Chapter 150 A BOMB
A BOMB
SLOANE’S POINT OF VIEW.
Fear mixed with doubt and a sense of dread coiled around my throat as I watched Eldric cock and uncock his gun multiple times while he stood not too far from me. I knew what he was doing; an intimidation tactic, and I swear to fuck it’s working.
My eyes left his form to stare at the man I called dad for most of my life, as he sharpened a knife in another part of the dark warehouse. For the past couple of hours I was here, all I could smell was the damp concrete I was seated on, and I had to bear the pain in my lower belly as hunger bit at me. So far, all they’d given me was a cup of dirty water, which still sat at my feet beside the heavy chains.
Lucien….where are you?
My heart can barely take this despair anymore.
I flinched at the sound of Valour’s maniacal laughter, along with the graze of his knife against the iron to sharpen it.
“What are you planning?” I squeaked even as my heart pounded, and my mind screamed at me to shut the hell up. The moment I spoke, both of them turned their focus on me, and I gulped again.
“Curious little thing; aren’t you?” Eldric chuckled and dropped his gun onto the small table. He glares at me, a mix of hatred and amusement in his eyes as he walks towards me while taking slow steps as if he had all the time in the world… and he probably did.
“I just do not believe all you want is the property and the wealth… there’s something else,” I whispered, my eyes narrowed as I glared at him. My jaw still stung from the force of the harsh smacks he gave me barely an hour ago.
“Hey, Valour”, he called without taking his eyes off me. She really should have been your daughter, shouldn’t she? Quite the smart little thing.” He chuckled again, but my uncle didn’t bother with a response. Instead, he continued sharpening his knife.
Suddenly, Eldric leaned against the iron pole and stretched his lips in a smile so wide, I could see his gums. “You see, in many parts of the world, parents resort to certain forms of discipline whenever their children misbehave. In the West, not all of us believe in a certain kind of discipline….hell, even I never believed in it.
But now….” He trailed off, picked up the gun he’d once dropped, and cocked it before aiming it at the spot directly beside my head. “ I fear I have become a believer.” He said through gritted teeth, his tone suddenly becoming much darker to the point where it was almost ominous. Another shiver crawled up my spine as I tried to hide my shudder.
Ever since I'd been brought here, I noticed one thing about Eldric; he got off on fear and intimidation. Once you hide that from a narcissist like him, you’re good.
“And Sloane, my son.” He spat, as if the thought of Lucien being related to him was a curse or poison. “He’s been quite the disgraceful, disrespectful little shit. And I’d like to say it’s your fault.” He released a sound that felt like both a chuckle and a scoff at the same time, before he took steps in my direction again. The moment he got closer, I discreetly slithered so I could hide myself as desperately as possible inside the wall. I’d take anything that would protect me at this point, especially because Eldrioc had whipped a knife from his back pocket all of a sudden.
“Don’t bother hiding, Sloane.” He laughed. “There’s nowhere to run; not from the incoming tragedy anyway.” He held the knife to my cheek, his eyes shining with dark interest and hatred as the smell of stale bread and alcohol hit my senses from his breath. “As I was saying,” He continued while trailing the sharp tip of the knife around my face slowly.
I whimpered from both pain and panic as each move felt like he was cutting into my skin. “Lucien will know what it means to be truly heartbroken and shocked, just before I kill him myself. You want to know why?”
I shook my head, my eyes following the trail of the shiny, silvery knife.
“Good girl.” He smiled in a way that made my skin crawl again. “Because I have a little present, or secret….or you can call it both. And it's certain to render your boyfriend mad with shock and despair.” He whispered, and all of a sudden, he moved the knife from my face to my neck instead, directly in the spot below my collarbone.
“What is the secret?” I whispered, wanting to do or say anything that would make him drop the knife, or at least push it far away from my body.
“You really want to know?” He asked in an amused tone as he arose and stepped away from me. I released a sigh of relief as he moved further away from me, his heavy steps hitting the damp ground as if he carried some other form of weight.
“Yes,” I replied, still trying to get his mind as occupied as possible so that damn knife would not be anywhere close to me.
“See, this feels like a present to me.” His hand rested on his chest as he looked up as if he was about to fucking cry. “I have been waiting for the day I would finally spill this secret….finally let someone see the one clue they’d missed for decades. And honestly, this feels both like a reward and something ironic that you would be the first to see this. And not my son.
But what the hell right?” He released another crazed laughter; this one crazier than the last ones as he walked to the other part of the warehouse that had a weird-looking door.
“Sloane, since you have the honour of seeing my well-kept secret that even my son, with all the power and wealth my left him, could not imagine, or realise….I will give you the pleasure of guessing what my secret is.”
He said in a song-like manner, his eyes shining with the kind of crazy that belonged in a psych ward. I gulped, my eyes fleeting around the warehouse nervously as I worked my brain, or rather tried to. My head still felt fuzzy from the force of his earlier smacks, and the blood that trickled from my hair wasn’t helping matters.
“I’ll give you five seconds….come on, guess.” He laughed, and I opened my mouth to say something, anything out of necessity and fear that he would get aggressive and hurt me again. But all of a sudden, immediately after his last word, he screamed;
“You failed!” He pouts, contorting his face to look like a mask of innocence, but the sight of it only made my insides twist with even more fear. “Now it will have to be even more of a surprise.”
Next thing I knew, he pulled the door open sharply, and with more force than necessary, so it hit the wall with a harsh bang.
I squint my eyes to alleviate the blur so I can see what he refers to. He pulled a small, shaking figure out, and my ears nearly bled from how much I heard the person whimper, both in what sounded like pain and fear.
“Sloane, guess who our esteemed guest is….” He laughed, clapping his hands aggressively.
“I’ll give you five seconds again, use that smart head of yours and guess. If you win, I won’t make Lucien’s death too painful.” He clapped again, but just like last time, he spoke before I could utter a word.
Or rather, he swung into action, lifting the black veil off the figure’s head, or swung it as if it were a bother. Next thing I knew, he grabbed the figure’s chin in a rough grip, so he lifted the head so I could see. The moment my eyes connected with her blue ones, my eyes widened in utter shock… it can’t be.
“No,” I whispered.
“Yes! Yes, Yes! Sloane, it is who you’re seeing……say the name…” Eldric laughed maniacally. This time, the sound was drawn out, almost as if he was rejoicing.
“Alicia.”