by Mason, V. F.
“Don’t resist it, Esmeralda.”
“You want the cravings to stop, right? So you won’t hurt anyone else like you hurt Marina?” He frowns but still nods, holding the knife above me. “You need to kill me in order to achieve it. I’m the only victim who escaped you.” He clearly doesn’t understand what I’m getting at but listens nevertheless. “You have to do it as you planned all those years ago. Shoot me in my old room.” My heart beats wildly in my chest, and I’m so nervous and scared it’s a wonder my teeth don’t chatter. “Where I’m helpless without any ties. Rituals can be complete only if everything is exactly like it was.”
He rubs his chin, rocking back on his heels and studying me carefully.
I really pray that destiny is on my side right now, and his psyche will believe this bullshit, which will give me room for escape.
All I need is for him to untie the stupid knots.
“You’re right.” He pats me on the cheek as revulsion washes over me. I want to spit in his face and stab the stupid knife into him, but outwardly I stay calm. “We have to go upstairs.” He forcefully pushes me up, and I groan when I step on my injured foot. “Quicker.” He drags me after him, my insides screaming at me to stop so this pain traveling through my leg will end.
I follow him to the second story where he pushes me inside the room, and I fall on the floor, hitting my chin once again.
Then he flips his knife through his fingers as he walks closer and halts his movements. “I forgot my gun.” He shakes his head. “Stabbing you would do too. I’m tired of all these horrible cravings poisoning my mind.”
He kneels above me, grabs my hands, and then cuts the ropes with the knife.
He wraps his hand around the handle, raises it up ready to deliver his fatal blow, when I finally make a move.
I pray Lucian will get here faster, because this time around, I won’t have a second chance.
If my plan fails, I’ll die.
Lucian
Gripping the steering wheel tighter, I press on the gas pedal, flying along the highway and navigating between the cars, ignoring various honks for cutting them off.
Twenty minutes.
That’s how long I’ve been on the road, conquering the distance in record time to get to Esmeralda before the fucker does damage to her.
She will be fine though; thinking anything else is not an option. Besides, my wife saved herself at the age of ten. She’s a fighter. She’ll find a way to escape.
Although the idea that she, my woman, mine, has to face it all alone without me again sends me into a deep rage where the beast wants to claw someone.
Preferably until that person bleeds.
I see the opening toward the woods. The trees are stuck together in the distance, while the empty space greets me, inviting me to discover what hides inside the forest.
Taking a hard turn, the tires screeching against the asphalt, I steer onto the narrow road leading into the woods where that fucking house should be located.
All this only proves how Alec lost his head a long time ago and now operates on his hunting instincts alone.
He didn’t cover his crimes or work on any kind of alibi. The fucker either plans to die or really has gone so insane he thinks no one would search for my wife, letting him get away with it like all those years ago.
A serial killer who no longer sees the difference between reality and illusion is very dangerous, because he has no brakes to stop him.
And where there are no brakes or logic—
A strong hit sends me flying forward, and I look at the rearview mirror, spotting a black car tailing me, purposely driving into my trunk once again.
What in the fuck?
Did Alec think a few steps ahead, an uncharacteristic behavior for his hard case, hiring someone to protect the land in case I show up?
Scratch that.
He knew I’d show up, so he thought in advance?
Except that’s impossible.
The narrow road doesn’t leave much room to wiggle, but I quickly swing to the side as he tries again to slam into me, and I watch him in the mirror. A growl slips past me when I finally identify the driver.
Andreas.
He’s a dead man walking now.
The fucker got so angry he decided to stand in my way.
The structure building in my head for days, matching all the facts together, shapes into a hideous realization that sends rage, betrayal, and even deep-down pain through me because the uncovered truth is a hard pill to swallow.
I shift to the side, avoiding his hit, pressing on the gas pedal.
The new James who tried to establish his empire and do despicable things to kids is Andreas.
His money, confidence, old friendship with Alec where he probably played on his psychotic state to use to his advantage, his sudden appearance in my life to offering to work together so he could use my connections once again.
A boy who lived with me in a nightmare from which most children do not get out of and experienced firsthand what it is like to be at the mercy of cruel and greedy people decided to subject other kids to such hell.
How in the fuck?
I knew he was a fuckup, had no morals, respect, and even his behavior toward women.
But I thought he’d never fucking ever go as far as participate in the crimes that cost us our souls.
How did that hell produce such two different outcomes?
I hate these demons and crave to kill them all so no one experiences this shit, and he wants to be one of them, enjoying the tortures?
A bullet ricochets off the car, and then I feel the tire dip, my car moving to the side, so I grip the steering wheel, trying to control the situation, while he fires more bullets my way.
Does he plan to blow up my car? We’d both be dead in that case.
Is he fucking insane?
Although, that’s a rhetorical question now. Ironically, Andreas isn’t that smart since he let his emotions rule him as well, judging by his actions.
The opening toward the deeper woods comes into view. I cannot allow myself to drive there though because if the car blows up inside the woods, the consequences might be catastrophic.
