CHAPTER 67
Frankie
“Not fucking again!”
The light from the hallway blinks out, and the pitch darkness I’ve grown accustomed to returns.
“You’d think the most expensive zip code in this hell-hole of a country could keep the fucking lights on!
Zhopa s ruchkoy!” Niko snarls. He pulls his top-of-the-line smartphone from his pocket and turns on the flashlight setting, then tries to make a call.
I watch his face fall. “What the fuck is this?”
He stares at his phone, then looks up at the ceiling, listening.
My eyes dart to the open door. I’m so beat up and sore that I can hardly move, but I’m going for it. I’m going to run.
“Don’t even try,” he growls. Niko places the phone on a wooden crate on the floor, then straightens. He shakes his head at me, his face ghoulish in the flashlight beam. “You’re one crazy-assed bitch, you know that, Frances?”
“So what if I am?” The blows to my head have got me so dizzy I can’t think straight, but if he’s talking, he’s not hitting, so I figure I can try to keep him occupied. “And if anyone would know what crazy looks like, it's you, right, Niko?”
His mouth opens in shock. “You’re begging me to kill you, aren’t you?”
“No. But I’m not begging for mercy, either.” He’s right. I feel crazy, like I’ve lost all connection to myself.
He shakes his head again. “Psycho bitch.”
With all of my strength, I step forward and spit on him. The glob of my saliva lands on his face. He wipes it off with the back of his hand as his whole body contracts. He’s ready to strike.
“You pathetic loser,” I say, swaying on my feet. “Just another evil asshole throwing more suffering onto the pile.”
He squints at me. “What?”
“Forget it. You’re too evil to understand.”
Niko’s face turns stop-light red, and I can feel rage pouring off him. I hear his breath wheeze in his chest. He steps toward me and pulls back his arm. I prepare myself for yet another impact, maybe an uppercut to my jaw this time.
It doesn’t matter.
I’m still standing. My eyes are still open, which means I can glare right back at him. In fact, I can see into him, all the way down to his black and shriveled soul.
I know this will be it. Whatever’s coming next will surely kill me.
I wait.