Page 64 of Stolen

And just like that, he snapped her neck.

Even among the screaming, I could have sworn I still heard the crunching sound of her bones breaking as it crashed into my ears, her lifeless body falling to the floor in a heap before him. My heart dropped into my stomach in pieces as my mouth fell open, my screams joining the rest of the slaves as they cried and wailed in their cages.

“You fucking son of abitch!” I screamed at him, slamming my palms into the bars of the cage.

Yet in my rage, he continued to stand there, deliberately, watching me while tears fell down my face, acknowledging his silent message that I knew was meant only for me.

I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed – again. I couldn’t process it. Couldn’t accept that another life had been snuffed out right in front of me – this one innocent and unfair.

And as if nothing had even happened, he walked out of the hall and left her body there for the guards to clean up.

Not again. Not this again.

I felt myself begin to hyperventilate as my breath came in and out in heavy gusts. I closed my eyes and tried to take slow, deep breaths in through my nose and out my mouth, trying to ignore the screams and the undeniable urge to vomit all over my cage.

It took me about twenty seconds, but I was finally able to calm myself down enough to turn and focus on Kayla who now had her hands over her ears and her eyes closed shut.

“Kayla,” I yelled, trying to reach her over the screaming and crying around us. “Kayla, look at me!”

Her eyes burst open, tears running down her face as she stared at me. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to get a grip on herself.

“It’s okay, Kayla. It’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not okay, Jaden! It’s not fucking okay! He just fucking killed her! Right in front of all of us!”

“I know. But we need to stay calm. We’re going to get through this.”

“I don’t know if I can, Jaden!”

“Yes, you can, Kayla. You have me. We’re gonna get through this together. Look at me; breathe with me.”

She tried to calm down with me then as we took several deep breaths together. Closing our eyes, we counted down from ten until some five minutes later we were finally calmer, and the crying and screaming had quieted to whimpering and sniffles. Megan’s body was already gone, as were the guards; the only thing left now being the horrible memory of it all.

For the next several hours, Kayla and I laid curled up in our cages, staring off silently into the abyss, but my mind was anything but quiet. It was absolute chaos upstairs. I couldn’t stop replaying what had happened, from every word I said to every facial expression Megan had revealed. Was I responsible? If I had kept my mouth shut, would she still have attacked the guard? Would she still have ended up in the owner’s clutches?

I knew he killed her because of me. The question was why. To send a message? It was the costliest message I’d ever received, but it was impossible to ignore and too important to dismiss. For someone who was trying to make money from selling bodies, he sure as fuck didn’t seem to care if they were dead or alive. If he was willing to kill his own moneymakers just for the sake of gaining my attention, then it stood to reason he was far more dangerous than I originally imagined.

But why bother sending a message at all? Was I really worth all the trouble? After all the shit I’ve pulled, why was Megan the one to meet such a brutal end while I was still here?

Why the fuck was he so hell-bent on keeping me around? What the hell separated me from the rest of the slaves here? I supposed they certainly behaved better than I did. And maybe that was what he loved—my defiance. Because not only did it come with screams and cries but it also came with fists and blood. And I had been the stubborn fool giving him exactly what he wanted the entire time—the challenge he so clearly craved. And that was my problem. It was in my nature to meet any challenge that came my way. And it just might be my downfall too.

19

Addiction

“Your presence is requested.”

I lifted my head from my cot to look up at the guard who was leaning down to unlock my cage. I swore I heard him wrong.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, my voice groggy.

“You heard me, now get out of there,” he said as he pulled the door aside and stepped away.

“Wait, where is she going?” asked Kayla, urgency filling her voice.

“None of your fucking business. Now let’s go!” he shouted.

No. No way. I can’t. I fucking can’t.

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