Page 85 of Shattered
CHAPTER 23
Rourke
In the rearview mirror, Melissa shifted in her car. I grabbed the mask out of the front seat and looked at it; the brown leather encapsulated the head and went down the neck, not letting any skin into view. The flat discs for the eyes, the thick metal grate for the mouth, hiding the voice changer. It was meant to look inhuman, and when I put it on, I couldn’t tell the difference between myself and the mask.
I put it on, cinching it tight. As I was still in my suit from the Dahlia District, I tucked in the flaps of the mask into my shirt, then added my tools to my pockets, including a ball gag from the glove compartment. I stepped out of the car.
Behind us, a single light hung from the underside of the bridge. The moonlight was stark, casting my body in a long shadow, my front silhouetted. I stayed fixed in place until she stood outside of her car too.
A sweatshirt covered her arms. Dried blue paint cracked on her neck and legs.
She came towards me, raising both hands, as if to prove that she was defenseless.
“We need to talk, Rourke,” she said. Her voice was muffled by the wind through the pines. I walked forward, closer yet.
Melissa trusted me far too much. This was the only way I could get her to listen. To understand.
“For starters, how do you—”
I grabbed her fists and when she fought back, I punched her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed, holding her chest, and I laid her on the ground and hastily grabbed her wrists. She flung an arm at my face, knocking into me, but I leaned my weight into her chest, digging into her sternum until she swallowed for air. Maneuvering her wrists behind her back, I tied them tight, the cord digging into her, her skin protruding on each side.
“What are you doing?” she yelled in a hoarse voice. I moved to do the same to her ankles and she kicked me in the chest. An annoyed sigh escaped me, and I sat on her legs, letting her bound wrists dig into her back. I bound her ankles, then got up, releasing her for only a moment. Then I sat back down on her chest, glaring down at her through those orbed holes.
Melissa. My innocent little mark.
“You knew what you were doing when you followed a serial killer,” I said. “That’s not a smart move, is it? But you thought you knew better. That you were smarter.That you knew me.You thought that you were safe.” I let that word hang in the air as she glared at me, daring me to do more.
I pinched her nose shut, covering her mouth. That bold look evaporated, replaced by the will to fight. She shook her head back and forth, and I leaned in tighter, using my weight. After ten or so seconds went by, the panic rose in her expression, her eyes widening, the frantic shifts, grasping for a way out.
This was the only way she would understand.
This was the only way that she would know why I wasn’t capable of what she wanted, of what she needed.
This was the only way that I could show her what was truly inside of me.
“Listen closely,” I said, pausing to study her reaction. I eased the grip on her nose, and her nostrils sucked in, grateful for breath, her gaze softening. “I’m going to gag you. I’m going to put you in the trunk of my car. You will stay there as my hostage. If you do anything stupid, Iwillkill you.”
Her head bobbed in agreement and I let go, standing to release my weight from her chest. A swooping exhale filled her lungs, and she turned to the side as if bracing herself to vomit. I looked down at her, watching her catch her breath. She heaved, coughs rolling from her lungs until finally, she came back to a normal rhythm.
“Don’t do this,” she said.
Melissa wanted answers and she wasn’t the type of woman to back down until she found them.
I was going to give her those answers in the only way I knew how.
What other choice did I have?
I popped the trunk, then scooped her up into my arms. Placing her inside, I looked down, scanning the cavern, making sure there wasn’t anything she could use to free herself. I had removed the inside handle to release the trunk a long time ago. Beyond a blanket, there was nothing else in there.
I shoved the large ball gag in her mouth, knowing it would make her jaw ache. I buckled it around her head, then stood back. Her eyes begged me to stop, but I knew what I was doing. I trusted Melissa to be smart. I trusted her not to test me.
This wasn’t about hurting Melissa. This wasn’t about killing her.
This was about showing her who I truly was.
I slammed the trunk shut. She let out a wailing cry that ripped into the night, but then she was silent. Satisfied, I returned to the car and removed the mask, letting myself breathe for a few moments. I turned on the radio. An upbeat, energetic song filled my car. I turned up the volume, hoping she heard it too. How at ease I was at a time like this. A person bound and gagged in the trunk of my car. My Melissa.
I headed back to the main road and drove carefully. I was in no rush and had no intention of hurting Melissa while she was my cargo. I had a job to do, my last one before I left Sage City and moved onto the next area, my last chance to give Melissa the reasons she needed not to follow me. Not to hope for anything more than a lost memory and a faded scar.
