Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“As he should.”
“He screamed all the way out of the house. My dad checked me over and then took me out to dinner, and we talked about the other ways Brad had been messing with me. And he told me he’d take care of it. I knew he would. I just didn’t understand back then what it meant when he told me he’d take care of things.” I tell Eros the truth about my real dad.
Why lie at this point? It won’t be long until his family figures it out. Plus, there’s something about this man that has me wanting to open up to him. To show him all the sides of me. He deserves to know what he’s getting himself into if this obsession he claims with me is truly real.
When I learned what my dad had done, my mind quickly went through memories of the past and who else I might have complained about to him that had gone missing. Brad hadn’t been the only one.
“Go on. Tell me more about you, Bonte.” Since he found out my real name, he’s been using it. It doesn’t bother me. It feels a little bit like home. It’s been so long since anyone has called me that.
“I caught him. I’d woken up later that night to a scream. At first I thought I was dreaming because it was the same scream I’d heard earlier that day.” I lick my dry lips. "I slipped from my room to run to my dad's, but he wasn't in bed. So I followed the screams when I heard them again. Out to the backyard, to my dad's shed." My words trail off as the images of that night come flooding back to me. It’s all still so vivid in my mind. The dreams I have keep it that way.
"It's all right. But you're not responsible for other people's actions." I nod, swallowing. People can say things till they are blue in the face. Doesn’t mean you're still not going to feel the same.
“He always kept his shed locked up tight. That was his man cave area. I'd never even tried to look there before. Thought it was full of tools, maybe a mower. Except for that night. It was open but only a small crack, and that was how I heard the whimpering." It was so loud. I started to think it was an animal.
"He killed him?" Eros asks.
"Not only him. I learned that night what the shed was for. My dad had a taste for death." That's the only way I can think to explain it. He craved it like an addiction. "Brad was strapped down to a table, and it wasn't like a random table. It was like a hospital grade one with straps. I knew it wasn't the first time, and I couldn't help the gasp that ripped from me."
"He saw you."
I nod. "I turned and ran. I don't know what I was thinking. I ran back into the house and to my room and jumped under the covers."
"He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No." I shake my head. "I didn't know that man in the shed. I'd never seen my dad be violent before that day." It was so strange to have to come to terms with who he was. At least with Eros, he's not hiding anything. I need that from him.
"What happened?"
"Nothing really." I let out a humorless laugh. "He came into my room and told me everything was okay. To close my eyes and go back to sleep. Then kissed me on my forehead.” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. "You might have heard of him. They call him ‘The Collector.’ His real name is Silas.” Eros's brows rise, letting me know he has heard of him.
"He's still on the loose, isn't he?"
"Yes, our house was raided not long later." My dad hadn't been home, but they took me. "There was one agent that was an utter asshole to me, and maybe I deserved it. I never said anything. Not when the missing flyer of Brad went up. Not when I saw the light on in the shed a week later."
"You were a kid. That shit's not on you."
"That's what I tried to tell myself. Then they started to show me the victims. At least the ones they knew were his. He seems to kill for three causes: financial, anyone who pissed him off, and anyone that hurt me in any way. Brad wasn't the first person he killed because of me."
"He killed a couple of agents, didn't he?"
"Even when they didn't know where he was, he still kept tabs on me. They tried to use me as bait." I close my eyes, shaking my head. That hadn't panned out well for anyone, and those were a few of the agents he'd killed. "He kept killing the people around me."