Page 81 of Lacey's Fight

“All his life he never had any control. Couldn’t stop his dad from leaving, couldn’t stop his mom from likely exacting out her own control after she was similarly abused, couldn’t stop those boys from bullying him. The Master. He chose that name for a reason. He abducted those little girls and controlled every aspect of their lives while he trained them to do what he needed them for. But why take Lacey now? What purpose does that serve?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

August 15th

7:00 A.M.

Lacey groaned as she caught a glance at the clock and saw it was only seven in the morning.

She was already exhausted.

After getting her up at five, The Master had made her run for miles with her arms tied behind her back. He added five-kilogram bags of sand for her to carry every half mile until she’d been trying to run with thirty kilograms strapped to her.

While she trained pretty much every single day, it was nothing like the brutal regime The Master had put her and her sisters through when they were his prisoners. Her body was no longer used to this level of stress and had given out on her numerous times.

Covered in scratches and bruises by the time they finally made it back to the house, he had stripped her naked in the front yard, handed her a bar of soap, and turned the cold hose on her. Since it was by far not her first rodeo, Lacey simply washed herself and her hair as quickly and efficiently as she could, not knowing when she would be given another chance to wash and not wanting to waste this one, even if the water was freezing and The Master was watching hungrily.

Now he was leading her through the hall and into the kitchen where she presumed she was going to begin taking care of his new little army. While he hadn’t told her anymore about his past other than that he’d initially taken her and her sisters to use for revenge, she assumed it had to do with more than just his mother abusing him. His mom was the old woman who had tripped—or pretended to trip—over her legs on the beach so it was clear that Merv and his mom were still in contact. Still working together.

Whoever he wanted revenge on, it wasn’t his mother.

“Thirty seconds,” Merv announced.

“Huh?” Lacey looked over her shoulder at him, not as easy as it seemed since he had fitted her with a bulky shock collar earlier. With that locked around her neck she wouldn’t be able to escape, but it certainly didn’t and wouldn’t stop her from looking for a way to get those children out.

The sigh he gave was long-suffering like she was the one bothering him instead of it being the other way around. If he didn’t want to deal with her then he shouldn’t have kidnapped her.

“You’ve forgotten our game?” he asked, gripping her wrist—the same one he’d been crushing earlier—and twisted it up behind her back.

Pain immediately shot through the joint that was still sore from him hanging her from the ceiling in the cell back in England. Her wrist also protested his harsh grip, and Lacey stood on her tip toes in an attempt to ease the pressure.

Of course, that only made Merv yank her arm up higher. “It’s very disappointing that you have forgotten so many of the lessons I taught you, but I suppose reteaching you will be entertaining.”

For him maybe.

For her, it would just be painful.

“Thirty seconds to memorize the layout of the room,” he said, maintaining his grip on her while he pulled a blindfold from his pocket with his free hand.

Right.

Somehow, she’d forgotten that game.

After the thirty seconds were up and the blindfold was placed over her eyes, she would be punished for any time she bumped into anything or was unable to find what he asked her to. She’d actually been pretty good at the game, especially with the motivation of pain for failing, but it had been a long time since she’d done it.

Not wasting any more time because Merv was likely to take off the time he’d had to spend reminding her of the game, she quickly scanned the room. On her first visual sweep, she focused on the big things, size of the room and furniture placement, on the second she took in as many details as possible.

“Times up,” Merv announced gleefully, obviously pleased he hadn’t given her enough time to memorize everything which meant he could have his fun dishing out punishments later.

The blindfold was good quality, and it blocked out everything, including light she could have used as a cue.

Rendered blind, when Merv released his hold on her she almost reached out for him. Instinct attempting to dictate that she hold onto the only known in her suddenly dark world.

But she knew better than to reach out to him for anything, and as she issued a command for her heart not to race, and her breathing not to speed up, she brought up a picture in her mind of what the room had looked like.

“Make breakfast for the children while I go take a shower and get dressed,” Merv ordered, and she could tell from his retreating footsteps that he was leaving the room.

Without his presence she actually calmed more. Any time spent away from him was good as far as she was concerned.

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