40 Chapter 40

It's freezing. And dark. My face hurts. I can't see anything. My stomach aches as panic sets in. I hear footsteps in the darkness.

"Hello? Who- who's there?"

The footsteps don't stop. They sound like they're circling me. I try to stand up from whatever chair I'm in but my wrists and ankles won't move. The harder I pull the more pain shoots through me.

"Struggling is pointless."

I jump at the voice. It seems vaguely familiar. I struggle to place where I've heard it as the footsteps grow closer to me.

"Whoever you are you better stay the hell away from me!"

"Now, now, no need to be so harsh. You knew I'd find you eventually."

My heart sinks as my body starts shaking. I feel cold fingers across my skin as a cloth is pulled away from my eyes revealing a large, empty, poorly lit warehouse. Before me stands the devil.

"Long time no see my dear. I've been very much looking forward to getting to actually meet the little pest who messed up my deal."

Under normal circumstances, I'd find a voice like his smooth and tempting, but here it just sounds sinister.

"I didn't mess up anything!" I snap as I try to lunge to hit him. I know it's stupid to consider hitting the devil but..... I'm really sick of the cocky men.

He doesn't take my reaction well. Without a second of hesitation he leans in close and presses my hands deeper into the arm of my chair. "Brave little thing. Not half bad looking either, I can understand the attraction, but remember not to mix bravery and stupidity, it could be a grave mistake."

"Don't you dare threaten me! I'm not afraid of you! And don't think I'll tell you where Alex is either! You'll never find him!"

I try to lean away from his face as he sniffs my hair. "You may be brave and beautiful, but you are also rather naive and dumb. I have no doubt you'll do your best to protect Alex, I have no doubt he'll hide from me until he's ready to face me. You two hid quite well in the shadows for some time, but you forget one thing."

He leans back and stares at me with those glowing red eyes. "What's that?" I ask.

"The shadows will always betray you, because they work for me!" He takes a small clump of my hair and lets it slowly run through his fingers.

"What do you plan to do with me?" I try not to let my voice shake.

He scoffs, walking away I watch him wave his hand and produce a dark cloud of fog. The dark fog soon takes the form of a very real, very sharp knife.

His smile is sick. Like he sees I'm scared and takes pleasure in it, which he probably does. "I won't do anything to you... Yet. I trust that soon, Alex will come find you and then I'll have what I want."

"And if he doesn't?"

He's suddenly next to me, the tip of his knife barely against the skin of my arm. He slowly drags the knife up my arm, not cutting me, but I still feel the sharp edge threaten to draw blood.

"If he's not here in two days, well," He clicks his tongue and raises his eyebrow, "That's when I'll start seeing how pretty you are in bloody pieces."

My heart stops. I won't show him how scared I am, not willingly. It takes all my self control to maintain any composure I have. He wants me scared, he wants me helpless. I won't give it to him.

"Why so quiet all of a sudden? Losing faith in your rescuer? If you'd rather tell me where he is, I won't have to hurt you."

He seems so sure that he knows me. Like Alex did, and like Alex he's in for a surprise. I'm so sick of taking everyone's shit.

"I hope he kills you, turns you into a pile of worthless, forgotten dust you son of a bitch!" I spit at him.

The cold edge of the knife on my neck makes me freeze. I hold my breathe as his eyes glow and burn into mine.

"Such dirty words from such a pretty mouth," He growls as he drags the blade over my skin, it feels wet and my skin burns. As he pulls the metal from my neck, my heart stops at the sight of my blood dripping off the blade, "Better be careful before that pretty mouth gets you in trouble."

"I don't care what you do to me, you won't find Alex. I won't tell you where he is. He won't find me, he's probably long gone by now."

His chuckle sends chills down my spine. "He'll come for you. I have no doubt about that. And like I said, if he doesn't, I'll be sure to make him regret it."

"How? You can't do anything to him, he's too careful. He won't stay anywhere long enough for you to have control."

"That's what you're here for, I'm going to use you to make him hurt."

My blood runs cold. The tone of voice he uses, the joy with which he speaks, it scares me. "What are you going to do? Kill me? Chop me up?"

His deep laughter echoes through the warehouse, "Of course not. Killing you would guarantee I'd never find him, you're death would be all over the news and he would vanish. No, no I won't kill you," He drops the knife but before it hits the ground it evaporates into a black fog. Slowly he circles me, coming to stop behind me. Out of nowhere he grabs a fist full of my hair and pulls it back, making my head fly back with it to look at him. "I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to cut you and burn you and make you scream. Maybe I'll call that Robert boy from Missouri who told me you were traveling with Alex. Maybe I'll cut off fingers. I'm going to make you cry and scream and beg. I'm going to set up a nice little camera and record your pain and I will get it to him. I'm going to make you wish you'd never met Alex Monroe. I'm going to beat you and make you so unrecognizable not even your dear mother could identify you to police. I won't kill you. Quite the opposite. I will deny you death until you beg me for it! Understand?"

