Page 26 of Broken Empire
Six days had passedfor me in the dollhouse hellhole.
I had been humiliated, spat on, beaten, and abused in more ways than I could count, and the cameras had captured every single awful moment for the pleasure of those who’d paid for access to my room.
There were hundreds—maybe even thousands—of these sickos gleefully jacking off at their keyboards while I was degraded and berated on their screens. Not a single one would ever lift a finger to help me. No, they loved seeing me hurt. Loved seeing the black mascara-laden tears streaking my cheeks as I sobbed and screamed. The more pain and misery they caused, the better.
Yesterday morning, two men came in wearing clown masks. They were holding chains and knives. I had to blow one of them while the other wrapped a length of chain around my throat, leaving me choking from both the metal links and the disgusting cock in my mouth. The whole time, there was a knife dangling right over my head, ready to drop and slash my face if I dared to scream or deny the men their pleasure.
It was too much in the end, and I wound up vomiting my breakfast all over the first man when he thrust too far into the back of my throat and triggered my gag reflex. That earned me a beating with the chain, leaving thick link-shaped bruises all over my back and ass, and I’d been deprived of food ever since in order to prevent me from vomiting on anyone again.
When I begged for something small earlier today, even just a piece of toast or an apple, I was told by one of the balaclava-clad handlers that I would have to go hungry from now on. If I showed serious signs of malnutrition before my ‘time’ came, they’d use a drip or a feeding tube to nourish me just enough to keep me alive.
After that, it felt as if the last remaining glimmer of my spirit had been snuffed out. Food was the only small joy I had in this place, and now I’d been stripped of that as well, leaving me with nothing but pain and despair.
Now I was nothing but a hollow shell, lying around waiting to die and imagining all the awful ways it might happen. I had no idea how the other ‘dolls’ were killed before me, but I knew it would’ve been slow and painful for them.
Sooner or later, it would happen to me too. Then my body would be taken down the freight elevator, driven upstate, weighed down with stones, and dumped in Mirror Lake with all the others.
The door creaked open on the other side of the room. I turned away and curled into a ball on the bed, not wanting to see whatever fresh hell my torturers had brought to me today.
“Shay, it’s me.”
I sat up and turned around. Robert was in the room, holding a briefcase and a white paper bag.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, heart thudding hard and fast.
He’d sent me back to New York with a handler the other day because he had work matters to attend to in DC, so I didn’t think I’d be seeing him again.
“I had a meeting with a senator here, so I flew up for a couple of days,” he said. “Seeing as I was in the area, I thought I’d drop by and visit. I have some news for you, too.”
“What is it?” I asked, staring at him with a sullen expression. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
“Hold your horses. I have a treat to give you first,” he replied. He lifted the paper bag and dangled it in my face. “It’s a black and white cookie.”
I eyed the bag. “Why would you bring me a treat?”
“The handlers told me they’d stopped feeding you after the incident yesterday. I thought it was a little cruel.” Robert stepped closer and stuck the bag right under my nose. “Come on. Take it.”
I accepted it and pulled out the giant cookie, eyes narrowing as I inspected it for any signs of tampering.
Robert chuckled as he watched me. “It’s just a cookie. I promise I didn’t lace it with anything.”
I nibbled at the corner and let out an involuntary moan of bliss as I savored the buttery goodness. Even if the cookiewasdrugged, I wasn’t sure I’d even care now that I’d finally taken a bite. I was so hungry that I’d probably eat it even if I saw Robert dunk it in a dirty toilet first.
I ended up devouring the whole thing within a minute, licking up every single crumb that dropped onto the bag.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?” Robert asked, arching a brow as I sucked a morsel of icing off the end of my thumb. “I know black and white cookies are your favorite, so I thought you’d be a bit more appreciative.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, wishing I could use the cookie bag to inflict a million papercuts on him. “How do you know they’re my favorite?”
“Cori mentioned it to me a while ago. I remembered when I passed by a bakery earlier.”
My heart ached at the mention of my friend. “How is she?”
“She’s doing very well,” Robert said. “She was finally able to stop taking her painkillers two days ago, and she’s been going out every day.”
“That’s good,” I said softly. “Is she upset about me?”
“Yes, of course, but she’s trying to be strong about it,” he said. He lowered his gaze to his briefcase. “Actually, if you want, I can tell you exactly what she said when she got the message I sent.”
