Page 110 of Cruel Honor

With a scream, I run at him and slam the scalpel into his eye. His own scream is gut-wrenching.

I try to run past him to the stairs, but he grabs my arms and shoves me to the side. I manage to stay up right.

Instinct takes over, and I run the opposite direction, deeper into thebasement. There’s another door down here, and I rip it open and run down a dark hallway. Dima is right behind me.

I reach a back room that reeks of death.

One little light overhead illuminates everything. In a stack in the corner is a pile of bodies. This is where Dima has put the other women he killed.

And then I hear something. A small squeak. But it’s not an animal. It’s human.

Turning my head, I see a cage. A dog cage. And in that cage is three women, all huddled together.

“Help us,” one of them whispers.

I turn around as Dima enters the room. Without hesitating, I rip the scalpel from his eye. Blood shoots out, spraying me. Dima stumbles back, clutching at his face.

Gripping the scalpel tight, I slash at Dima and keep slashing until he runs from the room. He doesn’t try to kill me. Maybe because it’s not how he wants to do it.

But he runs.

Still holding the scalpel, I turn back to the women in the cage.

“Help us,” they all say.

There’s a lock on the cage, and I don’t have a key, but I use the scalpel and try picking it.

“Hurry,” one of them says. “He’ll come back. He always comes back.”

“I’ll get you out. Don’t worry.”

After messing with the lock for another few minutes, it’s obvious that it’s pointless. I can’t get the lock open. “I’ll need to find a key. I need to go get help.”

“No!” The one who screams is tiny and looks so young. Much younger than my twenty years. “Please just get us out.”

“I can’t. But I’m going to try.” I run away from them and back into the other part of the basement. Dima isn’t there. My eyes land on the door leading up to the main floor. I could try to run.

But I can’t just leave these girls behind.

Searching frantically for a key, my eyes finally spy somethinghanging against the wall on a hook. It blends right on in with the cement walls. But it’s a key.

With a gasp, I grab it and sprint back to the girls. “Let’s see if this will work.” I insert the key, and after I turn it, the lock snaps open.

The girls sob with relief.

I open the cage door and usher them out. “Listen. If we work together, we can get out of here. Ok?”

But the three of them all take off running before I finish my sentence. With no other choice, I follow them.

They rush up the stairs and enter the main part of the house. Dima still isn’t anywhere. Dealing with his messed-up eye, I’m sure. That doesn’t matter.

I just can’t shake the uneasiness as towhyDima isn’t around. Why would he just leave me unattended to let these three women out?

As the girls starts to run for the front door, but the super tiny one grabs a lamp off a side table and hits a girl over the head with it.

I stumble back in shock. “What …”

Before the other girl can react, the tiny girl hits her in the head, too.

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