“I do hate her,” I admit, choosing for the first time to actually be honest since there’s no point pretending anymore, at least between the three of us. “I hate that she makes me actually give a damn, that she reminds me there’s a life outside of here we’re all missing out on. I hate that she chose this place to run away from her problems.” Everett’s warning growl goes completely ignored as I refuse to back down, not intimidated by either of these men in the slightest. “But I don’t know what I hate more; that I can’t protect her from anything, or that she doesn’t look to me to save her, because she knows it too.”
Getting to his feet, Grave takes a slow breath, as if he’s forcing himself to stay in the moment, to not get lost in his head. With the heavy shadows under his eyes, clearly not sleeping for shit since Elyse has been stuck under Julian’s roof, I’m impressed he’s able to be this coherent.
Cocking my head, I try to listen to what Everett said, about all of us underestimating the erratic psycho. Since El showed up, sure, he’s still spouting nonsense, but he’s been more subdued, like all of this time he’s been acting out for attention, for someone to actually see him, and now that they have? He’s able to stop getting lost in his head, because he’s finally not alone out here anymore.
“What exactly did Julian say?” he asks. After I’m done repeating the encounter for him, he not only grimaces, but he actually blanches with genuine terror. “She’ll make it through tomorrow then, but I wouldn’t push it much past that. He isn’t going to kill her, but she’ll wish he would.”
“What the hell is he doing to her?” Ev demands, finishing zipping up his bag and stowing it back beneath his bed.
Grave’s eyes seem to glaze over as he retreats back into his head and we start to lose him again, his finger tapping against his thigh like a nervous tick. “I’d bet my left nut he’s taking her to the pool.”
I’m so fucking tired. I’m not going to make it. At least it should be a relatively quick death.
Adjusting my grip on the bar that I’ve been hanging from for, god, hours at this point? It’s hard to tell when every second feels like a minute as my arms scream in protest. It digs into my underarms as I try to give myself as much support as possible, anything to keep from falling. But the more lightheaded I get from the fumes, the more appealing letting go becomes.
The small room is just big enough that my toes can brush the wall if I swing, yet too large to use the walls to my advantage. Beneath me is a metal tub large enough that there’s no hope of landing outside of it, mere inches between it and the walls.
It’s pitch black, but the sight of Julian scooping one of the fish from his aquarium to dump in it will forever be seared into my memory. The electric shock was immediate, the small thing dead in an instant. It was only then I noticed the small metal clamps on the far side of the metal basin in the corner gap.
After lifting me up to grab the bar, he slid a small cup of… something, in the small gap beside the wall, wishing me the best of luck before slamming the door shut and abandoning me. The chemical scent hit me shortly after as it gradually permeated the room; not enough to knock me on my ass, but to make it hard to breathe and concentrate.
“Shit!”
My arm slips and I lurch down, hanging as dead weight and fighting the urge to just give up. He gave me nothing; no promises he’d be back in an hour, no indication of how long I have to endure this. Only me and my muddled thoughts in a silent, dark room as my arms threaten to give out.
A frustrated tear slips from the corner of my eye that I can’t brush away, but I give myself some slack for it. Half convinced my arms are about to pop out of their sockets, I haul myself up again, knowing I stand a better chance distributing my weight and bracing myself as much as possible.
Fuck, if this is the sort of thing Grave had to endure regularly, how the hell can he smile so much? Who can look at the monster that does things like this to a kid and agree to work for him, to protect him?
“That’s not fair and you know it, Elyse,” I sigh to myself, speaking aloud to combat the never-ending silence.
I was too afraid of my father to fight or run, and even he wasn’t this twisted. I can’t blame Grave for just being happy to have the freedom that he does, to be around other people and away from this place.
An eternity seems to stretch by before I finally hear the doorknob turn. Light floods the room and I flinch back, blinking repeatedly as my eyes adjust to the sudden harshness. And though the air that rushes in is laced with the heavy scent of chlorine, it’s never tasted so sweet as I gulp it down greedily, combating whatever’s been tainting the air in here.
“Color me impressed,” Julian declares, looking genuinely surprised that he didn’t find me floating face down in the water beneath me. “Are you ready to get down?” Nodding my head as a relieved tear treks down my cheek, he tsks his tongue. “Use your words, girl. Ask me for my help.”
Grinding my teeth, I swallow down my pride in favor of survival. “Will you please help me?”
Smirking, he steps closer, gesturing for me to swing my body as close as possible. “Elysium, I’ll always help the people that help me. That’s what makes this such a successful partnership.” Wrapping one arm around my waist and the other around my thighs under my ass, he tightens his hold. With no other option, I let go, forced to trust him not to drop me.
I nearly weep in relief the second I release the bar, a jolt of pain racing through my arms at the change in pressure and sudden break on my muscles. He steps back from the closet he claimed contained pool supplies that first day, sliding me down his half-naked body and onto my feet. They nearly give out as I touch solid ground, my body thoroughly exhausted from the sleep deprivation, lack of food, and the closet of horrors.
“Go climb into the pool,” he offers with a sweep of one hand, the other still holding me upright. “It’ll give your muscles a break and lessen the strain on your body for a bit.”
Knowing he’s playing mind games, I’m sure he means it to come across as a reward, but I don’t buy it. That genuine smile on his face wouldn’t come from being pleased that I survived a test, not when he gets off on breaking people.
Still, I have no real choice in the matter, and the longer that I can keep him down here with me, the more chance it gives the guys to search the house. I have no clue if Maverick was able to get the others on board or not, but I saw that look on his face before I climbed out of the car; he’s done. Something shifted inside of him at that dinner, and the typically neutral looks he reserves for Julian in his presence were replaced by ones of visible hatred, unable to conceal it anymore.
He’ll come, if no one else.
“Thanks,” I murmur, unable to fully make myself sound convincing.
As I walk down the steps of the in-ground pool in a sweaty t-shirt and shorts, I sigh in relief as soon as my body becomes weightless. It’s a small reprieve when what I really want is a hot bath and sleep, but I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it. I’ve spent too long having next to nothing, and it hits me how absolutely fucked up it is that I’ve been conditioned to be grateful forlessthan the bare minimum.
“You know, you remind me of myself, once upon a time,” he states, sitting on the edge of the pool clad only in a pair of loose shorts, dipping his bare feet into the water.
There’s no hiding the confusion in my voice. “How so?”
