Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
BELLAMY
I’m exhausted. My soul hurts, and my lungs feel as if they can’t get enough air. I’ve been in a constant state of pain and panic since I first woke up in this hell hole.
I never knew that six days could feel so long. The alpha bark lasted for three days due to the intent behind it, and because Cassidy was kept gagged, she couldn’t release us of it.
Blindness is its own gift and curse in a way, because while we were saved from watching Cassidy being raped for hours, Winter and I couldn’t prepare for all the horrors that happened to us during it.
Drowning, caning, Screamo music for hours when we prayed for sleep, all of it happened while we were blind.
We were thrown into the cages and someone would hit the side of it while the music blared to scare us, or someone would use the misdirection to press the electrical probe against our skin to make us scream.
There was never any way to anticipate it.
Still, I’m not blaming Cassidy for any of it. I believe she had a harder time in all of this. Hearing what the men did to her over and over while Avery mocked her is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, however short that is.
Blinking at Madam Clara and Avery as Cass, Winter and I hang from our captors’ arms, I wait to hear what they have to say to us.
We’ve been force fed the minimum to stay alive, and water has been forced into our mouths with metal tubes, much like they offer hamsters fluids in their cages.
Whereas hamsters have the dignity to suck on their water bottles, we haven’t had that option.
Instead, we gagged on the water while being told to swallow it.
Cassidy’s gag has been replaced with a large ball gag, which continues to keep her from speaking as she glares at Clara and Avery. The gag has to hurt, because I’d swear it’s as big as an alpha’s knot.
“The floor is yours,” Clara says with a grin. “This had better work.”
Ignoring Clara, Avery shrugs as she pulls out an injection from a bag hanging at her hip. Her uniform of cargo pants and a top continue, but her hair is now up in cute space buns. Her appearance is out of step with her actual character, causing me to sneer angrily at her.
“Bonds are metaphysical, but there is also a physical component when it’s created. Due to this, what two people create together by hormones and the delusional idea that they’re meant to be together, I can break. Clara, do you have a preference on who I do first?”
“Winter first,” Clara says with a cruel snort. “Bellamy can watch.”
“You’re such a bitch,” I snarl. I have very little to lose at this point. Without the bonds…I may as well die, right?
Cassidy screams behind the gag, her feet kicking at the man holding her. Rolling his eyes, the man wraps his arms around her and squeezes her body tightly. I can hear her bones grinding against each other, and Winter cries out as one of Cass’ ribs cracks.
“Stop! Stop!” Winter begs, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Cassidy’s breathing is pained as the man loosens his grip just enough so he’s no longer breaking bones. He’s fucking huge at six foot six, with black hair slicked back as he stares forward like a robot.
“Good boy,” Clara says with a smirk. “I would say that good help is hard to find, but I bought him like this. He’s an alpha who’s been programmed to do whatever he’s told.
The military has wonderful ways to break even the most powerful alphas.
What can I say? I was curious, and the payoff has been wonderful.
Now, enough of this. Avery, just do it. I’ve waited too long as it is. ”
I can’t help but weakly fight as my body floods with the horror that this robot of an alpha is bought and paid for, much like Winter and I have been.
My body doesn't have much to offer as I struggle, despite my best efforts. I don’t believe Avery can break them, yet she seems very confident.
How many people has she done this to? How many lives is she responsible for ruining?
“No!” I yell, before tumbling into a coughing fit. I’ve screamed so much that my voice is wrecked.
“You’re just making it worse,” Jake mutters, holding me.
To add insult to injury, Madam Clara has him taking a larger role now in our misery. Nothing like having a front row seat to what your actions have done.
Winter’s body shakes as she watches Avery walk toward her with wide eyes. I can feel her terror, as well as the paralysis her mind is holding her in. Typically, we’d be as silent as possible so that we wouldn’t be hurt more, but that’s not going to help now.
Nothing will.
“Please, no,” she whimpers.
“It’s just a little pinch and then you’ll be free from the big, bad, alphas,” Avery croons.
Cassidy’s screams are muffled by the gag, while I sob as Avery fists Winter’s hair and yanks her head to the side to bare her throat.
“Why would you want to give alphas so much control over you?” I hear Avery whisper.
I don’t know how to even explain to such a vile person that there’s no control in my relationship with my alphas.
Even when Cassidy alpha barked me to close my eyes, it was to protect me.
