Page 100 of Voracious

I want to apologize. He doesn’t like normal torture, and this is worse as the bids go wild to be able to do anything they want to a young man. Man is used loosely; he must only be nineteen if I’m being generous.

There are no scars on his body, making them all eager to be the first one to lay claim. His eyes are fixed straight ahead, unseeing. When the platform stops rotating, they’re locked directly on me, and I don’t look away. He’s a human being to me, I might not feel the pain, but I can remember his face and know he existed so I can make sure that everyone who hurt him feels worse. Just like when Yulia would make me watch the videos, I look in his eyes, giving silent promises to save him and kill everyone who hurts him.

“None of you watch this shit, go outside.” Vlad’s order to his — our — brothers shows this is worse than he thought.

Dima’s chest shakes and he digs his fingers into my skin harder as the first person comes out. No knife. That’s worse. He wants to scar his soul and lips press against my nape with urgency. I don’t look at the act but watch the man’s eyes, it’s worse seeing them not have fight. He’s been trained already and that means he was born into it. Fucking Yulia, the stupid bitch. Why can’t she just leave people alone? Let them have their fight and their fucking freedom?

I’m a statue, I’m reverting back to being in those rooms as he screams and the body forcing him to all fours blurs behind him. I’m going to break my promise. I can’t keep it while someone is getting hurt. He’s being tortured and the podium stops spinning so that the nasty fucker isn’t put at any disadvantage as he laughs at the wide metal pipe sticking out of the man’s behind.

It all blurs, my mind is splitting again and weaving different realities in front of me, so I don’t have more files in my head.

Once all the bidders have left him bloody and bruised, the lights go off and there’s a small flicker in the corner. Stupid cunts they’ve just given away their hidden door. I’ve been watching every wall waiting for it to be revealed and the person on the other side has fucked up. As soon as Nina is with the others I’ll get everyone else they’re fuckingbidding onoutside and kill Rowan. That will be fun.

They repeat the same process with a variety of different bodies, and my heart leaps out of my chest when they announce the fourth in the dark.

“This one is special, she’s remarkable and she will always smile no matterwhatshe experiences, the sweetest girl to bring your fantasies to life.”

I hate him. He said she was boring, and I thought that meant she was safe, but it just made Nina safefromRowan himself, not other people he knows. The lights come back on, and I stop breathing.

Nina stands on the platform without anything to cover her body. There are more scars on her body and her smile is on her lips, but it will never reach her eyes again as long as she’s here. Why is she still smiling? I told her not to fucking smile, stupid fucking idiot, she didn’t listen.

She robotically lifts her amputated arm as the distorted voice says, “Just look at her arm.”

She didn’t fucking smile. They hacked at her, and she cried. She cried for weeks and months. Until her eyes were swollen shut and she couldn’t fucking stand when it got infected.

Dima presses his lips against my nape again and puts in a bid. He doesn’t stop alternating between the button and my nape, trying to get the highest bid. The fuckers don’t even announce it, all bids are silent so we don’t know who will be first until the red light flashes showing the bids have ended.

“It’s okay, we’ll get her.” His whisper doesn’t make me relax, neither do the other three saying the same thing in my ear.

“Easy, pipsqueak, a few more minutes.”

Sweat beads against my skin while I wait for the fuckers to turn the light above the door green.

No.

No, we aren’t first. The Volto mask has me itching to break through the glass, but Dima holds me to him and whispers, “Little longer, then we’ll leave with her.”

There’s no chatter in our ears and my heart breaks all over again as I watch the three fuckers who beat our bids.

Forty-five minutes of seeing her tortured.

Again.

Doing nothing about it.

Again.

But Nina keeps smiling. I told her not to fucking smile. They’d ruin her. Why didn’t she listen to me? I should have slapped her harder. But she was little and Yulia fucking loved that smile.

The green light flashes and I push forward, grabbing the knife from the table in front of us. I don’t realize until we get out of the doors, but they’ve created a bubble around the platform. That’s why everything was distorted, there are two panes of glass, and this one is set up a foot in front of each door with the wall of the rooms extended so I can’t get to any other rooms. The second door stops us both gaining access as it remains locked. The walls fucking talk, not the announcer, but it’s a lower voice, one only we can hear without any static distorting their rough voice.

“One person per bid.”

I don’t wait for Dima to pull me back and stand at the glass for it to be unlocked.He can’t take this away from me, I’ve given everything for this. My body, my health, and my fucking sanityhas led to this moment so I can say I helped for once. The door clicks behind me and the earpiece has Dima’s voice added to the noise as I walk through.

“Remember what I said.” He has an edge to his tone. “Don’t you fucking dare forget.”

I’m finally in the same room as Nina, after years she’s right here in front of me with blood on her. It drips from that stupid fucking smile, and I want to punch her for not listening to me, but she doesn’t recognize me. Her eyes are blank, waiting for the pain as she stares out and the platform turns, facing the room I was just in.

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