Entombed In Sin (Graveyard Games Duet #2)

31. Beatrix

31

BEATRIX

I gag into the bucket I’ve been given to relieve myself.

The dinner I’d refused to eat after Ronald had his way with me had been shoved down my throat until most of it was gone. It was a waste of energy on their part. How could they possibly expect me to keep anything down after what he did to me?

My back tenses and my insides clench hard.

The rest of my dinner comes up and hits the bottom of the bucket. I choke back a groan as I roll onto my knees.

“She’s a shit cook. If I had a gag reflex, I’d make myself throw up too,” Knox says from across the room.

I don’t say anything to that. I’m so full of rage, I can’t speak. The space between my legs burns and I can feel… I shove the thought of what’s inside me away. I’ve tried pushing it out by bearing down, and when that didn’t do much, I’ve tried using my fingers. But I know Angel Eyes is inside me. I can feel him there.

My body jerks forward and I dry heave into the bucket.

I thought I could wait, bide my time until the opportune moment arose and I’d get us out of here. But I can’t keep doing this. I can’t . I’m on my feet in the next breath. My breathing comes in ragged gasps as I turn around and stare at the metal plate on the floor. That last screw hasn’t moved. It’s rusted into place. It hasn’t budged, no matter how much I’ve played with it.

I won’t let that stop me. I won’t let these chains hold me back from killing the two people under this roof. I don’t even care about escaping. I just want fucking revenge. Angry tears spill down my face as I grab hold of the chains.

“Beatrix?” Knox calls out.

I ignore him as I yank on the chains. They rattle and the metal plate groans. Nothing more happens. Fury straightens my spine and I tug again. Again the plate moans in protest. The two loose screws pop away from the floor. All that’s left is that single rusted screw. The one that won’t budge. Gritting my teeth, I yank and yank and yank at my chains. I throw all my weight into each tug.

I don’t realize I’m shrieking and screaming my rage until my throat begins to hurt. How long have I given voice to the turmoil inside me? It doesn’t matter. If I could, I would scream until the house fell down.

With each tug of the chain, my determination grows. I won’t let this defeat me. I have three men in my life who want me, who have brightened up the constant darkness, and who adore me. I won’t give that up. Not without a fight.

“Come. The. Fuck. ON!” I bellow, throwing all my weight back.

The plate pulls away with a loud clang, landing by my feet. I stumble a little without the lack of tension to hold on to, but I quickly regain my balance.

“Well shit. I didn’t know you were She-Hulk!” Knox says with a whoop of delight. “Way to go, Shining Starr.”

I stare at the square, rusted piece of metal while I stand there panting. Before victory can balm my rage, the basement door opens. My spine straightens. On the other side of the room, I can hear Knox swear under his breath. Oh crap, now what? I’m free, but I have no weapons or plan. I can’t get caught like this. They may keep me strapped down for good if they think there’s a chance I could escape.

I make up my mind quickly as the soft footsteps begin to descend the stairs. I swoop down, grabbing the plate, and placing it back where it had been. I kick the loose screws away from me and pray Shannon doesn’t notice them, or the way the plate isn’t sitting flush against the floor anymore.

I stand just as she gets to the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey, Beatrix, I brought some brownies,” Shannon says cheerfully. I can hear the sound of her feet as she moves toward me. “I figured they would cheer you up a bit. I read that stress can make it harder to get pregnant or cause miscarriages. If I can, I want to make this the smoothest pregnancy ever.”

My vision tunnels onto the plate at my feet. With my back facing Shannon, she can’t see my expression, so I don’t bother to school it. My brows slam together and my heart starts to race once more. She’s a monster. A bitch. A fucking asshole . My mind roars with rage at the injustice of all that has transpired. Of what she’s doing to me.

“She doesn’t want to be pregnant, you fucking twat,” Knox says with ice in his voice. “So no matter what you bring down here, nothing will make this situation any better.”

The loud hammering of my heart is beginning to drown out all sound. My breathing comes in sharp gasps again and my fists tremble at my sides. I can hear Shannon. She’s close. Closing in on me with a stupid plate of brownies. I can smell her peace offering. As if those could actually make everything better. The tension that gathers in my limbs is swift and painful. I stiffen so dramatically that my spine straightens and my head lifts so I’m facing the tiles on the wall.

