hand before he’d even stepped into the room. He was twice the size of me and built of pure muscle. My body could only take so much when subjected to his wrath.
Now, in the aftermath of his beating, I was torn between wanting to die and the instinct to survive. This agony was unbearable. And I could feel the caress of death urging me to stop fighting. I’d wished for it to come to me so many times before, but now it was actually here, did I really want to go?
“Get her on the table, I need to see the damage. If she dies, you will pay for it,” Duke snarled at Farley.
“She won’t die. She’s a fucking cockroach,” Farley muttered then he scooped me up and placed me on the table. I screamed as fire raced across my ribs and around into my spine. Something was broken. Maybe several somethings.
“Hush, red,” Duke commanded, pushing my hair away from my face to look at me. I gazed up at him through a glaze of tears in my eyes and found concern there. Though not for me. If I died, this whole interrogation would be ruined. But didn’t they understand that it had been pointless from the moment I’d arrived here? “If it’s a break, she needs medical attention,” he told Farley matter-of-factly. “If it’s a fracture, she’ll manage.”
“So what do we do, boss?” Farley asked anxiously, shooting a glower at me like I was the root of all his problems.
“We keep her alive as best we can. Ain’t no doctor coming up here though,” Duke growled, turning to face me again. He stuffed a hand into his pocket, taking out a rolled joint and pushing it between my lips. “This will take the edge off, red.”
I spat it from my mouth, not wanting any mercy from Duke. I’d rather suffer through this. I’d rather speak with death and decide if I wanted to give up at last. He was better company than them.
“Suit yourself,” Duke laughed coldly, tucking the joint in the corner of his mouth and heading to the door. “Come on, Farley, leave the little wretch to suffer. She’ll beg for my medicine soon enough.”
I won’t. Not ever.
Farley leaned down in my face with his upper lip peeling back. “Don’t you die or I’ll follow you into hell and drag you back here myself, you little shit.”
Too late, I’m already in hell.
He followed Duke out of the room and I pulled my knees to my chest as I rolled onto my uninjured side. I winced from the bruises and cuts, every part of my body tender and screaming. I tongued a welt on the inside of my cheek and tried to remember what it felt like to be okay. For my body not to ache anywhere at all.
Maybe this would never end. Maybe I’d fooled myself into believing that when they realised I was never going to give them the answer they wanted, they’d give up and let me go. But of course that wasn’t going to happen. If they gave up, they’d kill me. Why keep me alive? It was a miracle they’d kept me alive this long at all, even though it was clear I was their only hope at working out whatever code they were after. Eventually they’d give up though. They had to. And then what? Was I going to spend the rest of my life facing their torture until one of them put a bullet between my eyes and buried me somewhere I’d never be found? Was my future already decided? And if it was, why fight it? I could give into death’s embrace and let it take me somewhere peaceful, somewhere quiet and dark and eternal.
But there was something holding me here, like a voice in the back of my mind that promised better days. They promised sunshine on my cheeks and the type of touches that didn’t hurt. And maybe I could wait a little longer for that…
Thump.
My heart lurched at the sound which made my senses sharpen like a razor.
Thump – thump -thump -crash.
I clutched the knife tighter as the sound of the door caving in reached me and heavy footfalls pounded into the cabin. I knew it was them without needing to see. Who else would come here, who else would break in?
“Check the bathroom,” Duke ordered and my heart turned to a frozen lump of ice.
“Yes, boss,” Farley said, marching that way, his boots passing by the bed.