Page 78 of Isabela

“You can burn in hell with your parents!” my uncle screams. “Stupid girl, ruining all of my plans. Ahh!”

Gael shoves a long, electrified rod into Uncle Eli’s back, grinning as my uncle screams. “I don’t think you want to speak ill of Miriam or Reuben Cohen right now, Elijah. Fuck, you scream real pretty, doesn’t he, beautiful?” Gael asks, making me smirk.

I smile back at him, watching as my uncle writhes. Gael pulls away, allowing Uncle Eli to attempt to catch his breath.

“I figure since the Professor has gotten the party started, I’ll start with some questions,” I say mildly. Gael is welcome to play with his food. All I need to do is kill him. “Did you kill my parents?”

Uncle Eli pants as he jerks from residual electricity in his body. “Yes,” he grunts. “They were weak-willed people in my way. There were so many things the company could do, but they wouldn’t let me do anything.”

“You’re running the company into the ground,” I correct him. “I spent some time going through the records, and you're laundering huge amounts of money. Are you even providing a product to any of our clients?”

“Who really needs any of that shit,” Uncle Eli complains. His teeth chatter from the cold, and I see Gael coming back with a steel bat. I tilt my head to the side, wondering if he may be working out some anger issues.

“How long have you been using the Cohen Literary Foundation for ill gain?” Gael asks. You’d think he’s just making conversation, but my uncle can’t see what he’s doing behind him.

“Fuck off—” My uncle doesn’t finish his sentence as he screams, because Gael swings the bat into his side.

“Try again,” Gael crows. “I know how to break every bone in your body, while keeping you awake for most of it. Let’s make this easy.”

“Three years,” my uncle grunts. “We’ve been having these silent auctions for as long as her parents have been dead. My niece never noticed, because she stopped attending any of the foundation's functions.”

I feel as if cold water has been tossed over me as I realize it’s true. I stopped going because I didn’t want to be around him. Every interaction was an invitation for him to hurt me emotionally, mentally, and physically. I feel so selfish right now.

Could I have stopped this sooner?

“Isa, get out of your head for me,” Gael barks. “Come take a few swings.”

My feet are moving before I realize it, and the blood is rushing in my ears. My uncle uses his words and fists to hurt others. Taking the bat from Gael, I take a steadying breath.

The bat has a decent weight as I swing it, throwing my weight into crushing my uncle’s rib. “I stopped attending all functions, because they were an excuse to hurt me,” I yell over his scream.

Again and again I hit him until I’m out of breath.

“Better?” Gael asks with a smirk. “Let’s get to work, then. Keep him out of that pretty little head, Isa. The things you had to do to survive are in the past. You can’t change them, and you are not responsible for the buying and selling of people. Elijah is. So let’s see how deep this shit goes.”

Nodding, I hand Gael the bat, and take a seat in front of my uncle. I’m out of reach of any spitting he may choose to do, and his legs are tethered to the ground he hangs above. He can’t hurt me.

Gael tosses the bat away, the pinging sound making me shiver as it hits the concrete floor and then rolls. “I’ve barely even started, Elijah. The Eagna Society has its own series of checks and balances to ensure our laws are enforced, which means that someone punishes those who directly cross us. I used to be that person. I know how to pull the information out of people, make them sing. Now let’s see how ugly your truths will be, shall we?”

Gael picks up a pair of pliers, making my eyes widen. “If this gets to be too much, there’s no shame in turning away, Isa,” he reassures me. “I want you to hear his voice, tone, and words when he tells you why he’s done the things he has, okay?”

Swallowing hard, I nod. Gael drops to his knees to begin pulling my uncle’s toe nails from his feet, and I refuse to turn away, keeping my eyes on Uncle Eli’s face as he shudders in pain. Those soon turn to screams though, and still I refuse to turn away.

Gael asks my uncle about how many women the foundation has trafficked, and bile rises as I learn that five hundred women have been sold a year. Gagging, I shudder as I glare at my uncle in anger.

“How many of those women are still alive?” Gael asks nonchalantly.

“I don’t fucking know,” my uncle screams. Any kindness is dying away as I listen to him. My uncle is dead to me. Elijah is going to pay for every one of his crimes here today. “Fuck! Charles kept those kinds of records. We did this together. God no!”

It looks as if someone is going to have to pay a visit to Charles' home and any properties he might own. My money is on it being at his home, though.

On and on Gael works through all ten of Elijah’s toes until he gets every piece of information about the foundation. Most of the women were brought from Russia or were runaways from the US. People Elijah and Charles thought no one would miss.

I’m on the cusp of vomiting the entire time, but not from the torture. I find out about how Elijah was finding his contacts, and that every person at the foundation’s dinner was there to bid on someone at the silent auction. That’s why no one batted an eye when Elijah dragged me into a back office.

Things like this are normal in their lives. Life has no meaning when they buy and sell it so easily. Those without power are meant to die horribly.

“Why did you forge the will, Elijah?” Gael whispers in his ear. “Hell, why let your brother’s little brat live at all?”

---