Page 31 of Repossess My Heart

It doesn’t.

Just kill me. I’m tired of this.

I’m so fucking tired. More so than before.

I slip onto my hands and knees, crawling towards the reaching, grabbing hands of the greedy men at my feet. One grips for my top; he doesn’t get far…

I knew he wouldn’t.

The man’s arm is jerked behind his back. The sound of crunching bone makes my stomach churn seconds before I’m wrenched off the stage so hard my neck jerks painfully to the side.

“Let me go!” I yell, slapping at Nine.

He doesn’t speak to me, doesn’t even look at me. Somehow that makes me feel worse. I wanted his scathing words and rough touches, but he simply glares ahead as he carries me into the hall tucked under his arm like a sack of laundry. I glare at the floor.

At least I think I’m glaring. I hope it comes across in my eyes.

I hate you, I really really do.

Two flights of metal stairs later, my glare finally lands on the girl I saw him leave with. Her terrified gaze finds mine, only adding to the discomfort I feel. That’s what he wants me to look like? I frown for a second before forcing a whimper from my throat, doing my best to mimic her fear, ignoring the way Nine watches me.

Fuck you, asshole.

I keep going, trying to reproduce every sound and movement she makes.The girl’s eyes widen in fear as I give up, letting my face fall flat again, which makes her sob in earnest as she clutches her wrist to her chest babbling about not killing her. My hands clench as I steady myself where Nine again sat me on my feet roughly. He raises his hand to knock when the woman’s sobs grow louder, halting him. His white hair shifts as he turns to glare at her before shoving up off the wall before he can move towards her. He’s going to her; she probably looks so pretty to him like this. So perfect and frightened.

That ugly, twisted feeling bubbles up inside me, spilling over before I can stop it. “Oh, shut the fuck up already. He’s an ineffectual killer, poor boy couldn’t hurt a fly.”

If his eyes were blades, we’d all be chunks of meat left in puddles of blood as he finishes his lazy journey towards her. She yelps as he jerks her to her feet, pulling her towards the door. I step back, crossing my arms tightly over my gut to hide the number there. Glaring at the person that put it there. His fingers knot in her blonde hair roughly before sending it flying forward, using her head to knock loudly against the door. “Special delivery!”

When there’s no response, he does it again. This time continuing until an angry muffled voice sounds from the inside, “What?! I’m fucking busy!”

“I come baring gifts.” Nine calls out, backing up so far, I have to step back out of his line.

The slide in the door opens, revealing a thick window, one you can’t escape from.

The man behind the glass is far from the grotesque beady eyed creep I’d imagined. He’s chiseled… handsome even.Alarmingly so, but not in the same striking way Nine is. He’s what you’d picture of the perfectly buff male. Tanned so well if he told you he’d been topside, you might believe him.

“Who the fuck are you?”

The smile that graces Nine’s face is demented at best. I’m not sure if it was meant to be friendly or not, “A new friend.”

10

A Role

All for Us by Labrinth & Zendaya

Thefeelingofdreadsettles in my stomach as the door swings open. Nine releases the girl, her eyes pinched shut as he half tosses her into the room. The man’s boisterous smile turns feral, like the jackal and mother witch CeCe would tell me stories of. Nine’s hand is firm behind my back as he leads me inside. I can’t bring myself to be properly scared as per my usual. Knowing he’s more than capable of keeping me safe doesn’t help. Even the whimpers of the women chained to the far wall don’t alarm me like it should. I eye them as the door clicks into place behind us, trying to figure out which ones are willing and which ones are playing the jackal man’s fucked up little game by force. He’s been at it for a bit… by the looks of a few huddled in the corner.

The man gestures towards me, “If we’re friends you should know I prefer dark haired beauties and that complexion…”

Vomit.

The blonde tasseled woman scatters to her feet, fleeing to the back wall with the others. I frown something the man takes as an invitation, “Come on now baby, turn that frown upside down.”

Nine says something to him, but I tune them out, staring at the woman. Why would she rather be over there than here? She chose to be brutalized with strangers over standing beside Nine. Is his number showing? Even in the worst of circumstances, being with him seems better than on the wall.

My lips part when I glance up at him, realization dawning on me and the man in the same instant. The look in Nine’s eyes is… my brain wracks around for the right words. How do you describe the incarnation of rage? My hand twitches as my mind snaps back to the situation, back to what’s happening and not the weird way I’ve separated myself from it.