The Bare Truth part 2

Chapter 20

Sierra suspected this was not what this room had been intended for when the hotel was built.

She had been taken to what might have once been a boardroom. In a former life, this room had probably played host to dull meetings. Power Point Presentations. Assorted Danish and coffee.

Now where there once may have been a conference table was an empty space with shackles hanging from the ceiling. On the wall where a projector screen would have gone, instead there hung an array of wicked instruments. Knives and nails and pokers. They had chained Sierra up and left her there, facing that wall, left to wonder what devices were going to be inflicted on her.

She was certain this was supposed to scare her. By all accounts, she should have been scared. But instead what Sierra felt was curiously calm.

She wasn't getting out. She wasn't going to see Joe again. She was trapped in this place and now, they were going to hurt her.

And that was okay. She could live with that. Because Gina had gotten out.

With only a moment's hesitation, Gina had shifted into the most beautiful swan Sierra had ever seen. With a mighty flap of her wings she had soared out through the broken window and into the night. Sierra had watched until her fleeing form became just a speck on the horizon, and then vanished completely. She was a smart girl. She would make it.

Just as Gina disappeared from view, the door to her room had burst open. In had come Jimmy, along with two other armed guards.

They should have sent more.

Sierra had turned from the broken window and shifted. The guards, not expecting an attack, had been caught off guard. Jimmy managed to fire his gun into her shoulder before she closed the distance between them and ripped into his chest with her claws. She barely noticed the pain at the time. She had moved on to the next one as he fired and missed her, and she crushed his head beneath one giant paw. The third guard had shifted, but though he was faster than her, his small feline body was no match for her powerful bear strength.

It had ultimately taken nine guards and a tranquilizer gun to subdue her.

The bullet was still in her shoulder now. It throbbed painfully. The injury was made worse by the way she was hanging from the ceiling by her arms. Blood dripped steadily down from the wound, leaving a trail across her naked body. She shivered and wondered if it was because the room was cold or because she had lost too much blood. She was starting to get dizzy.

The door opened and Dorrian walked in, wearing a crisp white button down shirt and slacks. His usual cool demeanor had been replaced with a blind fury.

"You killed three of my men!" he spat at her. "And you let one of my hostages fly out a window! What were you trying to accomplish?"

Sierra stared him down and did not answer.

Dorrian turned to the wall. He selected a mini blowtorch from the array of instruments at his disposal. He started the blowtorch and directed the flame at the bullet wound in her shoulder. Sierra screamed as her flesh burned and fused back together.

"There." Dorrian said, and bizarrely he seemed to be regaining his composure as Sierra lost hers. "Now you won't bleed out while I punish you."

He hung the blowtorch back up on the wall. Sierra took several gasping breaths, trying her best to breath through the pain.

"I never thought you would be so foolish. You are going to come to regret your actions, if you haven't already."

He pulled a small, blub shaped device with a hand crank off of the wall.

"Do you know what this is? I haven't had the opportunity to use one of these since the 16th century. It's called a pear of anguish."

He turned the hand crank. As he did, the "pear" split into three segments, opening wider and wider from the base like a blooming flower, with a spike on the end of each petal.

"I'm going to put this inside you, and crank it open until you beg me to stop."

Sierra drew in another ragged breath and tried to speak. Her words came out in just a broken whisper, barely audible.

"What did you say?" Dorrian asked.

Sierra coughed and tried again.

"I said, you were wrong," she said. "These kids aren't loyal to you. They don't want to stay just because you gave them toys and took away their curfew. Deep down, they want their pack, and they hate you. All it took to convince Gina to fly away was five minutes of talking about her parents' houseboat. They hate you. Just like all the packs under your control hate you. You have no loyalty. All you have is fear. You're disgusting. And I will never come to you."

Dorrian backhanded her across her face. The blow made her head spin. He immediately followed this action by tenderly stroking her cheek.

"You're dangerous," he said, almost admiringly.

He brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"And you may well be right. Perhaps the only real tool I have is fear. Which is why I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you."

He held up the pear of anguish.

"But first, I am going to hurt you."