“She has.. fuck, she has the same name as my daughter. I named Sophia after my sister. This can’t just be a coincidence.”
I watch my best friend fight with his thoughts and I can see the anguish across his face as he watches the van drive away.
Eli points towards the van. “That has to be her.” He says with a pleading tone, his jaw ticking, like he’s refusing to cry.
“We don’t know that yet, but if it is, she’s safe now. You and Cecilia made sure of that. But now we need to focus, and find this prison.”
“You’re right. I’ll have Cecilia keep tabs on her. If that’s my sister, I can’t lose her a second time.”
Lifting my hand, I place it on his shoulder and give him a firm squeeze. “I know.” I say, nodding my head. “Let’s make a move and find this prison.”
The driver from the van we intercepted at the drop swings side to side by his feet. Handcuffs dig into his ankles from his weight, the thin skin fraying open.
After we got the girls to safety, I left Eli to see what he could find in the van whilst I questioned my friend here. The only free space I had was my garage. I’ve kept it closed for a while whilst on my search for Ana, I just didn’t have the energy to commit to it. I couldn’t think straight, I still can’t think straight. It’s been over two months now without her by my side and everyday a part of me dies, like it’s wasting away without her but I refuse to stop searching for her, I’ll search until I reach the ends of the earth for her.
The plastic tarp that covers my garage floor crinkles under my heavy boots as I circle the sack of shit that’s hanging from a pulley that I use to lift engines out of cars. My blood boils in my veins and excitement for the first time, fills my system at the thought of all the ways I’ll make this fucker spill his guts for me.
He knows exactly where that prison is, and he’s gonna give me what I want.
Grabbing a tire iron from the table to the left of me, I grip the metal tightly then take a swing, putting all my force behind it. The heavy metal connects with the driver’s knees and the pain immediately hits him tenfold, but he can’t scream with the petrol soaked cloth that’s stuffed into his mouth. His eyes bug wide and his face blooms an even darker shade of red as he tries to scream behind the cloth.
The moment the tire iron connected with his knee caps, the bones audibly popped and cracked and I could feel the force ricochet throughout my arms, and fuck it felt good. It’s been years since I’ve felt this dark feeling. Yeah, we tortured that dealer but this feels different, like he’s trapped in here with me and I’ve got free reign to do whatever I want with him.
Keeping my grip on the tire iron, I circle him like a deadly predator, a viper ready to strike and I watch with a heated gaze as his chest heaves with strained breaths, strings of saliva trickling out of the corners of his mouth, but I’m not done. I won’t be done until I know where Ana is.
I place the tire iron back on the table, my eyes gazing over the array of power tools. A car battery sits in the far corner with a set of jump leads attached to it, next to that there’s various sized wrenches, a cordless drill, pliers and a spring compressor that’s filled with pressurised air. The driver mumbles behind the soaked cloth but his whimpers are useless.
Choosing my choice of weapon, I land on the pliers first and bring them with me over to the driver and clamp them onto the edge of his fingernails where his hands are tied together behind his back.
The moment he feels the metal on his nails he begins topanic, throwing his body around like a fish out of water. I give him a swift knee to the middle of his back that quickly renders him useless, then proceed again to clamp the pliers onto his fingernails, starting with his index finger. I should probably ask him what he knows about the prison first but I want him to know exactly what he’s in for.
He groans heavily and ever so slowly I begin to pull his fingernail away from his nail bed. Thin bits of tissue and flesh tear easily as the nail lifts away, revealing the red juicy dermis underneath. I give the nail one final tug to rip it away before letting it fall onto the floor. The driver groans heavily behind the cloth and his hand shakes as the pain fires through his nerve endings.
I decide to leave his fingers alone for a moment and walk around to his front, yanking the cloth free. Immediately he inhales the precious oxygen, filling his lungs until he can’t take in anymore.
“Who.. who the fuck are you!” He spits out with fury, and I stand silent in front of him, keeping a firm grip on the pliers.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. I just have some questions for you, and you’re gonna answer them, aren’t you?” I say, keeping my features unreadable.
“I ain’t answering shit!”
I was half expecting that answer to be honest. They never wanna answer my questions. Shame. I huff in annoyance and shove the cloth back into his mouth before circling back to his hands. Blood has begun to crust around the missing fingernail and I swiftly move onto the next one, clamping his middle nail in between the teeth of the pliers.
“The more you refuse to answer me, the more body parts you’re going to lose, and I ain’t afraid to chop off everything untilyou’re nothing but a torso and a head.”
The driver swings his body around again, and I think he’s trying to insult me or swear at me. Who fucking knows, I can’t hear him so I continue with ripping his nails out. One by one they fall to the floor like little cashew nuts, his screams only getting louder by the minute, and what a fucking sound that is.
Reaching the last finger, I clamp the pliers down and yank it out, leaving him with just fleshy nail beds. His hands tremble, probably from the pain that’s firing through his fingers but I’m done caring. I’ll get my answers one way or another.
I drop the pliers back onto the table, creating a heavy clunking sound before picking up the car battery and the jump leads, then make my way back over to the whimpering driver whose eyes practically fall out of their sockets when he notices what I’m holding. He mumbles behind the cloth, the words unrecognisable. He’s probably begging but who gives a fuck, not me.
“Seeing as having your fingernails removed didn’t get you talking, I wonder if I can shock the information out of you? What do you think?” I snigger at my own words then slip the knife out of the holder that’s strapped around my thigh and begin to cut open his shirt, leaving his torso bare.
There’s not much fat on the guy so, the nipples will have to do. Once the metal clamps from the jump leads are attached to his nipples, I keep the other clamps in my hand and turn to look at his blotchy face.
“We could just end this now, you know? I won’t have to fry your nipples off if you just tell me what I wanna know?”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead by now. The driver throws daggers at me with his heated gaze that’s filled with fury, his face blotched with red. “No? Fair enough then.” I say before turningtowards the battery to place the metal clamps on the live battery. Sparks fly from the battery receivers before electricity rushes through the wiring and straight into my hanging friend here.
