Page 41 of The Casella King

Ray lifts his head slightly, revealing blood trailing out from his nose, down his face, and to his chest. Staining his crisp white dress shirt.

“I want you to show him.” Ezra’s voice fills my ear.

“Show him what?”

“How my darkness calls out to yours, like a lighthouse during a storm.” I feel his body behind mine, his hands resting on my hips. “You don’t have to lie to me, sweetheart. I know he did more than leave you at the altar.”

I hold my breath at his words, unsure of how he knows this. My eyes find Ray’s as he looks up at me, defeat written all over his face.

“I know you want revenge,” he whispers in my ear. “I know you want to hurt him, just like he hurt you.”

I shake my head, feeling like the devil himself has perched himself on my shoulder, snaking his way through my thoughts. A wave rushes over my body, and in that moment, I feel what can only be described as power. Watching Ray hanging in front of me gives me a sense of the fire that I knew I had buried withinme so long ago. When I met Ray, we were only starting our journey into adulthood, so it makes sense that he would be able to manipulate me when I didn’t know who I was. I was so scared he would leave that I never once spoke out of turn, never once said I didn’t want to do something he did. I feel fury poke around in my chest, and without thought, my hand curls into a fist and pain radiates through my knuckles and my wrist as Ray’s scream thunders through the basement.

I hear Ezra’s deep chuckle behind me as Ray spits blood onto the floor.

“You know, you’ve always been a bitch, but even this is a bit low for you, don’t you think?” Ray croaks.

Ezra steps around me and comes to stand in front of Ray. “I want to know, Ray, what does it feel like having your power stripped away from you?”

“You’ll never get away with this.”

Ezra laughs. “That’s where you’re sorely mistaken.” He walks over to the other side of the basement and unlocks a padlock on the wall, revealing a cupboard filled with weaponry. “You see…” He pauses, removing what looks like an old knife. “Whilst you spent your years studying to become a respectable part of society, I spent them learning how to dismember a human body.”

Ray grits his teeth as I watch, my body frozen in time.

“Have you ever heard ofLing Chi?” he asks, and Ray doesn’t respond. “Ling Chiis an ancient form of torture known asdeath by a thousand cuts.”

Ray swallows, and I watch as Ezra walks over to us with a knife in his hand. His body and aura oozes power just in the way he walks alone.

Ray’s screams crack through the tense air as I watch Ezra slice away a small piece of skin on his arm and bile bubblesbeneath my throat as I watch the blood dripping from his wound onto the floor.

“There are countless ways to kill a man, but this is one of my favourites,” he says as the piece of flesh drops to the floor with a squelching sound. “I get to watch as the pain slowly creeps its way to the top, choking you, leaving you gasping for an ounce of relief.” He begins cutting another piece from Ray’s leg as he thrashes about. “But that relief never comes and the only thing you will feel before you take your last pathetic breath will be the edge of my knife, cutting into you, over and over again.”

I swallow as I watch Ezra slowly cut pieces of Ray’s skin and throws it on the floor like a lolly wrapper. As if this person hanging in front of him didn’t have a life, a mother, a father, and in this moment, I realise who he truly is.

I realise why I’m drawn to him, and the terror is back, churning in my gut.

The effortless way in which he takes what he wants, without a single thought about consequence, the way he inflicts pain without a single twitch, like he was truly the devil himself. It makes me realise how much I want that, and it frightens me.

It’s one in the morning, and I’ve been sitting in the front room, watching Henry like a hawk. He eventually will need to use the restroom, and when he does, I will use that chance to run. Run like fucking hell and never look back. I packed a small suitcase and stashed it away so Ezra wouldn’t see it, and when he left after dinner, I used that opportunity to come up with a plan. A plan that would get me the fuck out of here. I considered helping Ray, but I will only have a small window, and I can’t chance that.

After what seems like a fucking eternity, I watch as Henry walks up to the house, and opens the front door. Quickly shuffling into my seat, I open my book and pretend to read.

“It’s a bit late, Mrs Casella, but do you mind if I use the restroom?” he asks, and I nod.

As soon as the bathroom door clicks, my muscles fire, and I move the fastest I’ve ever moved before. Grabbing my suitcase from the storage room, I fly out the door, flinging the bag into the back seat of the Beemer, jumping into the driver’s seat, and turning the car on. The car revs under me as I watch Henry bolt out the door, shouting, but I can’t hear him over the thumping of my heart in my ears.

I don’t wait for him to get closer and floor the gas, almost losing control of the car as I drive out of the driveway and speed down the road. I have absolutely no idea where I am going, but I know where I am not. I can’t go to my sister’s because he fucking owns that place too. All I know is that I have to ditch this fucking car.

I drive for a whilst until I’m out of the city and find an old dingy car park to park the car and walk myself over to the nearest service station. I ask the person behind the counter to call me a cab, and he kindly obliges.

“Miss, are you okay?” he asks, and I notice him staring at my pyjamas.

“Fine, can I stay inside until the cab arrives?” I ask.

“Of course.” He gives me a warm smile.

I gasp as I realise the new sim card Henry had got for me is still in my phone, I quickly take it out and break it in half, placing it in the bin and praying to God that he hasn’t traced my location already.

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