I Dare You

2 || "I Say Thumbscrews Before The Finger Breaking!"

January 29; 12:13 a.m.

The three of us ease down the steps into the basement, careful to skip over the third from the top — it creaks.

"When we get by the last few doors," I whisper, "don't make a sound." Row and Queen nod. "We're gonna go around the back hallway. There's a vent above the black couch that connects directly to Luca's office. We'll listen from there. Plus, there's the basement door that we can use if we need a quick escape." They nod again. Then I fall silent.

We creep down the dimly lit hallway, doors on either side all the way down. But it's the last one that we want.

At the end of the hall, it splits left and right. On the right side is a huge open space that has been transformed into an informal living room — this is where we'll be.

I can already hear the slight murmurs of Luca's buddies' voices. I've never come down here during one of his meetings, due to the aforementioned banishment. This is when I start to realise that, maybe, I should've used that chicken after all.

But still, we press on until each of us has passed the numerous multi-coloured couches, and stand on the back of the black one. If Mom saw me doing this, she'd whoop my ass. Or hide the Oreos. Probably the latter. Which is far worse.

With the vent open, I can make out bits of the conversation.

One voice says, "What are we going to do, boss? If they find out where it is —"

Luca cuts him off. "We've got them in our pockets, Duff. If they do find out, we'll be fine." Then he clears his throat. "Moving on..." He must have walked to the other side of the room, because now his voice is just a low buzzing.

Then a new voice speaks. "What about the girl?" He sounds young, maybe a little older than 20. "The boy won't be initiated for obvious reasons, but she seems to —"

"Sailor will have nothing to do with this, Johan."

Me?

"Boss, she's —"

"Don't start with me, Brookes. Now, where's the guy you brought to me? Seems we need to teach him a lesson."

The distinct sound of a chair being pulled across the floor fills the vent, before a sharp crack! and a grunt.

I glance over at Queenie who's taking the noises like a boss, then Rowan whose face is twisted up in a grimace.

My head snaps back up to the vent, though, when Luca snarls, "I know you know what I want to know. So we can do this one of two ways: one, give me the information easily and die a painless death; two, I can torture the information out of you, keeping you juuuuuust alive, and when I get what I want, a slow, agonizing death. I have a few options on that last one just to motivate you. Death by fire — not my favorite, but pretty clean. Death by bleeding out — bloody, as you can imagine, but quite fun. Death by drowning, death by suffocation — both of which I would prolong, obviously. Boys, you got any suggestions?"

The one I think Luca called Johan says, "Cut off his jewels; let him bleed out that way, as his fingers are snapped one by one."

Duff adds, "I say thumbscrews before the finger breaking!"

Someone's feet shuffle, and then Brookes says, "And we could string him up by his feet, too."
A muffled shout rings out.

"Ah, so you'd like the easy way, huh? I thought so." A sound that reminds me of tearing duct tape off of something ensues, followed by a steady slew of curses.

"Talk, man. Now," Luca growls.

A kind of high-pitched voice squeaks out what resembles an address and a list of names.
It can't mean anything good.

Especially when I hear the fwoop of a dart being shot from a gun, and the crumpling of a body hitting the semi-padded floor.

I exchange horrified looks with my friends right as the door opens.