Page 30 of In This Iron Ground
“Thank you for telling us,” she said.
“A few more questions, okay? Full disclosure—I don’t want you finding out later and thinking we tricked you—Nicola did go into your room on the pretext of getting you some clothes and found the markings on the bed, so we were pretty sure it was them, but we needed it confirmed by you. Which is also why we let Mia in the room—but that’s beside the point. I need to ask—how many times did the McKenzies tie you to something?” Sam asked.
Damien shook his head, frowning. “I don’t know.”
“Okay…when was the last time?”
“Last night.”
“The night of your birthday.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. How about the first time? When was that?”
“Um…I don’t know. To the chair or to the bed?” he asked.
A slight pause followed.
“To anything,” Sam clarified.
“Uh…the start of the school year, so…like eight months ago.”
“Okay. And how often does it happen? Would you say.”
“Erm…for the last, like, five months more or less, they…” Damien paused.
There was a crow in his chest, hopping from rib to rib, nipping at shrieking flesh. He tried to breathe. Mia’s hand squeezed. He closed his eyes. He opened them.
“Four days a week, after school when I’m not at Hakan’s—I mean Mia’s—they tie me to, to the chair, from when I get there until I finish my homework, but most of the time until I go to bed. And then…to the bed. For the night.” Damien stared downwards, trying to take long breaths, even if they felt shallow.
“And on the weekends?”
“I get more free time.”
“So, they still tie you. To the chair?”
“To do homework.”
“To the bed?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. So…every day you’re at the McKenzies’—wait, how often are you at Mia’s?”
“Once a week.”
“Sleepovers?”
“No.”
“Okay. So, every day you’re at the McKenzies’, meaning six days a week, they tie you during the day to the chair, on the pretext of you doing homework, and then tie you to the bed at night, every night. Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“What about if you need to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom?” Sam asked.
Damien blushed, shifting uncomfortably. “That doesn’t happen anymore. I’m good now—I don’t eat or drink anything in the evenings past, like, four. It helps.”
