But I imagine the shit that happens in this house is full of horrors much worse than that purple dog ever experienced.
Adrenaline and fear swirl in my stomach, and although there is a heavy weight low in my gut, it’s not the warm heady feeling I’m used to. This is dread.
It spikes higher when Rick hauls me through the entryway and pushes me forward. While the air is stale and musty, it doesn’t resemble a meth lab as I had expected.
This home looks like it comes straight from the 1800s, with an abundance of woodwork, outdated wallpaper, and odd nooks and crannies that make zero sense. I’m standing in a massive living room with brown, cracked leather couches, threadbare floral rugs, and crooked paintings on the walls. The TV is shoved into a corner,
Tom & Jerry playing on low and a drooping cobweb hanging above it.
Grime is caked into the cracks, and every surface is coated in dust. The deep brown hardwood floor is wonky and uneven and creaks from the slightest shift of weight. I imagine if this place was haunted like Parsons Manor, no ghost could walk by undetected.
To the left is a dining area, paraphernalia everywhere. Crushed beer cans, needles, and crack pipes litter the table, along with a circular mirror, a small mound of cocaine on it.
Hesitantly, I walk farther into the house, the pit of dread growing wider and wider, like a shark’s mouth right before it ravages its prey.
It’s hard to breathe in here. It smells faintly of mildew and the entire house is wrapped in bad juju like a scratchy wool coat. It’s thick, uncomfortable, and suffocating.
“Welcome to your new home,” Rio declares mockingly. He’s been watching me take in the house, and even though it’s only been seconds, I’ve long since grown uneasy beneath the weight of his stare.
Before I can open my mouth, three men walk in from a doorway straight ahead. It seems to lead to the kitchen, based on the glimpse of a refrigerator from my standpoint. The raucous men were mid-laughter, but the second they noticed me, they quieted. Their movements are slow as they approach the kitchen table, more intent on picking me apart than watching where they’re going.
“This the diamond?” one of the men calls out, his teeth so black, it looks like bugs have infested his mouth.
Rick saunters towards the table and takes a dramatic seat, pride radiating from his face.
Smiling wide, he says, “You fucking know it is! Max already deposited the check so we can do whatever the fuck we want, boys.”
Their cheers arise, and the look on Rio’s face is near murderous.
“Fucking idiots,” he mutters under his breath. Then louder, he reminds him, “No, you can’t do whatever you want, st?pido, because you have a big fucking target on your head in the shape of a Z.”
Rick waves a hand, unconcerned. “Don’t worry, Rio. We’ll hide out until the fucker is dead, and then, we can do whatever we want. This payday is fucking massive, and not only that-we’ll get a taste of her, too.”
I shrink beneath their lewd gazes. Instinctively, my arms wrap tighter around myself, but that only elicits a few grunts of amusement.
“Aw, don’t be shy, baby girl. I promise I’ll make you feel good,” one of them croons, his black hair sticking up in several directions from the copious amount of grease in it. I swallow, a lump forming in my throat as my gaze fixates on a dark red puddle on the table I hadn’t noticed before.
I can’t even begin to imagine what that could possibly be from.
“What, princess, we ain’t good enough for you?” Rio asks. I glance at him and note the smirk on his face. But he’s tense, his grin strained.
I don’t even acknowledge him; my eyes trained back on the pool of blood. Tracking my line of sight, Rio turns to see what I’m staring at. He barks out a laugh when he sees it.
“Want to place a bet on what it’s from?” My face contorts in revulsion as I shoot a glare at him.
“My bet is that some bitch lost her virginity right there,” Rick chimes in, lighting a cigarette with a grin.
I bristle, and anger rises in my chest. “You’re sick,” I spit, my voice watery and full of so much hate. Rick only laughs and goes back to the conversation between his friends. I’m watching one of them inject himself with a needle when I feel someone charging in the house behind me. I startle and turn to find another man, and nearly lose my shit.
There’s a girl slung over his shoulder.
My mouth pops open, and his brown eyes settle on me.
“You got a problem?” he barks.
I flinch, panic rising as the girl’s lifeless limbs sway behind him. I’ve no idea if she’s dead or alive. I’d hope this man wouldn’t be carrying a fucking dead girl inside the house, but then again, these assholes would be the type to do something like that.
I shake my head, speechless as he walks toward me. He reeks of body odor, but that’s to be expected when he looks like he bathes in motor oil.
I’ve never been good at controlling my mouth, but in a house full of rabid men, the last thing I want to do is test my luck. So, I keep silent even as he leers at me.
“You keep your mouth open like that, don’t be surprised when someone sticks their cock in it.”
My eyes round and my teeth snap shut. The man chuckles from the audible click.
My heart picks up speed, and I take a few steps back. The fear pumps through my veins, settling low in my stomach and eating at my insides like acid.
“Jerry, her room is ready. Extra fucking chains this time,” one of the men calls from the table, pointing towards the girl.
My eyes widen impossibly further. Did she escape or something? I have so many questions but know better than to ask any of them. I’m relieved to hear that she’s not dead, at least. Otherwise, chaining up a corpse would be… I shudder from the thought.
The man-or Jerry-shifts the girl on his shoulder and walks off without another word, aiming one last scathing look my way.
Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I bite hard as I watch him head towards the kitchen. He’s lucky I don’t bark at him like a dog as I’m tempted to. Anything to make the dickhead think twice about looking at me like that. But that would be stupid, and I cannot be stupid in this place.
The last thing I see right before he disappears is the girl’s head lifting. Dark brown eyes meet mine through tangled tresses of blonde hair, filled with both fire and ice. The look on her face stops my heart cold, but the creepy smile on her face is what sends it sinking down to the pits of my stomach.
Christ, the look on her face is straight out of a nightmare.
My mouth parts again, but they’re gone before I can register what just happened. I’m equal parts scared for and of her.
“Don’t worry. If you’re a good little girl and do as you’re told, we’ll keep you conscious from here on out,” Rio says, pulling my attention back to him.
I’m not sure I want to be conscious.
Furthermore, I’m two seconds away from telling him that the girl needs to be admitted to the nuthouse.
But I don’t say that out loud, considering we are in a fucking nuthouse.
He nods his head towards the direction Jerry and the girl disappeared off into.
“Let’s go. Francesca and Rocco should be back in a few hours, and she’ll come to meet you. But until then, I’ve been ordered to show you to your new room.”
I glance behind me, staring out the still wide-open door and at the shiny black van. My brows furrow, expecting it to be damaged from when they ran me off the road. Instead, this one is brand new, not a scratch in sight. They must’ve switched it out at Dr. Garrison’s, and that makes my stomach roil.
I know enough about tracking that they would’ve made it incredibly easy for Zade to find them in a vehicle with a crushed fender.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.