“Each player is to have one tooth extracted of the tormentor’s choosing using these,” Archard says, holding up what looks like pliers.
I moan, but not because this is going to hurt too badly. Teeth extraction seems pretty low on a list of torture. But I don’t want to put Kai through that pain. And with how twisted Milo is, I wouldn’t put it past him to choose one of her front teeth. While it would probably be less painful because there are fewer roots in the front teeth, she would forever look disfigured.
“Enzo is up first,” Archard says, holding the pliers up to Langston.
Langston takes them and spins them in his hand casually. He looks over at the chair in the corner of the room. “Take a seat.”
I sit down in the chair as Langston approaches.
“Do I need to restrain you?” he asks with a laugh.
“No, but payback is a bitch.”
Langston chuckles and then grabs my jaw, opening it, as he decides which tooth to pull. “You don’t get to retaliate when I’m doing what you ask and keeping Kai safe. And unfortunately, that means extracting as much pain from you as quickly as possible. Because the only way she will surrender and save herself is if she thinks you are in too much pain to handle any more. So you better sell the pain and agony and not act like you are above it.”
“This is for the black eye you gave me in the eighth grade,” Langston says louder so everyone can hear. He puts the pliers into my mouth, reaching all the way to the back to grab a molar, and then he tugs.
I moan loudly as soon as he touches the tooth. I grip the handlebars and stomp my feet like he’s torturing me, but honestly, I can barely feel the pressure in my mouth.
He twists sharply, breaking one of the roots off from my gums. I can hear the loud crunch, but I might as well have anesthesia pumping through my body. That’s how little this hurts.
I glance over at Milo, and I see the glint in his eyes. He injected me with more drugs. Fuck, how did I not notice him inject me again? He must have done it when we were first let out of the cells.
It’s cheating, but if I say anything Kai is dead. And it’s not breaking the rules anyway; there are no rules. There is no such thing as cheating.
I try my best to keep up the act that Langston is torturing me as he continues to break each root free slowly and methodically. And then he finally jerks the tooth free. But all that is left of the pain is the blood oozing in my mouth and the sweat on Langston’s brow. He may have pretended he wanted to torture me, but he hated it.
I glance over at Kai, who is frowning. She’s not buying my pained and tortured act. Her eyes flick up at Langston with a struggling expression on her face as if to say—I thought you were on my side. And torturing the man I love isn’t doing that.
Langston doesn’t apologize, though. He was never one to apologize for doing what he thought was right. And I don’t blame him; he should never apologize for protecting Kai.
“My turn,” Milo says, walking to Langston to grab the pliers.
Milo grabs them before Langston even has time to wipe off the blood. I know it won’t freak Kai out to taste my blood, but it would make me feel better if he did it.
Kai doesn
’t look at Milo or the pliers, and I know where she’s going. I can see her mind shutting me out. Her heart turning colder, locking itself in its cage. I don’t think she will completely shut herself away, at least not to complete this round, but if the rounds keep getting harder, she might eventually shut it all off, shut me out, and then she will be unstoppable. With her feelings shut off, she won’t be able to feel anything, including the torment. She’ll play fearlessly and ruthlessly, no matter what. I will have to stop her if I don’t want her to get seriously hurt.
“Let’s go, bitch,” Milo says, pushing her toward the chair.
I jump up. I’m not going to deal with this. I walk straight to Milo, and I punch him hard in the face. I hear the snap of his jaw and witness blood bust free from his lip.
I wait for the inevitable blow I’m about to receive back, but when Milo gathers himself, he just laughs at my reaction, like he was purposefully goading me on to show Kai how far I’ll go to save her. And that she just needs to give up now.
“You treat her with respect, or I’ll end you and our deal. Do you understand me?”
Milo twirls the pliers in his hand, continuing to laugh. But I see everyone else’s faces in the room—Archard’s, Langston’s, Liesel’s. They all look horrified and in awe of what I just did. And I know it’s not the punch causing them to look like this. It’s the look on my own face. The anger pulsing through my veins has them scared. Because when I get this way, there is no telling what is going to happen next.
Kai doesn’t even register the exchange. She’s gone to her safe place—and that scares me just as much, because as much as my body is pumped filled with narcotics to keep me from feeling any pain, her body has shut off all her nerve receptors. She won’t feel anything either.
“Take a seat,” Milo says to Kai.
She looks at him with a blank expression and starts walking to the chair. She brushes past me, and I let my fingertips brush against hers, hoping the tingling feeling will melt some of the cold walls she put up.
When I touch her, she finally looks at me. But instead of a smile, I get a glare—dark, brooding, and pained.
I reluctantly step out of her way. Liesel comes over to stand next to me; I assume to offer me support as I watch the woman I love be tortured by a madman.