My hesitation costs me when he slams into my trunk again, sending me flying to the side, and since two tires are flat, the vehicle swerves uncontrollably, heading straight toward the huge stone sign stating this is private property.
I open the car door, ready to jump, but don’t allow enough time, and before I know it, the bumper meets the stone and my head bangs on the steering wheel, sending pain through my scalp.
Dizziness overtakes me, my ears become deaf for a second, and I feel warm blood sliding down my forehead. I barely manage to unfasten my seatbelt that saved me from a bigger impact, yet my body hurts everywhere.
Slowly lifting my head, I blink several times to clear my vision that’s so blurry, but I know I have to get the fuck out, because who knows what will happen if the gasoline is leaking.
“Esmeralda,” I whisper, pressing on the handle as the door opens, slipping a gust of wind inside that only adds to my misery.
I roll out, falling on my knees and hands, when I hear heavy footsteps crunching the ground underneath them.
Andreas speaks up. “I always knew that bravery would be your undoing.” He tsks. “Heroes always die a heroic death, just becoming a fleeting memory in time. Now, the villains live far longer. And get all the glory.”
I raise my eyes to see him standing several feet away, holding a gun pointed at me.
Mine stayed in the fucking car.
Gathering all my strength in my fist, I get up, leaning on the vehicle, but since the fuel drips on the asphalt, I have zero time for Andreas’s speeches.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I reply, even though every move of my jaw shoots pain through my head. “You aren’t a villain. Coward at most… a rat at worst. Although rats are smart, which cannot be said about you.”
His eyes flash in anger, and he step
s closer, flicking the safety off while I stay glued to my spot, waiting for him.
A true hunter doesn’t make idiotic moves, something Andreas has no idea about.
“Well, if I wasn’t smart, you’d remember what happened all those years ago in James’s dungeon.” I freeze, focusing my stare on him, and he smirks. “You came rushing at me, wanting to save the day just as James promised to make me his heir apparent.” God, I should have seen his madness sooner. It explains why he was so calm during the last two years in captivity. “And you barged in trying to kill him, managing to shoot him in the leg, can you believe? I had to hit you hard in the head until you lost consciousness.” That’s why his face was the first one I saw in the hospital. The coward made sure his tracks were covered. “Still I loved you. You are my brother,” he says, slapping his chest. “James planned to leave without me, so I didn’t care if he got killed.” He scrunches his nose. “Liars don’t deserve mercy.” I take a step to the right, farther from the car while he takes another step closer to me, following me into my trap.
While I wish to kill him slowly for years, torturing him in my dungeon, so he’ll fucking regret ever thinking about rebuilding the despicable legacy, my woman needs me now.
He has to be killed as soon as possible, because right now, he is an annoyance standing in my way.
Andreas isn’t a hunter by nature, so he doesn’t have self-preservation instincts. The only reason he even decided to face me now is because he thinks he’s got me in a weakened state and not clear minded.
“After everything that was done to us by Francis, all the rape and torture. You recruited him to train other kids like that?” I spit on the ground. “You’re worse than a coward, Andreas.”
He snarls, “I have a vision!” His high-pitched scream annoys my ears. “Look at us! We are strong, successful, the world lies at our feet.” What in the fuck is that supposed to mean? “James’s hell was perfect. Don’t you understand? It allowed for natural selection. The weaker ones died, and the strongest ones survived.”
Now this goes beyond crazy.
Andreas comes closer, almost close enough, although still firmly holding the gun and pointing it at my head. “Me and you have strong genes. Imagine if we combine them?” He sighs. “Your line produces strong heirs. If you’d just listened to me and valued our friendship, we’d see our genes prosper.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind, Andreas.”
Unfortunately, the boy with whom I shared a cage became a rare statistic where all the shit done to him inspired him to inflict similar hurt to others instead of rising above it or protecting the injured party.
“You got blinded by that love. She took you away from me,” he hisses, anger settling on his face as he kicks the ground. “If it wasn’t for her, you would have accepted my proposition.”
Distorted reality.
He can’t possibly fathom that among the two of us, he was the one who grew up into a truly hideous creature, and the shame that lived inside that small boy still exists within him, searching for someone to blame it on, so he won’t have to face his disastrous actions.
And Esmeralda is the perfect target for it.
The human psyche is very smart; it protects us from a lot of pain, justifying in our heads all the shit we do.
“Never. I never would have accepted it,” I grit through my teeth, patiently waiting for him to move forward, reaching my side faster. “Compared to you, I didn’t grow up into a sorry excuse of a man.” A beat, and I press on his weak spot. “What is it, Andreas? Still sad Mommy didn’t love you enough to keep you?”
“Shut up!” he screams, taking two more steps forward, almost there.
“Maybe you don’t have such great genes after all. She’d have kept you otherwise.”
The last sentence breaks the camel’s back, and he throws himself at me with a loud roar. “I said shut up!”
I meet him head-on, gripping the gun in his hand, but surprisingly he has a strong hold on it.
We fight for it as we tumble to the ground, the sand flying up around us and getting in our noses, eyes, and mouths. Our free hands throw blows, all while the tug-of-war between us continues.
