Page 11 of SKIN

“Frank, you fucking listening?” Donnie’s prattling was grating on my nerves. For a man of few words, he sure had a lot to say right now. “Or was the cunt just that good?”

I pushed to my feet, tugging my pants up to my waist while shoving my cock into my briefs. My back was to Emily. I really didn’t feel like dealing with her moods this early. And I knew she would be less than pleased with me after the game I’d played with her last night.

That said, it was exactly what I needed. Other than a little bit of muscle tightness, I felt like a million bucks.

“Cunt was just fine. Now what the fuck do you want?” I ground out between clenched teeth. The bastard knew better than to come down here. Everyone did. I liked my privacy. We all had our vices. And this basement was mine.

“Casper got fucked up real bad. Needs ya to stitch 'em up.”

“And where the fuck’s Adrian?” The kid wasn’t my problem. Neither was his coke addiction.

Donnie shrugged. The dumb fuck wasn’t good for much more than disposing of a body and even that was questionable.

“I’ll be there in fifteen. Now get the fuck out.” I slammed the door in his face, waiting until I heard the elevator doors ding before grabbing Emily’s wrist and dragging her back to her room.

She kicked and screamed and spit along the way but it was all in vain. We both knew there was nothing she could do but surrender. To me and everything I was planning to do to her.

I keyed in the code to the door, disengaging the lock, and shoved Emily inside her little cell.

“Wait! Frank!” she called out as if she’d just uncovered some deep, dark secret of mine.

I turned on my heel and grinned at her. What was left of her hospital gown hung off a shoulder. Her pussy was bare and the one breast bounced with her heaved breaths. Her hair was a rat’s nest while her cheeks and lips were flushed with the afterglow of being properly fucked. I grabbed at my cock and readjusted it in my pants, wondering if fifteen minutes was enough time for another round. Then quickly dismissed the idea. I didn’t need the rest of those fuckers coming down here looking for me.

“Your name,” she tried again. “It’s Frank. Frankie. I don’t know a Frankie.” She sounded so sure of herself. So proud that someone else had unraveled the riddle she was supposed to put in the work to solve.

“Wrong answer, pet.”

Her eyebrows drew down, her jaw bobbing as she tried to shove together what was left of the puzzle. Only to realize she was missing most of the pieces.

“Don’t look so confused, sweetheart. It’s a nickname, short for Frankenstein. On account of my face. Idiots think they’re clever—except they’re too stupid to realize that was the name of the doctor, not the monster.”

“And you’re the monster…” she whispered, her words trailing off as her posture seemed to deflate along with them.

“You bet your sweet ass I am.”

18

HER

DAY 5

Two things happened when I saw the guy in the bunny mask leering at me from the other side of the door moments before I was shoved back inside this death chamber. One, I accepted the fact that no one was coming to my rescue. And two, I was reminded of the time my mother’s boyfriend had switched off my cartoons in favor of one of those gory nature shows—I couldn’t for the life of me remember his name. Which told me he wasn’t all that kind or all that abusive. I always remembered the ones who were.

I must have been about six or seven because my feet didn’t reach the floor yet so I kicked them back and forth as I ate my breakfast. He had the Discovery Channel playing on the TV, focused on a scene where this pack of wolves cornered and tore a helpless bunny to shreds. I was traumatized for weeks. No matter what I did, I could hear that bunny’s screams. See her white fur turn a bright shade of red whenever I closed my eyes.

My mother told me it was natural. The way things were in the world. “You are either a predator or their prey.” Mind you, she said all this while smoking a pack of Marlboros and using my bowl of stale cereal and spoiled milk as her ashtray. Truth be told, I was just happy she was talking to me. The woman rarely acknowledged my existence. So every word she did say was ingrained in my brain with that sudden surge of serotonin.

The point was, that stuck with me. The fact that some of us were predators while others were prey. Especially now, as this man stared at me like I was his next meal. And for the first time, I felt like that bunny.

I knew he was going to kill me. He’d made up his mind. There was no doubt anymore. And I couldn’t help but wonder what that bunny was thinking in her last moments. Had she accepted her fate or was there some part of her that held out hope? Thought if she fought hard enough, there’d be a way out.

A chance…

19

HIM

It was day five when I positioned myself in the corner of the room, crossed an ankle over a knee and watched her.It was also the final day of our little agreement. Fuck if I knew why I indulged her to begin with, other than I found this shit amusing.

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