Chapter 15 #2
"You know what an onion address looks like now, right Scarletta? I showed you how to access the site I use for the auction."
The dark web. He's talking about the dark web and how I used that long string of numbers to get to his site.
"Auction? What the fuck is he talking about?" Ryan is losing his shit.
"Well, I found an address like that in an email chain between Ryan and a deputy. Only it didn't lead to an auction house."
I'm going to be sick. "Where did it go?"
"A snuff film site. Custom orders—"
"Lies!" Ryan screams.
"I found a calendar of upcoming productions."
"You found nothing," Ryan screams. "Scarletta, this man is a psychopath! He fucking kidnapped me! Took my clothes! Left me outside all night tied to a tree! Look at me! Look at all the bites on me! He was going to hang me from that chain. Look! Look up!"
I do look up. I see the chain. The hooks. Can perfectly imagine what Caleb was gonna do to Ryan. Like… every bit of it. Because I've seen him in action.
But it doesn't matter, Caleb is talking. "This morning, Scarletta. The next film was going to be this morning starting at five AM Mountain Time. A live event featuring a platinum blonde, fitness enthusiast."
He was going to kill me.
Kill me.
Kill.
Me.
Ryan was gonna turn those cameras on, put me on that table, strap me in, and… what? Torture me?
On film.
Then kill me to fulfill an order.
An order.
A snuff film.
I look at Ryan. The shotgun looks too.
And suddenly, everything about my life becomes crystal clear.
Time slows down.
Stops.
And I'm in that place between here and there where nothing exists but my mind.
My beautiful, fucked-up, pitch-black mind.
Lyra. Poor Lyra. Plucked from her life without consent.
Abducted by Helix and dragged into his dark, subterranean world.
Claiming she's his destined mate, but she must first prove herself capable of surviving his brutal realm.
Before their union can occur, she must face The Labyrinth—an ancient trial that determines worthiness.
Helix tells Lyra that a portal to her world waits at the maze's center. If she reaches it, she can return home. This is a lie. No portal exists. She's trapped in his world permanently.
The only question really is, will she be able to live with herself in the end?
Lyra enters the maze alone, pursued by three animalistic monsters—Helix's enemies who view human females as breeding stock. If caught, she faces rape, captivity, and repeated sexual violation as a slave-breeder.
Helix's voice guides her via telepathic bond through shortcuts and portal-jumps. She must trust his instructions completely despite survival instincts screaming otherwise.
Despite his help, she is captured three times. Tackled and pinned. Dragged toward a breeding chamber. Restrained and violated.
Lyra reaches the center broken, discovering no portal exists. Helix awaits to "heal" and claim her—the lesser evil, but still captivity.
She falls into his arms.
Grateful.
Trigger Warnings:
Forced Proximity
Non Consent/Rape
Ravished by monsters that resemble animals
Trauma Bonding
Stockholm Syndrome
Abduction/Kidnapping
Captivity/Imprisonment
Breeding Kink
Multiple Attackers
Deception/Manipulation by Love Interest
False Hope/Psychological Cruelty
Chase/Hunt Dynamics
Telepathic Invasion/Mind Intrusion
Forced Mating/Claiming
Monster Romance (Non-Human MMC)
Dubious Consent with "Hero"
No True Escape
Gaslighting as Romance
Prey/Predator Dynamics
Graphic Sexual Violence
Choosing the "Lesser Monster" as HEA
Dark HEA (not safe, not healthy, not conventional)
Heroine Breaks Before Surrender
No Redemption Arc
The Monster Wins
This is my life. It's built on nothing but a list of the most fucked-up trigger warnings.
And it's… just… who I am.
What can I say?
I wrote that story. I loved that story. I wanted to live that story. Wanted it so much, I walked into a copy of that maze on Caleb's island, ready to allow three attackers to have their way with me before finding my Helix at the center.
I did that willingly.
Craved it.
This is what sexually satisfies me.
This darkness is who I am.
This is the truth of my situation. The things I want—the thing I am—draws predators. That's why Derek raped me. I summoned him to me because I wanted what he was offering and he saw it. Somehow, he knew.
That Russian man in the maze. My second attacker. I don't know how to explain that one. I have no idea what that was. But the reason he got me? Yes, I do understand that. He got me because I was there. Getting off on weird kink.
And now… Ryan.
He doesn't make porn. He makes snuff films. And something about me told him that I was a candidate.
Who are you kidding, Scarletta? You told him you were a candidate. You practically begged him to strap your ankles into stirrups and fuck you blind.
If I want to run the maze, I have to deal with the monsters.
This is the truth of my sickness.
Helix kidnapped Lyra. He made her run the maze to prove she could survive it. Then he became the monster she could live with.
The darkness she could survive.
I look at Caleb. His eyes are still sad. "Are you OK?"
I don't answer, just look at Ryan. He's in full panic mode. He's been talking this whole time. Excuse after excuse. Lie after lie spewing from his mouth.
He was going to kill me.
He goes silent.
We lock eyes.
His change. Right in front of me.
And there he is.
The predator.
The killer.
The monster I never saw coming.
He lunges, and I don't even blink.
I pull the trigger and the next thing I know, he's meat.