Page 31 of Toy

7

Mason

The woman’shead lolled forward under the black hood I’d shoved on her earlier, and she mumbled something. Her voice was too soft for me to hear it under the fabric, but from the tone, it sounded like a threat. A far cry from the pleas she’d uttered just an hour ago when I first broke into her house and grabbed her right out of the shower.

I ignored her absurd threats. She couldn’t do anything to me. Not when she was tied to a chair with thick ropes.

I stood by the fireplace in her house, stoking the flames with a long iron poker. When they were finally bright and roaring, filling the dark room with a heartening orange glow, I left the end of the poker in the fire and stepped away.

I stepped over to the chair and ripped the hood away. Then I pulled off my mask. “Hi, Lauren.”

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of my face. “Mason?” She shook her head. “What’s happening? Why are you doing this to me?”

I snorted and crouched to open the large black bag I’d brought into the house after I had her restrained on the chair. “I think you know why,” I said, spreading the contents of the bag on the floor.

“No. I have no idea!” she said. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. “Please let me go!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Look, if you want sex, I’ll do it,” she said, voice quavering. “Just untie me and get on with it. I won’t scream, I’ll do whatever you want, and I promise I’ll never tell anyone. I’ll never turn you in.”

I knelt down in front of her, tilting her chin toward me with one hand. “I’d rather piss razor blades for a year than fuck you,” I hissed.

Her eyes narrowed. “Then why are you here? I don’t have money.”

“You think I need money?” Despite my dark mood, I chuckled, amazed at her stupidity. “No. I want information.”

“Information?”

“Yes. About the Path of the Covenant.”

“I have nothing to tell you.”

“I thought you might say that.” I stepped over to the fire and picked up the poker. The tip was red-hot.

Lauren trembled on the chair. “What are you going to do with that?”

I didn’t reply. Not yet. I went back to her and stuffed a rag in her mouth before forcing her to lift one of her legs off the ground. Then I pressed the sizzling end of the poker down on the sole of her foot. Her eyes began to water as her muffled screams echoed around me.

I returned the poker to the fire to keep warm. “That’s just a little taste,” I said, turning back to Lauren. “It’s nothing compared to what you did back at New Eden. You’re the one who turned in most of those girls to the men for their supposed crimes, right?”

She was barely able to choke out her next words. “That’s why you’re here?”

I nodded. “I know what you did. Finally figured it out.”

“It was years ago. It… it shouldn’t matter anymore,” she mumbled, averting her eyes.

“Shouldn’t matter?” I shook my head. “Holy fuck, you’re deluded.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not what you think,” she said in a ragged mutter, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I know it matters. I just… I wish it didn’t. I hate living with all the memories. All the guilt. I’ve tried so hard to get past it, but I never can.”

“How tragic,” I said with an exaggerated eye roll. I cocked my head to the side. “Tell me about it.”

“Which part?” she asked, eyes wide and fearful again.

I gestured to the torture implements I’d spread out on the floor earlier. There was an assortment of knives, several ropes, a pair of pliers, a blowtorch, and a hammer.

“Every part,” I said. “The more you tell me, the less I hurt you.”

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