Page 12 of Muerte

True to his word, the air shut off moments after he left. It had been blowing steadily through a vent high above the bed. I waited for as long as I could to see if he would return, but he never did.

I wandered around the bed and into the bathroom, replaying what he’d said to me before leaving. I didn’t want to read too much into it. I couldn’t trust a word he said. Although, he did come right out and tell me he’d laced the wine in an unsettling manner. But it didn’t matter how honest he chose to be. He wouldn’t be winning any awards for his sane and rational disposition. I was chained inside his house, for fuck’s sake. If that’s what this place even was.

I took advantage of the freedom I did have and explored my surroundings, hoping something within the chain’s perimeter would help me figure out where I had been taken. I turned a small dial on the wall and bright light filled the bathroom. I was disappointed to see only the bare necessities were inside. A toilet with a single roll of tissue resting on the lid and a toothbrush still wrapped in plastic, placed beside a fresh tube of toothpaste.

I reached for the back part of the toilet and found no give. He’d had the foresight to make sure it didn’t come off. Next, I examined the toothbrush. Rubber handle. And the mirror didn’t look like glass. I ran my fingers across the smooth surface just to be sure. I was right. This was nothing more than some type of reflective paper. With a frustrated sigh, I swept my hair away from my face and returned to the room, checking as far as my restraint allowed.

I tried to lift one of the massive floor lamps and quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. It was as heavy as the silence was thick. He'd covered his bases. I couldn’t make a weapon from anything in here.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the drapes. With nothing to focus on, my thoughts began to race, indulging my worst fears. Maybe it was shock, or some kind of delayed response that stopped me from screaming and wailing until my lungs collapsed in on themselves.

I wanted this not to be real.

How could this have happened to me?

I’m sure everyone in the history of being abducted asked themselves that, but I really couldn’t make sense of this. There’s no way I would have willingly left with him, or allowed myself to be chained up, which begged the question just how he managed to get me away from the resort in the first place.

Had Shana been in on this? She was the one who brought me to him, and she’d seemed so nervous. I wasn’t going to hold out hope for her to bring the cavalry. The only person I could count on to find me was Anya. There’s no way she hadn’t noticed my disappearance. We rode to and from work together. We lived in the same damn house. She’d likely already sought out help. but I didn’t know how long it would take for anything to be done about my disappearance.

“God.” I dropped my head into my hands as a more terrifying thought suddenly occurred. Could anything be done?

Maybe my panic was causing me to overthink and jump to conclusions, but this man—Mr. Hawthorne—had money. Wealth sometimes came with connections. How big of a stretch would it be to assume he had the kind that guaranteed I’d never be found or seen alive again?

A sudden crash from somewhere beyond the drapes brought my tumultuous thoughts to a halt. With a sniffle, I swiped angrily at my cheeks and then slowly lowered my hands, not daring to breathe too hard as I prayed for some sign that I’d imagined what had my stomach sinking into the ground.

With a heavy breeze it came again, sweeping away a little more of the hope I was clinging to.

Whether it was a lake, an ocean, or a river mattered little to me. Being this close to a large body of water meant I wasn’t remotely close to home.

CHAPTER FOUR

I was completely alone. Even the waves weren’t frequent enough to fill the stagnant silence. My mind continued to conjure irrational possibilities for breaking out of this place and all types of worst-case scenarios.

Hours had to have passed before the door opened again. I nearly fell off the bed as a woman bustled into the room carrying a food tray in her hands. Her long blonde hair was in a simple braid, and the dress she had on looked similar to mine, but with a higher neckline that had a white pleated collar.

I immediately stopped my feeble attempt to free myself of the chain and drew myself to my full height.

The way her large round eyes settled on my face reminded me of an owl. I knew right away that I would find no ally in this person. I could sense her displeasure, as if my presence alone caused her a deep personal grievance. She cleared her throat and looked me over with thinly veiled disdain.

“There’s no reason to waste time on pointless endeavors. That chain won’t come off.”

Her cold tone and prickly demeanor set my teeth on edge. I’d never been disliked by someone without having uttered a single word to them. I didn’t allow that to deter me from asking questions.

“Can you tell me where I am?”

She carried the tray to the other side of the bed and placed it on the nightstand.

I frowned as I watched her lean down and pucker her lips. Was that necessary? I had no intention of eating whatever she’d just brought in here, but if I had, I definitely wouldn’t take a bite of something a total stranger blew their hot ass breath on.

“Be sure to eat it all,” she ordered in the same clinical tone. “Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes! For you to tell me something. Anything. Please,” I implored, not above begging at this point. “Why was I brought here? Are there other girls? Am I the only one he took?”

She visibly stiffened, bringing her hands together at her waist. “A Diabolus does not carelessly choose.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“You’ll come to learn soon enough. All you need to keep in mind is that it’s an honor. He’s cast out—” She clenched her jaw so hard I heard something pop.

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