That’s the only warning I get before he yanks me out of the cage by my legs. The other goon grabs my arms as they lift me together, leaving me to swing between them. I take Madam Clara’s warning to heart, forcing myself to stay quiet and keep breathing.
Exerting energy right now isn’t smart.
The walls are smooth, gray and conform with the epoxy floors and the steel walls as they walk through the hallways until they stop and turn into a room.
“Good luck,” Jake mutters, and then I’m tossed into a pool of water. I didn’t even see that fucker when we walked in, but it is fucking freezing.
Bell?!
I tell Winter to stay quiet, and that I love her. I can’t lie, so I refuse to say more as my body is pulled down under the water. I don’t even have time to splash before being sucked down.There’s some kind of undertow in this pool, so I kick and pull at the water with my cupped hands to escape it.
Time feels as if it has no meaning as I struggle, until I’m suddenly free. Gasping, I shake my wet hair out of my face until Avery appears in my field of vision as I blink the water away. She has a boombox, of all fucking things, on the floor and a long handled spear with a wicked end in her hand.
“I need to bleed you,” she says with a wicked grin. “Let’s make you feel like you’re going to die so I can break those bonds, shall I? I have a theory I want to play with. If I break your bonds, will I also break your stepsister’s? Soul bonds are so much fun!”
I could scream at her, or even ask her how she knows that, but I press my lips tightly together while I watch her. I won’t even waste the energy to call her a cuntcicle. No, I need every ounce of energy for what she’s going to do. Quickly glancing around, I see that the pool is lower than the deck she’s on, and the walls surrounding the pool are deceptively smooth, so I can’t get out easily.
Either Madam Clara lied and really does want to kill me, or this is an insane game. Avery has helped the biggest bitch in the world up her game. Forcing large breaths into my lungs without hyperventilating is the biggest flex I have at the moment.
That, and not drowning. Even that’s not a brag, because Avery looks as if she intends to poke holes in me like Swiss fucking cheese.
“I can see you’re understanding now,” she says, giggling. “Let the games begin!”
Turning the music on to intense Screamo, she grabs the pole and launches herself forward to stab me. Using the pool’s force downward to my advantage, I stop treading water and pull my arms and legs toward me. I also take a deep breath just before my head disappears under the surface of the water as she attempts to stab me.
Once I’m underwater, I allow myself to get pulled downward until I have to begin fighting the current. I have no idea what I’d find in the direction of the current, but I’d prefer not to die by letting myself get pulled down until I run out of air.
I also refuse to leave Cassidy and Winter behind. I stay under the water for as long as possible before fighting my way to the surface. This pool is obviously created for torture, because it’s small enough that Avery can reach me from all sides of the pool.
Gasping for breath as I explode to the surface, I scream as she stabs me in the shoulder with a grin. The music continues to play at maximum volume, and I barely hear her next words.
“It’s like Whack-a-Mole, but with an omega!” she crows. “Maybe men aren’t so bad. Again!”
This bitch is fucking crazy.
As she pulls the spear free, I inhale a deep breath before allowing myself to get sucked under again.
I already know how this is going to go, but this is all I can do. It appears that I’m cursed to commit acts of insanity, simply because this crazy twat wants to bleed me.
I know Winter feels like she’s drowning without understanding why. I think it might be worse if she knew what’s actually happening to me, so I remind her over and over that it's not real and she’s okay.
Winter in turn singsYou Don’t Own Meby Leslie Gore, over and over in my mind to remind me that no matter what’s done to me…
I belong to my goddamned self.
Despite what’s to come, what’s done to me, or the four holes that Avery puts into my body over the next half hour.
No one can takemeaway from me.
Chapter
Thirty-One
WINTER
I have satin this cage for what feels like hours, trying to keep breathing as Bellamy holds his breath underwater. I wish I could be his oxygen, but that’s not how the soul bond works. Once Cassidy was able to shake off the sedative and saw the silent tears running down my cheeks, she asked me about what was happening.
I explained everything I knew, watching as the horror grew in her eyes. She was taken walking out of the bathroom to check on Bellamy by another of Madam Clara’s men.
