Chapter 52 Kashton
FIFTY-TWO
KASHTON
Ipull up to Dollhouse and see Sin’s car is already waiting on me. Getting out, I walk over to it.
“Got it.” He opens his passenger door for me.
“Thanks.” I reach in and grab the bag of items he collected for me.
He tosses his backpack over his shoulder. “I’m going to stay in case you need me.”
“No. Go home to Elli and the babies.”
“Bill is out of town this week. My mom is staying at our house to help.”
I start to tell him I don’t need him when he counters, “I’ll stay out of the way. Just know I’m here if you need me.” He closes his passenger door.
I guess it can’t hurt to have an extra person here in case something goes wrong.
“When do you have to get started?”
I push back the sleeve of my hoodie to check my watch. “I’ve got twenty minutes.”
“Is she okay?” Sin glances over at my car, but he can’t see into it because my windows are blacked out.
I sigh. “For now. I gave her a sedative, but she’ll be up soon.”
“I’ll carry your bag so you can get her.” He takes it out of my hand and follows me over to my car.
Opening up the passenger car door, I pick her up and follow Sin up the steps and into Dollhouse. The house has a haunting feeling to it. I always thought Carnage was cold, but it has nothing on this place.
“Right on time.” A Lord enters the grand foyer, checking his watch. “I was worried you wouldn’t show.”
I look over at Sin, and his jaw sharpens before he looks away from the Lord, cursing under his breath.
“Why the fuck are you here?” I snap as Eve moans in my arms. She’s going to wake up any second.
The Lord removes his suit jacket and folds it over the chair to the right. “Same as you. Got a text with instructions.”
“Why the fuck would they send you?” Sin growls. Obviously as surprised as I am to see him here.
Bill drops his eyes to Eve in my arms. “To make sure Kashton gets the job done.”
EVERETT
Thunk… Thunk…
I feel drunk. Like I’m walking through a fog on a gravel road in heels. Everything is unstable and I can’t see shit.
Thunk… Thunk…
There’s this noise in the back of my throbbing head. Repeating over and over.
I open my heavy eyes, and I see one dimly lit light after the other above me pass by.
My arms are above my head and my back feels like nails are dragging down my skin. It burns.
Thunk… Thunk…
What is that sound?
I blink, trying to clear my vision, and another light passes. It feels like I’m lying on one of those moving sidewalks in slow motion.
Thunk… Thunk…
As my vision begins to clear like fog fading away, I start to get my senses back. I realize the cold nails under my back is really a concrete floor and the reason it feels like it’s scratching me is because I’m moving.
Lifting my head, I see the back of Kashton. His white T-shirt strains against his flexing muscles. He’s got a hat on backward and a piece of rope over his left shoulder. It’s tied around my ankles, and he’s using it to drag me down a hallway.
I try to sit, but I don’t have the use of my arms yet.
Thunk… Thunk…
Suddenly, the sound makes sense. It’s his boots on the concrete floor. Slow and steady. He’s in no rush.
“Ka-sh?” My voice cracks, and I’m not sure he heard me.
My head falls to the floor, unable to hold it up any longer, and my scalp stings from him dragging me, the motion pulling my hair. That explains the headache. I look around aimlessly, and something catches my attention. Red bulbs above doors as we pass.
We’re at Dollhouse. My heart leaps in my chest at the thought of being back here.
All of a sudden, the memories rush back. Us at the motel, him telling me to run, him catching me. He drugged me and brought me here.
“I’m going to break you, Eve.”
Panic grips my chest and my fight or flight kicks in. I use what strength I have and roll over onto my stomach, and my hands try to grab a hold of anything to stop him.
No. No. I can’t do this. I can’t be here.
“Good morning, Eve,” comes his voice echoing off the walls.
Morning? It was dark in the woods. How long have I been out?
“Kashton. Please don’t…” My throat tightens, thinking of what he could do to me. “I don’t want to be here. Take me home. Please…” I beg him as he continues to drag me down the hallway.
