Page 12 of It Was Always You

“Fuck, man. I owe Liam fifty quid now,” he grumbles, rubbing at the sore spot on his jaw, while Matt laughs before asking, “What was the bet this time?”

“How many remarks it would take before Owen snapped,” Cole smirks. “I thought I would get at least three in, Aidan thought you’d cut me off during the first one, but Liam guessed Owen would let me dig my own grave before throwing a punch.”

“And you’re here for?”

“Liam’s been going through the apartment records. Turns out the apartment across the hall from her has a new tenant, which means…” he trails off with raised eyebrows.

“That’s likely our guy. I take you’ve got him locked down somewhere?”

“Chained up already. You want in on this?” Giving him the look that stupid remark deserves, I jerk my head at Matt to follow me.

It’s about time we beat some justice into someone.

* * *

Driving to the Four Points’ underground chamber, affectionately known as The Pit, takes half an hour, battling London’s relentless traffic. The whole time I can’t stop my knee bouncing or cracking my knuckles thanks to the anticipation buzzing underneath my skin. If they notice anything is up, they don’t let on, and for that, I’m thankful.

From the outside, The Pit looks like a derelict, graffiti- covered, crumbling building set in a wasteland. Inside, it’s an incredibly high-tech torture chamber with all the frills.

From the meat hooks in the ceiling to a branding iron by the fire, and a pit dug to bury someone alive, this place is a sadist’s version of heaven.

Currently, the man who snapped photos of Cora dangles from those hooks. Liam and Aidan are perched on crates, the former twirling his favourite knife around. The slam of the door causes them to look up and the captive to flinch.

“About time you got here. Liam was ready to sink his knife in this asshole.” I knew there was a reason Liam was my favourite. Tossing my hoodie at Matt and prowling forward, I eye the man in front of me. He’s an ordinary guy, a ginger-haired, geeky-looking kid with glasses to complete the image. And that’s exactly what it is: an image.

Because the longer I stare at him in silence the more he fidgets, breaking character piece by piece until they’re lying on the floor between us in a shattered mess. He stands taller and drops the meek act with a cold look in his brown eyes.

“What do you wanna bet he’s not even a real ginger?” I toss over my shoulder as I wander over to the pile of tools sitting on a table to the side.

“The only real ginger in this room is Matt. The same way those glasses aren’t even prescription.” Never let it be said that bleach has killed any of Cole’s brain cells.

Ignoring the light-hearted bickering that breaks out behind me, I take in my options before grabbing a set of pliers. After all, why should he get to keep the fingers that he used to take Cora’s picture? Or his eyes after seeing what wasn’t his to see.

Relishing in his screams and the crunch noise that followed after every snap of the pliers, it wasn’t long before the smell of piss joined the bitter tang of blood in the air.

“Fucking pussy,” I growl to mutters of agreement behind me. “What gives you the right to be perving on my girl, huh?” When he whimpers, I purposely fuck up his next amputation, resulting in his finger only being half severed.

“I asked you a question, fuckface, you’d do well to answer before I start cutting off other body parts.”

“If that’s not enough of a motivator, then maybe this will be,” Liam chimes in, beginning to carve into the captive’s back.

Eventually, after more screams and loss of fingers, he begged, “Listen, man…I didn’t have any choice! I needed to climb the ladder. The photos didn’t go anywhere, so no harm, no foul, right?”

His ramblings only made things worse for him.

Text Chat

OWEN: Hey, how’s things going up in the penthouse?

CORA: I’ve been binge reading a new series so I can’t complain lol

CORA: How’s things a floor below the penthouse?

OWEN: Just slaving away down here hacking all sorts of top-secret government systems, the usual lol

CORA: I’m going to pretend you don’t mean that literally lol

OWEN: Whatever helps you sleep at night. Text me if you need anything?

---