“You want the whole thing covered or just half?” he asked.
“Until the tip,” I said, chuckling through the pain.
Vitto glanced up. “Do I want to know why?”
Enzo shook his head, looking over at him.
Imust’ve fallen asleep somewhere in between, because almost three hours later, he was done.
Vitto wrapped me in gauze like I had just come out of surgery. “Keep it clean. No swimming, no alcohol, no...”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, buckling my belt. “No fun. You doctors all sound the same.”
“Not a doctor,” Vitto muttered. “But if it gets infected, don’t come crying to me. I’m not cutting thatthingoff.“ He pointed his finger at my crouch.
I winked and dropped a rolled slip on the table. I didn’t ask how much it cost, but from the look in his eyes, and the fact that he didn’t complain, I knew I had paid more than enough.
Outside, the night had already broken into morning.
Enzo lit a cigarette and handed me one. I took it with shaking fingers.
“You happy now, genius?” he asked.
I smirked. “Happy? No. But I can say I glow in the best part.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re going to die of stupidity before any of us get the chance to kill you.”
I took a drag and watched the smoke twist in the air. “At least I’ll die looking bright.”
Enzo burst out laughing. “Hey, you forgot the shovel.”
Pain pulsed through me as I started walking.
“Shovel can stay.”
XIII. DOLL
Three days later
Hehashadmelocked here for three days now, and the only person I have seen was Mia bringing me food and water. There was no music coming from outside anymore; the whole place felt abandoned, empty.
I didn’t even dare to ask where he was.
I was going crazy, chained and bruised, staring at my reflection in the mirror each day, seeing what’s left of me.
He was torturing me, and still I can’t forget that night. Most of the time, I cry. Most nights, I dream he’s here again, fucking me, breaking me a little more each time.
The air became colder. For a moment, I thought something was moving in the corner. I gasped.
The room is filled with human dolls he made, their empty eyes locked on me. Every single one of them was staring at me until something moved.
I screamed, yanking against the chains, metal cutting into my wrists.
A shadow shifted in the corner.
“No, no, no,” I cried, my body shaking. “This is not real. This can’t be real.”
“Chiara,”a whisper came from the dark.“They are coming.”