Funny, I wanted to leave Carnage, and now it’s the only place I want to be. I try to kick my tied feet and twist my body to slow him down, but it doesn’t even seem to bother him. My hands reach out to grab a hold of a doorframe, but it’s too far away.
“Sorry, angel. We can’t leave until you’ve proven to be a good whore.”
My breath gets caught in my lungs at his words, and I slap my hands on the concrete to try and stop him once more. My fingers burn and my nails break as they drag along the cold floor.
He gives the rope one hard pull, yanking me forward, and we come to a stop. I try to crawl away, but his weight is on top of me.
“Kashton. Stop,” I scream, tears filling my eyes. “Please…don’t do this.”
He grabs my arms and yanks them behind my back, tying my wrists together with rope. Then he flips me onto my back.
I arch my neck and scream, hoping someone will hear me. Anyone. But I’ve been here before, and there’s no one to save me.
He slaps his hand over my mouth, silencing me, and forces my head down. His free hand gently pushes my wild hair off my face. “It’s okay, Eve. You’ve been a doll before. I’m going to make sure you enjoy it just as much as you did last time.”
Tears blur my vision. He’s so cold. Heartless. This isn’t the Kashton I’ve fallen in love with. How can he switch it up like that? How could I have been so stupid to think he could ever love me?
Removing his hand from my face, he pulls another piece of rope out of his hoodie and starts to wrap it around my neck.
“What are you doing?” I ask, panicking. “Stop.” I try to pull away, but it’s no use. I scream in frustration, and angry tears pour from my eyes.
Pulling, he yanks me to standing by the rope wrapped around my neck, momentarily cutting off my air.
He ushers me forward on my shaking legs and I stumble into his body since my arms are tied behind my back.
Bringing me to a stop in the center of the room, he tosses the excess rope from around my neck up above our heads and over a pipe that runs from one wall to the other.
Then he walks behind me, tying it off at the back of my neck.
“Kashton.” My body trembles and I try to swallow. It’s choking me.
“Remove her heels,” he orders.
He stripped me naked but dressed me in heels? Why? I try to spin around to see who the fuck he’s talking to, but the rope doesn’t allow it.
The rope around my ankles is cut and then someone grabs my leg, bends it at the knee, and removes my heel before it’s dropped.
My panic rises when I’m forced to stand on my tiptoes. The same is done to the other. I cry out when the rope tightens, forcing me to tilt my head to the side as it rubs against my neck and the side of my cheek, pulling on my sensitive skin.
He places both hands on my face, forcing me to meet his stare. “You love it when I play with you.”
“N-oo,” I choke out the single word. “Please…I’m begging you.” I’ve watched so many Lords beg for their lives during a confessional or offering, yet I never understood it until now. When you have nothing left other than your voice, you use it.
His once pretty blue eyes are dead. Now replaced with nothing more than soulless black holes. I’ve seen this before. Here at Dollhouse. There’s an evil that lives here and takes over your soul. No one can escape it. “It’s okay, Eve. Enjoy it. Think of it as my wedding gift to you.”
I shake my head, and the rope tears at my skin. It’s itchy, and the fact that I can’t use my hands because they’re tied behind my back makes it harder to stand.
He steps away, letting go of me, and removes a Sharpie from his hoodie. He writes on my chest and thighs before walking behind me to write on my ass.
Then he gives me his back while walking over to a chair that is a few feet from me. There’s a box on top of it. He pulls out a rag that seems to be soaked in something because he wrings it out over the concrete and the contents splash up onto my trembling legs.
Returning to me, he shoves the cloth between my lips, and a sour taste fills my mouth.
“Swallow it,” he demands, and there’s nothing else I can do.
I blink rapidly, swallowing, and it makes me choke. I try to open my mouth wider to breathe around the rag. He gives me a second and then shoves the loose ends back in.
“Good girl,” he praises me before ripping clear tape off a roll. He wraps it around my head, securing the soaked rag in my mouth.
He then writes something on it too. He tosses the Sharpie across the room, grips my tear-streaked face, and forces my head back.