I can tell her body hurts by how the huge goon holds her weight so her feet won’t touch the ground, despite how tall she is.
Avery doesn’t understand how love works, and she likely never will. I wish I could comfort Winter better, but all I can do is whisper in her mind that it’ll be okay, even if it’s a lie.
I don’t think anything will be alright ever again. So much time has passed, I simply don’t know if our pack will find us. I’ve learned we are very well hidden, and time isn’t something we have much of.
Today is the auction, something Madam Clara has been counting down the days for.
Winter whines as she’s injected with the medication Avery gives her, and Cassidy’s body spasms as if she was electrocuted. The scream she gives raises goosebumps over my entire body, and even Jake shudders behind me as he curses under his breath.
Avery gets about a second to jump away before Winter vomits a spray of bile. My stepsister shudders as she continues to get sick and I begin to hyperventilate, knowing that I’m next.
“Did it work, or are they just being dramatic?” Clara asks lightly.
“They’re gone,” Winter rasps, hatred burning in her mismatched eyes as she glares at her. “You’re fucking evil!”
“Perfect,” Clara purrs. “Someone gag the girl. Maybe it’ll teach her not to puke again if the danger that you’ll choke on it exists.”
Winter has thrown up multiple times during our captivity, and I have no idea why. The only time I’ve ever really seen her get sick is when we were detoxing once we left The Hug Project.
I don’t know what’s going on with her, but I add it to the multiple other concerns that I have.
I watch as Ebert comes forward to shove a gag into Winter’s mouth, my heart pounding as Avery walks around the vomit to approach me.
“Your turn!” she says in that creepy sing-song way of hers. It’s doll-like and childish, and says a lot about her mental stability.
“I hope you rot in hell,” I growl, which makes her shrug.
Avery yanks on my hair to bare my throat, and Jake shoves me forward to help her. God, I fucking hate everyone right now.
Winter is screaming in my mind, unable to protect me as she has a gag shoved into her mouth. I promise her we’ll get our revenge, even though I’m not sure how that’ll happen. Despite the awful things we’ve both experienced, neither of us have become bitter.
As the heat of the bond breaking medication is pushed into my vein, that all changes. I can feel the physical ache as my alphas fall away. They’ve been a reassuring presence in my body that no longer exists.
Hope dies a flaming death as my eyes roll back in my head and my body begins to seize. My head won’t stop hurting, and I can hear Winter beginning to scream as her head explodes in a headache she hasn’t had in awhile.
“What the fuck, Avery?!” Clara yells.
“Shit, that’s never happened before. I’ll be right back!” Avery says, her boots hitting the ground as she runs away.
I’m not sure what she’s planning to do, and I don’t care. The only reason I don’t want to die is because I don’t want to leave Cassidy and Winter alone. When they die, please kill me. I don’t want to be here anymore.
Instead, anger and hatred fills my veins, and I promise to scorch the earth for the things that have happened to me. I’ll learn how to fight, how to kill, how to do the things I’ve never learned before.
I’ve taken a life, tortured a man with my alphas, but learning how to strike first and ask questions later the way my alphas are trained, isn’t something I know how to do.
Despite my smaller size, I’ll learn. I never want to be a victim again.
“Here, shove this into Cassidy’s neck,” Avery says, her eyes wild as she returns with three syringes in her hand. “You need to get them cleaned up for the auction, and we don’t have much time.”
Clara and she split up, going toward opposite ends to Winter’s body to administer what I imagine is a sedative.
“Night, night!” Avery says, stabbing me with the needle.
My whine makes her smile as she pushes the plunger down, nodding as my body begins to relax and my eyelids get very heavy.
“Huh,” she mutters, her fingers pushing my right eyelid up. “One of your eyes is white. I guess whatever your sister has is catching. Hope Clara doesn’t notice.”
Pocketing the used syringe once she puts a cap on the needle, she walks away to give Winter a dose of the sedative she gave me. My eye continues to throb, and I’m pretty sure it’s a result of Avery breaking my bonds. Those are sacred, and she’s broken me along with it.
The world slides away as my knees buckle, and Jake catches me. Picking me up, he sighs as he watches Winter and Cassidy.
“I hope death is very painful for you,” I whisper, my head flopping over his arm. “I’m going to kill you the second I can.”
“I know, kid. I know.”