Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and almost smile. It’s crazy how calming death can be when you’re ready to let go of life.
“I’m coming, angel.”
Taking in one last breath, I pull the trigger.
EVERETT
Eleven years old
I sit huddled in the corner of the cell, my knees to my chest and my forehead resting on them.
“You fucking bitch,” the man growls, and I try to make myself smaller, pushing my naked body into the wall.
“You can’t stop him,” the woman tells the Lord as the door creaks when he opens her cell door.
He just found their son down here and dragged him off. I was hoping Cyrus wouldn’t return but he has.
“If you’d quit entertaining him, he’d stop coming to see you,” he yells before I hear him slapping her.
I flinch, my body trembling.
“He’ll never be like you,” she screams. “He’ll never be a monster.”
I lift my head and look through the bars to see her on her bloody knees and him looming over her in her cell across from mine.
“I’ll tell you what, you worthless whore. Next time he comes to visit you, I’ll kill you right in front of him. Maybe that’s what the boy needs. Yeah, he needs to be disciplined. He needs to be taught a lesson. And I’ll start with you.” He exits her cell, slamming the bars shut and locking her inside.
He goes to walk away but spots me in the opposite cell. I scramble to press my back into the wall when he opens it.
“Leave her alone,” she screams.
He laughs, grabbing my hair and yanking me from the wall. “Did Daddy put you in time-out?” He yanks his belt from his pants and drags me over to the door. He wraps it around my wrists and pulls me to my feet. He ties his belt around the bar above my head.
“You fucking bastard,” she screams over my sobs. “Leave her alone. She’s a child.”
“She’s going to be our whore.” He tangles my hair and shoves my cheek into the bars. “Aren’t you, bitch?” He slaps my ass, and I try to crawl through the bars to get away from him, but there’s nowhere for me to go.
His laughter fills the cell before he yanks open the door and closes it, leaving me tied to it.
He walks over to the woman and spits on her and then leaves us alone.
Tears and snot run down my face as I stand on my tiptoes, trying to free my wrists. When I do, I scramble to the back wall and pull my knees to my chest.
She falls onto her hands and lets out a blood-curdling scream that makes my ears ring. Her fists pound the floor, and each time, the pieces of broken light bulb cut her. After a few minutes, she falls back against the wall, and her tear-filled eyes meet mine. “He’s a good boy,” she tells me. “He’s going to be a good man.”
I hate to tell her but no one in this hell walks away holy.
“He’ll be nothing like his father. I’ll make sure of it.” Reaching out, she picks up a piece of glass.
I get to my hands and knees and crawl across the cell. “No. Don’t—”
“That bastard is a man of his word, and I will not be the reason my son turns into his father. I’d rather break his heart.” Her watery eyes fall to the glass in her hand. “Sometimes you have to hurt the one you love.” She repeats what she’d told him when he was down here earlier.
Blue eyes are on mine as she reaches up and runs the tip of the glass along her neck, sacrificing herself.
I blink. Harsh light has me lifting my hand to try and cover my eyes.
Groaning, I close them and let out a deep breath. “Fuck.” My chest hurts. Why does it feel like something is sitting on top of me? My hand goes to remove the bulletproof vest, thinking it’s still on, but there’s nothing there.
“He-hello?” I ask roughly. My throat is sore, and my body is sluggish.
Looking to my right, I see a bag hanging that has a tube connected to my arm. It’s an IV.
Where am I?
I manage to sit up, and the room sways. My hands go to my temples, and I press on them, trying to calm my breathing. My heart is racing, and that pressure on my chest is getting heavier.
“Kash-ton?” I clear my throat. Fuck, why is it so sore? Am I at Carnage? Somewhere in the building I’ve never seen before?
Crawling out of bed, I get to my shaking feet and wobble like a newborn giraffe, trying to remind my legs how to work. I’ve never been so weak in my life. I slowly pull the IV from my arm and see a gown draped over the end of the bed. I pick it up and gently slide my arms into it because I’m naked. Then I take a quick glance at my body.