And the gas continues to drip on the ground.
I grip the gun harder, pressing it away from any important organs and hit Andreas which results in him pulling the trigger.
The air hitches in my throat when the bullet pierces into me, agonizing burning sensations swirling fire inside me.
We freeze. Andreas’s eyes widen, but then a sadistic smile curves his mouth. “Bravery never pays off.” He pulls the trigger again, and stilling my groan, I clench my fist, slamming it right into his nose that cracks under my assault.
His head goes backward, and I use this opportunity to deliver several more blows to him until my knuckles smear in his blood, and he barely breathes.
Pain assaults me from every corner. Breathing in this moment is an impossible chore, but I block it all away and focus only on the adrenaline running high in my veins, which will temporarily give me strength to save my princess.
Standing up on wobbly legs, I grab the gun and then race off into the woods, but not before turning around and firing bullets at the car several times until finally it blows up, the orange-blue smoke blazing wildly, consuming Andreas and his madness.
For only the devil himself would survive it.
The blood pours from my wounds. My head still spins after the blow, but I think only about my destination.
Increasing my pace, I pay no attention to anything, but my woman who calls my name in my mind, needing my help, because so much time has been wasted already.
I stumble a little, falling on my knees again, breathing heavily as my insides scream to just lie down and face the inevitable.
Clawing the ground, I jump up again using all the experience that came before this to withstand this agony and keep moving to save Esmeralda.
And as I rush with all my might to her, I say the mantra to myself that I haven’t uttered in more than twenty years.
Survive, Lucian.
Survive until you can beat them.
Esmeralda
I knee him hard between his legs, and he cries out in the pain, swinging to the side, his knife falling on the floor while I scoot out from under him, crawling toward the door and then jumping up.
My feet slap against the wood, pain crushing me in torturous waves, my limb refusing to listen to me, but I race to the stairs, getting several steps down before Alec fists my hair, dragging me back, and my scream bounces off the walls. “Ungrateful, girl!” he shouts, trying to pull me back upstairs, but I hold on to the railing and duck when he tries to slice my throat, the tip nicking me on the shoulder instead. “After all the love I’ve shown you!”
I’d laugh if the situation wasn’t so tragic and dangerous.
He killed my entire family and created this psycho house to end me; his idea of love should be forbidden.
“Go to hell!” I hiss, still moving toward my destination despite his strong grip that almost rips my hair out.
Since he stayed on the first step, he shakes a little, losing his balance and stumbling forward, knocking me several steps, which only adds to the agony my ankle experiences.
He loosens his hold on my hair, and I use this to sprint the remaining steps, as he regroups and pushes his knife my way. This time, he nicks my arm, but I veer to the side, avoiding the full stab.
My whole attention is on the door ahead of me. I race toward it, but my feet slip on the floor, and I fall on my ass, which gives him enough time to wrap his hand around my hair again. “Every Hugh girl is ungrateful. I ought to kill that grandmother of yours as well for all the disrespect she has shown me in the past.” He pulls me on my knees and drags me to the fireplace, flipping his knife between his fingers. “You’re a witch who cursed me, and all witches need to burn. This is how you will die.”
I struggle in his hold, trying to get free, but nothing works.
We near the fireplace, and he tilts my head back, making me whimper from the action. He puts the tip of the knife on my cheek. “You deserve a long and agonizing death for all the shit you put me through.” He slides it to my jaw, not pressing hard enough to draw blood though. “A sliced throat is an honor you will not get.”
Disgusting psycho.
I hope he burns in hell.
“Lucian will come after me. If I die, you’ll die too.” I laugh in his face when he shakes me, tugging on my strands harder. “An agonizing death at that.”
“Shut up! He’s my friend.” Yeah, right. He’d never be friends with someone like him.
I finally understand that my villain could never even compare to the true monsters existing on this earth, and if he kills men like this?
Good riddance I say.
He throws his knife away and grabs the poker, flicking the fireplace screen open. Instantly heat fans my face. Does he plan to stick my head inside and watch me burn while he slices my arteries open and drinks my blood?
Never!
He takes a step, the underside of his knee appearing right in front of me, and without thinking, I punch him there hard.
He screams, his leg wobbling, leans on the fireplace surround, and to keep his balance he smacks both of his hands on it, which gives me freedom.
Although this time my destination is different. I crawl with all my might to the table, while he shouts, “You stupid bitch!” Lifting the poker up, he’s ready to deliver his hit.
That’s when I grab the gun and fall on my back, firing several bullets at his chest, and he freezes, shock filling his orbs. The poker falls on the floor with a loud clatter.
While he glances down at the blood pouring from him, he makes a move in my direction, so I fire again.
One. Two. Three times until he takes a step back, swaying a little, choking on his blood, and I fire again for good measure. He finally collapses on his face just inches away from me, the red liquid rapidly circling his body.
I catch my breath while only one thought remains in my head.
I killed him.
I killed the monster chasing me in my nightmares.
Over.
It’s over.