Mav laughs beside me, his eyes dancing with excitement as he leans forward to speak to the piece of shit. “You can scream as much as you like. No one can hear you out here.”
And just like that, the screams die out. “You guys can’t do this.”
“Watch us.” I grab him by the hair and drag him from the trunk, dropping him face down in the dirt.
Raleigh scrambles on the ground, rolling himself over so he’s looking up at us. He looks so afraid I think he might actually piss himself. Whatever buzz he was riding before has well and truly gone. One eye is already swollen shut and his lip is still bleeding from where Lincoln laid hands on him.
“What are you going to do to me?” His voice wobbles and I roll my eyes. Why is it that the entitled assholes who don’t know how to take no for an answer are the first ones to crumble?
Mav reaches down and yanks him to his feet by the throat. “Oh, QB. I warned you once already about touching Octavia. What do you think I’m going to do to you for what you did?”
Raleigh pales as his eyes go wide, the reality of his situation sinking in. “You can’t. My mom won’t join. Not if something happens to me. The Knights need those connections.”
“You think you’re the only one with connections?” I ask, letting the silence of the night fill the space once I’m finished speaking. I learned long ago that there is power in silence. Words have more power when you use them less often. People fear noise, but there’s something unsettling in silence that most can’t handle; something that resonates with the darkest parts of our souls and brings them forward, reminding us that we all have those secret parts of ourselves that we try to hide away from the world.
“Please, you guys, I’ll do whatever you want,” he begs, and Mav grips his throat tighter until his breaths come in strangled, rattling gasps.
“Pathetic. If I wanted you to beg, I’d tell you to beg.” He releases him, letting him drop to his knees before pulling his knife from its sheath at the small of his back. Raleigh whimpers in the dirt like a fucking coward as Mav crouches down. He cuts the rope at Raleigh’s ankles before straightening and kicking him square in the chest.
Raleigh crumples to the ground, wheezing.
I look down at him, a sneer on my face, making sure to catch his gaze before speaking. “Get up. And if you even think about running, I’ll slit your throat myself.”
He whimpers and I turn my back on him, looking over at Mav who grins sadistically down at our toy. “He said get up!”
I head into the ruins, ignoring the wildlife that scatters as my footsteps echo through the cement and stone entry. Footsteps behind me let me know that Mav and Raleigh aren’t far behind. I descend the crumbling spiral staircase, using the flashlight on my phone to illuminate the way down.
As I reach the lower floor, the lights flicker on, the lone hall illuminated in a sickly shade of yellow, leading to the only door down here.
The elevator.
The lights flicker in and out, buzzing like a fucking mosquito in my ear. I’m halfway down the hall when Raleigh stumbles onto the cement. I turn in time to see him faceplant and I’m not sure if he tripped or if Mav pushed him. Either way, I don’t care. He whimpers. Once I reach the elevator, I push the button to call the car and try to shove away the memories of the first time I came here. It’s hard to believe that it was nearly five years ago.
It was the day that changed my life and took away every hope and dream I ever had.
This is the place where dreams come to die.
The place where innocence is stripped and any semblance of freedom you thought you had is caged up and put on display as a mocking reminder of a life you once lived.
The weight of the guns in the shoulder holster under my jacket are yet another reminder of just how far I’ve come since I learned these tortured halls existed.
The ding of the elevator echoes in the space as the two of them finally catch up. I step into the car, turning to face them once I’m in. Raleigh has a bloody nose to add to his collection of minor lacerations and contusions, and the blood on Maverick’s knuckles tells the rest of the story. I say nothing as I lean against the metal wall, waiting for them to join me.
“What is this place?” Raleigh stammers as Mav pushes him into the car without a word. He steps in and stands beside me, his arms at his sides, hands clenched as he bounces on the balls of his feet.
Mav was made for this world long before we ever knew about it. I’ve never figured out if his dad was intentionally merciful in never letting him know a life outside of this, or just a twisted sadist.
There’s a reason we tried to keep Octavia from The Cove.
This place is just one of the many reasons we tried to protect her from this world, but I think we might be swimming out of our depths in trying to save her.
She was always our light, but even the brightest of lights fades in the depth of this darkness.
That’s what the last five years have taught me.
Taught us all.
Raleigh’s whimpers fill the silence as the elevator descends into the depths of hell. Six basement levels of pure nightmares.