Page 18 of Sacrifice

He’sinsane. “Calm down? How can I possibly calm down? You’re going to kill the only thing I have left.”

As the door closes on me, I can see Espresso and he’s meowing at me. The door closes and a gunshot rings out in the air. My entire being stops and I fall to the ground. My scream that rips from my chest sounds unreal and my head swims. Breathing hurts as I gasp for air and the pressure in my head spikes. Even with the medicine, I feel my blood pressure rising to dangerous levels. Black floaters blur my vision.

“How…” I breathe out into a hiccup. “How could you?’ I manage to whisper as I look at the ground.

“Get up,” Vincent demands of me, but I can’t. My world just ended and I don’t have a clue how to move forward.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. It’s just a goddamn animal,” he growls at me as he uses my hair to force me into a standing position.

“He was the only thing I had left of my father,” I mumble as Vincent drags me up the stairs.

“Well, if you had behaved, you wouldn’t have lost your precious cat. Now stop fighting me and let’s go.”

His words sink in and I lose it. My anger clears my head and I yell at him. “Never, you beast!” I punch him in the stomach, but it does nothing. He raises an eyebrow at me. My hand hurts, but I’m filled with too much rage to care.

“I believeyou’remy pretty little beast, after all.” His voice is too calm and collected. It makes me wonder in fear if he’s about to kill me. I’d rather he be yelling or at least throwing something in anger. He laughs as I rake my new fake nails along his face, drawing blood. He crushes my wrists and forces me up against the wall.

“Let me go.” My demand falls on deaf ears as he continues to chuckle and presses his body against mine.

“This is just foreplay, baby.” He releases my wrists, picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, walking into a room I haven’t seen before.

Vincent flings me onto a bed that smells of him. I take in the black decor as the scent wafts over me, causing my body to react. I hate the way he confuses me and my body.

Fighting him has only made me tired, but I refuse to give in.

“I told you I wouldn’t take you until I made you beg for it. But it seems I’m going to have to teach you another lesson—and take your virginity, anyway.”

Getting off the bed, I give a humorless laugh. “Not in a million years would I sleep with you,” I spit at him. “You just killed the only thing in this world that mattered to me.”

He takes me by the throat and moves us until my back hits the wall. Vincent places his hand over my mouth and I glare at him with rage. The situation sinks in, and I feel the panic bubbling up inside of me at the thought of him raping me.

Bile rises in my throat, but I swallow it down. “Don’t worry. You’ll enjoy everything I do. Unfortunately, you’ve tied my hands and I’m not patient enough to wait any longer.”

As he kisses my ear, I try hard not to throw up, but refuse to stop moving against him, trying to dislodge his hold on me. “Now understand this. If you act up again, you’ll be getting the same treatment as Espresso. I expect you to behave.”

His words make me stop. Everything around me is crumbling down and my blood pressure skyrockets. My field of vision shrinks to pinpoints. I can’t see. I sway, trying to focus, but it’s not working.

Vincent pulls back and snarls at me. “You’ve messed up your blood pressure again. Lie down,mi reina.”

Touching me softly, he helps me to the bed. I resist as he tries to get me to sit down. “I’m not going to do anything,” he whispers as he pulls the covers back for me to get in.

My head throbs at the possibility that he might be lying to me. I can’t get my eyes to see anything but a massive blob, so I don’t fight. I’m too far gone to try to save myself.

Getting into the bed, I pray he won’t touch me if I pass out. “There now, deep breaths, Aribella. It’s going to be alright.”

Questions swirl along my brain as Vincent pulls the covers over my body and strokes my face. Why is he all of a sudden being nice to me? It doesn’t make sense. He’s cruel and… and he killed Espresso. Whimpering, I close my eyes because the lights hurt my head.

Perplexed, I don’t say a word as Vincent kisses my forehead and turns out the lights. Before the door closes, my thoughts begin to fade.

“Vincent, I realize that you change your mind a lot, but are…” Mossimo stops for a moment and I wonder why. “I know I’m not supposed to question you Vincent, no one is when you change your mind, but are you sure?”

There’s a long pause and I blink, wondering what is going on. “I realize I change my mind often, but you know full well sometimes it’s in the best interest of everyone.” Vincent sounds perturbed, but I’m kind of glad that Mossimo isn’t afraid of Vincent.

“The cat?”

“He’s fine, Vincent.”

I must be dreaming. My cat is gone. Or is there another cat? Blinking my eyes open, I look around and see Vincent and Mossimo standing at the door. Quickly, I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. If they know I’m awake, Vincent will probably want me to talk or sleep with him. I’m sure he’s mad at me because of my health getting in the way of me obeying his orders.

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