Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I parked several houses down, got out, and did my best to stay in the shadows as I made my way up to the house. Only it wasn’t a house at all. It was more of a trailer with a gravel drive, small windows, and very little lighting. I scanned the area, checking for any onlookers, and when I saw no one, I continued toward the front door.
I was just a few steps away when I noticed the note taped to the door. It was about the size of my palm, and the paper had yellowed like bad teeth. The handwriting was crooked like something a child would write, only a child would never write something like this:
You want the girl? Come find her.
Don’t take too long. My patience is thin.
I will let her keep breathing. For now. But make no mistake, I will have her. I will kill her. And then, I will kill you with the same blade.
Don’t keep me waiting.
Z
His words should’ve rattled me. They should’ve made my blood run cold. They didn’t. It was almost expected that he’d pull something like this. It told me he was clever, he was cruel, and most of all, he was calculated. He thought he was the one in control. He thought he could bait me into a mistake with a note and a smile.
He doesn’t understand that the most dangerous thing about me was the fact that I knew how to play this game of his. I knew how to turn a man’s theater into his grave, and he was about to be six feet under.
24
ALINA
Idon’t know how long I’d been in that room. Maybe two hours. Maybe less, but it felt like a lifetime. I glanced up at the camera above me and quickly turned away. I couldn’t stomach the fact that someone was out there watching me, but that was the least of my troubles.
I was here for a reason. They were going to hurt me. I didn’t know when or how, but the pain was going to come, and it would be the end of me. They would be the end of me. I looked back up at the camera, and this time I didn’t turn away. I just stared at it, and the words started to come to me.
They’re watching me.
Fangs bared and eyes glowing.
Their shadows hover over me.
Waiting. Loathing. Conspiring.
They circle closer.
I can feel their breaths on me.
I don’t run.
I don’t scream.
There is no fight left in me,
only the echo of his voice
And the ghost of his touch.
They can pick me apart, piece by piece.
I don’t care.
Without him,
I am already gone.
I wished I had my journal. Then, I could write the words down. My final thoughts before the darkness completely consumed me. The idea vanished from my thoughts the second I heard footsteps. They were assured, determined, and they were coming towards me. My breath caught when the lock clicked, and the door swung open.
I was expecting it to be one of the men who’d brought me to this place, but the man who filled the doorway was much more sinister. He was tall and lean with jet black hair that was brushed back to reveal his eyes. They were the color of glass, cold and sharp, and there was a single teardrop tattoo just below the corner of his lashes.
There were more tattoos on his wrists and neck, but the shadows made it difficult to make them out. He stepped forward and looked at me like I was a prize as he snarled, “She’s even more beautiful in person.”
I didn’t respond.
I couldn’t.
Numbness from earlier had faded, and I was truly afraid. I sat up and inched back on the bed as he yammered on, “Beautiful or not, no pussy is worth betraying the family. Just shows how weak he truly is. I look forward to watching him crumble.”
The words had barely left his mouth when he lunged towards me. He was close enough for me to see the scar at his jaw and twitch at the corner of his mouth when he pierced the needle into the thick of my thigh. The prick burned like ice sliding into my veins.
My heart started to race, and then, a strange, slow, invisible blanket fell over me. “Get used to the feeling. This is how it will be for you until we’ve used you up, and no one can stand the sight of you.”
My mouth opened, but no sound came. I tried to move, but my limbs refused to obey. The light started to fade, and I found myself thinking of Sergei. Not his face. I didn’t have the strength to force the memory, but I had his name. I let it echo in my mind. My eyelids grew heavy, and it was becoming harder and harder to stay awake.