Chapter 31 BANG
AHHHHHHHHHH! LET ME GO!” Avery screamed as she was dragged toward a place she didn’t recognize. The coarse sack they’d yanked over her head was pitch-black and reeked so badly she couldn’t even try to sniff out where they were taking her, the same men who had snatched her off the street, thrown her into a car, and knocked her unconscious.
Her feet barely touched the floor as the two behemoths hauled her along, but whenever they did, the cold tiles sent ice through her soles. Her blood ran cold.
It couldn’t be.
It couldn’t be.
They couldn’t have found me this fast.
The thought hammered inside her skull. It might seem strange, how could she suddenly know where she was? but if you’d walked on those exact cold tiles your entire childhood, barefoot or in shoes, you would recognize them too.
Avery would know the house she grew up in even if she were blind.
Suddenly the men stopped. The air was frigid; goosebumps raced across her skin. Their meaty hands stayed clamped around her arms.
Footsteps approached, heavy, slow. Then the sack was ripped off her head. Blinding light stabbed her eyes. She squeezed them shut, blinking rapidly until the spots faded.
A few feet away stood the two people she had prayed never to see again.
The spawn of Satan who called himself her father, that was how she thought of him and beside him her mother, the eternal doormat. Relief flickered across Alyssa’s face, but Avery knew it wasn’t because her mother was glad she was safe. It was relief that Charles now had someone else to torment too.
“Let her go,” Charles said, flicking his hand dismissively.
The men released her. Avery staggered, barely catching her balance.
It didn’t last. The moment she looked up and met Charles’s eyes, his hand flashed.
THWACK
The slap spun her a full three-sixty. She hit the floor hard, mouth splitting, the copper taste of blood flooding her tongue.
“Charles…” Alyssa whispered in a small, trembling voice.
One glare from him silenced her. She dropped her gaze to her feet like a kicked dog.
Charles stepped forward. Avery glared up at him, hate blazing in her eyes.
“Still that rebellious look, you little brat,” he snarled, then drove his foot into her stomach.
Avery screamed. Alyssa gasped and turned away, heart pounding with helpless guilt.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Boot against flesh, against bone. Blood sprayed from Avery’s lips, spattering the white tiles. She groaned and tried to crawl away.
Charles lunged, crouched, and fisted her long hair, yanking her face toward his. Tears streamed down her cheeks; blood poured from her nose and mouth. Yet the fire in her eyes hadn’t dimmed.
He laughed softly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, almost tenderly. “You really are your father’s daughter.”
PWTAH.
“I’m nothing like you, you bastard,” she spat, the glob landing square on his cheek.
His eyes flared. For a moment he only stared as the spit slid down his face. Then he smiled, dragged her head closer, and wiped it off with her own hair.
But he didn’t hit her again. Instead he leaned in. “You keep pushing me to ruin this pretty face. Lucky for you, you’re still useful. The same can’t be said for that little boyfriend you ran off with.”
He flicked his fingers. One of the giants stepped forward and turned an iPad toward her. On the paused screen was Leroy’s terrified face.
“Leroy…” The name left her lips as a broken gasp.
“Dad, please, no…”
“Oh, it’s Dad now? Not ‘bastard’ anymore?” Charles mocked. He nodded to the man.
The video played.
Screams, Leroy’s screams filled the room as pliers ripped out his teeth, then his fingernails. Blood poured down his chest. For one horrifying second it felt like he was staring straight at her through the screen.
Then a shadow moved behind him. A gun pressed against his temple.
“NOOOOOOOO!” Avery’s scream tore her throat raw.
She dropped to her knees or tried to, Charles still gripping her hair and clasped her hands together. “Please! I’ll do anything! I’ll marry Ravial, just please, please don’t…”
Charles’s smile was sickeningly sweet. “There it is. That’s the look Daddy’s been waiting for.”
He glanced at the iPad and gave a small nod.
BANG.
Blood and brain matter exploded across the camera lens.
Avery’s scream wasn’t human anymore. Charles released her hair, shoving her away. She crumpled against the floor, howling.
Charles turned to Alyssa, who stood trembling, face turned away, tears dripping off her chin.
“Get your daughter under control,” he said calmly as he passed her, “or next time I’ll do to her exactly what I just did to him. And you know I don’t bluff.”
He climbed the stairs without looking back, as if nothing had happened.
Alyssa finally turned. Avery
lay curled on the bloody tiles, sobbing, shaking, broken.
Their nightmare was far from over.