Page 51 of Dark Torment

“Does she know you have me yet?” he spits, and I smile broadly at him.

“Damndest thing, that. I told her I had you, and she took some time to think about it. Then told me she didn’t want to hear about you, or any part of this side of my life.” I shrug as his eyes widen before he shakes his head.

“You’re lying. Olivia would never be okay with someone hurting another human being. She’s too gentle,” he spits out. As though being compassionate is a weakness, and it’s disgusting.

He’s truly blind to just how strong and brave she really is. “Things change when you find out someone is trying to kill you. They change even more when it’s looking like your family are the ones doing it,” I tell him, grinding my teeth together in anger.

He watches me angrily as I pull a bottle of water out of the bag as well. His eyes zero in on it as he licks his dry lips before looking back at me. “What do you want?” he asks, his eyes moving back to the water.

“Right now? I want you to eat so I can give you the water. I won’t let you die before you answer me… and you will, Ben. You’re slowly losing your will to live down here with each passing day,” I taunt him, and he takes the bait.

Growling, he weakly rips open the sleeve of crackers and shoves several into his mouth at once.

It’s going to be hard to chew and swallow them when his mouth is as dry as it is. When I know he’s good and thirsty, I’ll give him the water and he’ll have no choice but to chug it.

At this point, it’s a survival instinct. They tell you to not chug water when you’re dehydrated as badly as he is. That slow and small sips are the best choice, but I’m willing to bet that won’t register in his mind.

The moment he swallows down the dry food, almost choking on it, I pass him the water and he does just as I anticipated. He chugs it before dropping it to the ground.

“You’re not human,” he seethes at me before blinking and swaying on his feet. “Wh—what the hell?”

He falls against the bars to hold himself up, and looks at me with anger and fear. “What did you do?”

I smile as his eyes start to drift close. “I gave you something to help me prepare you for the games coming, of course,” I taunt him, laughing as he fights to hold his body upright, before falling to the ground.

I wait several more minutes, checking that his breathing is slow and even before unlocking the cell and picking him up.

There was no way I was going to be dumb enough to try and get him from the cell to the chair without drugging him first.

I can take him, that much I know. But it’s not a risk I’m willing to take when Liv’s life is on the line.

Once I toss him into my torture chair, I work on securing him to the arms and legs, finding glee in knowing he can’t go anywhere, and that chair won’t move.

My mind briefly flashes back to the asshole from the street who called my woman a fat cow and how beautifully he bled for me before he died.

He was a wimp to the bitter end, but the blood and screams were beautiful, regardless.

Ben will scream for me. He will bleed, cry, and beg me to stop. I won’t.

I’ve never tortured someone for information before. It’s always been strictly to satisfy the hunger inside of me, but this has promise.

He’ll scream the truth past his lips while I slide my knife into his body in places designed to hurt, but won’t kill him for hours.

I’ve done my research on the human body, so I know how to inflict the maximum amount of pain on my victims. Or to make it the bloodiest and most gruesome crime scene police have ever seen that would no doubt have them spending years in therapy.

I know it all. And when Ben wakes up, he’ll know it too.

Looking at my victim one last time, I turn toward the stairs and head back to the house to check on my sunflower.

He’ll be out for hours before waking up and realizing he can’t move, and I will watch it on my phone. I’ll wait until he’s pissed himself in fear and crying at his pathetic existence, before I go back to him and finally get the answers I seek.

By tomorrow night, I will know exactly who is behind the hit on my girl, and why. Then I will destroy anyone involved.

I’ll kill Ben for being an asshole to his sister, and then I’ll come up with a plan to destroy whomever started this.

I won’t stop until she has nothing left to fear. Until she feels safe in the world again.

---