Page 37 of Eat Me

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Victoria

Ihad a hard time sleeping, as I kept waking up because of nightmares. I know today’s going to have another test. I couldn’t and still can’t shut my mind off thinking about that. I don’t have a clue to what’s going to happen.

“You are fine... you will be fine,” I mutter to myself, curling my arms around my middle. Rubbing my neck, I can feel an ache from what Jasper and Elijah had done to me over the past day or so. My whole body just wants to shut down and sleep for a month. I’m emotionally and physically drained. Will I really be able to get through this?

I keep second-guessing myself, all while they seem so sure I’ll be their wife in the end…. do I want to survive… or let myself be killed to be put out of my misery? I'm not one to take the easyway out. I try to push those dark thoughtss away as I shake my head thinking it will reset things.

My head snaps up at the sound of the cell door swinging open with a loud bang. My heart’s already racing as I look at the person standing at the door with an apprehensive look. It’s Owen. He gives me a small smile as he walks into the room.

“Good morning, Sweetheart.” He gives me a knowing grin as he looks me over, his eyes zoning in on the marks on my neck.

“I don’t like that look on your face,” I mutter as I lean my back against the wall, eyeing him warily. The grin on his face stretches to the point he’s full-on smiling.

“Just enjoying your love marks,” Owen tells me, causing my eyes to narrow at his words. They were not fucking‘love marks.'

“Not love marks.”I huff but I know I’m not going to win arguing with him. He seems to be in too good of a mood, which is frankly making me a bit uneasy. Okay, a lot uneasy… and fucking uncomfortable as hell.

“If you say so, but I think the other two will say that they are.” Owen has pure amusement in his voice. My lips twist into a small sneer at the thought before shaking it off.

“Let's just get this over.” I sigh, as I look up at him, leaning my head back and hitting the hard wall with a small thud.

“I won’t tease you anymore. Let’s get up so we can be on our way”. His words cause me to shift nervously, trying to calm my racing pulse. I swallow hard, forcing myself to sit up despite my body's protests. Every muscle ache from the tension and stress of the past few days. My legs feel shaky, whether from fear or lack of proper rest, I’m not sure.

"What's the test this time?" I ask, proud that my voice doesn't waver despite the dread pooling in my stomach. After the last test I have no idea what else they could think up in their twisted minds.

Owen's lips curve into a cold and calculating smile, making the hairs on my body stand on end. That isn’t helping to make my nerves any better, "You'll find out soon enough. Come along now, we don't want to be rude and keep the others waiting."

"No blindfold this time?" I snark, as I glance up at him, he tilts his head to the side at my words before shaking his head. He grabs my arm, not roughly but firmly enough to make it clear there’s no choice in the matter.

Owen's grip on my arm tightens slightly as he leads me down the hallway. "Not necessary. You'll be seeing more of the compound from now on."

I frown at his words, unsure if that’s a good thing or not. On one hand, it means they’re loosening some restrictions. On the other, it implies they’re confident I wouldn't be able to escape even with more knowledge of my surroundings.

We walk in a tense silence, my mind racing as I try to prepare myself for whatever twisted test they have planned for us next. After what happened with Amber, I know it’ll be something designed to push me to my limits.

Owen leads me through a series of corridors, each one looking eerily similar with their concrete walls and dim lighting. Finally, we stop in front of a heavy metal door. Owen punches in a code on the keypad beside it, and the door swings open with a horror movie creaking sound.

“That isn’t fucking creepy at all,” I mutter lowly, as I’m brought into the room, the door shut quickly behind us. I can hear Owen chuckle, letting me go and standing beside me. I look around me and I’m not surprised it’s a plain-looking room. There’s one long table, with seven chairs in the middle of the room and that’s it, besides the light that makes it look like a bad police interrogation room.

I frown seeing that we’re the only ones in here so far, I glance at Owen with a single raised eyebrow. I’m silently asking himwhere everyone else is. He made it sound like we were going to be late earlier. Which if we were, I wouldn’t really have cared. I want to prolong the next test as much as I could. There’s no looking forward to what these people’s demented minds have come up with.

“The others must be giving them problems.” Owen frowns, though he doesn’t seem one bit worried about it. I assume it’s because he knows that the girls can’t do anything damage-worthy.

Owen's casual dismissal of the other girls' potential struggles sends a chill down my spine. It’s a stark reminder of how powerless we all truly are here. "What kind of problems?" I ask cautiously, not sure if I really want to know the answer.

Owen shrugs, with a cold smile playing on his lips. "Nothing we can't handle. Some girls just need a firmer hand to keep them in line." I suppress a shudder at his words, knowing all too well what that‘firmer hand’likely entails. I keep my mouth shut as he gives a small huff of laughter. As I glance around, I stay quiet until Owen breaks the silence.

Owen's eyes glint with amusement as he watches me take in the sparse room. "Not quite what you were expecting, is it?"

I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant despite my racing heart. "I've learned not to expect anything in this place."

Owen chuckles, the sound sending chills down my spine. "Smart girl. Expectations can be dangerous things."

Elijah enters the room first, followed by Jennifer. Amy’s brought in by a different man I’d seen before but don’t know his name. I can see the family resemblance though. Both of the girls look pale and shaken, with red-rimmed eyes that speak of recent tears. Jasper brings up the rear, with a dangerous glint in his eyes as he herds the girls into the room.

"Ah, good. We're all here," Elijah says smoothly, his green eyes scanning the room before landing on me. A small smirk plays onhis lips as his eyes find my neck. He isn’t saying anything even though I can tell he likes the marks on me.‘The bastard.’

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