But I don’t see the white tiles.

My sight is blurred with a vision of my dismal future, telling a story of what my fate will be if I stay here any longer. It plays out like a movie. I can see the endless days stretch out before me, the repetitive visits from Shannon and her husband, Knox’s torment as pieces of him are cut off, the eventual swell of my stomach as a parasite grows in my womb, and the inevitable moment where a new monster is born.

No .

“Beatrix?” Shannon’s soft voice comes from right behind me. I can practically feel her breath hitting the back of my neck.

I don’t know if it’s a conscious decision I make as I yank the chain up and swing it around or if it’s just instinct as I struggle to survive. But the heavy metal links hit the side of Shannon’s face hard enough for her to be knocked off her feet. The chains come up and over my head before she hits the ground. They follow her, slamming into her face again. The plate of brownies goes flying, shards of ceramic scattering around my feet. But I ignore the mess. I take the chains and pull them over my head again. They give a low whistle as they come back down. Again and again I hit Shannon. Her shrieks of pain only spur me on. There’s not enough suffering in these screams to satisfy me. She doesn’t know suffering. Whatever her life is like, it can’t have been as horrible as the one she was about to damn me to.

So I continue to hit her.

“Thatta girl, Shining Star! Woot!” Knox cheers on with delight. “Fucking mess her up! Kill her!”

His words of encouragement are lost as I focus on beating Shannon to a bloody pulp. I hit her everywhere. Her ankles, her face, her chest. I spare no place on her body.

The metal plate at the end of my chains strikes her in the eyes, immediately drawing blood. A wonderfully warm shiver of delight races down my spine at the sight of it. I straddle her as Shannon tries to roll and get up. I take the metal plate between my hands and raise it over my head. When I bring it down, I let the sharp, rusted piece stab into her face and throat. It doesn’t go deep, but it draws blood. Something sharp hits me in the side. It’s ignored, the sudden pang there and gone in a blink of an eye. Whatever it is, I’ll deal with it later. I have a bitch to kill.

Over and over, I stab until blood coats Shannon’s skin and my hands. Her wails and cries aren’t loud enough. But maybe that’s the real problem. Maybe it’s not that I want to hear them, it's that they don’t belong down here with me and Knox. She can take them with her to hell. Dropping the plate, I gather the chains in both hands.

Beneath me, Shannon shakes her head with a dazed denial. She tries to raise her hands, but I ignore her weak attempt to protect herself. With gritted teeth, I wrap the metal links around her neck. Her eyes bulge in horror. They grow even bigger as I twist the chains in opposite directions and pull tight.

Shannon’s fingernails drag over my face. Her body thrashes beneath me, her legs kicking out behind me. I ride this bitch like a bucking bronco, keeping a firm hold on the chain. It takes longer than I expect for her to go still beneath me. But, finally, she does. The life in her eyes flickers out like a burned-out light bulb. I watch it go out while her body goes slack beneath me.

I tighten the chain and keep it around her neck a little longer. There’s no way I’m risking her regaining consciousness.

I can hear Knox saying something. The words are muffled though as euphoria washes over me. It feels like a warm shower after standing in a frigid chill or a soft blanket wrapping around my shoulders as I sit down to read a good book. It’s the pleasant tickling of a feather against my skin.

A breathless laugh slips past my lips.

It grows louder as I reach down and smear the blood on my hands over what remains of the face of the body beneath me. I did it. She’s dead! We’re going to be free soon! I just have to get Knox out of here. I’m laughing as I get to my feet. The room spins and I stumble a little.

“ Beatrix !” Knox shouts.

“I’m coming!” I call back, my tongue feeling a little heavier than normal. But I don’t move right away. I stand there, basking in the thrill of a kill. My skin tingles. My laughter grows louder and tears spring to my eyes. The warmth that gathers in my cheeks and between my legs… Oh god… Being blood drunk is amazing. I close my eyes and savor the rush coursing through my veins.

