Page 104 of Irreversible

“I’ve always been drawn to the melodramatics,” he continues, removing the hourglass attached to his belt. “My mother thought I’d be a showman one day. She called me an ‘attention-seeker.’” He does a one-handed air quotewhile spinning the hourglass in his opposite hand with long, manicured fingers. “I prefer the termopportunist. And, well, I’ve always believed that even the savviest of businessmen should aim to stretch their imaginations from time to time. Professions become nothing but tedious labor when you don’t allow yourself a little fun.” Smirking, he fondly studies the hourglass in a loose grip before glancing at me. “Don’t you agree?”

I curl my hands at my sides. “Is that for me?” Swallowing, I look at the hourglass and shrug. “I don’t need a timer. Just get it over with.”

He tilts his head to the side, studying me with an air of pity. “It’s as if you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

“Oh, I heard you, loud and clear. You’re a spineless, evil stain on humanity. You enjoy pain, torture, and death. You’re a cavity; an infected wound that rots and spreads, poisoning everything around you.” I spit at his shoes but miss. “You can’t hurt me anymore.”

He lifts a finger with glee. “Ooh. I do detect a challenge.”

“You’ve already killed me,” I volley back, stepping closer. “Might as well make it official.”

Licking his lips, he rolls his gaze over me from head to toe as excitement gleams in his multicolored eyes. One brown, one clear-blue.

Both might as well be black.

“Oh, Everly…you’re not dead yet. Not even close.” He meets me in the center of the room, just out of reach. “And I’d like to prove that to you.”

Something icy prickles the back of my neck.

Fear.

“Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”

I frown, my heart thumping. “What?”

The Timekeeper returns the hourglass to its chain, then removes a piece of black cloth and a key. He approaches me.

My eyes narrow as I inch away. He’s dressed to impress, wearing a tailored suit and a mint green tie. But the scar that travels along the side of his neck like a jagged river tells me he failed to impress somebody.

Lifting the cloth, he grabs me by the hair and starts tying it around my eyes.

A blindfold.

“Don’t touch me.” I try shimmying out of his grip, but he’s stronger than he looks. And I’m weak, broken-down, and battered.

“Now, now…no need to waste your strength. If I wanted to kill you, I would.”

“You want to watch me suffer,” I spit out, my vision blackening.

“That is more fun.”

I hear the key breach the cuff around my ankle, and I’m free. I shove at him, moving to get away, but he snatches me by the arm and hauls me forward.

“Let me go.” Kicking my legs, hoping to connect with something, I hardly manage a light knock to his knees. “Stop, please. I don’t want to go. Just let me rot away in this cell.”

I’d rather die here.

This was the last place I heard his voice.

Tears moisten the fabric of my blindfold, my survival instincts peaking. The Timekeeper curls his vile fingers around my arm, then grips me by the hair with the other. We’re moving. I’m stumbling. He holds me upright as I kick and punch the air, shouting and cursing through clenched teeth. My equilibrium teeters, my lack of sight throwing me off balance.

“Such a feisty thing,” he snarls against my ear. Warm, noxious breath makes my skin crawl. “Save that fighting spirit. You’ll need it.”

I cry out as he drags me down long corridors, my feet sliding, toes stubbing on cool tile. A minute passes, and I’m thrown into a room, landing on my hands and knees. The sound of a door shuts behind me. I curl my fingers into the floor as I try to catch my breath, fear coiling around every inch of me. I hear my life force pumping in my ears. My skin puckers with goosebumps. The Timekeeper holds the blindfold tightly around my head as I try to yank it off and scratch at his hands.

And then I hear it.

I go still.

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