Page 614 of Rage

“Don’t be worried,slasher,it’s not going to be you.”

The silence in the cabin tells me she’s scared, and she shouldn’t be. Not of me, because she’s done nothing wrong by me.

“Some very inhumane people did some very bad things, and the police won’t do anything about it because they’re all being paid to keep their mouths shut. So, I’m going to staple their mouths to their asses...like a human centipede.” I’m practically giddy at the thought. I have so many things I could do. So many lives I could destroy in so many ways and it makes mehornyto think about it.

“Are you?—”

“Insane?” I chuckle. “I’ve been called worse.”

“No really, who are you?” she asks, still holding the gun.

“Elias Cross,” I give her a sly smile. “Now are you going to tell me your name or am I going to see your face on a television somewhere?”

“Rue...Rue Bennett.”

Chapter Six

Rue Bennett

Idon’t know what my plan is from here. I had hoped, but I didn’t expect that I’d make it out. My luck, now I’m stuck in a truck with a fucking lunatic.

“I likeSlasherbetter.” He smirks as he mumbles something beneath his breath.

“Well, that’s not my name.”

As the adrenaline begins to wear off, my muscles become weak, my good eye beginning to close as I fight it.

“Whoa, whoa!” The truck swerves as my body gives up and blackness is all I see.

It’s warm. Warmer than I’ve been in the last few weeks, and it feels nice. The pain is still there as I open my eye, my hand coming up to my face to touch the bandage now covering the other one. Panic sets in at the unfamiliar surroundings and I frantically search for my gun.

“Looking for that?” Elias speaks softly, motioning to the gun on the bed side table.

Grabbing it, I aim it at him, and he cocks his head.

“That bandage didn’t magically appear, you know.”

“Why?”

He shrugs as he walks past me unbothered, taking a seat on the motel bed. “Felt like it.”

“Where are we?”

“Just south of the painted desert....a.k.a...bum-fuck-nowhere.”He looks at me expectantly, like he’s waiting for another question, and I have several I’d like to ask but before I can, he continues.

“We’re on Kempe Road and it’s just a few hours drive to the nearest ‘city’ Ifyou can call it that. Motel’s name isChancelor,which is fucking odd if you ask me, and I went out to get us some breakfast.” He holds out an oat bar and I fear he can hear my stomach rumbling.

“Why are you helping me? You could have just dumped me somewhere...”

“We’ll call it curiosity for now,Slasher. Eat if you want your body to heal.”

Grabbing the bar, I take a seat and unwrap it, this being the first real food I’ve had since I was taken. We eat in silence, and I begin to think about my parents.

How could they deny paying the ransom?

How could they leave me in the hands of those vile men?

“What happened to you?” he asks, taking the last bite of his oat bar.

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