Page 119 of Perilous

It’s…

“Perilous,”I whisper.

“You will never be hurt,” he growls at me. “Ever.”

He puts his mask back on. He steps past me and offers his hand to my mother.

“It’s okay,” I tell my mother.

Peri helps her to her feet. Makes sure she’s steady. He walks to the door and opens it, nodding for us to move.

From the velvety room we are in a completely dark hallway. I blink fast, desperate to see. I feel myself starting to panic a little.

At the end of the hallway there’s another door and that opens up to a familiar room. The room where Peri claimed me.

Where my face was held underwater for far too long. Where Peri touched and teased me. Where Peri inserted a certain toy into my ass.

There are masked men everywhere.

I can sense my mother’s instant fear. I reach for her hand. She’s shaking. I look at her.

It’s okay, I mouth to her.

I don’t exactly know if it’s okay or not, but I know and believe that Peri would never do anything to truly hurt me.

Peri stops and turns. He leans down toward my mother and me.

“I had to do it,” he whispers in a deep voice. “It was the only way to get him to appear. That’s how fucking scummy and greedy he is. Remember that. All it took was the idea of selling his daughter and his ex-wife as acombo package…”

My mother’s hand shakes and I squeeze it.

She’s angry. Hurt. Scared. She feels alone. I realize that her life has been a lie too. Every year that I’ve lived with these lies, so has she.

She’s been drugged over and over, on purpose, ending up in rehab and getting clean, just to be fucked with again. Think about how sick that is. Paying someone to follow your ex-wife and drug her.

We all have problems. We all make bad decisions. Sometimes we get a second chance. That’s what Peri has given me. A second chance.

So maybe I can do the same for my mother. Maybe we can…

My thought fades as a door opens and someone is thrown into the room. Onto the floor. Two masked men lift the person to their feet.

A black cloth is on their head and it’s quickly removed, revealing my father. His left eye looks completely shattered and missing. It’s like a black, hollow socket, blood smeared all over his face.

“Jesus,” my mother whispers.

“I think that’s nothing compared to what is about to happen,” I tell her.

My father is dragged to the front of the room. There waits a pool of water, almost like what happened with me. There’s a throne where someone sits. He wears a gold mask.

He rises up to his feet and makes a gesture with his hand. As soon as he does that, Peri turns and points to my mother and me. He motions for us to come closer to him.

We both hesitate for a second but I know it’s okay to trust Peri. I have to trust Peri. Without Peri I have nothing. He is my everything.

“It’s okay,” I tell my mother.

We walk hand in hand toward Peri.Toward my father.

My father turns his head and looks at us.

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