Those words jostle me awake, and I want to drag my hand across my face, but I realize that I can’t. It feels like my hands are above my head, and when I look up, I freeze. The chains curve over my shoulders, lifting my arms until the weight presses into my bones. I sway slightly, caught between gravity and restraint, and the room seems to lean closer, watching.
Fuck, where am I?
I look around, and my eyes are still adjusting to the little bit of light that there is, but I can still gather that the room is fucking haunting. It feels alive in a way—too quiet, too deliberate, it’s also cold. The stone walls are rough and dark, streaked with shadows. There are chains all around us, some thick, some thin, swaying slightly. Cabinets line the walls, their contents displayed all too proudly. Every single torture device the race of men has invented in the last ten years is in them.
Then it hits me—I’m in M’s home. I’m finally here.
Every corner seems to lean in, watching and waiting. It’s a space built for control and fear.
Then my legs hit something as I sway, a fucking table. There is a table right in front of me.
“Oh, good. You are awake.”
“What the fuck!” I say loudly as M appears from behind me. He goes to his cabinet and takes a cleaver, a small knife, a rag, and a bat. He lays them all in front of me on the table and smiles at me like we are ordering coffee.
“What?” he asks me all innocently.
“M, don’t act surprised. Get me the fuck out of here!” He moves toward me and positions himself behind me. His chest almost touches my back, and I find myself leaning into him. It’s something I can’t control, this urge that I need him, and I’m ashamed.
“You asked for this, little hummingbird.”
“I didn’t ask for this shit, M! What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t listen to me about quitting, and now you are going to learn what the word consequence really means.” He grabs my chin with his left hand, turns my face toward his, and kisses me softly on the lips. Embarrassingly, I moan into his mouth. My mind didn’t catch the memo from my body that it misses his touch.
He steps back, goes to the other side of the room, and stands before a switch. Before he turns it on, I hear pained moaning coming from behind him.
Come here, Lana!
I’m breathing harder as I know what is waiting for me on the other side.
“M, no. Please don’t do this. He was just desperate!” I yell at him. I try to wiggle myself free to no avail. M purses his lips at that.
“I designed these rooms myself. Lana, you won’t be able to escape.” He flicks the switch on. I close my eyes and open them again since I can’t believe what I’m seeing. “And you can’t escape this as well.”
My boss is chained up to the ceiling like me, and he is slowly waking up, with only his pants on, as his upper body is free of any clothes. When Belmin notices where he is, he turns toward M.
“Come on, man, let me go!” My boss’s words are doing nothing to help him. M cocks his head, one eyebrow quirking up, eyes soft with confusion, lips pressed into a thin line.
“I won’t do that, Belmin. I can give you a choice, though.”
“Yes, please. Anything for me to get away from here!” His desperation is so thick that I can taste it. M comes up to the table before me and picks up a bat. His moves are slow and deliberate, any way to instill fear in his subject. He is now standing in front of my boss.
“Scream or don’t.”
“Those are my options? These are some bullshit—”Whack.M strikes his right leg, and a sickening crunching sound emanates from Belmin’s knee.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This hurts!” He wants to grab his knee, but he can’t do that shit right now. And as this spectacle is going on, he will never be able to do that anymore.
“So you chose screaming? Splendid.” Another whack follows his left knee. M keeps on hitting Belmin’s body with a ferocity that transcends any normal decency. Belmin’s bones are cracking, and the sounds of his sobs are reverberating against the walls. Even though there is light in the room, darkness is enveloping us all, creeping into our bones, and this is a turning point. We are crossing lines from being cared for to absolute madness. And I can’t take it anymore.
“Stop! Stop this madness!” I scream at M, but he keeps on hitting him. I turn away, and suddenly, he drops the bat to the floor.
“You think this is madness? Do you, Lana?” His whole demeanor is like ice as he walks toward me. His height towers over me. M stands beside me and points toward my boss.
“Do you honestly believe he doesn’t deserve what is coming to him?” I shake my head because I can’t answer that.
“Don’t you dare look away. This is his punishment for touching you!” M is becoming angrier, and I fear that nothing will be able to stop him. Maybe I need to see the dark side of him, so I know what I’m dealing with. I haven’t seen this level of evil and brutality, ever.
