Chapter 28
I promised Connor I wouldn’t give up. That promise is getting harder with every minute that passes. I have no idea how long I’ve been here. Chained to this wall. Kept in the dark. My sense of sight stolen from me while my senses of smell and sound are heightened. Which is what has me straightening.
They’re here. Again. I can smell them. The filthy fucking Irish fuckers who’ve been coming in and out. They’re trying to break me, and I’m afraid it’s starting to work. How long can someone endure being beaten on? Groped everywhere?
My body stills, waiting for the first strike, waiting for them to move closer. Sometimes I hear them. Sometimes I don’t.
I want to scream. I want to tell them to fuck off. Unfortunately, that’s what they want. To hear the fear in my voice. I won’t give it to them.
Fuck that. I can’t wait until I’m out of these chains and can feel their blood coating my hands…
My heart picks up speed the longer I sense their presence. Why aren’t they doing anything? Are they enjoying the fact that I’m waiting?
Probably. Sick fuckers.
I haven’t decided if it’s a good thing that I can’t see or not. I can’t see the damage they’re doing to my body. I can’t see their shriveled dicks as they spray their various fluids all over my skin.
The longer they take to strike, the more my anxiety picks up. I can handle this. I will survive this. I have to. I don’t have any other choice. I refuse to break my promise to Connor.
Is he here? Are they making him watch what they’re doing to me?
I hope he never sees this. I know he’s coming.
He’d never not come for me. I just have to hold on until he gets here.
Then again, maybe it’s better he doesn’t.
I have no idea what his father will do to him.
Connor can withstand pain. He can handle himself, but seeing what they’re doing to me…
I’m not sure if he can handle that, because I know I wouldn’t be able to if the situation were reversed.
I hear a door, footsteps, and then a voice. “Boss wants to see you upstairs.”
That voice. I know it. Am I hearing things?
There’s no reply but I can hear movement, walking, and then nothing. A minute later, someone is stepping towards me again. Not someone. Him. Patty.
Please don’t let him be in on this. It will destroy Connor to have his best friend betray him.
“What the fuck have they done to you?”
“Patty?” I ask, even though I know it’s him.
“Put these on. Quick. We don’t have long.” He presses something into my hands. A pair of eyeglasses.
He must realize I can’t do it myself, that I can’t lift my arms high enough, because he takes the glasses back and slides them onto my face. I wince as they press against my cuts and bruises. But finally everything comes into focus. I can see.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss. “Where’s Connor? You have to help him.”
“Shh. We don’t have much time. Connor’s coming. You just have to hold on a little bit longer. Look around. Memorize the room,” Patty tells me.
I don’t think twice before I look around the concrete hell I’m trapped inside. There’s one door. A table pressed against the far wall, along with the whips these assholes have been using on me, and not much else. That’s it.
“Where is he?” I repeat. “Don’t let him in here. Don’t let him see me.” I refuse to look down at myself. It will only be worse if I can see the damage I’ve endured.
“I’m putting these under the mattress. When the time comes, you can get them.” Patty takes the glasses off my face and I’m thrust back into the darkness. I want to protest. I want to be able to see.
“He’s coming. He’ll be here soon,” Patty assures me. “Don’t let them win.” Then he presses something cold and metal into my palm. “Don’t use this until it’s time.”
“What is it?” I feel the object in my hand.
“A key, for the chains. Don’t use it until he’s here. You’ll know when it’s time,” Patty says cryptically. “Remember who you are.”
“I’m Aurora O’Malley,” I say quietly.
“What now?” Patty pauses. I can sense him stiffen.
“I’m Aurora O’Malley.” I don’t hesitate to tell him this time.
“You guys… You didn’t?”
“You told him to wife me up. He listened.” I smile, thinking back to our private vow exchange on the beach.
“Fuck,” Patty curses.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just… don’t let them find what I gave you. I have to go.” His footsteps move towards the door. And then I’m alone again.
I feel around for the edge of the mattress—thankfully, I can reach it—and shove the key underneath before anyone comes in and spots it. I’m grateful that Patty interrupted when he did, but I know it won’t be long until they’re back. So I lean against the wall and close my eyes.
I just have to wait. I’m getting out of here. I will get out, and I will slaughter every fucker dumb enough to touch me.
The sound of heels against the concrete floor wakes me.
It’s how I know it’s the woman this time.
The one who comes in and never talks. Just sits in front of me and feeds me soup.
At first, I refused to eat it, then I caved.
I need food. I need to keep my strength up as much as I can if I’m going to walk away from this.
I think about my dad, what he would tell me. Do whatever you have to do to survive.
I can almost hear his voice. Tears well up at the sides of my eyes. My parents must be going through hell. My entire family will be tearing the world upside down looking for me. I just hope no one gets hurt in the process. I want to be found, but not at the cost of any of their lives.
The woman stops. She smells like tea. It’s odd. I have no idea who she is, and even though she hasn’t touched me, I still want her dead. She’s part of the problem. She helps these assholes keep me here.
“You know, I thought you would have broken by now.” A thick, Irish accent cuts through the silence.
“You don’t know me,” I counter.
“Oh, but I do. I know your type. Rich, privileged, bitch ,” she hisses.
“Who are you?” I ask. At first, I thought it might have been Connor’s mother, but the voice is different from the one I heard when I first woke up. And this woman is younger, much younger.
“Who I am doesn’t matter,” she says.
“It doesn’t. You’ll be dead soon enough anyway.” I smile and then stop when I feel my lips split open. They’re cracked, bloody, broken.
The woman laughs. “Funny coming from a chained-up whore. What makes you think I’m going to die?”
“Because I’m going to kill you. If Connor doesn’t get to you first, that is,” I tell her.
“Connor is going to see you for what you are. He’s coming home and you will be nothing but a mistake he once made. Don’t you worry, though, because I’ll be sure to keep him busy once he’s my husband,” she says.
My blood goes cold. “What are you talking about?” I want to tell her that, that could never happen because Connor is already mine.
“We’re getting married. As soon as he arrives. Mr. O’Malley has made all the arrangements.”
I laugh. “Yeah, good luck with that. Let me know how that goes for you.”
“He will. I was his first. We were each other’s firsts. And you know what they say about your first. You never truly forget them. Connor loves me. He just needs the reminder.”
I take a deep breath. She’s trying to get me to react.
It’s working. It’s also taking every ounce of my self-control to keep from showing her that. “I broke a classmate’s arm, fractured her jaw, for just touching him. What do you think I’ll do to someone like you? Someone who wants to steal him from me?” I ask.
“It won’t matter. You won’t be able to do anything when you’re dead.
And Connor will never know about this little chat.
He’ll forever see me as the victim in all this, just like he sees himself.
It’s something we’ll bond over. Now, since you’re not going to eat, I’m leaving. I have a wedding to prepare for.”
I close my eyes and picture Connor on the beach, standing inside the big heart he drew on the sand. The vows we exchanged. They can’t be undone. Connor will not marry someone else. He will always choose me.
That knowledge is what keeps me going. He’s coming. Patty said he’s coming. I just have to hold out until he gets here.
A few days ago, I didn’t think I could kill another member of Connor’s family. Now, I’m ready to slaughter them all. There is no mercy left after what they’ve done to me. Connor may hate me for it. But his love has always been stronger than his hatred. And he loves me.