Chapter 26 Selene
“Neil was so still that I immediately knew he was unconscious.”
Selene
How ephemeral was the barrier between life and death?
I knew for certain that I touched it—I saw Death’s face.
But while life did take a little break, she did not abandon me altogether. She came right back to me.
I could feel the beat of my heart; it was slow, but it was there.
I was lying on the ground, my cheek pressed to the cold ground, the taste of blood heavy on my tongue.
How had I gotten out of the car?
More importantly—where was I?
I flexed the fingers of one hand to make sure I was really still alive, but they immediately fell limp, too weak to do anything.
Warily, I moved my head slightly to try to figure out what was happening around me.
I was in a building of some sort. Old with bare concrete walls, it was dirty and poorly maintained. There were dust and pieces of rubble everywhere.
It seemed like a warehouse or something like that.
And then I spotted the three figures standing nearby.
They all were dressed in black, their faces covered with colorful masks.
Two of them were dragging Neil’s body, holding him by the ankles like he was some animal carcass.
Neil was so still that I immediately knew he was unconscious at the very least, and it felt like my heart was being squeezed in a vise.
“Tie the asshole up before he comes to. We’re fucked if he does,” one of them ordered. It was a menacing, decidedly male voice. I tried again to move, but my muscles wouldn’t obey me. I fought, focusing on them, but the pain was too intense.
I could feel my heart beating slowly in my chest, my breath scraping at my lungs, leaking out in small, pained gasps.
“Neil…” I mumbled.
“Is she alive?” another one of them asked.
“Yeah.”
I didn’t recognize the voices; it was hard to distinguish one from another.
I couldn’t feel my body; my brain was sending out signals that my muscles simply weren’t receiving.
“Deal with her, Gregory,” the first man who had spoken ordered. Slowly, I shifted my eyes to him. His mask was white, and it covered his face completely with just two small slits for his eyes, allowing their cruelty to show.
Was this Player?
I couldn’t be sure, but the mask reminded me a lot of the one I’d seen the person in the Jeep wearing just before my taxi crashed.
“The rest of you, over here,” he continued impatiently.
I fought my body’s weakness as even my eyes struggled to remain open, but I needed to see who these bastards were.
Suddenly, hands wrapped around my wrists and pulled me up.
I screamed with every breath of air I had left in my lungs until I found myself upright with an unfamiliar torso at my back.
My legs weren’t strong enough to support me, so the man behind me put an arm around me to keep me from crumpling back down to the ground.
“Up and at ’em, girly. We want you to watch,” he whispered into my ear.
I could feel his slimy breath on my skin, and vomit rose up in the back of my throat.
He used one hand to grab my jaw and force me to look at the group of masked men who had surrounded Neil.
They’d tied his hands with ropes to keep him from moving, even while semiconscious.
A rivulet of blood leaked from one corner of his mouth and another from a wound on his temple.
“Neil!” I screamed, but the man behind me pulled me tight against himself to silence me.
“Don’t bother yelling, you little slut,” he threatened. “No one’s around to hear you anyway. Be patient—we’ll have our fun with you later. Right now, it’s his turn.” He ground himself against my ass, and I tried in vain to wriggle away from his body touching mine.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“Boss, kitten here wants to know who we are,” the guy behind me said, loud and mocking, and the one in the white mask who appeared to be giving orders turned to look at us.
I shivered. He stood up straight and walked toward me; I felt like I was crumpling into myself with every step he took, like a discarded piece of paper in his fist. He stopped right in front of me and cocked his head to one side.
I thought I could make out a pair of light-colored eyes, but I wasn’t sure.
His collar-length blond hair, however, was visible. He raised his hand, and I cringed, turning my face away to try to avoid his touch. His whole torso vibrated with a guttural laugh.
This was fun for him. All just a game.
“You are sick in the head!” I spat at him, ignoring the terror that I could feel churning in the bottom of my stomach.
“Oh, but you remember me…don’t you, Selene?” he whispered, honey-sweet, and I knew then that this was him. I was looking at Player in the flesh.
“No…don’t touch her…” Neil’s voice echoed off the walls of the place, sending a jolt of warmth straight to my heart. Player and I both turned to look at him.
Neil was trying to get up using just his legs, despite his injuries.
