Page 35 of The Hallows Boys

It’s everything they wanted – everything they plotted and planned out. It’s affecting me exactly as they expected. I’m going nuts, like I might start screaming again.

I fill my lungs with oxygen, making my chest inflate completely, and I hold it in. I count to three in my head before I blow it out slowly, trying to find balance. I need to get my shit together; I don’t want to snap, and I certainly don’t want them to know that they’re winning.

I take another deep breath, savoring the cool air against my sore throat. I can do this, I can snub out the fire inside of me – and between my legs – and I can get through this.

No one has said a word, not that I really expected them to, but the silence is starting to make my head spin. I hold my breath, quieting the sounds of my chest and listening, but nothing answers me in the dark. There’re no sounds at all. No one is moving, and I can’t even hear anyone breathing. It’s fuckingcreepy.

I blow out the air in my lungs, giving up on listening, but then I feel a prick in my arm that’s all too familiar.

“You motherfu–” Cold liquid spreads, and then everything goes dark again, taking me back into sleep.

ChapterSeventeen

SAGE

My eyes crack open, and I blink a few times as I try to focus on my surroundings through the fog in my head. My mouth is thick with dry saliva so I try swallowing a few times to clear it.

Creamy greying walls surround me, as if they’re made from stone or pure concrete. There’re no windows, but the room is illuminated in dark orange hues from candles that line a ledge just below the ceiling.

No decorations cover the walls, but there is furniture discarded and scattered around the room randomly. A couch, a few armchairs, and a large wooden dresser that’s seen better days.

I stretch my arms, happily surprised when I’m able to extend all my limbs freely. They must have taken the restraints off while I was passed out. I moan as I stretch, pleasure spreading through my aching muscles. I stretch my legs next, and they shake in relief as I’m able to completely extend them.

I’m free.

I curl onto my side, stretching my legs once more since they were bent behind my back for so long tonight. My face connects with a plush comforter, making me realize I’m laying atop a king-sized bed. It’s comfortable as hell, and I consider crawling to the headboard and slipping under the down comforter to sleep. I could use the rest, as my mind feels heavy and exhausted. Even though I’ve been unconscious twice already tonight, my body aches with the unslept hours.

They must have injected me with something different this time, because I don’t feel groggy or faded at all. I just feel normal, like I blinked and was transported here. All anxiety has dissipated from my body, making me feel…better.

I yawn as I stretch one more time, blinking rapidly to clear the rest of the blur over my vision before I sit up.

It’s bare in here. The scattered furniture looks brand-new – except for the old dresser – like someone went to a store, picked up one of those minimally staged rooms and dropped it down in here. My brows furrow in confusion.Where the fuck am I?

As usual, curiosity burns through me, so I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand up. My legs shake, but once I get used to the weight of standing again, the eagerness of exploring takes over. I walk to the opposite side of the room, ghosting my fingers across the chairs and couch before I stand in front of the dresser.

The wood is dark, thick like it weighs a ton, and is cracking in some places. There’s nothing sitting on top of it, no trinkets or anything that may give away where I am, so I pull the top drawer open to peek inside.

My breath catches, finding that the drawer is filled from end to end with knives. Some are small, compact and closed up like switchblades. But others are big, sharp and shiny with danger. There’s a meat cleaver right at the end, making me slam the drawer shut.

“What the fuck?”

If I wasn’t scared I was going to be murdered before, I sure as hell am now.

I close my eyes as my hand lingers on the handle for the second drawer, unsure if I want to see what’s waiting for me on the other side.

I swallow, then yank it open quickly before I back out.

“Jesus Christ…” I whisper, fingering what’s laid out on a bed of red velvet inside. Whips, belts, chains, handcuffs, rope, blindfolds, gags.

Slamming it shut, I blow out a breath and then yank the third drawer open, bending at the knee to get a better look.

This one is lined with red velvet as well – with lotions, oils, lubes, dildos, vibrators, and butt plugs laid out neatly.

I feel a heartbeat between my legs as I stare at the items, studying each of them one by one as I imagine what the Hallows Boys might do with them.With me.

My head snaps up when I hear keys jingling, then the door behind me pushes open slowly.

Kaiden appears first, clicking his tongue at me as he shakes his head. “What have you gotten into, Little Rabbit?” he taunts, and I slam the drawer shut, spinning around and pressing my back to the dresser.

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