“Beatrix, sweetheart…” Knox says, his voice carefully cautious. “I know you’re enjoying your moment, but I need you to check her pockets for the keys, then get over here so I can help you .”

Help me? I snort, my laughter, resurging. It drifts around the room before wrapping me up in its sound. I sway and laugh.

“Alright, I’m coming,” I say as my laughter slows.

With a heavy sigh, I bend down to check Shannon’s pockets. I find a ring of keys, with a total of seven dangling from a chain. One of these has to belong to the shackles around Knox’s wrists and ankles.

The room spins a little faster as I stand this time. A hand shoots out and I brace myself on the wall. Woah, I don’t remember feeling like this when I killed that man in Briar Glen. Closing my eyes helps a little. I push past the dizziness, wondering if you can overdose on blood drunkenness.

“Come on, bestie. Come to me, please ,” Knox urges, his voice tense with stress.

I open my eyes. He’s staring at me anxiously with his one eye. He’s probably ready to get out of here. I am, too. So, with a pleased, slightly overdrawn hum, I start his way. I get three steps in before the pain in my side takes me down to my knees. There’s another pain in my gut that has me feeling a bit confused.

“Beatrix!” Knox calls.

I suck in a sharp breath, pushing through the cloud of euphoria fogging up my mind and the strange pains in my torso, and get to my feet. I stumble over to Knox. The room tilts slightly, but I manage to close the distance between us.

“I did it,” I tell him, a grin stretching from ear to ear as I stumble into his outstretched arms.

Knox catches me as my knees give out. He smiles, but it’s tight. The way his gaze drifts over me with concern causes some of my joy to slip away.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my tongue feels swollen and heavy.

“Nothing, you’re going to be fine. Everything is going to be just fine,” he assures me quickly before lowering me to the floor. I lay before him on my back, wondering at the pain that’s starting to override my excitement. “Let me get myself free, and I’ll get you off out here. Just hold on, ok?”

“Knox,” I gasp out as my chest clenches in pain. “What’s?—?”

I can’t bear it anymore. Something is happening to me. Lifting my head, I look up to find blood pouring out of a wound in my gut, another in my side, and there’s a shard of ceramic still lodged in my abdomen.

“Oh, no!” I gasp. When had Shannon…? Why hadn’t I felt…? My shock and horror cause my brain to cut off each question as a wordless fear snakes through me. There’s so much blood. So much of my blood.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Knox assures, his voice light but his face pinched with determination. He’s going through each key, inserting them into the lock of the shackles around his ankles to find the one that will free him. “I’ll get you some help. Just hang on, ok?”

I gape at the wounds, then up at him. There’s no way I’ll survive this. My bottom lip trembles as my new fate flashes before my eyes. It’s a short one. Where darkness encompasses me and I’ll be alone again, to suffer whatever is on the other side by myself. At least here in the basement, I had company. I had someone worth fighting for.

But what happens now? What happens after this life? It’s a question my clients back at Bright Starr would ask me. Most of them were sure that God would be waiting for them. I nodded along, but I never wondered about what happened after death. I didn’t particularly care then. But that’s because I had no attachment here in the world of the living and I certainly didn’t care for the people who were already dead.

I’m not going to make it.

The realization stuns me. It’s a shame that my life will end this way, but it’s not all that surprising. My life was full of violence before. Why not go out in a blaze of it? Before I do, though, there’s something I need to get off my chest. The emotions that override the shock and disappointment drive me to open my mouth.

“Knox,” I bite out as my body begins to tremble and pain flares through me. “I have t-to tell you something.”

“Yes!” he cries out in success as his ankles are freed. Immediately, he starts through the seven keys again to find the one to free his wrists. “Save it, Beatrix. Tell me later when we pop open a bottle of champagne to toast our epic escape.”

“No, Knox.” I reach out to wrap my fingers around his ankle. His eyes are locked on his task, but I can see the tick of his jaw. I know it’s not from my touch. We’re past that now. My heart hammers in my throat, but I swallow it down so that I can speak. “Thank you for coming into my life. For being my friend. For being yourself and allowing me to see all your layers. You're incredible, Knox.”

Knox bares his teeth as he snarls, “ Shut up .”