He was panting for breath, and after several tries, he managed to get shakily to his feet. His cold gaze was unyielding.
He was prepared to fight anyone who tried to lay a hand on me.
“People, what the fuck are you doing? Bring him to his knees,” Player ordered. One of the masked men punched him in the stomach, and Neil doubled over. Then his knees hit the concrete, just like that bastard wanted.
“No! Leave him alone!” I screamed again, swamped by terror. I tried to wriggle and flail, but the stranger behind me was strong enough to hold me still.
“Do you think you scare me? You’re a bunch of assholes in masks! Why don’t you grow a pair and show your real faces?” Neil exploded, tightening his abdomen against another stab of pain.
He raised his face to look directly at Player, who began to laugh robustly in response.
“I know that I’m the one you want,” Neil went on. “So take me and leave her,” he added through his gritted teeth. Player jerked his chin at one of the men, and my heart began to pound, my knees getting even weaker.
“No! Please! Don’t hurt him!”
No one paid me any mind. One of the men grabbed Neil’s arm and dragged him to his feet. The man held him from behind, pushing Neil forward like a human sacrifice for the other man who let out an evil laugh.
I screamed and struggled even harder. My throat burned, my lungs ached, and my heart cracked open in my chest.
“No! Don’t hurt him! Please!” I insisted in a rush of desperate tears.
“Please!” I sobbed again. The man behind gave me a sharp shake and swore at me, telling me to shut up.
“You don’t scare me, you sons of bitches,” Neil hissed between his teeth with terrifying determination.
It was a determination that would cost him dearly because he had no way of defending himself with his hands tied behind his back.
And, sure enough, the guy in front of him buried his fist in Neil’s abdomen again.
I felt a stab of pain in my own stomach, like I’d been punched along with him.
Tears blurred my already hazy vision, but I could still see, I could still hear… It was all too clear what was happening.
More blows followed, one after another.
Neil didn’t scream; he didn’t make a sound. He just absorbed the hits, squeezing his eyes shut with each swing, gritting his teeth at each burst of pain, and tightening his abdominal muscles to mitigate some of the outrageous violence.
I shut my eyes because I wasn’t strong enough to keep watching. I wasn’t brave enough.
Each strike seemed to hit me as well.
I could feel them against my flesh. I could feel the pain.
It was like a hammer swinging forward unstoppably to shatter his bones, and it was breaking me too.
I wanted to cover my ears so I wouldn’t hear the wrathful grunts of the bastard who was beating the hell out of Neil, but my own wrists were still pinned behind my back by the asshole holding me.
“Stop it! Please, just stop it!” I pleaded under Player’s icy gaze. He was watching the scene unfold before him without a hint of pity or even basic human compassion. His arms were loose at his sides, his face turned toward Neil, and his posture stiff and confident.
“That’s enough for now,” he said finally. The man immediately stopped hitting Neil and took a step back.
I tracked Neil’s body with my eyes as the second guy dropped him.
My chest grew unbearably tight when I watched him hit the ground, covered in sweat, weak, and suffering.
His lower lip was split, and blood was streaming from deep wounds on his face.
His chest rose and fell rapidly, and his eyes were closed, but he was still there.
I could hear him panting, trying to stay in the world.
“Neil!” I called out desperately, and surprisingly, the asshole behind me actually let me go.
I pulled myself across the floor until I could kneel beside him.
I could smell the metallic odor of blood in the air.
Neil had curled into the fetal position, trying to protect his wounded torso.
He coughed wetly. “Hey…” I said in the gentlest whisper, rubbing my nose along his sweat-slick cheek.
I stroked his hair, all covered in dirt and dust and forgot about everything else.
I even forgot about the men standing all around us. The men who deserved to die slow, painful deaths for what they’d done to him. I curled up against him as if to transmit my warmth to him.
If they wanted to hit him, now they’d have to hit me too.
I laid down over Neil, showing those monsters my back. I was trying to protect him, to shield him, even though my body was far too small to cover his.
His eyes were still closed and puffy, his equally swollen lips slightly parted.
“Neil…I’m right here, Neil. Tell me you’re okay.” My voice shook with fear that he wasn’t going to open his eyes, making me spiral. If he didn’t come back to me, I… I…