Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
LIAM
Panes of gray greeted me, cement walls acting as my newfound cage.
Shifting to sit up, I was halted as a sharp spike of pain roared up my leg. It steadied as it reached my knee, my gaze landing on the black cast that ran from my ankle to my upper thigh.
I shoved the sheets down further, spotting two large squares of gauze where my stitched wounds were. Trailing my fingers over them, I winced at the sudden sensitivity, my entire lower half aching with the recollection of what had happened.
With my hands positioned behind the back of my leg, I lifted them with an attempt to scoot upright, a whimper rolling from me.
It was clear that Stefan had his puppets cater to me, but the lack of pain medication flowing through my system successfully rendered me useless, every minor adjustment near unbearable.
“A-Ah… shit…”
“I’m not allowed to give you anything to help manage your pain, but I left some water on that table right there for you. Oh, and I would stop moving unless you want to hurt yourself.”
Lifting my chin, my glower settled on the woman standing just beyond the bars I was locked behind. “Really helpful. Thanks,” I snarled, swallowing every derogatory word I wished to throw at her.
“I could’ve left you with nothing but a thin sheet to stave off not only the cold, but—”
“If you’re here to be a bitch on his behalf, you can excuse yourself. I don’t have the fucking energy to deal with any of you, let alone your snarky and cunty fucking commentary.”
“Oh, I’m a bitch, that’s for sure. But his? Fuck no.” She crossed her arms over her chest, craning her head to the side to study me. “I’ve been here twenty years, and not once have I ever delighted in this place. I’m surviving, just like you are.”
Lifting my brows, my glower narrowed. “Yeah? Well, you smell just like him, so I’m sure that’s going well.”
Taking an exaggerated whiff of herself, she grinned. “Smells like lavender. Complete opposite of his ashen scent, Liam.”
I rolled my eyes, turning my attention away from her.
Examining my arm instead, I focused on the array of wires and tubes connected to me, their endpoints indecipherable.
The numerous machines around me made the task even more unlikely, their sharp chimes offsetting one another in a rhythm that pissed me off.
With the pad of my finger bouncing against the scratchy sheet to stave off my wrath, I continued distracting myself with anything other than the woman who’d served as my rude awakening.
“If you don’t mind my asking, how did you escape the first time, and for so long? I made it three days.”
Does this bitch really think I want to have a conversation?
Sighing, she didn’t get the fucking memo as she continued.
“I was five when I was brought here. Don’t really remember much of my parents, but I remember the other kids in my room.
We bonded, hell, made a pact to keep each other alive for as long as possible, but out of all of them?
I’m the only one still alive, like a cruel fucking joke.
I thought I was stuck here forever until rumors of you spread.
Liam Bennett, the man who’d successfully escaped this place for ten years.
You know how many tried because of the hope you brought? ”
Chin snapping back in her direction, my lips curled into a snarl.
“You are not going to sit here and blame the deaths of innocent lives on me just because I got fucking lucky. I do not care to hear your goddamn sob story. I do not care how long you’ve fucking been here.
I do not give a shit about any of it. So save yourself the breath and shut the fuck—”
“Woah. Woah. I think you’re misunderstanding. You brought hope back to people who thought it was lost. People tried to escape for the first time because they believed they could. I’m not pinning shit on you, rather thanking you for giving the kids here their dreams back.”
“Yeah, well, see how well that ended for me? Maybe you should tell them to avoid the repercussions of my fucking stupidity.”
“Yeah? You want me to storm into the room with a bunch of five-year-olds and tell them that? That they’ll never see their families again—”
Swallowing, tears butted up against my waterline as I glanced down at my hands. “Stop.”
“Yeah, didn’t think so. I’d rather tell them the story of a brave nineteen-year-old who escaped Stefan’s clutches, who saw light for the first time and fulfilled his dreams. You might think being back here means you’re a failure, but it’s the opposite.
The older kids view you like a God, a beacon of resilience.
All we need is a single… spark to ignite it into a roaring flame. ”
“I-I can’t…” I shook my head, a trail of sorrow rolling down my cheek. “I-I can’t help you… but my friends… my friends can.”
“Friends? Are… Are they here?”
