Page 69 of Dark Things
“Put him in the red room. I’ll be along shortly. Gino will start,” he says.
“Red room? I’m all for kinky shit, but I’m not particularly feeling it with this crowd,” I drawl. Brooks’ hand flexes on my arm, but I ignore him, my focus on Mario.
But of course it’s Gino who answers first. “It’s called the red room because of all the blood you’ll be spilling in there. There are whips and chains, but none of them will bring you pleasure.”
I laugh, “I guess you don’t know me that well, then.”
Brooks drags me toward the door before I can hear whatever Gino says. They push me to the center of a concrete room. The walls are stainless steel, and the floor slopes to a center drain. There’s a large hook hanging from the ceiling with chains dangling down.
“Nice torture room. How does stainless steel compare to regular concrete? Mine isn’t this fancy, although I do have to say my tool cabinet is much bigger,” I say, turning around and staring at all three of them.
“Do you take anything seriously?You’re about to die if we don’t figure out how to get you out of here,” Staff hisses.
I give him a lopsided smirk and walk over to the chains, holding my arms up. “If you think this scares me, you truly have no idea who I am. I’ve done this dance for years. Hook me up and leave. You don’t need to be here for what’s about to happen.”
Brooks stares at me as if I’ve suddenly sprouted wings; Colter is grinding his teeth so hard, I’d be surprised if they weren’t worn down to nubs; and Staff’s eyes sink in sadness. I could do without the emotion, but I’ve never been one to give it freely. Seeing it from Staff is a surprise and almost welcoming? Reb is the only one who’s ever made me feel anything.
Brooks brings the chains down and attaches them to the ropes connecting in between my wrists. That was a mistake, but one I will not be pointing out. Let’s hope Gino doesn’t notice, either.
“Are you really Ghost?” Brooks murmurs. The other two are close enough to hear him, but I doubt his voice will travel down the hall.
“You’ve heard of me, huh?” I ask, because really they should have made a connection by now. It’s not that hard to find out the information if you were really looking for it. Mario seems to not share everything with hiscrows.
“We’ve heard of you, sure. But don’t you have apartner? Pitch. I heard you don’t go anywhere without him,” he says.
A belly laugh comes from me, and I have to fight from cackling because this is truly hilarious. They definitely haven’t done any research or figured out what’s about to happen. I almost want to keep it to myself to see the shock on their faces when Reb gets here, but she doesn’t want them to die, so warning them is the best route to take.
“Pitch is my soulmate. And you knowheralready,” I smirk.
“No…” Colter says, shaking his head. “Are you saying that she’s Pitch? That Reb, the five-foot nothing is the merc who has killed dozens of people is Pitch. That can’t be right. She’s too…”
“Small? Soft?Innocent, even? Yeah, she hasn’t been innocent in a long time. She’s worse than me. But like I said, you should leave. It’s not going to be safe for you soon.”
I try to appeal to Staff because he seems like the only one who has any grasp on what’s truly going to happen, but once I’m hooked up they all step back toward the wall by the door. I let out a loud sigh.
“If you’re going to stay, promise me you’re not going to interfere. You don’t want the assholes in that room to question you, especially when I’m hooked up and can’t help you.”
“Why would you want to help us?” Colter says, his eyes narrowing.
“Ah, it must seem strange right? But we did have a deal. And I assure you, I have my own reasons. None I’m willing to discuss, though.”
“It’s because of her, isn't it? Pitch, she’s protecting us?” Colter asks. Not as dumb as what I thought, but there’s no way I’m going to betray Reb’s confidence, so he’ll just have to live in the gray for now.
When I don’t say anything, he looks at the other two and nods his head. He’s about to open his mouth again, but then Gino walks in, whistling a tune.
“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that Spiro Ferrante is here. I mean I’ve waited for this day for a long time, Ghost,” he says, walking over to the tool cabinet. He selects a few knives and brass knuckles, laying them out on the table.
“I haven’t been called Spiro since I was a kid, but if it tickles your pickle, I don’t mind. You probably don’t get much action, so I’ll happily be the reason why your cock gets a little excited.”
The blow is expected, but the power behind it isn’t. Gino is clearly enjoying himself. This kind of enthusiasm is hard to fake.
“You’re going to learn your fucking place, boy,” he says, before a few punches land on my torso making me swing back a bit on the chains. I can hear the groan of the rope, but Gino is too into what he’s doing to pay attention.
“Nah, my father tried to beat that into me since I was a child. Don’t think you’re going to have any luck,but feel free totry,” I sneer, and this time it’s all teeth. My manic is showing.
Gino takes this as a challenge and he takes a small hunting knife from the table, twisting it so it glints in the low light of the room. It’s a nice knife, I might have to get one just like it.
He slices my shirt open in the front and then moves to the back. It falls in tatters the floor. “I liked that shirt. It was one of my favorites. I’m going to have to bill you for another one.”