I choke back tears, with what little range of motion I have I nod. He shoves my head forward, letting go of my hair as he starts to walk away.

"Still want to try and tell me you're not scared of me? Still think I'd buy it?" He materializes my backpack. My heart clenches as he pulls out the sketch pad with all of the drawings of Alex. "You don't fool me one bit. You act tough, but you're just a scared little girl. Imagine how heart broken dear Alex would be if he saw how afraid of him you were."

He holds up the drawing I made of him using Alex as a puppet as well as the drawing of Alex trapping me against a wall, with those empty eyes. I look away as I feel my heart being crushed in my chest.

"What? Do these bug you? I think you should be rather proud, you captured us very well, especially his soulless eyes. I don't understand why he hides it, his dark side. When you're father told me how Alex attacked him I was so excited I laughed. The boy could be a great ally, but instead pretends he's good."

My body shakes. I can't tell if it's from fear, the cold, or anger. "How do you know my father? And what makes you think you know Alex at all?"

At this point I think he's showing off as he makes another chair appear and sits across from me, "Ah you're father and I go way back, about 14 years. You were maybe only about three at the time, oh you were a cutie. Why do you think you're father was at the diner? He celebrates his wins there, and he's so well known there. Why do you think that is?"

My lip quivers, "My father made a deal? You knew me when I was little?"

"Well your mother had to work and he was stuck with you. He used to bring you to the casino once and a while, but you wouldn't remember that, you were younger then. I watched him, I watched him lose and I watched him leave you with a hooker while he talked to his bookies. I told him I could help. He stopped bringing you to casinos after his bookie threatened to slit your throat and leave you on your mother's doorstep, so he and I would discuss business at your house."

I don't remember any of this. I'm not sure I want to, or if I even want to believe any of this. My father was a horrible dad, but he wouldn't put me in harms way, would he?

"You're lying, you have to be," My voice is barely above a whisper.

He shakes his head as a twisted smile comes over his face. He pulls a cigarette and lighter out of thin air and lights it. "Don't believe me? Does your mom still keep your baby pictures in chronological order on the mantel, or does she still keep the spare key to the front door under that dead flowerbed in the yard?"

He knows how to get in my house? He knew this whole time how to get to my mom? I think I may be sick.

"You're father was an easy sell, most addicts are. It almost wasn't even fun, but now I think it was one of my smartest investments."

"What was his deal?" I choke out.

He takes a long drag from the cigarette before blowing the smoke at me. I try to avoid it as I lower my head. "I told him he'd never lose again, no matter how much he'd gamble he'd never lose and no one would ever question it. I can't begin to tell you how excited he got. He almost offered me you and your mom." He laughs like that's genuinely amusing to him.

"Well what did you want? Was it you who made him leave us? Was that part of your deal?"

He shakes his head, "I told him that all he had to do was stop cold turkey when I told him to. All addicts think they can quit on a whim."

"What does that get you, what's the point?"

He leans forward, "He won't stop. He thinks he can, but he won't, so when I need something I'll tell him to stop and he'll do anything I say to keep gambling. But I had nothing to do with him leaving. He did that all on his own."

I feel tears run down my cheek, in an attempt to hide them and keep them in a squeeze my eyes shut. It doesn't really work as more tears spill out.

A icy finger on my cheek makes me jump. Opening my eyes I see the devil smiling at me.

"I won't lie to you, some part of me hopes Alex is late. I would really enjoy making you scream." He licks my tear off his finger. "I can only imagine how good you sound when you beg, how good your tears will taste when they flow without stop. So salty, makes me wonder how sweet your blood would taste." He eyes the cut on my neck.

I stare at him, appalled by his words and excitement. With an almost playful growl, he bites at the air in front of me. He truly thinks this is a game, and he's hoping with all his being that I will lose.

He leans away from me and materializes a new blindfold. I start crying again.

"Please don't, please..." I sob, feeling like the darkness of the blindfold will be the last thing I'll ever see.

"Shhh, it's alright. I'll be back soon, and hopefully then we can..." I hear a smile in his voice, "Chat some more. See you soon dear."

And with that I feel a frozen gust of air and it's silent. I don't hold back anymore as I sob hysterically into the empty echoing building.