“M-My… my boyfriend… he traced my location, so hopefully… Hopefully soon… They’ll be here.”
Genuine happiness lit her solemn features. “You… You mean I could see the sun? Outside?”
“If their raid is successful…” Focusing my attention on her again, I gave her a half-hearted smile. “Then y-yes…”
Tears welled. “I thought I’d never—”
The rest of her sentence died the moment the bullet pierced her skull, the force causing her body to crash sideways into the ground. Lifeless eyes stared at me, crimson trickling underneath the iron bars.
“Oh. She’s already dead.”
My stare remained transfixed on her, ignoring Stefan’s approach. Blinking, my breath caught in my throat as tears coated my skin. A rasped inhale was all I could muster before the anger rolled forward, pent-up rage that I’d swallowed for sixteen years of my fucking life roaring from my parted lips.
“You disgusting piece of shit!” Ripping the lines from my flesh, I forced myself upright, ignoring the rapid bloom of affliction that followed.
“I’ll fucking kill you! I will kill you!
You’re fucking pitiful! A pathetic waste of space and a poor excuse for a fucking man!
You’ve shown this entire fucking bunker just how small your goddamn dick is with your lack of basic human fucking decency—”
“Hmm, how many insults is that? Seven? Let’s round up to ten—”
“For fucking what, Stefan? For. Fucking. What? To make yourself feel better? You reek of fucking crumbling self-esteem.”
Pulling out his phone, he was silent for a moment as his fingers tapped across the screen. Another pause, longer this time, before a ding echoed in the chamber. “I needed to clear up space for younger kids anyway.”
His words slammed into the center of my chest, and the single syllable I uttered came only as a mere croak. “W-What?”
“Ten insults, right? So I shot all of them that age.” Shrugging, he slid the device back into his pocket. “I have a shipment on the way of two-year-olds….”
He kept talking, but I didn’t hear a word. Instead, my panic spiked, vision tunneling as my shoulders rose and fell in rapid succession. Clenching the sheets in an attempt to ground myself, it only further solidified my horrors, my failures.
I’d killed… I’d killed…
They were only fucking ten…
It was my fault.
My fault.
My fault.
Throat aching, each inhale felt as if I’d swallowed a mouthful of glass, lungs burning with equal intensity. The guilt it brought forth meant to swallow me whole, and as tears streamed down my cheeks, I prayed to whatever would listen to end my pathetic existence.
I didn’t deserve to be here.
I didn’t deserve to live.
My stupidity. My inability to keep my mouth shut. My anger.
It was all… It was all my fucking fault.
Iron creaked, but it was muffled by my spiral, footfalls like pitiful spikes of my increasing heart rate. Unaware of the nightmare beside me, his fingers tangled in my hair, using that grip to crane my attention to him.
“...and the best part? Thorne Graves is fucking dead.”
A guttural scream echoed throughout the cell, and it was then that I realized it came from me. Thrashing against Stefan, my fight and will to keep going weakened; each punch I threw was nothing more than a pathetic jab. My body trembled with his admission, and I heaved, but nothing came out.
“N-No… No. No. No. No—”
“Bullet to the stomach, and dead before he was even transported to the hospital.” Pure joy lit his face as he leaned closer to press a kiss to my forehead. “With him gone, there’s nothing to prevent me from collecting Simon. Hmm, maybe I should fuck you—”
With my mind settled on one thing, I freed the gun from his holster and released the safety. Resting the barrel against my head, I held his stare, and that flash of fear, that rise of concern, told me all I needed to know.
He valued me too much, and he knew I was seconds away from ripping his prized possession away from him.
Finger gliding along the trigger, I took one final inhale, savoring the last ounce of oxygen I’d ever breathe in this life. I only hoped that Simon would forgive me for my inability to stay strong, for my failure to protect the children who were trapped with me, for my inability—
With a quick shove to my wrist, the weapon shifted, the bullet firing into the ceiling as Stefan yanked it from me with natural grace. Flicking on the safety, he tossed it across the room as his hands cradled my cheeks.
“You… Why did you do that? Why?” he shouted, shaking me as a mixture of terror and wrath flooded his darkened pupils.
