Page 58 of On The Run

If I could talk, I would yell, beg Giovani to make it stop, but I didn’t have the strength to make a sound. I knew it would be useless anyway. This may be more intense than any other time, but I knew how the bastard worked. This was his go-to punishment when he believed you strayed too far from his image of perfect obedience. Last time I saw him, I crashed his car and left him for dead while I escaped with Pops, so yeah, I was sure he was pissed.

At least I vaguely knew what to expect. First, it was sensory deprivation and cold. The water was a new touch, but it was getting what he wanted, since I was already ready to give in. Pops never talked about it, but I knew that this reconditioning was finally what gave him the strength to run away when I was four. I didn’t think Pops knew I remembered my very first and only time until two years ago in that tiny shed, but I remembered every second of it. Two days after Giovani finally released me, Pops woke me up in the middle of the night and we ran.

Eventually, exhaustion started to overtake me. My eyelids were heavy, and despite my best efforts, they began to close. I wasn’t sure if I’d wake up if I fell asleep, but I couldn’t fight it anymore and began to drift . . .

And just as I felt peace, the pulley system started again, and another icy bath drenched me. I huddled into myself and by the time it ended, I couldn’t tell what was water and what was tears.

Chapter25

Aiden

“Wakey, wakey, boy.”

I didn’t bother to open my eyes, even as the heavy boot nudged my face. What was the point? It was wasting energy I didn’t have when all I’d see was complete darkness anyway.

I didn’t know how much time had passed since that first ice bath. I tried to keep count of them at first, but eventually even that became too much. I lost count at ten, and at some point, they even stopped waking me up.

I started to drift again. I was just so tired. Why wouldn’t he let me sleep? There was suddenly an iron grip on my chin lifting my head until it was tilted up painfully, my skull scraping against the wall behind me. He was squeezing my jaw so tightly, I was sure there would be bruises, but who cared at this point? Just add it to the list of pain.

There was a tug on the bottom of my nose, and then a sudden, brutal pain accompanied by the sound of skin tearing. My eyes flew open against their own will. I tried to grab my nose, but the chains stopped me short. Tears were filling my eyes and there was something salty and metallic tasting dripping across my lips and into my mouth. Blood. It was fucking blood.

That was when I realized it was no longer pitch black wherever I was being kept. The light was almost too bright, and I didn’t know how long I was sitting there with blood filling my nose and running down my face until I could make out the shape of my biological father standing before me.

I still wasn’t sure exactly what happened until he crouched just inches from my face. He held a small metal ring between his fingers. My septum piercing. The fucker ripped it out of my fucking nose. The ring was coated in blood with my skin still sticking to the top. I started gagging.

I felt a sharp sting and realized Giovani slapped me across the fucking face. I was so tired, but I refused to give in to the fucker and forced my head up to make eye contact. I wanted to spit in his face but I couldn’t work up enough saliva to make it happen. Speaking seemed just as unlikely right now, so I did the only thing I could and glared.

Giovani chuckled, but it was dark and cruel. He patted the cheek he just slapped sharply. “As defiant as ever, Austin.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head like a disappointed father. My stomach churned. “I knew that man would ruin you. Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of time to instill some discipline.”

Giovani stood to full height and began pacing the space. Now that it wasn’t pitch black, I tried to look around. I was in some kind of one-room cabin or maybe a big shed. The room was essentially a square, and aside from the pillar I was apparently attached to, it was completely empty. And I was right. The ground was dirt and I was sitting on top of stones that were embedded within that hard ground. There was no door that I could see, and I wondered how the fuck he even got in here.

I followed Giovani with my eyes as he paced, not risking losing sight of the bastard. I didn’t know how such an average-looking man could hide so much evil within him. Giovani was only an inch or two taller than I was and of average build and weight. His dark-brown hair was graying at the temples, and he had some gray in the trimmed beard he always kept. No one would look twice at the asshole if they passed him on the street, and I guessed that was what kept him so good at staying in the shadows all this time.

He didn’t say anything for a long time, and I decided to take the risk to speak. “P-P-Pops?” I choked out. My voice sounded even worse than before, and I couldn’t stop shivering. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever stop at this point. I’d been wracking my brain to remember anything I’d ever learned about hypothermia, but I kept coming up blank. Apparently, the icy baths had frozen my brain as well. The blood in my nose and mouth wasn’t helping this situation either. It seemed like so much blood, that it was freaking me out, but it was probably not nearly as much as it felt.

Giovani scoffed, “Your attachment to that man isn’t healthy. Don’t worry, Austin, I’ll cure you of that.”

I glared even harder, but I didn’t say anything because I needed more information. I didn’t even remind him I no longer went by Austin. There was no point. Giovani waved his hand dismissively before continuing. “He wasn’t worth my time.”

What the hell did that mean? I had so many questions, but even if I wasn’t terrified of the answers, I was just too exhausted to voice them. I suddenly regretted never telling Max where I lived. I could only hope that the coffee shop got nervous when I no showed and visited my home. If he left Pops there, that was my only hope unless the landlord happened to stop by.

Giovani pivoted and stalked back to me. Despite my best efforts, I still flinched when he got close. The jerk noticed and a small smile formed. He got enjoyment out of seeing me scared of him. I wanted so badly to taper my reactions and act like I didn’t give a fuck, but sometime instinct won out.

He gripped my chin again, tilting my head upward. “I was hoping you would be tamed enough by now to move onto the next step, but clearly your reconditioning will be more extensive than I realized. Don’t worry though, we have all the time in the world.”

Fuck. Fuck him. And fuck this. I knew I was probably going to regret this in the long run, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. If he ended up killing me, at least I’d go down knowing I didn’t cower to him. Right now, that was probably the biggest victory I’d get.

“G-Go f-f-f-uck your-s-s-self.” Well, that would have been more satisfying if my teeth would stop chattering, but the look of shock on his face made it worth it.

Giovani recovered quickly though. “Yes, it does seem you need more time.”

He reached behind him and pulled out a thick strip of leather. I eyed him wearily, wondering what he was doing. Leaning forward, Giovani wrapped it around my neck and snapped it in the back. It was a damn collar, but not just any collar. No, this one had to be at least 6 inches long, covering my entire neck and forcing it to tilt slightly backward. It was buckled tight, making every breath a struggle and swallowing nearly impossible. Of course, the sick bastard wasn’t done though, and a hood was fitted over my head. It was one of those you saw straight out of kinky porn and was fitted perfectly to my head. The two little airholes weren’t doing much to ensure I wouldn’t suffocate in this thing. It also wasn’t letting any light in. I couldn’t see a damn thing. It didn’t take me long to realize it was thicker by my ears, muffling sounds as well.

I’d managed to avoid panicking, for the most part, this whole time. But the claustrophobia was setting in quickly, and even if it was pointless, I began to thrash, screaming the best I could around the hood. A kick to my gut was probably supposed to make me calm down, but I only started to panic worse.

And then he was gripping something on the top of the hood, wrenching my head back even farther. He released his hand, but I still couldn’t move. There must have been some kind of anchor point on the top of the hood and Giovani just hooked it to something behind me, causing my head to be tilted straight up to the ceiling.

Since I was wearing this fucking collar, my neck didn’t really bend back far, so in order to achieve this position, my back was arched in a way that was definitely not natural. I didn’t have much time to think about future back problems, however, when icy cold water hit my upturned face.

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