Page 150 of Traitor

He gags, body convulsing, muffled sounds of terror choking against the blood flooding his throat. His eyes are wide, bulging, panic-stricken, and I drink in the sight like it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

But I'm not done.

Not nearly fucking done.

I step back. Grab the bat. The one Bones handed me, the one that's marked with years of violence, of destruction, of punishment. I lift it in my hands, feel the weight of it. The spiked metal is hungry.

So am I.

The first hit slams down onto his thighs, the spikes sinking deep into his flesh. I have to yank it hard to pull it free.

He tries to scream, but he can't.

Not with his own filth clogging his throat.

I don't give him time to recover before I swing again.

Harder. Meaner.

His ankles next. The bat connects with sickening force, his body jerking violently against the restraints.

And then I lose myself in the rhythm of destruction.

Up. Down. Up. Down.

The spikes rip, tear, pierce. His bones shatter. His body collapses under the brutality of my wrath.

I don't stop.

I aim for his ribs. His chest. His arms. His back.

I don't know if he moves or screams anymore. I can't see. Can't hear. I just swing the bat.

The first hit to his head sends his neck snapping back violently.

And that's when I finally hear them — my own screams. I finally feel my raw throat. The tears coming down my cheeks.

But I don't stop.

I keep hitting. With fury. With violence. With everything inside of me. I go at it like a feral animal. Relentless.

By the time my strength leaves me, his skull is caved in. He's a puddle of raw flesh and blood, tangled in ropes. He looks exactly like a monster now. Like he should have looked all along. And I realize that I'm finally looking at the real face of my tormentor. And that he's gone.

All energy seeps from my body. I drop the bat. My fingers uncurl, and it clatters to the ground, bouncing once, twice, landing in the pool of blood at my feet.

I drop to my knees, still looking at him, my soul hollow. But I never hit the floor.

Bones catches me. His strong arms lock around me before I crumble completely.

My screams stopped some time ago. Now, my body convulses with sobs so deep, so broken that they split me open from the inside.

Bones' grip tightens. His voice is quiet, rough. "Do you need Ria?"

He turns me away from the dead monster in the chair before I answer.

My fingers clench into his cut. My voice is small. "No. You. I just need you. Take me out of here. Anywhere."

I feel him shift, pulling his phone from his pocket.

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