My brow furrows because the fuck he’s not. I open my mouth to argue, but he shakes my skull in his grip and says in a low tone, his words nothing shy of evil personified. “I’ve since learned the proper term for my…particular tastes.The wordisamokoscisia.”He stabs the knife into my leg again, and I cry out in pain. Bile rises in my throat, threatening to spill over. Sweat dots my brow and tears stream down my face. Guy stands to his full height then, and the normalcy of his appearance and casual attitude makes my skin crawl.
“A mouthful, isn’t it?” He chuckles darkly. “It’s not so much about the infliction of the pain, as it is the way the body looks after I’ve taken my blade or my hand to it.Thatis what gets meso. Fucking. Hard. At least, that’s what my therapist called it, right before she tried to call the police when she found out.”
My eyes widen as unease, fear, and pain all war within my body.
“Oh, don’t worry.” He turns to me, a wide-eyed look on his face and his hands held up like he’s trying to placate a friend. “I took care of her. In a way, she was the best therapist I’ve ever seen because she helped me to confirm her diagnosis of me.
“I had never been harder in my life than I was when I took her apart piece by piece. Not even my wife had made me feel that way. And I’d only been that hard with one other person.” He turns to Collins again, sauntering over to her with such a normal cadence, but when he notices just how still she is, anger mixed with excitement flashes in his eyes. He pulls another knife from the cabinet and wastes no time in placing it against Collins’ skin, creating a small incision on her inner thigh.
A pained gasp and faint cry bubbles up past her lips, and her body jerks back into reality as she pulls and fights against her restraints. I yell out, begging him to stop, to hurt me instead, but my body is so weak that my voice is choppy and barely audible.
Guy grins as he swipes his finger through the blood before popping it into his mouth. He groans, and I cry out as I dry heave.
Collins goes stock still at the sound of my voice.
Guy ignores her as he makes another cut, this one deeper. “I just love the way her life’s essence leaves her body with every cut I create. The way they scream so prettily for me.”
I feel woozy at his admission. He’s not just a wolf in sheep’s clothing, he’s a true fucking psychopath.
Fuck, I cannot fade again.The thought is hopeless because I can feel the pull, and I don’t have the strength to stop it.
“I tried to break her in the past, mylittle girl,but she’s so. Fucking. Stubborn. She refuses to give me what I want. Shebleeds so beautifully for me, but what I really want is to hear her screams,” he grits through his teeth as he cuts her again.
It’s me screaming while she remains silent.
Her leg is covered and slick with blood now, and the sight alone is enough to make me lose consciousness. “Make no mistake, Iwillget what I want from her, and I’ll make you watch,” he says to me. “After all, you brought this punishment upon her when you fucking touched her. And I’ll string up that other inked-out motherfucker next and make him watch as I do the same to you.”
Collins whimpers quietly, and it shatters my heart. What hurts worse is that I was the catalyst that spurred his anger. He’s clearly always been a sick fuck, but he’s punishing the both of us because of my proximity to Collins.
My fucking mother was right. I’ve only brought pain and suffering to those I love.
Collins’ lips tighten into a thin line as her skin becomes ashen when he makes another cut. Still, she refuses to make a sound.
I want to reassure her. To offer her whatever fucked up version of strength that I can while I’m still here. “Collins, baby?—“
But my beautiful,bravegirl shushes me.Shefucking shushesmewith the softest “Shhh…” like her tormentor isn’t currently mutilating and defiling her body.
But I hear her. I hear every unspoken word in that sound.Be strong. Don’t give him what he wants.I don’t know if I have the strength to stop myself from trying to stop him, though. I will never stop fighting for her. No matter the cost.
By the time he cuts her a sixth time, my voice is hoarse from not listening to Collins silent plea.
The fever eventually takes me under and into the black void. The sound of Guy’s groans and Collins’ chains rattling fill my ears, draining me of hope. The love I held for this girl is replacedwith a self-loathing so deep that I don’t think I’ll ever recover from…even if we survive this.
I’m a fucking toxin, and I’ve ultimately doomed the girl who I dared to love. The girl who only deserved peace. I sealed our fates and have now accepted mine, but I can only hope that Creed finds her before it’s too late.
Chapter 4
Creed
“LACKING SUBSTANCE.”
PRESENT
Two weeks.
Two.Fucking. Weeks.
Fourteen days since the two reasons for my very existence were taken from me. The only two souls that are the embodiment of kindness and innocence. Fucking stolen from me.
