Aurora
Present
I’m strappedto the van with actual metal cuffs now, and they sting against my skin. I try to ignore it and focus, but it’s so damn hard. All I can think about is Beast.
He’s alive.
He really is alive.
My heart flutters at the thought of seeing him again.
But then I remember Lex caught him, and my heart immediately sinks into my shoes.
What if they hurt him? Gave him so much pain his soul left his body?
What if he … gave up?
I swallow away the lump in my throat. I won’t know until I see him for myself.
But what if Lex doesn’t let me see him?
It would be just the kind of torturous thing he’d do just for fun.
“We’re here,” the driver says to the other guard, and the van stops.
After a few seconds, the door slides open, and I push myself off the floor to keep the guards from grabbing me but to no avail.
“No, don’t touch me!” I scream as they grasp ahold of my legs and step inside.
“Shut up!”
SMACK!
The punch to my face is ruthless and instantly makes my cheeks red with pain.
I’m momentarily stunned by the harsh treatment.
Dave takes it as an opportunity to release my cuffs and unhook me from the van. The guards drag me out and violently shove my hands behind my back, tying them up again. “Don’t fucking resist, or I’ll smack you even harder next time,” Dave says.
“You always hit defenseless girls?” I spit.
I don’t know, but I’ve gotten so much more ready to throw back insults after what they put me through. I guess seeing death right in front of you and having your own father basically disown you as his daughter changes you.
“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to put a dirty sock in your mouth,” he growls, pointing at my face.
I imitate biting it off, and he immediately retracts his finger. “Goddamn filth.”
I throw him a stink-eye, but another guard shoves me. “Walk. Now.”
We go inside the mansion, the mere sight of the place making me cower in fear because I know all too well what happens inside. The door is already open, and a bunch of guards stare at me like I’m the cause of their misery.
“Where does Lex want me to take her?” one guard asks another.
“Lex is gone for the moment,” another guard replies. “He left me in charge.”
“Fine, where do you want her?”
“Down in the hole,” the other guard replies.