delicate

29

The sound of a slow drip filled my ears. My skin felt cold, but I felt hot. I tried to recall everything, but I couldn't. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking to get rid of the blurriness. At first, everything spun, but it slowly stilled. I tried to move, but I was restrained. I looked down. My ankles, arms, and waist were strapped to a table. I felt tears fall from my eyes. I tried to scream, but nothing would come out.

What the hell happened?

I struggled against the restraints, but it was useless.

A door opened, then slammed a few minutes later. Footsteps followed. I watched as Joshua came into a clearer focus. He stopped a few feet from the table. There was an amused look on his face.

"Please let me go," I cried.

He tilted his head, "Now why would I do that?" He stepped closer, and I flinched.

"What's going to happen to me?" I shut my eyes tightly as he put his hand on my head, stroking my hair.

"Whatever I want."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I felt exhausted from thinking about what he would put me through.

... 

It felt like my ability to breathe had been stripped away from me. I've been through a lot in my life, but I think this is something I couldn't have even imagined going through. 

I thought being tortured would never last this long. Someone would've saved me by now. Unless they truly don't care or haven't even noticed that I'm gone.

Imagining the possibilities of why I can't get out of this made me feel nauseous. Not as nauseous, though, as the first time Joshua forced himself onto me. I think the worst part of it all is the waiting. Waiting for it to be over. Waiting to be out of here. Waiting for him to drop dead. Waiting for him to kill me. Waiting for him to pull out. But none of those things ever happen.

Eventually, I'll become numb to this, and I hope it's sooner rather than later because I don't know how much more I can take.

-

Kai

-

I held the knife further against Liv's throat. "If I have to ask again, you won't have a head."

"I told you I don't know," she choked out.

Evelyn's been missing for two weeks, and I haven't been able to find her. Nobody has. I haven't killed anyone to get to her, I only threatened their lives until they wanted me to kill them. Liv just showed up a few hours ago. She's supposed to be dead. The entire coven is supposed to be dead, but they're not. Which tells me Joshua's alive. Lillian has also conveniently gone missing right after she discovered the link between Evelyn and me.

"She doesn't know, man! Let her go!"

"She knows something because she's alive!"

"Kai, stop. You can't actually kill her," Caroline reminded me.

I pressed the knife further into her throat. "How are you alive?"

"I don't know," she said through a strained voice. "Please -" She begged.

"Kai."

Once I realized that she really didn't know anything and she's just as brainless as everyone else, I backed away. Tyler rushed over to her. I turned to Caroline, "I've been torturing people for years, I know what I'm doing."

"You can't kill them."

"I didn't."

"You came pretty damn close!"

I started walking away from her, going back toward the car.

"You know, we all want to find her just as much as you do, but killing people to get to her -"

I flipped around to face her, "I will do whatever it takes to find her. If I have to kill people to do it, then so be it. I know what's happening to her because I can feel it. The more time I spend being humane and caring about other people's lives, the more time I spend letting them kill her off."

"I understand your frustration, but we will find her -"

"No, Caroline, you don't! If you did, you would be on a rampage right now. You have no idea what they're doing to your sister right now, and you don't want to. I don't just feel her physical pain, I can feel how scared she is. I have no idea how she's alive right now because if I stop for even a minute, I will die. So, if killing people is what it takes to find her, then I'll kill every last person on the planet." I turned and finished the distance to the car.