Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Pain shoots up my back and down my thighs as Domino places one foot in the middle of my lower back, along with a substantial part of his weight, and I explode into sobs as everything darkens. I can’t get enough air, and my nose is getting congested too. He brought me here to hurt me.
His exhale is exaggerated, as if he’s trying to show me how unbothered he is by my fear. “What did you expect, going behind my back like that, huh? I thought we had an understanding. You come to my place twice a week, and I don’t ask questions. But I didn’t think you’d stoop to bending over for that creep. And I see you’re wearing his patches? You’re my fucking property now!”
He holds me under his boot, and I hear a metallic click that makes my heart pound faster. There’s a tug on my vest, the sound of something ripping. It might as well be my heart being torn apart. Creed put so much love into making that vest for me.
Domino grabs my zip-tied wrists and pulls them up until my arms burn so badly I struggle to stand and get a bit of relief from the pain. I hear him spit, and a hot, wet drop lands on my face. “What’s the next step, pussy boy? Giving freebies at local drug dens?”
He laughs, using my agony-stricken arms as a leash as he leads me onto a harder surface. All I can do is whimper. “I’m sorry.”
“No. I don’t think you are,” he says, and I catch a glimpse of a door through the fabric when a lamp goes on above it. “But we’ll work on that. Then again, maybe this will be exactly the life someone like you secretly needs.”
Tears soak into the blindfold as he forces me down a flight of stairs that feel rough and dusty even through the soles of my shoes. Uncomfortably bent forward, with my arms in an exaggerated arch, I’m terrified of falling, but we finally reach the basement, and faint golden lights come on in various places, confusing me further.
Domino lets go of me at last, and I shiver with relief until a key clangs against the lock, and the truth dawns on me. He’s locking the door. We’re on our own, and he can do anything he wants.
Just like that, I’m covered with cold sweat, but I don’t even know where I am. Trying to run now would be the equivalent of napping in a place frequented by wild tigers, so I stay still, trying to keep my body from shutting down.
Would Creed realize I disappeared in time? Will he know how to find me?
I stiffen when Domino approaches, his body a solid dark form behind the screen of fabric, but then he rips open the string around my neck and removes the bag.
The old-school lightbulbs don’t offer much illumination, but their amber glow reveals a door behind Domino’s back. Maybe that’s what I should focus on, but I can’t charge my way past my abductor, so I turn my head, trying to seek out another exit. All I can see are old boxes and trash scattered across a space the size of a large gym, dappled by pillars supporting the ceiling. Some of the old plaster has cracked or fallen off, revealing raw brick, but closer to where we’re standing I see signs that it hasn’t been abandoned completely.
Boxes and strange appliances are stacked on industrial-strength metal shelves to my left, and to the right is a doorway leading into a darkness that might just take me straight to Hell.
But why would I worry about Hell when I’m already in Domino’s clutches?
I flinch when he pulls out a massive knife from the holster under his armpit and comes closer, but he gestures for me to spin around. I have my doubts, and there are very few things I want less than to stand with my back to him, but I obey, and soon the zip ties fall to the floor.
Domino grabs me by the arm and shoves me against the wall. Black mold has spread over its upper part, but I don’t have it in me to resist and try to breathe calmly to retain some clarity, in case the opportunity to flee arises out of nowhere. For now, I’m a bug pinned to a board, yet the hope for an escape isn’t yet completely gone.
“You thought you could hide from me in Vulture Hollow?” Domino asks, shoving his knee between mine as he places his hand on my head and pushes my cheek against the crumbly surface of the wall. “Did you already forget what I told you when you tried to leave last time?”
Every muscle and tendon in my body is rigid, like untreated hide, and I don’t even dare nod when he presses his teeth to my ear. “We’ll be done when I say we are. Not a day before. Was I not being clear enough for your cumdumpster brain?”