blink?”
Ever’s eyes burned like it was him on the table. He didn’t know how anyone could put those things in someone’s eyes and he didn’t want to know. Apparently, he wasn’t alone.
Seven shuddered. “Aw, man. I hate eyeball stuff.”
Asa ignored Seven, clearly not done tormenting Cherry. “It only takes about four minutes of not blinking for you to be in agony. In another hour, you’d be going crazy not just from the pain but from the constant signal from your brain begging you to blink. After a few hours, things get really gruesome… Wanna hear about it? Or maybe we should just let you see for yourself.”
Avi snorted, putting his face in her line of sight. “Seefor yourself…get it?”
“What the fuck is happening?” she cried, a broken sob ripping from her lips. A lump formed in Ever’s throat, and he regretted his decision to attend almost immediately. “I didn’t do anything. You got the wrong person.”
“Who said you did anything? Guilty conscience?” Felix asked.
“Yeah, maybe we just like to torture people for fun?” Avi quipped. He picked up a scalpel and nicked her forehead, smiling when she hissed and a drop of blood beaded from the wound. “Did you ever think about that?” he tsked. “No, ‘cause you only think about yourself.”
Ever’s gaze followed the drop of blood down the bridge of her nose, wincing as it pooled in her left eye, making it look eerily blue. She caught Ever’s gaze. “Let me go. Please? I’ll do anything.”
Ever caught his bottom lip between his teeth, gnawing on it. Maybe this was a bad idea. Arsen’s hand caught him under the chin, pulling his focus. “Why don’t you go stand with Seven?”
Ever nodded, floating closer to the taller boy.
“Please,” Cherry begged again, louder this time.