I stare at his face, wanting it to be the last thing I see if I’m going to die down here.

“I love you,” I tell him, allowing all my insecurities to fall away. Death is coming, and I don’t have time to question my truths. I just know this is how I feel and I need him to know it. To carry it with him out of this basement. “And I love the twins. Tell them that, ok?”

“Got it!” Knox cries out as the shackles around his wrists fall away.

I smile as my eyelids flutter. “Good, go.”

“Not without you,” Knox growls.

He gets to his feet, then bends down to scoop me up. The jostling hurts. The adrenaline from my kill has passed, leaving me to deal with the consequences of being so careless. I hiss in pain. His mouth sets in a tight line and he hurries to carry me across the basement.

“No, Knox.” I shake my head and lift a bloody hand to rest in the middle of Knox’s bare chest to push at him weakly. “Ronald can’t use me anymore, but he can still hurt you. Put me down and run .”

Knox ignores me. Instead, he says, “I’m going to say something knowing the twins are going to punish me for it if they ever find out I told you, so listen closely because I’m not going to repeat myself.”

We make it to the bottom of the steps. I look up to find the door still open. My heart leaps with hope—momentarily forgetting that even if we get out of the basement, I may not make it to see the outside of the house. Knox’s hold tightens around me as he starts up the stairs.

“You know two out of the three rules now: Don’t trespass on other’s privacy and communicate everything . But you know what the third rule is?”

My tongue feels too heavy to move, so I simply stare up at Knox. There's an ethereal glow beneath his skin that I couldn’t look away from, even if I wanted to. My heart stutters painfully. I’ve gotten to kiss those perfect lips, I’ve caressed those cheeks and I’ve stared into that remaining stunning pale blue eye. I wish I’d done all of that more, but I’m thankful for the moments I’ve had with Knox.

I wish I could look at twins one last time.

They saved me more times than I could count. First from my mother and the man she’d dragged into my life. Then from bullies who were committed to making my life hell. One held me in the shower while I fell apart after being buried, showing me love and affection that I’ve never had before. And the other had gifted me with the power to take control over my life.

I’ve had a beautiful life with my stepbrothers, as short as it was. If only I could thank them for it and tell them how much I love them for such a wonderful gift.

“Beatrix,” Knox snaps, shaking me slightly. “I’m talking to you, woman.”

“Hm?” I manage, still staring up at him. My heart is brimming with so much love that I think it might burst with it.

“The third rule is pretty fucking obvious, but turns out, it’s the hardest one to follow,” Knox growls. “And the punishment for it is pretty intense. The last rule, the most important rule, the one we’ve all broken with each other is: don’t fall in love. Love is complicated, messy, and all-consuming. Too light for a world as dark as ours.”

I lick my blood-stained lips as we grow closer to the top of the stairs.

“Oops, I guess I broke that one,” I rasp. “Punish me… later, ’kay?”

“Too late, your punishment awaits you in the far future, Shining Starr,” he says with a grim, half smile. “Eternal damnation awaits us all for being monsters capable of love. You know, I’ve already broken this stupid rule twice. I thought double the damnation would be as bad as it would get. I mean, being damned once is bad enough, right? But loving both twins, breaking that rule twice ?” He scoffs. “Apparently I’m a glutton for punishment because I’ve broken this rule a third time now, Shining Starr.”

A third time? As in… his love extends to me too? He doesn’t say the words, but this admittance is enough to make me smile as I leave this world.

“Now, like I said, don’t tell the twins I told you this one, ok? We’re supposed to find out about the rules through trial and error. They’ll?—”

A floorboard groaning on the other side of the partially open door is our only warning that we’re about to have company. It flings open the rest of the way and both Knox and I tense, expecting Angel Eyes to be there waiting for us.

It’s not him. The monster that opens this door isn’t the man who’s been holding us captive and using my body as a vessel. I look up into a familiar face and meet the single green and single brown eye as they skim over my face. As I let out the breath I’m holding, darkness surges forward and consumes me, as if the pain of holding it had been just a little too much for my brain to comprehend, to accept. Just before I’m sucked under the heavy blanket of death, I smile and whisper…

“Thatcher…”