The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

chapter twenty-one.

"WHAT'S THAT FOR?" My throat is a little scratchy; we ran out of water a few hours ago.

Viktor is scraping part of one of the plastic plates we were given on the bars of the cell. I can hear the scraping sound ringing in my ears. Finally, he stops and hands me the piece.

"Feel," he instructs, guiding my finger up to the pointed edge he's created. It's sharp. "Keep it hidden."

I bury it just beneath the straw beside where I sit. A shank and a prison cell; once upon a time, I thought this would be my future. Back when Nate and I ran scams on the streets to make our next meal, I knew my chances of ending up in prison were pretty high. This, however, is not exactly how I imagined it.

Viktor and I are silent. We haven't really spoken since yesterday—was it yesterday?—when Dario made us...

My eyes close. I can't even think about it without feeling sick. But I also don't want Viktor to feel guilty, and I can tell he does. The guilt is not his to bear.

"This isn't your fault," I tell him quietly, leaning my head back against the bars. "If anything...I dragged you into this."

He doesn't reply for so long that I begin to think he simply won't. "I never want to hurt you. Ya by predpochyol byt' myortvym," he finally says, voice low and hoarse. My face creases in frustration that I can't understand him. "I would rather be dead," he translates for me.

"Don't say that," I whisper. The thought of him dying makes me feel sick, and the thought of being left alone down here, with only Dario to torment me, makes me wish for death myself.

"Hurting you is devyatyy krug ada."

I take a moment, breathing as I try not to cry. "What–what does that mean?"

"The ninth circle of hell. That which is characterized by treachery and betrayal. Hurting you," he swallows thickly, "is a betrayal worse than any sin."

I worry that both he and I are spiraling into madness and delirium.

"Are you religious?" I wonder.

"Catholic."

I bury my hand in the straw, feeling for the sharp edge of my makeshift blade. "I never really understood all that."

"Religion?"

"Faith." My eyes close. "If terrible things keep happening, why have faith?"

He takes his time to answer, and I worry I've offended him. "Humans are the demons of Earth. They are the ones that commit sin, and they are appropriately punished in hell for it. I have faith that those who deserve it will face perdition."

I wonder if he's thinking about Dario.

Settling into the corner of the cell and curling up to try and get some rest, I murmur, "Maybe we're in hell right now." It certainly feels like it.