This was okay, though. I could tweak this situation to my benefit. Katie was right on the cusp of embracing her dark side, but the small bit of reluctance she had needed to be eradicated. There was no room for theifs ormaybes that could potentially plague her mind and steal her from me.
I looked down at my bloody hands, and then took a quick glance around the room. Four dead bodies were piled in the corner, and they were all useless. Four perfect canvases ruined by my lack of ambition.
All of them had careless lacerations and sloppy amputations. Mismatched ears and fingers lay on the dirty floor—a nipple or two may have been among them.
It was hard to concentrate on anything besides my Katie. The obsession I had with her was spiraling into something I couldn’t understand.
She was undoubtedly beautiful, but what I felt for her went far beyond the physical. She made me want to lose all the control I worked so hard to maintain. Her naïve innocence excited my demons. Her will to kill and understand my artwork made my cock stone solid.
I didn’t know for certain how the next few days would play out between us, but I knew I would never let her get away again, whether it was her fault or not. She was the air I breathed. No matter what I was doing, thoughts of her consumed me. My reasons for taking her meant almost nothing anymore.
Almost.
Another glance at the screen had my self-reservations dissolving. I pushed her mother’s body away from me and tossed the scalpel to the floor beside it.
I was tired of waiting.
Chapter Three
The fluorescent light was blazing, casting a bold white hue around the room. A steady draft of chilled air flowed from the vent in the ceiling, and not a single sound other than my breathing could be heard.
Where was Mason? Where did his father go? How long had I been in here?
Maybe they left you in here to die.
No, no. That couldn’t be right. Why would they do that? I stood from the uncomfortable metal chair and began to pace. Perspiration gathered on my palms; I wiped them on my dress.
My sore feet were wrapped nice and snug in gauze, but they still protested with every step I took.
There was only one door, and no windows The only furnishings in the room were the table, chairs, and the twin-sized mattress I had originally woken up on. Everything was white: the walls, the tiled floor, the light, the mattress, and the table. I loathed it.
Where is Mason?
Almost as if I’d summoned him, the door swung open and he walked into the room. He pushed it shut and then turned towards me, making no attempt to approach. As always, a single look in his green eyes battered my senses and sent my emotions into a tailspin.
What was I supposed to do? I wish someone would have explained the fundamentals of relationships to me—if that’s what we had. Did I yell at him? Give the silent treatment? Remain level headed and try to discuss what had transpired rationally?
I was angry with him for what he’d hidden from me and what it ultimately meant, but I also wanted to hold him and never let go.
It was messed up and wrong, but I had given up on trying to make sense out of what was between us. I felt as if I hadn’t seen him in ages, when in all actuality, it had only been…well, I wasn’t entirely sure. I didn’t know how long I’d been in this room.
He looked fantastic; I could smell the Irish Springs body wash he used from where I stood. His dark locks were perfectly styled—not a hair out of place. I, on the other hand, knew I looked like a swamp monster, standing there in my muddied dress with dirt beneath my nails and tangles in my hair.
I rolled my lips and thought about what I wanted to say. I’d been alone, giving me nothing to do but think. The piercing silence had broken apart the dam I was trying to keep my thoughts behind.
“Are you ready to come back home?” he asked, beating me to the punch.
I stared at him and scoffed. “Is that really all you have to say for yourself?”
He cocked his head and swept his eyes over me from head to toe before responding. “You look so beautiful, bruised.”
I gaped at him.
After everything that had happened and all I had discovered, all he could say was that? No apology? No explanation?
“Are you really going to stand there and pretend nothing happened?”
“What do you want me to say, Katie?” He began making his way towards me, sounding exceptionally calm.
