Page 128 of Voracious

He’s not here.

And he’s not on Venus.

The chains rattle as I scream, “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH HIM!”

It echoes off the walls as I try to snatch the phone away from her, but she remains out of reach.

“Get away from him! He didn’t do anything!”

No, he’s mine. He knows me, he’s the only person who knows me and she’s taking him away. Like my bouncy ball. He was supposed to be hidden like my sticker so she couldn’t take him away.

There are no more explosions or noise, I made it up because Dima isn’t here. This is worse than my bouncy ball, she’s not melting him because she’s going to keep him. I watch the screen, afraid to look away as my vision blurs and she speaks quietly, or my mind is breaking again.

“You remember our doctors, how they led normal lives? One call, Ana, that’s all it will take for the good doctor to turn from a surgeon ready to save his patient to the client indebted to me.He’s healthy too, I’m sure The Three would appreciate the parts of him that are salvageable. The Dollhouse would make use of his body, you’d want that, wouldn’t you? For the man you love not to be wasted in death?”

No, they’ll eat him and do fucked up things to his body.

He doesn’t deserve that.

He deserves everything.

Rowan and Yulia can’t have him.

I have to step back to pick up the knife and I beg as I stand there, holding it in my hand. “Please don’t hurt him. I’ll do it, just don’t hurt him, okay?”

She nods and it takes longer to bring the knife to my throat with the heaviness in my limbs. I keep watching Dima, it’s wrong that I can see inside his chest. It should have his kot and ranking tattoos instead of blood. The cool blade touches my neck at the same time as the door opens. I don’t care about Rowan, he can fuck off. I just need Dima to be okay.

Maybe I can really become a ghost and I can wait here with him before we go to Venus together, that way I can make these fucking cunts crazy until it’s just me and Dima. Yeah, I’ll get to lay on his back while he does pushups and I won’t be able to feel him, but I’ll keep him safe.

Yulia’s urgency increases and the image of Dima’s chest shakes as she rushes out, “Ifanythinghappens to me that call will be made.”

One pair of heavy, booted footsteps move into the room and Vlad’s voice booms, “Get the fuck away from her.”

I turn to see him covered in blood. He’s not wearing a mask like the other times we’ve done this and his face falls when he looks at me. He stills, his chest barely moving then he picks his foot up to walk towards Yulia and my eyes burn as I scream, “NO! Don’t touch her!”

I turn back to the bitch who is going to hurt the only person that means anything to me.

“I’ll do it. Just stop them, okay. I’ll do it, you know I will.”

She just stares at me, her finger still hovering above her screen.

“I always listen to you,” I beg. “I did everything you wanted, all the training, the videos, everything,”

There’s barely a gap between the glass of her phone screen and the pad of her thumb.

“I’ll do it again?—”

“No you fucking won’t,” Vlad cuts me off but I ignore him.

“I’ll be your little girl who listens to you, please.”

I nod, trying to get her to agree, and hot lines move down my face.

“She’s mine,” Vlad grits, his nostrils flared and eyes wild as he stares at Yulia, holding himself taut. “Not. Fucking. Yours.” The blood on his temples is drying in patches and he looks crazier than normal as he punches the side of his fist against his chest. “My. Daughter.”

Yulia looks from him to her phone and I cry out, “NO! Please, please, please don’t.”

She pointedly looks at the knife, telling me what she wants.

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