Cassidy
“Hold your hands out.”
A whimper leaves me, knowing what’s about to come, and the sick fuck smiles, but I do as he asks, trying my best to not appear as unnerved as I feel.
He turns to a black bag on the floor, and I kick myself for not seeing it before. He clearly had all this planned, and I can’t help but wonder how long it’s been planned for and who helped him.
Benjamin always claimed to know people in high places; another way he would keep me in line, with his taunts of links to politicians, gang members, and social workers, which made me feel isolated and unable to trust anyone.
When I hear the familiar sound of chains clinking into place, my heart plummets and I stumble back. The taste of copper in my mouth now combining with bile.
“Ben—”
He slaps me in my face, and my head flies to the side, stunning me for longer than I’d like.
“You changed everything about you,” he spits out as I regain some clarity. “I’m going to change everything back. Do you understand me?” he shouts with such fury, my legs shake. Spittle lands on my face as he threads the chains around my wrists, the weight of them a cruel reminder of my past.
Being chained to my bed for days on end while he used my tiny body always sticks at the forefront of my mind, and any form of being tied up is a huge trigger for me.
He pulls me toward the fire, and a cry catches in my throat, knowing too well what’s coming.
His body vibrates with excitement, and it absolutely petrifies me.
Slowly, he hoists me up until I’m on my tiptoes, my sneakers squeaking on the wooden floor as I sway back and forth, desperately trying to keep the tips of my feet on the ground.
“Where are the truck keys?” he asks, snapping me from my panic.
“I-Inside. If you don’t let her go, they’ll come for her,” I repeat, more meekly than before.
His smile is villainous. “Maybe I should send them pieces of her instead.”
The thought of him hurting Stella causes my tears to fall freely, stinging my battered face. “Pl-please don’t.”
He ignores my pleas, bends down to the bag, and takes out a knife and metal tool I don’t recognize.
“I hear the MC brands their whores?” He lifts an eyebrow as he rises to his full demonic height. “It’s about time I branded mine too, don’t you think?”
I close my eyes, trying in vain to compose myself, and when I open them again, it’s to the sound of him slicing through my clothes, then yanking them from me and discarding them to the floor.
“You know damn fucking well I don’t like you dressing like this,” he spits out, kicking away my band T-shirt and denim shorts. I wait for his gaze to latch onto the tattoo branding me as Killa’s, but he’s too lost in his own twisted thoughts, and for once, I’m grateful for that.
“Where has my innocent little girl gone, hmm?” He tilts his head from side to side. Calling me his little girl has my skin crawling, and I focus on the heat behind me scorching my skin. “She’s in there somewhere. I just need to bring her back to me, don’t I?”
He lifts the tool and holds it out into the flame. “I’m going to burn you alive, Hayley. Again and again, I’ll scorch your skin until you’re covered in my marks. When you look in the mirror, you’ll understand what true possession is.” His eyes are alight with warped glee.
“The only fucker burning will be you, motherfucker!” Killa’s voice slices through the room like an avenger, and I lock my eyes onto the man who holds my heart.
A bullet whizzes through the air, Benjamin cries out, and a spray of blood hits my stomach before he drops the metal tool to the floor, clinging to his hand with a whine.
“Step the fuck away from her, motherfucker!” Killa demands.
As if in slow motion, Benjamin turns his head, and I see the brutality behind his demonic eyes. He’s not going to let me go. Grabbing hold of my ankle, he pushes my body back and lodges my foot behind the pile of wood. I’m too stunned to react. Too terrified at the prospect of angering him further.
A villainous smile spreads over his face, and he lifts his arms in surrender. My heart lurches when he nudges his elbow against the fuel canister, sending it tumbling into the fire and creating an inferno, which consumes me in searing agony.