I have that effect on people.
“You always have something clever to say.”He approaches the bars that separate us, his fine wool coat brushing the grime-covered steel.
“Gotta have hobbies.Some people knit.Others kidnap and murder.I provide clever commentary for the latter.Did you know that of the nine people I’ve met in my life—”
“Nine?”
“Well, there was Denver, Leo, and Kody.”I tick them off on my fingers.“My mother, Frankie, and two other women Denver kidnapped.That’s seven plus you and the old man.Anyway, I’ve met nine people, and three of them were psychos.Thirty-three percent, man.What a fucked-up world we live in.”
“How do you define psycho?”
“Rapists, pedophiles, kidnappers, murderers… Shall I keep going?”
His fingers twitch at his side as if holding back the urge to… Touch me?Hit me?Prove he’s all the things I not-so-subtly called him?
He hasn’t hurt me yet, not directly.But that doesn’t mean he won’t.
I sigh into the silence.“If you could point me to the suggestion box—”
“You’re not in the position to offer suggestions.”
“Hear me out.”I make a sweeping motion around me.“Candles.Just a few here and there.Ambient light would really add to the Gothic charm.”
“So you can set yourself on fire?”
“Ew, no.Do I look suicidal?”
“You jumped off a cliff.”
“That was a one-time performance.I never do anything—oranyone—twice.Try to keep up, Doc.”
“You haven’t asked why you’re here.”
“Figured you needed time to rehearse your villain monologue.Seems like your thing.”
He hums, his blue eyes swirling with insanity.“Do you know what the heart does when deprived of light?”
“Gives up?”
“It adapts, beats slower, and conserves energy.But eventually, it weakens.It forgets how to be strong.”
“Are you writing a self-help book?”I snap my fingers.“The Kidnapper’s Guide to Cardiology.Might be a bestseller.”
“You amuse me.”His smile flattens.
“That makes one of us.”
He reaches into his coat and removes a small, metallic object.The overhead light catches the piercing glint of it.
A scalpel.
My mouth dries, but I keep my expression bored.
“Is this when we start the fun part?”I roll my neck.“Because if you’re planning on taking a kidney, I should warn you.I drink too much for mine to be valuable.”
“I don’t need your organs.”He turns the scalpel between his fingers, thoughtful.
“Cool, cool.Because I’m kind of attached to them, and they’re attached to me.We have a special bond.”