“Your thighs say free use, your chest says Kashton’s whore, and your ass says rape me. The tape on your mouth says Kashton’s dolly.”
I sob into the rag, trying to get my balance. My legs are already burning and cramping from having to stretch.
“The Lords want me to prove you’re useless, Eve.
” His cold eyes glare into mine. “So I’m letting Lords fuck you.
Their cum will leak from your cunt. Run down your pretty legs.
” His free hand drops between my thighs, and he runs his fingers over my pussy.
I try to close them, but I’m forced to stand on my tiptoes.
He gives me a smile that makes my heart skip a beat with fear. “You’re wet, angel. See? It won’t be that hard for you after all.”
I shake my head, trying to deny it. I’m not wet. This isn’t a game we’re playing. Doesn’t he understand that no one leaves here? Not as the same person they arrived as anyway.
“One more thing.” He shoves my head back, letting go and stepping away. He picks up the box that sits on the chair and brings it over to me.
“Each Lord gets a souvenir.” He holds up a razor blade in front of my face and my wide eyes go to his. “They’re going to cut you. A tally for each cock that fucks you.”
I scream into the gag and fight the ropes as fresh tears blur my vision. I’m desperate to get free, silently hoping he’ll take pity on me and let me go.
“Line them up,” he commands. Grabbing a chair, he spins it around backward and crosses his arms over the top of it, settling into the best seat in the house to watch me get raped.
I’m his offering. He wants something, and this is how the Lords are going to give it to him. All he has to do is let them have me.
But why would he want me after this? Why does he want me broken and used? I thought he loved me. He’s supposed to protect me.
A set of rough hands touches my thighs, and I thrash in my restraints. The rope cuts off my air momentarily as my nose runs and my heart thunders so hard in my chest, I fear I’ll have a heart attack.
The blood rushes in my ears, and I begin to sob when I realize my ankles are kicked apart, forcing me to arch my neck back in order to get just a little air to breathe.
Death is the only option at this point. I can only hope that he kills me afterward.
“Everett?” A hand touches my face, and I flinch at the tender contact. “Look at me, Eve.”
I open my swollen eyes to see Kashton standing in front of me.
“Welcome back, angel,” he says, giving me a smile. It’s as cold as I feel. Pulling his hand back, I see it’s bloody. “You did so good for me. I knew you would.”
I try to speak, but I can’t. The gag still fills my mouth; the tape remains wrapped around my throbbing head.
I’m still standing in the center of the room on my tiptoes with the rope around my neck and my arms tied behind my back.
I wish I were dead.
“Do you want to see?” That fucking evil smile is still on his face. “Let me show you.” Walking away, he comes back with a full-length mirror and holds it up in front of me.
Vomit rises at what I see. I’m bleeding all over. Cum mixed with blood runs down my shaking legs. The words written on me in Sharpie are front and center. Gashes so deep that parts of my skin hang. The only good thing is I can’t feel it. Maybe I’ve lost too much blood.
My bare feet slide in the puddle underneath me.
I look away, choosing the ceiling instead, but a hand grips my hair, forcing my head back to look, so I close my eyes as my shoulders shake.
Disgust washes over me, and I hate myself.
No one can love this. I told myself we’d get to be together forever if I did this.
It was a lie. He tricked me. It’s for his own personal gain.
But one day, his time will come. And when I get my chance, I’ll fucking make him choke on the skin I cut from his body.
A hand slaps my wet cheek, and my eyes spring open. “Look at yourself, angel,” he growls.
“Fuck you,” I scream into the gag, and he laughs at me.
“The Lords allowed you to watch them cut their own for years, Eve, and you thought they wouldn’t do the same to you?”
I see the irony. I just don’t care. I didn’t choose this life, and now more than ever I feel like a failure for not succeeding at ending it all those years ago. Two chances and I failed both times.
“Eve,” he barks, slapping my face, and I narrow my watery eyes on his. “Do you really think you’re special? That they’d spare you?” Kashton shakes his head. “You’re a useless woman, Eve. There’s nothing special about that.”