Page 100 of Irreversible

Confusion swims in my head. Thumps in my chest.

Is she alive?

No.

I see now, as she stands with her feet planted firmly, telling them exactly how fucked they are. It’s the same room I spent the last two months in. She’s wearing a flowing blue dress—the one she wore when she walked out the door for the last time. One shoulder is ripped and hanging, and it looks like someonetackled her into the mud. “My brother is going to find you and make you wish you were never born.”

My heart shatters, lodging in my throat.

I’m so sorry, Sara. I was two years too late.

She curses them, calmly. Fiercely. Her voice is low and dangerous. And despite the ache in my chest, despite knowing she never made it out, seeing her like this fills me with?—

Wait.

I can hear her. I can hear her from inside the room.

“The cameras.”

How?

All those things Everly and I said to each other…the plans we made. She was sure there was no volume. Were we wrong the whole time? Was this part of his game?

“Oh…you thought there was no sound.” The asshole chuckles lightly. “Incorrect, but it only picks up louder noises. Yelling and the like. It’s an old facility, you know, and replacing the original security system was hardly worth the cost, since I can’t find it in me to care about your pointless chitchat.”

This tracks when Sara moves to the familiar wall, laying her hand against it. I know exactly who is speaking from the other side.

When she speaks, I can’t hear a thing.

A surge of emotion wells up inside me. Sticks in the back of my throat. For several minutes, all I can do is watch.

Reluctantly, I take my eyes off Sara long enough to slide a look toward my tormentor. “So, this is what you do? Lock people up and watch them suffer?”

“Goodness, no. I pay people to do that for me. This is just to keep an eye on things. I don’t get my jollies from sitting around watching your boring, everyday lives. I’m a busy man, you know; there are better things to do with my time.” Then a hideous grin pulls across his lips. “But it is quite interestingto watch a person’s behavior when they know their death is impending.”

The hourglass.

“You sick bastard.”

He chuckles. “It’s a wonder those lovely women ever put up with your limited vocabulary and crude vulgarity…not that Everly has options. You should be thanking me for allowing you to spend your last days with such a gem.”

That’s another thing I’ve been wondering about. “Tell me something.” If I can do nothing else from this chair, I’m going to get some answers. “With a place this big, isn’t it pretty fucking stupid to put two people in rooms next to each other, only separated by a thin wall, when they could be plotting against you?”

“Oh, that.” He moves in front of the screen, blocking my view of Sara as she wanders the room, skimming her fingers over the wall. “I do love how you assume that wasn’t on purpose.”

“I do love how you make no sense whatsoever.” My voice drips venom. “Wait…no, I don’t. It’s obnoxious.”

“I find myself easily bored. Obviously, this isn’t my only facility—I’m too brilliant to keep all my eggs in one basket—but since I do spend a good amount of time here, I like to keep things fresh. Your little neighbor girl might be pretty to look at, but she’s about as interesting as watching paint dry, sitting in that room, talking to herself. Most of the others haven’t been much different, once they give up and stop screaming. So, when the opportunity came up, I thought I might put a wild card in the mix and see what happened.”

A wild card.

Me.

“Well, you saw what happened.”

He gestures to my helpless, bound body. “As did you.”

“You only caught me,” I simmer, “because I came back for?—”

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