Luke nods.
Selina sniffles beside me. When I glance over, I realise she’s crying, silent tears tracking down her cheeks.
I don’t do comfort, but I clear my throat anyway and awkwardly pat her on the back. “Let’s have a drink, Sel.”
She nods, wiping her eyes, and lets me lead her out of the room. Luke and Sam stay behind, already turning back to their screens as we leave.
The hallway feels colder than it did this morning. And the fear in my chest only grows sharper with every step.
Chapter Seventeen
~ Ocean, Baby ~
Kit
I drift in and out of darkness, consciousness flickering like a faulty lightbulb. My body feels heavy and disconnected, like it belongs to someone else. I can hear voices, but they’re distant and muffled, as if coming through a thick wall or a bad phone line. One of them is Soren’s, deep and familiar. For one fragile, desperate second, Ipraythis is all a nightmare. That I’m back at the estate, curled up in Soren’s bed or my own tiny room, and the last twenty-four hours were just a fever dream. The milkshake, the shopping mall, the strange man in the bathroom… none of it real.
But then Soren’s voice sharpens, raw with fury, and reality crashes back in. He’s shouting… threatening someone. The words fracture and break apart before they fully reach me.
“…touch him again and I’ll…”
“…rip your fucking spine out…”
“…bring him home or I swear to God…”
Finn… he keeps saying the name Finn, he knows this man. My eyebrows try to pull down into a frown, but my face feels numb, sluggish, like it’s wrapped in thick cotton; I can’t move properly. Whatever this man keeps injecting into my neck has turned my limbs into dead weight. Every time I start to surface, the needle bites in again and drags me back under.
I groan softly, the sound weak and pathetic even to my own ears. I try to move my fingers, to show Soren I’m still here, still alive, but they only twitch uselessly against whatever surface I’m on.
Then Finn’s voice cuts through the haze, taunting and gleeful. “Oh look… the little boy is awake!”
A bucket of ice-cold water slams over me. I jolt violently, gasping, eyes flying open. The shock rips through the numbness like electricity. Water streams down my face, soaking my hair and clothes. Everything is blurry, the world tilting and swimming in sickening waves.
Finn’s hand fists in my wet curls, yanking my head back hard enough to sting. “Say hi to Daddy…”
I frown, confused, still half-drowned and disoriented. What is he talking about?
In front of us, on a low table, there’s a television. Through the blur I can just make out Soren’s large, imposing silhouette dominating the screen. A few other indistinct shapes hover behind him… other people, maybe, I can’t tell.
Soren’s voice booms through the speakers, raw and desperate. “Christopher?”
I try to answer, I really do. My lips move, but the sound that comes out is slurred and broken, barely more than a mumble. “Mm… I… mm… I’m… o-kay…”
It’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told. I’mnotokay; I’m terrified.
My stomach is empty and churning. The last thing I remember having was that stupid milkshake, and before that… I don’t even know if I had breakfast. Maybe two days now since I’ve eaten properly. The thought of food makes me want to vomit again.
I just don’t want them worrying. I’m not important; I’m just the orphan they took in. They should be able to get on with their lives, not feed into whatever sick game Finn is playing.
But the words won’t come out right. All I can do is stare at the blurry screen, heart aching.
Finn kneels down right beside the chair I’m slumped in. “I think…” Finn says, voice oily and delighted, speaking directly to the screen, “your boy here… is going to beveryuseful to me.”
He laughs… that psychotic, unhinged cackle that makes my skin crawl… and crawls closer to the TV like he wants to climb through it.
“And you know thebestbit?” He tilts his head, grinning wide. “You can lookwhereveryou want. You can search the city. You can ask my brothers for help… because they don’t know either. Christopher is at mycompletemercy.”
He pauses, still grinning, head cocked like a predator playing with its food. “And when I’m done… I’ll be sure to leave his body in little pieces across the city, where you’ll slowly find them.”
