Page 31 of Dark Knight

“Son.” Dad has been standing watch over Morris, Flora, the wicked stepsisters, and Dr. fucking Laura. I don’t know who angers me the most.

“Whoever can give me the truth can leave.” They’ve all been locked down here for a few days now. Nothing to eat, drink, and nowhere to go to the bathroom but on themselves. It smells like a pig pen in here.

“Perhaps you should explain to our guests what truth you’re looking for,” Aunt Lilith proffers, entering the room with King behind her. Of all the women in my family, Lilith’s thirst for blood is the only one who rivals any of the men.

“Whose idea was it to lock Bea up like a fucking animal?” I clarify.Easy enough.

Morris’ head hangs in shame.

Flora’s face turns red with her anger.

Dr. Laura is belligerent.

And the girls. The sisters don’t even acknowledge anyone in the room.

“Last chance,” I tell them. “It’s the only get-out-of-jail-free card I’ll be giving out.”

The door behind me opens, and I inwardly groan. I’d know her scent anywhere. Green apples and peppermint. I don’t know how the fuck she does it, but I’m addicted.

“Nolan?” Spinning at her questioning tone, I catch the fear in her eyes as she stares around the room. To someone not used to this kind of brutality, it’s likely nightmarish.

“Little girl.” Pulling her into my embrace, I hold one hand on the small of her back, and the other cups her head as her hands land on my chest. The bandages on her raw wrists make me fucking crazy with the need to kill someone. “What are you doing out of bed?” I see my mom right behind her. She doesn’t come here often, but I know what she did all those years ago to the man who spent a lifetime torturing her.

“I had to know, too.” Her eyes shift to where her family is chained to a brick wall. “I had to know why they hate me so much that they’d allow that to happen.” Her tear-filled eyes meet mine. “I never did anything to them.”

“Of course you didn’t, sweetheart.” Mom slides in to soothe her, rubbing circles on her back as Bea rests her head on my chest.

“Last chance. The more tears she sheds, the angrier I’ll be,” I warn without looking at them.

“The good doctor has something to say,” Dad comments, scowling in her direction.

“Get on with it,” I bark out as Bea’s dainty hands circle around my waist, fisting the back of my shirt.

“They, uh, they hired me to keep an eye on her, to fish out whether or not Bean–”

“Bea,” I snap. She fucking hates that other name.

“Right, sorry. They wanted to know if Bea had caught on to their plans,” she finishes, and I don’t believe her for a second. I already know everything.

“Ten years,” Bea mutters. “Ten years, she was my therapist.”

“You’re lying, Dr. Laura,” I accuse, and before anyone can say or do anything, Lilith strides over to the woman, brandishing a filet knife. King comes forward with a pair of tongs. He tilts Laura’s head back and pulls her tongue out while Lil cuts it out. Making an example of her.

Her cries are muted by the bleeding, and I feel no remorse for the woman. She’s in a hell of her own making.

“Lilith, my queen, why don’t you and Ariel take dear Bea upstairs for some refreshing tea? Her strength is waning.” King kisses his wife, as Luther does his, and they both try to guide Bea out of my arms.

“She called you the Dark Knight, Nolan.” Bea stares up at me. “What does that mean?”

The sisters are crying not-so-quietly from their chains while the stepmother stares horrified at Laura’s tongue on the floor at her knees. Morris still won’t look up at anyone, and it curls the suspicion in my gut.

“It means I’m not a good man, Bea. I don’t do very many legal things, and late at night, when no one suspects it, I end those who betray me. Us.” I don’t blink as she processes my words. This could be the end for us, and I wouldn’t blame her, but I don’t think I’d let her go, either.

Nodding her head, Bea gives one last look at her family before saying, “I hope it was worth it.” She then allows Lilith and Ariel to guide her upstairs.

The door closing behind them is like the final nail in her family's coffin. Whether any of them tell me the truth now doesn’t matter; they’re all going to die. A moment, a very fleeting moment, of guilt pangs in my chest as I stare at the women. I don’t usually make it a habit of killing females, but the things Lake told me these girls bragged about doing to Bea, I can’t let that go.

A beeping phone breaks the silence of the room, startling the people I stare down, and their chains rattle. If I didn’t need Bea to move on with her life so quickly, I’d leave them down here to die of starvation and dehydration. There doesn’t seem to be a much worse death than that.

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