If You Dare: An Erotic Sequel

I Will Follow You Into the Dark

The walls of the storage truck obscured your view of the claustrophobic city. You yearned for one glimpse of the traffic and city lights, if only to combat Domino's stony silence. When the storage truck arrived at the base, Alfonso, Barry, Curtis, and his other masked supporters hauled sacks overflowing with money to a pit in a clearing in the woods. Domino's base was located in the countryside, far beyond the reach of New York City's prying eyes.

"Good work," Marina patted your back in passing, her dark eyes lit with a genuine smile.

The sincerity of her words washed over you, but the victory felt hollow.

"If you're lucky, you'll make tomorrow's headline," Imogene added with a wink, her boots thumping on the storage truck's floor.

You mustered a weak smile for their sake, but you currently felt gutted with Domino's obvious, bewildering disappointment. In all the months you had lived with him, you had never tried to change him, so why was he now trying to change you? Anger burned in the pit of your stomach and threatened to bubble up the back of your throat, but you wrapped your arms around yourself – not only for warmth – but to contain the storm of emotions that raged within you. In the distance, you caught glimpses of Domino's supporters piling the money into a pit in the ground. A bolt of lightning, followed by a loud thunderclap, warned overhead as a bright flame flickered to life and set the pile of money ablaze.

Through the trees, masked figures danced around an unholy fire as the first fat droplets of rain descended from the charcoal clouds choking the once beautiful sky. You turned to find Domino retreating to the old, abandoned testing facility that served as his base. His head hung in... defeat? You didn't know if he was aware of your presence, if the back of his neck prickled with your studying gaze. You breathed in deeply and forced yourself to relish the fresh air testing the limitations of your lungs. Nature was so beautiful, so impartial to man and societal decay. Domino's voice startled you from your calming thoughts.

"Are you coming or not?" he echoed the words he had spoken earlier at the threshold of Angelo Amato's office. His flat voice echoed against the tree trunks, carrying his words across the wide gap that separated you from him.

Startled back to the present, you blinked at his grim expression. He had stopped long enough for you to catch up to him. You bowed your head and followed with your arms still wrapped around yourself – not out of submissiveness, but of nervousness and perhaps a touch of fear. You knew he wouldn't hurt you. No, he would never think to harm you, but you feared the truths that might be revealed in the dark underground space that was your apartment. He was clearly upset with you – but, again, what gave him the right to change you when you had never expected him to be anything less than himself? Were you not enough for him? Were you too good and pure for his festering, crime-ridden world?

The testing facility's interior was bare, industrial, and drab – much like the warehouse that had come before, but there were whispers among Domino's ranks that the facility was haunted. According to the rumors, both animals and humans had been experimented on within these formidable concrete walls. Whispered gossip told strange, terrifying tales of unsuspecting victims being kidnapped from their homes and dragged to this place, where unspeakable horrors were performed on them for scientific purposes. Some of the females had reported strange encounters of being grabbed by some unseen force. As a pragmatist, you doubted these stories, but still... as you traversed the long, narrow corridors leading deeper underground, you couldn't help but think of these stories and shiver. Darkened entryways to vacant rooms opened like black, yawning mouths that threatened to swallow you whole.

Despite Domino's frigid air, you sprinted to huddle closer to him.

"We need to get you inside before the storm hits," he murmured in a distant acknowledgement of your presence.