Page 74 of Bad Demon

“Filthy fucking whore.” Grady forced my jaw up so I couldn’t do it again. “He’s still here, you know, Essie.” His voice was so cold that it sent ice down my spine. “Ghoul’s been down there, chained in that hole in the ground, all alone, since you left. Bet he’s really fucking hungry.”

I froze, my heart seizing in my chest. Warmth slid over my thighs, soaking my underwear and the drab gray smock they’d put me in. The monster’s glowing red eyes filled my mind, huge in his sunken-in sockets, followed by the vicious fangs, the cold, leathery skin, and protruding bones. The long black nails that dug into my flesh, adding to the scars all over my body. When I was young, I’d told myself he was a monster. Now, I knew better; he had to be demon, savage and starved, and the most terrifying being I’d ever encountered.

“You pissed all over yourself.” Grady tutted, grabbing me by the hair, so tight that I thought he’d tear it from my scalp. “You really are a disgusting little bitch,” he hissed.

He shoved me away with force, and my head hit the concrete floor. Fisting the front of my smock at my chest, his other hand grabbing the fabric just above my knees, he lifted me roughly before dumping me on the gurney.

“No.”

I struggled, but he pushed me back easily, lifted my hands over my head, and I silently screamed, choking on the pain as he chained my wrists to the top, followed by my ankles to the bottom.

He patted my cheek. “The Chemist will be in to tend to you shortly.” He grinned. “Oh, and he has something new he wants to test. It’s a nasty one.” Then he left, shutting me inside, bound and helpless.

Silence filled the treatment room, and minute later I heard it—the slow drip from the sink on the other side of the room. That sound came to me in my nightmares. It filled my head when I least expected it, bringing me back to this room in my mind time and time again.

The last five years, physically, I’d been free, but in my head, I’d never left. I’d been right here. I’d known, hadn’t I? It was only a matter of time before I ended up back here in this room, in this place, as The Chemist’s creature, to torture and experiment on as much as he liked.

Before, when I’d been here, I’d waited for my chance to escape. That, one day, an opportunity would present itself. And it did. Grady had walked out of the room without securing both my hands after a beating, and I’d taken my chances. I’d set the place on fire, barricaded them in, watched, making sure it went up in flames before I ran like hell.

He’d never make that mistake again. This time, there would be no escape for me.

Gods, I was so fucking stupid. I’d actually convinced myself that Relic cared about me, that he wanted me. Of course, he didn’t want a disgusting demon. I’d tricked him into selling me his soul. He saw the real me—the depraved bitch in heat; the twisted wreck who had poisoned herself, then thrown up in front of him just so she could control her fear; the repulsive, scarred whore who’d fed from him, while she’d rubbed up on him, lost to her lust.

He’d asked one of his brothers to get me a sex toy so he didn’t have to deal with me—anything to get me to stop pawing all over him—and still, I hadn’t seen it coming. He abandoned me in that forest, for fuck’s sake. I’d shared more, and he’d bailed, desperate to get away from me. Honestly, I didn’t blame him.

But what I really hated was that he was still all I wanted. I’d let him beneath my armor and made myself so fucking weak.

I wasn’t sure how to process the loss of him. Could you lose something that never wanted to be yours?

He’d never been mine, not by choice, but even now, I wanted to feel the heat of that big body against mine and the feeling of safety that I’d only ever experienced with him. I wanted to hear that low, rough voice call me baby, and Tink, and sweetness. I wanted it all back, and Lucifer help me, I’d give anything to have it back. I didn’t care that it had all been a lie. I just wanted it back.

I wanted Relic back.

The door opened, and I viciously shoved it all down. That was the last time I’d think of him. That was the last time I’d let those emotions in, or I wouldn’t survive this. So, I slammed the door and sealed those feelings in tight, and let the numbness come—because I would break if I didn’t. My mind would fracture totally, and I’d never come back from it. The Chemist would throw me in that hole in the ground as well and leave me to rot.

“How are we this evening, Estelle?” The Chemist said as he walked in.

My fingers tapped against the cold vinyl beneath me.One, two, three, four. Four, three, two, one,as I stared at the ceiling instead of looking at his scarred face. Though seeing the burns covering his cheek and one side of his neck—scars that I’d caused—gave me sadistic pleasure.

“Not in the mood to talk today? That’s okay.” He slid on his black latex gloves. “Let’s see what we have here.” He undid the ties at my shoulders and dragged the gown from my body, and I lay there bare, except for my piss-soaked underwear. He studied the raw, weeping, concealment sigil he’d carved into my stomach the first day I was brought back here. Every morning he had Grady reopen it, so it couldn’t ever heal. He scanned the rest of my body. “A few superficial bruises and lacerations, broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder. Nothing I can’t fix. But first, we need to get a gauge on the strength of your regenerative capabilities. It’s been a while since we conducted an experiment on you, Essie, so I’ll have to be rather aggressive, I’m afraid.”

I knew what that meant. He was going to get me as close to death as he could, and see how long it took for me to recover. The clink of metal on metal sent icy dread through me, but still, I didn’t look.

“Open your mouth, Estelle,” he said, his excitement making his voice tremble.

I did as he’d said; otherwise, he’d make me, and it would hurt even more.

“Your teeth have always been a good gauge, haven’t they?”

Panic filled me, but I fought it down. I didn’t scream or cry as he used his pliers and wrenched out the first tooth, and I didn’t struggle as more blood filled my mouth, choking me. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. One by one, he pulled out my teeth, and my fangs. The only sounds in the room were of my teeth hitting the bottom of The Chemist’s stainless steel dish, and me breathing heavily through my nose.

As the last tooth was pulled free, the rigidness of my body eased, and I turned my head, letting the blood run from my mouth onto the floor.

“Very good,” he said. “But we’re not quite finished yet.”

He filled a small basin with water and carried it over. Looking at me with that unhinged excitement in his eyes, he began cleaning me up, dipping a cloth into the freezing water and dragging it over my bloody and bruised body. “We need to repair what Grady did before we continue. This needs to be a controlled experiment, and we don’t want those injuries to interfere with my results.”

I locked my jaw as he dragged the cloth over my wounds again, causing me more pain and enjoying it.

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