Page 48 of Fear the Reapers
“Whadoyou want?” I cried out, no longer caring how pathetic I sounded.
“Nothing. Everything.” The man to my right mused. “You’re the one with a decision to make.”
“Fuck off, withee riddles.” I growled.
The words came out slower than I intended and lost a bit of their edge.
“My, my, you’ve got an awfully filthy mouth for such a good girl, Stephanie.” The man to my right retorted.
My movements faltered. Stephanie? Nobody had called me Stephanie in years. How did he know who I was?
“You have two choices.” He went on. “Tell us everything you know about The Reapers or die a very slow and very painful death.”
“I-I don’t know anything.” I mumbled, trying to yank at the bindings on my wrists but barely making a dent. Every single muscle in my body felt like it was treading through mud.
“Liar.” A different man’s cold voice interjected, turning my blood to ice. Based on the trajectory, he had to have been sitting in the driver's seat.
“Maybe she needs more... motivation?” A different man taunted from behind me.
Who the hell were these men, and what did they want with The Reapers?
I felt the sting of a sharp tug on my scalp and my head reared back instinctually. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I would not cry over these assholes.
“Mmm.” The man grasping my hair groaned, running his nose against my exposed throat. “I think we need to fuck the answers out of her.”
No.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” The man to my right murmured, rubbing his calloused knuckle against my jaw. “The Reapers may take pity on you if you tell them we fucked the truth out of you.”
I feverishly shook my head.
I would never agree to that. I wasn’t stupid enough to think they’d go through all this trouble of drugging me and kidnapping me to just let me go if I played nice. No matter what I did, I was going to die.
“Don’t worry.” The man behind me murmured, sinking his teeth into my earlobe. “I’ll try to be gentle.”
“Enough with the games.” The man to my left boomed across the car, causing the hand grasping my hair to retreat. “Talk or die. Those are your options.”
“I knowww nothing.” I hissed, the words flowing from my mouth like thick putty. “I’m jussa toy. Their p- property.”
“You sure about that?” The man driving asked.
“Yesss.” I spat through gritted teeth.
If I was going to die, I wanted it to be on my terms. I’d want to go out knowing that I wasn’t a coward and that I looked death square in the eyes and told him to give me his best fucking shot.
My body flung forward as the car came to a screeching halt. The only thing that stopped me from flying through the window was the two enormous arms that lashed out to keep me in my seat. My relief was short-lived. In an instant, they opened the car doors opened and yanked me out of the back seat.
“Are you sure those assholes are worth dying for?” One of the men asked, as he pressed a cool blade to my throat.
I said nothing and swallowed, feeling my throat bob against his sharp blade.
Tears stung my eyes as warm blood trickled down my neck. I wasn’t ready to die, but I also wasn’t ready to sacrifice Atlas, Ezra, Tristan, and Cyrus to live. I had no idea what information they could use against them, but I refused to give them anything.
“Enough.” One of the men said, causing the blade against my throat to disappear.
A rogue tear trickled down my cheek as a storm of relief and panic swirled within my chest. I was happy I wasn’t dying, but also terrified of finding out why he kept me alive.
Fast hands worked to untie my ankles before moving on to my wrists. Were they letting me go? I carefully stood up. What was this? Some kind of sick game?
