Page 100 of Slaughter

“Avery?” I shout, standing on shaky legs. I start to walk over to the only door I see when I’m yanked back by my neck.

My hands fly to it, and I feel a thick steel shackle wrapped around it.

My breath hitches as I feel around, and my worst fear is true when I find a padlock on the back of it. Then a thick chain. I turn around to see the chain connected to a hook bolted to the wall.

“AVERY!” I shout frantically, wrapping my hands around the cold metal chain and start to yank it. Trying to free it from the wall. It doesn’t budge.

Then I remember his words from the night before about my collar. “You are to never take this off. I’m gonna put a lock on the back and throw away the key. And hook a leash to it. You will go everywhere I go. And everyone will know that you belong to me.”

“AVERY!” I shout out again. “No, no, no, no, no.”

What the fuck? Tears burn my eyes as my heart pounds in my chest so hard, I can barely breathe. What is he doing? Why can’t I remember anything? My eyes catch sight of a red blinking light up in the right-hand corner. “Avery, this isn’t funny!” I scream. “Let me go!”

I reach up and touch the sensitive skin again, thankful it is gone. It was heavy and thick. Suffocating.

I rip off Avery’s shirt. I have bruises on my hips and ribs. Then my eyes land on the two letters that they branded on me.

The door opens with a loud creak, and I spin around to face it, fully prepared to give Avery a piece of my mind. But my breath gets caught in my lungs when I see the two men walk in. Neither one of them Avery.

“Hello again, Presleigh.” The man who ruined my life. The man who took everything from me says with a fucking smile on his face.

I cover myself, remembering that I’m naked, and he laughs. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, Presleigh,” he says, and my body begins to shake.

I look at the other man and pull my lips back in disgust. “Vaughn. How could you …?”

“Enough chitchat,” Victor interrupts me.

Vaughn drops a bag at his feet that I now realize he is holding, and I take a step back.

Bending down, he grabs a blowtorch out of the bag along with a long piece of metal that is twisted into some kind of design at the end. “Stay away from me,” I whisper as horror takes over.

He hands it to Victor, then steps toward me.

“Stay the fuck back!” I shout.

“It’s gonna happen with or without your cooperation, Pres.”

I place my hands out in front of me. The thought of me being naked no longer matters.

He reaches me, then yanks me to the ground by the steel collar around my neck. It temporarily takes away my breath and digs into my skin.

He shoves me onto my back and straddles my hips. “Get off me, you piece of shit!” I shout, punching his chest.

He fights me effortlessly and pins my wrists down by my head.

I hear the blowtorch come on, and I fight harder. The tears build in my eyes. “Fuck you! You sick fuck!” I scream, bucking my hips. The tears start to slide down the side of my face.

Then I feel weight on my legs as well, pinning them down. I lift my head, trying to see over Vaughn, who straddles me, but I can’t. He’s too tall. Too wide.

“This is gonna hurt, Pres,” he says with an evil grin on his face.

I tighten my hands and buck my hips again. He sits up and then slams back down onto me. The cold concrete digs into my sensitive backside from where Avery whipped me. I cry out.

“Keep her still,” Victor demands.

“I am,” he growls, sliding both of my hands above my head effortlessly. They’ve drugged me. They’ve had to. That’s why I can’t remember anything. And why I’m weaker than usual. He crosses them at the wrist and then takes his free hand and grips my hair, pulling my neck back at an odd angle. The shackle around my neck pinches my skin, and I feel it tear.

“I can’t wait to hear you scream,” he whispers, leaning down and running his nose along my jawline.

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