Page 60 of White Noise

“I want the rest of my hour.”

Silas laughs under his breath. “See? There’s the pathetic little customer she knows.”

I stare at him. Then at Silas.

“No. I won’t fucking do it.”

For the first time, Silas’s attention drifts to the desk beside Void, where a glass beer bottle sits near the keyboard. His mouth curves slightly as he reaches for it, turning it once in his hand before looking straight into the camera.

“Let’s make this simple.”

Before Void can react, Silas tips the bottle over his head and lets the beer spill through his hair and down his face. Void jerks beneath the cable, swearing as he tries to pull away, but Silas only gives a quiet laugh and keeps him exactly where he is.

“Aw. Don’t like getting messy?”

Then he brings the bottle down hard against the edge of the desk.

The crack of glass cuts through my speakers.

Half of it shatters away, leaving the jagged neck in his hand.

My stomach drops.

“Silas.”

He ignores the warning in my voice and presses the broken edge against the side of Void’s throat, just beneath the cable. Void goes completely still.

Silas doesn’t.

His eyes stay on me.

“Now,” he says, calm enough to make it worse, “you can keep telling me no if you want.” The broken glass presses a little closer. “Or this pathetic little fuck can start losing pieces while you do it.”

Void’s breathing turns shallow.

Silas’s smile deepens.

“Your choice, little echo.”

Void looks at me through the screen.

“Please.”

I shake my head.

Silas’s expression goes flat, the warmth of his mockery vanishing into something cold and clinical. He presses the jagged shard of glass into the side of Void’s neck, just enough to draw a thin, crimson line of blood.

Fuck. Fuck. This is so fucked up.

“Fine, okay!” I scream, my voice cracking, my whole body shaking so violently I can barely stay in the chair. “What do you want me to do? Just stop!”

Void’s mouth opens, his eyes wide and pleading, looking like he’s about to beg for my forgiveness or warn me, but Silas cuts him off with a sharp tug on his hair.

“Well now, let’s not be greedy. You’ve got a show already; how about you let me choose this time? It’s only fair, right?” Silas’s tone is dripping with a cruel, mocking sweetness. He leans in close to Void’s ear, his voice a low, degrading hiss. “And you’re such a generous guy, aren’t you, Void? Generous but still a fucking coward. You’ll do whatever I say to keep your pathetic fucking life.”

Void nods frantically, a pathetic, broken movement. Silas’s eyes snap back to the lens, locking onto mine with a possessive, predatory intensity that makes my stomach flip.

“Remember that pretty little knife you were so attached to yesterday? The one that made you feel so fucking brave?” A slow, dark grin spreads across his face. “Get it. Void and I are going to watch you fuck yourself with it.”