Page 3 of Choke

I turn to Mona and smirk. “Looks like today is your lucky day.”

“You’ve got a fucked-up understanding of the word lucky,” she spits.

At that moment, all I see is anger, and all I feel is torment. This girl has somehow burrowed into the disfigured scars hidden beneath my flesh, and her claws are digging deep. I want to hurt her, to make her wear the suffering on her skin that she’s inflicting on my memory.

She skitters back as I lean into her, closing the distance between us. I hate that the terror in her eyes excites me. I despise the notion that, at some point in my life, violence and fear became an aphrodisiac.

I turn away, searching Atlas’s eyes, needing him to reel me in from the darkest edges of my fragmented mind.

“Help me,” I whisper, a hollow plea from a man on the brink of madness.

4

ATLAS

Callum handcuffs the girl to the radiator.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure she can’t leave or cause trouble.”

“What if I have to go to the bathroom?” Mona asks.

Callum walks into the kitchen and returns with a pot. “Use this.”

Mona glances at the stainless-steel pot he places on the floor before looking at Callum in utter disgust. “And how do you expect me to take off my pants?”

I cringe as I witness Callum’s sinister smile. He unsheathes the blade from his belt as he moves toward her, gliding it between her legs. With a flick of his wrist, he pops the button of her dark blue denim pants and yanks them down to her ankles with her underwear.

I expect Mona to freak out over Callum’s aggressive act, but she doesn’t even flinch.

“So, I’m supposed to waddle to your makeshift piss pot, and then what? Stand there while I pee on the pants and underwear you’ve shackled me to?”

I burst out laughing, which isn’t the best reaction, considering the wrath bubbling beneath Callum’s surface.

He doesn’t say a word as he slashes the crotch of her pants and underwear. “There. Now, the worst thing you’ll do is piss on the floor like the little bitch you are.”

“Better a bitch than a pathetic dog.”

In a flash, Callum has the knife at her throat, pressing the blade to her jugular. “What did you call me?”

“Tell me, Callum, do you always follow your master’s orders like an obedient little puppy?”

I gaze at Mona in fascination. The girl is on the verge of being slashed to death, yet she’s still fighting. What is it like to possess a flame that strong inside you?

Mona tips her head back and smiles. “Go ahead. Having my throat slit will be far better than whatever your owner has in mind for me. Unlike you, I’d rather die than be manipulated and used by a monster.”

The knife falls from Callum’s hand, and he grabs Mona by the throat, throwing her against the wall. “You have a smart mouth, little girl. Better be careful, or I’ll do something about it. Something you won’t like.”

Mona croaks a laugh that seems to alarm Callum enough to abandon his hold on her throat. “Why are you laughing? Do you have any idea what I could do to you?”

She shrugs, rubbing her throat as if hoping to wipe away the finger marks Callum has left there. “Our lives are etched into the universe. The threads of our destinies are unchangeable and inevitable. So, if death is knocking, I’m ready.”

“You’re insane!” Callum shouts. “You have any idea what men like me and Meyer could do to you?”

“I’m used to men’s cruelty, violence, and lies to subjugate women. I understand that had my mother not left a home she loved because of evil men, someone could have killed me longago. She bought me time, and if that time is up, so be it. One thing I do know is that my mother would never want me to cower in fear, groveling for my life at the feet of corrupted men.”

With each word she speaks, I become more captivated by her. But with that newfound fascination comes a tsunami of jealousy and rage. I’m envious of her unwavering strength and determination. I’m jealous of her bravery because I’ve been a coward my entire life.

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