When Darkness Ends (Moments in Boston #3) - Marni Mann Page 0,39

reached into his back pocket, producing a cell phone.

I wanted nothing more than to reach for it.

Dial 911, and I would be out of here.

“Don’t even fantasize about it, Kerry.”

He was inside my head.

His gaze piercing me.

“Eating and breathing are privileges. If I sew your lips shut, fill your nose with plugs, and cut off your arms, you won’t be able to do either, so I suggest you get that thought far out of your head.”

He smiled, showing straight white teeth. The front left one was slightly chipped, like he’d bitten wrong into a steak bone and never bothered to get it fixed.

As though he sensed me staring, he ran his tongue over it.

A slithering motion like a snake.

I shivered, the shaking reaching all the way to my fucking toes.

Tears followed. I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t have the power to hide them.

They just ran and dripped, and it made him smile harder.

Eventually, he looked at his phone and said, “Let me introduce you to the loves of my life.”

Finally, a different sound.

An emotion.

A glow that I hadn’t seen from him before.

He tilted the screen in my direction, showing a photo of a porcelain doll. She was in a white dress and had ivory skin, her hair pulled back into low pigtails.

“Clementine,” he said. “She’s just precious.” He flipped to one just like her, but this time a blonde, wearing the same dress and style of hair. “Victoria. She’s feisty.”

Different pictures of dolls came onto the screen each time he swiped. He would say their name, and I would study their appearance, learning quickly that he didn’t have a preference in sex, as there were just as many men as women. And each photo revealed different shades of skin, hair, body styles, weight, and height.

Some life-sized. Some so small that they would fit in my palm.

But every one of the girls had two things in common.

Pigtails and a simple, thick-strapped white dress that was frilly at the bottom and puffed at the waist.

“Kerry,” he rasped, putting the phone away, “it’s time to add you to my collection.” He glanced up at the ceiling as though he were taking in the view. “I’ve built you this big, beautiful dollhouse. It’s all yours, no other dolls to share it with.” His eyes found me again just as I was tucking my knees to my chest, rocking over the mattress. “You’re one of the special ones.” He extended his arm, the bag dangling from his fingers until it dropped in front of me. “One of the lucky ones.”

As the bag fell, the top opened.

A slight tilt of my neck showed me what was inside.

If there was anything in me, I would have thrown up. But I was empty. Not a single drip of water, except for tears, had passed through my mouth in what felt like days.

“Take it out.”

Tremors shook my hands; my fingers didn’t want to unclench.

But I knew better than to defy him.

I reached inside and pulled out a white dress, the straps thick, a size that would definitely fit me.

The smile had returned to his lips, the wrinkles in his cheeks as high as his eyes. “This is the last dress you’ll ever put on.”

Noises would only get me in trouble, but I was filled with them.

Cries.

Screams.

I slapped my hand over my mouth, so none would escape.

“You’re learning.” He eyed my hand. “That makes Ronald very happy.”

He took a few steps back and sat on the floor. He was so tall and uncoordinated, and he came down like a tree, his height making him look so awkward on the ground.

“Get changed.” He folded his legs, rubbing his hands together like they were cold. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Every question I’d had suddenly slapped across my face.

Why I was here.

What he was going to do with me.

What my life was going to be like in this basement.

The truth was like a bullet that missed my heart, hitting a spot that made me suffer, feel every bit of the agony and pain.

Something from inside the bag was pulling at my attention.

I leaned forward again to get a better look.

Two elastics.

For my hair.

“I’m ready to play, Kerry.”

Twenty-Seven

Before

Ashe

“You’re making it extremely difficult to study,” Pearl said as she gazed at me over the top of her textbook.

Since we had known we wouldn’t get anything done at my apartment, we’d agreed to meet at the library. A place where we could spend time together and still concentrate on our work, but where I couldn’t lay her