Declan

Chapter Thirty Nine

Lexi~

Morning light peeked through the windows of the cabin alerting Lexi that she had spent around twelve hours in Estrada's house of horrors.

After her video debut, Asher had gone out of his way to make sure she was especially uncomfortable. The searing pain from the deep wounds on her back made sleep practically impossible and if she were lucky enough to find a semi-comfortable position Asher would pull the chains that lifted her up off the ground by her cuffs. He'd hoist her up and let her dangle in the air until he felt satisfied with her discomfort, then he'd simply release his hold on the chain sending her plummeting to the ground with her knees absorbing most of the impact. His sick game was stuck on repeat for hours. Up and down, up and down, until finally another man entered the room.

He whispered something in Asher's ear then relieved him of his sadistic duties, circling Lexi slowly as he entered the room. This man was twice as large and looked twice as mean as Asher, with tattoos across his face, neck and arms. It seemed like every man in the cabin had some sort of vicious skill set and she was not looking forward to discovering what the tattooed man's specialty was.

He crouched down in front of her as she braced for harm that never came.

Sitting down with a thud he leaned against the nearest wall, resting his forearms on his knees and his head against the drywall as he eyed her.

To say Lexi was suspicious was an understatement, but he sat that way for at least fifteen minutes before he spoke, never moving to touch or harm her which was a relief.

"I've been where you are."

His voice was deep and raspy with a slight accent that reminded her of Estrada's.

"Well, maybe not exactly where you are." He corrected himself, but she didn't respond.

"My wife was killed in a drug raid two years ago."

His honesty was jarring and was enough to keep her attention away from the agony that racked the rest of her body. A slight turn of her head was all she could manage to indicate she was listening.

"Cops stormed my house and shot her six times in our bed. Six times. While she slept."

Lexi's brows lowered and drew together at his words, but she remained silent.

"Said they saw her reach for a gun on the nightstand, but it was bullshit. They killed her in cold blood. Killed her because she was married to me. Do you think that's justice?"

Still unsure if she would be able to speak, Lexi shook her head back and forth barely able to carry out and tolerate the motion.

Why is he telling me this?

"The way I see it there really isn't good and evil. There's just livin' and dyin'...And whatever we are...stuck in between."

Giving him a slightly confused head tilt she urged him to explain hoping he'd pick up on her body language.

"What I mean is, I've been where you are. Walking around taking air in your lungs and a beating heart, but being dead inside because your soul has already left this world."

Warm tears gathered in her eyes as she allowed his words to sink it.

"Anyway. I don't know why I'm telling you all this. You just sorta remind me of her in some ways."

Lifting her temple from the concrete floor, she mustered all the strength she had in order to form a full coherent sentence.

"Y-you're going...to...h-help...me?" She managed to get out, trying not to get her hopes up.