“Yes.”
“Sarah! There you are,” Leon says excitedly. “Welcome to your party. Bad Blood, friend, please remove her from her constraints, they’re not necessary for her.” She seems nervous, looks at him and then looks at me, as if waiting for me to give her a signal. I just hope she remains silent. Bad Blood takes a pocket knife, opens it and cuts her loose. “Oh… The way you look at each other makes me want to find love.” He says mockingly. “Come, beautiful. I want to show you my toys.” That comes out in an old, sick and perverted tone.
Sarah doesn’t move, and Bad Blood pushes her towards the cart. “You might not know this, but the Professor and I know each other from before. He was a friend of my father’s…”
“Pfft, friend. I was never a friend of that dog!” I yell from the top of my lungs, knowing that the word ‘dog’ will trigger him badly. That’s gotta be the worst insult you can say to an Arab. Plus, his father used to call him that when he was mad. I can see it hits a nerve since his creepy smile vanishes from his face. Without another word, he removes the tarp from the cart, revealing a lot of torturing tools. Sarah gasps in fear.
He takes a taser and jams the damn thing on my ribcage, jolting me with it and looking at me dead serious.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Don’t you cry, Sarah.
Sarah
Electricity.
Electricity running through your body; it makes you experience a new level of pain, just like the one Bruno is experiencing right now. I see him being electrocuted. I know how he feels. I know the anger that comes with the helplessness of being incapable of breaking free from those bindings. The muscles get stiff and contract violently, giving you the impression of breaking apart. Some of them may actually tear.
I worry that the minute they are done with him, I’ll be next. I dread that. I don’t want to feel that kind of pain ever again. I also don’t want him to keep suffering. I look up. Leon is pushing that lever up and down non-stop. Finally, Bruno’s body can’t take it anymore and he passes out, still bound to that chair.
“Wha— Done already? Well… As I was saying…” He continues the conversation as if nothing happened. “He was a friend of my father’s. And being the good Professor he is, he taught me a good deal of things. Things that for him were child’s play. You see, Cassandra, err— I mean, Sarah— whatever, you were his pet project for years. I’m sure you know what I mean…” He says as he throws his hands up in the air, speaking so fast and agitated that one might think he’s euphoric, high even. “I was waiting for an opportunity to put all that child’s play he taught me to good use when Carter showed up. And I thought to myself, we need to make this party bigger. The rest is history, and here we are…” He raises his arms, hands open, palms up, and moves them around.
I’m so freaked out, frozen in place. My stomach is twisting, I might throw up. Yup, any second now.
But I need to do something— kill Leon or untie Bruno. What am I thinking? I can’t do either. I’ve got this hunk of meat called Bad Blood right behind me, watching my every move, as if he knew what I’m thinking. And to be completely honest, our last encounter was scary as fuck.
“You bitch. I told you, stay still!” Bad Blood says while dragging me away from Bruno through a hallway. Everything went south really fast. I don’t have time to react. I’m fighting, hopelessly trying to break free. He grabs my neck and tightens his grip, making sure I understand who’s in control. “Walk or I will skin you alive, bitch.”
We both walk into a small room. The moment I step in and see a twin-sized bed tucked in a corner, I feel I’m starting to lose it. Fear takes the best of me and quickly turns into panic. Blind and drunk in it, I start to think I’ll die, or worse… I might be raped. I’m not ready for the latter, no woman ever is. Bad Blood shoves me on top of the bed and slowly walks towards me.
He’s going to destroy me. I know it.
My body shakes, my agitated breathing is not helping my already spooked mind at all.
“Please… don’t.”
“Please? And here I was, thinking you had no manners.”
“I beg you, please. You don’t want to do this… I know you don’t want to. You’ll regret it, please.” Bad Blood checks me out from top to bottom and smiles with malice.
“Ha-ha-ha! I’m not gonna rape you, you little cunt. If I wanted to fuck, I’d go back home where my old lady’s waiting, so quit your yapping.” I can’t describe how relieved I feel after hearing him say that. One less thing to worry about. Right? Bad Blood sits down on a small chair in front of me, puts his hands on his stomach and interlocks his fingers.
“Are you supposed to be watching me?” He doesn’t reply, but just smirks and stares at me. “Isn’t it enough that I’m tied up? Plus, is not like I can go anywhere from here.”
What am I doing!? The exact opposite of what Bruno told me, that’s for sure.
“It looks like you’re very elusive. My men were stupid enough to underestimate you before. So here I am. But know this— I’m not gonna make that mistake, you’re not getting away from me.”
“I don’t wanna go away. Can’t you see? I’m surrendering.” His black eyes squint, he suspects something is up.
“Whatever, bitch. It’s not like you’re gonna live through the night, anyway.” He goes silent after that, and I can think through the silence.
“How long till you kill me?” He was not expecting that question.
He lets out a long sigh, puts his elbows on his legs and says, “Depends on how long it takes your man to wake up.”
“What’s an old lady? You said that just now. Is it a woman?” He looks at me annoyed.
