Page 33 of Torment

9

Jolie

He was back.

My breathing instantly turned into swift heaves, but I managed to stay relatively still and maintain eye contact. I’d once seen a movie where a person refused to drop their gaze on a would-be killer, and they ended up surviving because the murderer couldn’t kill someone who was looking right in their eyes. Probably bullshit, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Then again, Mason could just stick a black sack over my head and kill me without ever having to see my eyes, if that was what he wanted.

I winced when he feigned a kind voice, said hello, and called me ‘pretty girl’. He usually called me that right before he beat, humiliated, or tortured me.

“Hi,” I whispered in response, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The expression on his face darkened, two deep creases appearing between his brows. He didn’t look angry, though. Just intensely determined. “Come on,” he said. “I have something to show you.”

I closed my eyes, trying to picture the sort of torture device he could’ve cooked up over the last week while he was away. Perhaps he’d invented something that slowly tore my nails out or peeled off my skin. I wasn’t sure I’d put it past him at this stage.

Mason’s voice stayed soft and calm. “Come on,” he repeated, fingers closing around my upper arm. A frightened mewl escaped my lips, but he didn’t slap me for making the annoying sound. Instead he led me out of the cell and up the passage, toward the electronic door at the end.

He led me up into the beautiful house again, and my heart began to race as I caught sight of the red door at the end of the hall on my left. Mason didn’t lead me toward it, though. He pulled me into the enormous living room directly ahead and told me to take a seat on the pale gray modular sofa.

I did as he said without any complaint or objection, licking my dry lips as I nervously watched him. A faint smile appeared on his face as he removed his tie. Oh, god, please don’t strangle me, I thought as choking terror bubbled up in my throat all over again, stripping me of my ability to breathe.

My hands trembled on my lap as he wrapped the tie around my face, obscuring my vision. “Can you still see anything?” he asked.

“No,” I replied. “Sir,” I added hastily. I was sucking up to him to prolong my life as much as possible, and I was sure he knew it.

“Good. Stay here. Don’t move one inch. Think you can manage that?”

“Yes, sir,” I murmured. He hadn’t restrained me in any way, but I could only presume he knew he didn’t need to. I wasn’t going to try and make a break for it when he was right here in the house with me. That would be suicide.

I tried to keep track of the seconds and minutes as I waited, but I lost count somewhere around the twenty minute mark. I had no idea what Mason was up to. I could hear him coming in and out of the house repeatedly, and I could also hear scraping and banging sounds as he moved things around and carried out all sorts of mysterious activities somewhere behind me. My heart didn’t slow down, and I became more convinced than ever that he was setting up some sort of torture rack for me.

“You can take it off now,” Mason said a moment later.

I did as he said and removed the silky tie from my face. His voice had issued from somewhere behind me, but I didn’t dare move to look at him without his permission.

“Put it down, stand up, and turn around,” he commanded.

When I did, I got the shock of my life. Behind me, there was a sizable aquarium sitting by a wall which used to have an accent table and some sort of artwork. At first I thought Mason had set it up as some sort of mockery of my situation, trapped underwater for most of my days, but then I caught a glimpse of a silvery tail fin near some ferns.

“Is that…” I stepped forward haltingly. “Is that Buddy?”

Mason nodded. “I went and got him for you.”

A lump appeared in my throat, and I fell to my knees by the aquarium, my fingers tracing Buddy’s path as he swam around. “I thought you were dead,” I whispered, tears welling in my eyes. “Oh my god…”

A moment later, I looked up at Mason again. He was watching me with an impassive expression on his handsome face. “Thank you. I can’t believe you kept him alive all this time,” I said.

“It’s only been a few weeks. You’ve kept him alive for eight years,” he said curtly. “Why did you keep him, anyway?”

Because he reminds me of you,I wanted to say. I didn’t dare, though. “Because I love him,” I said softly instead. That was true too.

I turned back to the tank and smiled as I watched my fish explore his new surroundings. An enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The whole time I’d been here, I had Buddy on my mind, always wondering if and when he would die, but it seemed he was fine all along.

“I still can’t believe you took care of him,” I repeated to Mason.

“Well, unlike you, I would never contribute to the death of an innocent creature or person,” he said stiffly.

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