I try to scream, but a rasp, barely over a whisper, comes out. Tears, snot, and spit coat my face. He wraps the belt around his hand to tighten it, lifting my head up from the mattress. He grabs me by the throat and slams me back down. He does thisover and over, jostling my already swollen brain. I kick as best as I can, but he is so strong and heavy compared to me. He releases the hold on my throat to punch my left cheek, snapping my head to the side. My head is spinning and ringing, sounding like an explosion going off within my skull.
"Fucking calm down." He screams at me before pulling on the belt, tightening it around my throat even tighter this time. I can feel the leather digging into the already tender skin. It is pinching and burning. I can feel my windpipe being crushed from the pressure.
I keep fighting and struggling against his grasp. Then, by some miracle, I managed to get enough leverage to bring my knee up right into his balls. It distracts him just enough so that I can get a hand free. I take the opportunity and shove my thumb into his eye socket. Fuck this; if I’m going to die, I’m doing a lot of fucking damage on my way out. My thumb presses in deeper, and his eye makes a sickening pop noise. Blood runs down his face and splatters all over me. His screams are echoing through the house.
"FUUCK! Fuck you. What the fuck did you do to my eye?" He releases both my hands and the belt, but he still has my legs pinned. He’s clutching his face as he screams at me. "You dumb fucking bitch." He brings his arm back, fuck this is going to hurt. He starts punching me repeatedly in the face. I can feel my cheek cave in. My head is spinning. I put my hands up to try to defend myself, and I catch his fucked-up eye. I scratch and grab at his face. Maybe I can pop his eye out, and he will bleed to death.
He screams and leans back just enough for me to wiggle out and fall to the floor. My vision is blurry, and my face is starting to swell. It feels hot and painful. I try to crawl on my stomach away from him, but he lunges off the bed, landing on top of my back. The wind is knocked from my lungs, and I can feel my ribs cracking.
"Oh no, you are not getting away. If I can’t have you, no one can. You’ve made your choice." He pins my back down with his knee and pulls hard on the belt. I suck in one final breath before my throat is being crushed again.
It feels like I’m trying to breathe through a small coffee stirrer straw. My chest feels crushed beneath his weight. He flips me over onto my back. I can feel a few of my ribs shifting freely as I turn. That can’t be good. The belt loosens, and he rips it off. I cough and gasp for any amount of air. It feels like fire seeping into my lungs. Something feels wet when I breathe, though, and I don’t know what it could be. It’s almost like I am inhaling water. It feels like I can't get my chest to expand, as if my body forgot how to inflate my lungs.
I have given up. Everything in my body feels broken now. My vision is blurry. My mouth is filled with blood. The ringing in my ears is drowning out the sounds of the world. I close my eyes, accepting death and the calmness it will bring. My head is suddenly shaking forward and back.
"Open your fucking eyes, Cassandra. I want you to see my face as you die. I would have given you the world. You were everything to me. You fucking caused this, it’s your fault." He wraps both hands around my throat. He is straddling me just below my breasts with my arms pinned to my sides by his thighs. My entire body is being crushed.
"Why! Why couldn’t you just love me back? I thought what we had was real." He is screaming as he hits my head on the hardwood floor over and over. He is crying as he kills me; how pathetic. "I’m so sorry, baby. I love you. I’m sorry." He keeps chanting as he tightens his grip. His own personal montera, as if it is going to relieve him from any guilt for what he has done to me. Spots start to flood my vision. My whole body feels like it is on fire, screaming for even a tiny puff of air to invade my lungs. And then, like a snap of a finger, everything goes numb. Ican’t feel anything. I can’t see anything. The last thing I hear is someone coming into the room screaming at Theo.
"Sir, we are under attack." They scream.
"Fuck" Theo roars as he lifts my head, slamming it to the floor one last time, finishing what he started. I hear a sickening crack reverberate through my skull; then everything is silent and dark. No more screaming, no more pain. Just warmth and silence. I am at peace, though; I’ll be joining Lucian in the afterlife soon.
64. Lucian
10 Minutes Prior
"Lucian, slow down; you’re not going to be able to stop before the gate," Jayme screams as he clutches the center console and braces his hand against the dash. I laugh maniacally.
"Who the hell said I wanted to stop? Nope, we are going straight in." I know I have a wild look in my eyes. It’s time to send this bastard to hell, where he belongs.
I maintain my speed at almost 100mph. As we approach the gate, I see three guards standing with guns pointed at the ready.
"10 points each, right?" I look at Jayme, who looks utterly confused at my statement. I slam harder on the gas and ram straight into the gate and the men behind its bars. The sickening noise as they bounce off the windshield would normally cause me to throw up, but right now, it is music to my ears. They all need to pay.
"Fuck. Lucian, ok, we are in, slow down." Jayme shouts as I whip around Theo’s yard. I see a few guards running toward us and decide to take them out as well.
They scatter the best they can to avoid being hit, but I manage to clip 3 of them, their bodies flying around like bowling pins. They might not be dead yet, but they will be soon.
"Fuck you, mother fuckers." I yell as I barrel toward more guards.
Jayme opens his window and leans out to start unloading his gun into the guards as I drive us around.
"Shit, dude, keep her steady." He scolds me as I swerve to avoid hitting one of the many stupid fountains scattered on this property. What a pretentious fuck.
I drive the car around the Manor once more, verifying the outdoor guards are taken care of. I pull the car up to the front door. Jayme gives me an evil grin and grabs something round from the center console. He fumbles with it, then tosses it in the bushes next to the door.
"Duck your head down!" he yells.
I tuck my head down just in time. The explosion shatters the entire front door and an adjacent wall. Opening up a large hole for us. Glancing in, once the debris clears, there are about 20 men confused and damaged by the explosion. Jayme thankfully closed the window because the men start pelting our car with a barrage of bullets. The pinging noises of them bouncing off the car is deafening. I glance at Jayme, and he is on the phone.
"Tim! ETA?"
*4 minutes out, boy. What the fuck is that noise.* Tim demands.
"Ummmm, just a shower of bullets." Jayme laughs.
*Fuck, kid, what did I tell you!?*
