Page 27 of Dolly

“He hurt us both.” I wrap her fingers around mine on the handle. “We’ll do it together. From now on, we do everything together.”

She stares at me for a long beat, hope entering her bright eyes. Her lips tug into a smile. “Together.” She nods, and we turn to Beardman, who’s starting to come back around.

“Look who’s back. Just in time.” I grab his arm and pull him closer to us. He snaps his eyes open and turns to us, his gaze landing on the knife. Panic erupts. His lips move faster than sound can come out.

“No! No! Please!” He attempts to scramble to his feet.

In one motion, we plunge the knife into his throat, and then his chest, and his stomach. Fresh droplets of blood splatter over Dolly’s cheeks and chest. Red blotches cover her arms, her knees still steeped in a thick pool of blood. We work as one, and all too soon, he stops crying and wiggling.

He’s dead.

Lying on the floor, blood pouring out of his wounds.

We drop the knife, letting it clamber to the ground as Dolly leans into my chest, and I wrap my bloody arms around her. Covered in the filth of those two degenerate fucks, we get to our feet.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

The sounds rapid fire from the computer.

“Stay here,” I direct Abigail before making my way to the camera. The viewers have typed in cheers and congratulations and requests for better ways to end Bossman and Beardman.

“Queenhearts, I hope you enjoyed your special request this evening. I promise you, you’ll enjoy it much better live. We’ll be seeing you real soon.”

The ellipses dances in the chat box as my thumb finds the power button on the camera.

“Bye, bye.”

Thirteen

DOLLY

“Let’s find you something to wear.” Ken wraps his hand around mine and helps me to my feet. The room is chilled. Blood runs cold over my feet as I stand in the pools we created, but his touch warms me. I follow the trail from our joined hands, fingers braided, up his arm to his chin.

“You need to shave.” I reach up to touch the thick stubble covering his strong jaw. It’s coarse and dirty. I run my fingers over it, feeling him, touching him after so long of being out of reach.

He laughs lightly.

“We can both get cleaned up, but first, we have to get out of here.”

“What about…them?” I wave my hand over the bodies without breaking eye contact with him. There’s no need to look at them. I know what I’ll see. Blood, flesh torn open, eyes locked in despair staring up at me.

“I’ll deal with that later.” He glances at the laptop. Even with the cameras off, people still blow up the chatroom.

He tugs on my hand and leads me out of the room. Bossman never suspected he’d need to keep us locked in the playroom, so it’s open when Ken turns the knob.

Forced heat wraps around our naked bodies as we step into a plush carpeted hallway.

“We’re not in the warehouse.” He lets go of my hand and surveys our surroundings. There are three other doors in the short hallway.

“That’s the bathroom.” I point to the last room on the left. “The stairs are around the corner.”

His brow wrinkles.

“You were always asleep when they brought you up here,” I explain. “They didn’t need to drug me. I came up—” Pain wraps around my heart, squeezing gently. “I came willingly.” Tears flood my eyes and fall before I can force them back. Even my tears aren’t mine to control.

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