Page 88 of Pretty Little Fears

Wearrive back at his house and he grabs my wrist, yanking me out of the vehicle.

Goodbyeworld, the darkness awaits me.

Lorenzoflings the basement door open and shoves me down the steps.Istumble over myself, grabbing onto the walls to steady my shaking legs.Hestomps down the flight of stairs and pushes me up against the wall.Theglint of his knife causes a lump to form in my throat as he advances on me.Hequickly reaches out and grabs the material of my dress.Takingthe knife, he cuts the fabric, not caring that he slices my skin in the process.Thesting of the fresh cut causes me to cry out.

“Shutup.”Hespits.

Hegrabs the cuffs that are laid on the mattress and secures them onto my hands and feet.Iwant to put up a fight but the drugs and lack of nutrition have made me so much weaker.Mybattered body feels like it's been through war.Isqueeze my eyes shut when his weight towers over me.Withthe chains restricting my movements,I'mcompletely at his mercy.

Idon’t need a warning to know what’s about to happen.Thesmell of alcohol fans over my nostrils as he leans over me.Grabbingmy cheeks roughly, he shoves another pill into my mouth.I’mshaking my head in his grip trying to sound out the word no.Iattempt to spit it out but he covers my mouth, forcing me yet again, to swallow the little pill.

Iknow the moment it takes effect.Thisadded with the earlier dose,Ifeel my limbs go numb, the strength leaving me.Thiscan't be happening.Mytongue feels heavy in my mouth asItry to form words, anything to tell him to stop, butIcan't.Ican't tell if my mouth opens on a silent scream or if it’s in my head.

Evenwith numb limbs,Iknow the exact moment he shoves himself inside me.Ican't feel the burnIknow will be there when the drugs wear off, butIcan tell based on the movement of my body, on my heart and soul being punctured with every jerk backward.

Tryingto move my arms or legs to fight back and not being able to, cause tears to swell in my eyes.Ican’t fight back, and that’s another form of torture on its own.Isqueeze my eyes shut and retreat into my mind, once again going to that place that keeps me far, far away from my reality.

Withmy eyes shut,Iwait for this torture to end.Whenthe heat of his body leaves mine,Itake a chance and peek.He’sstanding up and fixing his belt, peering down at me likeI'mthe biggest inconvenience he’s ever had.

Heshakes his head once and then turns on his heel to exit the room.Oncethe door is shut,Idry heave and roll over onto my side. “W-Why?”Icroak.Ifit wasn’t for the wetness forming under my face on the mattress,Iwouldn't be aware of the tears flowing from me.Spottinganother rock much like the other,Ipick it up.

Ipress the rock against the cement and start to write a single word.Aword that seems to continue coming to mind.Aquestion, really.AquestionI’llnever get the answer to.Bythe timeIfinish, my previously scabbed fingers have reopened and bled along the wordI’vescratched into the wall.

Why?

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

EMMETT

Basedon the addressElihad given us,Blairhad been under my nose this entire time.Thefucker is an hour drive at most.Lorenzois inEdinburg, just a few cities over.Myobsession has been stored so close by this entire time andIcouldn’t fucking find her sooner.Fuck.

FUCK.

Withmy bike at its max speed,GrimmandImake our way towards the home thatBlairhas been trapped in.Ilook back over my shoulder atGrimmas he gives me a slight nod.He’shelped me through this whole process, andImake a mental note to let him know how gratefulIam once this is all over.

Treesline the long path as we make our way towards the house.Weslow down, not wanting to alert them of our presence.Thehome is secluded and trees go on for what must be miles, putting the home truly in the middle of nowhere.Therewasn't a town or city for the last twenty minutes of our drive.

Ican see the gate in the distance, guards line its walls with machine guns strapped to their backs.Asingular man stands in front of the gate with his arms crossed.Aplan hatches in my mind. “I’lltake out the guy in front of the gate, shoot every fucker lining the walls that you spot,”Ispeak into the helmet, lettingGrimmknow the plan.

“Gotit.”Hesays, clearly trying to hide the excitement in his tone.Pullingthe gun from my waistband,Iget ready to aim at the man in the center.Weboth slow our bikes and head straight towards them.Theydidn't see us slink up due to the shadows from the trees.Isteady my aim and shoot, the bullet going straight through his head.Grimmflies past me, raining bullets on the guards who scramble for the guns stupidly strapped to their backs.

Witheach bullet firing from his gun, another thud of a body hitting the ground makes itself known.Grimmmakes quick work of the other guards andIhead over to where he is.I’msure whoever’s inside is aware of intruders.Theymay have not had the chance to alert anyone, butI’msure the shots were heard.

Whenall the guards in sight are lifeless on the ground and no others come running, we turn off our bikes and hop off, looking for a way beyond the gate.Climbingit could be an option but if there's a quicker way inside,I’mtaking it.

Ijog towards the entrance and look around.Asquare system is attached to the front gate.Itap it as a scanner in the shape of a thumb fills the screen.Lookingdown at the man dead at my feet,Icrouch down and remove my pocket knife, working the skin of his thumb pad off.Fuckingidiots.

Oncethe layer has been removed,Islap the blooded skin to the scanner and watch as the light blinks green, the gates opening.

Again, fucking idiots.

Slinkingup the driveway,Ilook over the expansive home.There’sa lot of ground to cover, but not enough fucking time. “Ithink we need to split up,”Isuggest.Grimmgives me an understanding nod and asIturn to go one way, he heads in the opposite direction.

Ihead towards the left wing of the house asGrimmturns to take the right.Basedon the calmness surrounding the place,Iassume thatLorenzois entirely unaware of the hunters on his grounds.Thehouse is far back enough from the gate that it makes sense.Fuckingdumbass.

Isearch the halls and rooms, coming up with nothing.Thereare a few female workers, yet they don’t bother me.Theyknow better than to tempt a predator ready to attack.

Comingto a room at the end of the hall, my initial reaction is that this must be the master bedroom, based on the sheer size.Liftingmy gun,Imake my way into the room, careful to not alert the possible people inside of my occupancy inside the home.AsIget closer to the doorway,Ican hear the sound of running water.Irelease a breath and lower my gun.Igently push open the door and creep inside.

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