Page 31 of Severance

I sit in the dark, listening to his muffled threats and incessant kicking behind me in the back of the car. The trunk is small, it’s a very cramped space and I can only imagine how claustrophobic Dexter’s feeling right now. The sense of all the walls closing in on you is overwhelming and the force of his kicking shows how deep-seated his panic is right now.

The car continues to move around and I begin to count the minutes that Kai is gone. Five minutes. I’ll give him two more and then I’m going in.

The door to the barn opens, revealing a fully intact, unharmed Kai. He strides across the short distance and rounds the car, coming over to my side he pulls open the door.

“You ready?” he asks, holding his hand out to me.

Placing my hand in his, I let him help me out of the car. “I think our little friend in the back is ready.” I smirk, nodding to the back of the car. “What’s it look like in there?”

Kai closes the door and walks me around the car to the trunk. “Let’s just say that the rats had quite the feast.” He throws a wink my way and pops open the trunk.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Dexter screams as the fresh air hits him. His wrists are handcuffed behind his back and his ankles are shackled together. He thrashes his body around, trying to break free when we all know it’s a feeble attempt to escape. We threw the keys out when we left his house in the Hamptons.

There’s no way out of here for him.

The only place he is going is to the barn… to the rats.

Kai rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest as we watch Dexter struggle as he rolls around in the trunk. I laugh out loud, taking in how fucking pathetic this powerful man looks.

The power is all mine now.

I step forward, pointing my gun at him, but Kai grabs my arm, pulling me back to him. “Patience,bambolina,” he breathes in my ear as he wraps his arms around me. “He’ll wear himself out, it will make this a hell of a lot easier for us to get him in there.”

I give him a small nod, before resting the back of my head against his chest. We stand in silence together watching Dexter as he yells at us and at the universe. He fights against the metal wrapped around his wrists and ankles as if they’ll pop open from his strength. It has the opposite effect.

Dex rolls onto his side and his thrashing ceases as he stares at both of us with his dead eyes. His breathing is heavy and uneven and he struggles to catch his breath. Blood drips from his wrists and ankles from his struggle against the handcuffs.

Who’s the weak one now?

“Kai,” Dexter says quietly. “You’re smart. You’re not thinking straight. You’re thinking with your dick and letting that little cunt control you.”

Kai chuckles, shaking his head. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I’ve thought of this every daybeforeyou pieces of shit ruined Dahlia’s life.”

Instinctively, I grab Kai’s arm and give it a small squeeze. If it weren’t for them, I never would have met him. He’s my silver lining in the clouded darkness.

“Your father will fucking kill you,” Dexter growls as his stare grows even harder.

Kai releases me and steps closer to the trunk and smiles down at Dex. “I’d like to see him try.”

Dexter laughs as his eyes grow wild with the death breeding inside them. “We all told him that you would be the end of us. Fucking knew this shit was coming.”

“Oh yeah?” Kai asks, mockingly. “Is that why you were all snuggled up with your mistress, leaving your wife and kids alone? What if I would have went for them?”

“Meh.” Dex shrugs. “I value my life more than any of them.”

“Jesus Christ,” Kai scoffs. “You really are a piece of fucking work.” He quickly takes his pistol and jams it right in between Dexter’s eyes. “If she weren’t here, your brains would be scattered in this trunk right now.”

“But, she is here.” Dex smirks as he casts his eyes at me. “Whatcha gonna do,princess?”

“Dahlia,” Kai commands, lightly, not taking his eyes off of Dexter. “Come help me get him inside.”

Dexter opens his mouth to say something as I step beside Kai, but Kai drives his pistol into the side of his head, knocking him out again. Kai grabs his shoulders and rolls him out of the trunk, letting him fall onto the hard ground.

“I got his upper half, you just grab his feet,” Kai instructs as he crouches down, sliding his arms under Dexter’s armpits. Taking a deep breath, he lifts him up and carries him effortlessly as he rides on the adrenaline fueling both of our bodies. I follow after him, carrying Dexter’s feet as we take him into the barn.

The electricity doesn’t work in the barn, so we use the light from the moon shining above to guide us. Slivers of light are cast across the barn floor through the broken windows and chunks of the roof that are missing.

Tiny feet scratch the floor as the rats scurry deeper into the shadows as we walk past Stan’s body. There’s enough light shining on him to show just how hungry the rats were. His insides are showing and a good portion of his flesh is gone.

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