“Because I want to die!” I yelled, my sobs racking my frame. “Y-You killed them because of me… You killed… You… I can’t… I can’t… I can’t—”
“To punish you, not… not to make you take your life—”
“Then you do it! Because I can fucking… I can promise… I will… I will kill myself, Stefan. I can’t… I can’t take this shit anymore! I-I—”
Lips pressed against mine, he cut off my sentence as his tongue swiped across my teeth. Everything within me recoiled, fingers clawing into his arms, but he held firm, claiming me with his desires. When I thought I’d have to endure it for longer, he pulled away, his pants mingling with my heaves.
“Because I love you, Liam!”
“This is not love!” Slamming my palms into his chest, my cries fractured my words. “T-This… This… This is hell!”
Jaw feathering, he pushed my hands away. “Then you’ll remain in hell if it keeps you here next to me. I’ll prove it to you. You’ll see after Simon’s cut into pieces. You’ll get it then.”
“Leave… Leave him alone… Stefan… I can’t… I can’t fucking do this… I can’t…” My bottom lip quivered, that vice cinching down on my chest with an intensity that forced the air from my lungs. “Please… Please, I can’t…”
“Shh.” Stroking my hair, his eyes softened. “You’ll understand after, I promise. You’ll see this is correct. And if you try to hurt yourself again, I’ll kill everyone in this fucking building. I have other compounds, so you know I have the bodies to spare. Don’t test me, little lamb.”
It was desperation that led to my action, my fingers curling around his arm. “S-Stefan, please…”
Hauling me against his chest, he rubbed my back. “It’s alright. He influences you, but it’ll all end the moment I carve his heart from his chest.”
A harsh, muffled sob was my only response as I shook my head furiously. Burying my face into his chest, I sought the only ounce of comfort I had, the only person who would hold me, even though the idea of him was beyond repulsive.
“Please… Just… Send me to another compound… Don’t… Stefan… I w-won’t survive if you… If you kill him…”
“I’m ridding you of a cancer—”
“No, please!” I screamed, clinging to him. “Please!”
“I’m sorry for the pain, but it’s already in motion. I should have Simon’s body by nightfall.”
“Call… Call it off… Call it off…” Tearing myself from his arms, I fell from the cot, crashing against the cement floor with an agony-infused yelp.
My nails dug into its rough surface, and I continued clawing as I kicked myself back against the wall.
“Call it off. Call it off. Call it off. Call it off—”
“Rest and heal.” Picking up the gun, he placed it back into his holster before grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon.
Or so he thought.
Reeling forward, I slammed the back of my head against the wall as hard as I possibly could. Warmth pooled immediately, trickling down the wall before staining the cement. Pain erupted up my neck, setting fire to the base of my skull as I did it again.
And again.
And again.
Leaning forward for another attempt, pressure halted my movement, squeezing into my arms. That hold intensified, lifting me from the ground before my back slammed into the thin mattress.
Iron pressed into my wrists, each click solidifying the handcuffs he’d put on me, latching its twin onto the opposite metal railing.
“S-Stop!”
The sensation of confinement swallowed me, my panic attack igniting with no chance of salvation. Ripping against the cuffs, their sharpened edges dug into my sensitive flesh as my cries intensified.
“N-No… No. Please don’t shackle me and leave me here. S-Stefan… Stefan!”
Shoving the table away from the cot and out of my reach, he ran a trembling hand through his hair. “I’ll… I’ll send a nurse to fix your head.”
“Stefan!” I screamed, my vision blurry as I looked at him helplessly.
Back arching, I thrashed against my newfound imprisonment.
“Please… Please let me out! Let me out! Stefan…” Throat aching, I whimpered, my entire body assaulted by an endless wave of tremors.
“I’ll be good… We can… We can leave… and go…
go somewhere else together… Together… Please don’t leave me down here… ”
Stefan bit his lip, staring at me once more before turning his back to me. Swinging the gate open, he stepped through, latching it behind him as my pleas intensified.
“Please, Stefan! PLEASE!”
“I’ll be back soon. Get some rest.”
Without hesitation, he flipped the lights off, darkness swallowing everything whole. But it didn’t silence me, and I continued screaming until the air in my lungs vanished, until I was spitting up blood while every ounce of hope evaporated from my body.