Shrugging, I bring the clippers to his hand again and take off his other thumb. After howling, a burst of laughter erupts from him. I know he thinks I’ll give up just because he believes he can handle it. Eventually, he’ll reach his pain threshold and cave, giving me precisely what I want.
Standing up, I notice Daia looking a little green, but I can’t concern myself with her emotional state right now. The girl was given the option to leave, and she chose to stay. “How many children did your church take?” I ask as I grab the bag with all the files in it. “I have every file in the church, so don’t lie to me.”
As he ponders my question, I walk into the master suite to grab a few more tools I brought with me. A blow torch, rolling pin, and barbed wire. Sometimes a little visual stimulation will get a man talking. “Well?” Looking at him, I see his eyes are closed, and he’s mouthing a prayer. “Don’t bother, Father, there’s nothing left of your soul to pray for.”
Snatching the end of the rope on the table, I tie one leg to the chair he’s sitting in while propping the other one up on the chair I was in and securing it in place with his foot hanging over the edge. He pauses in his prayer to breathe deeply but continues again when I move back to the table. Wrapping the wire around the rolling pin, I grab a random file.
“Beatrice Windsor of London. You went a long way to get her. Where’s she now?” He ignores me. Getting a good grip on the handle of the rolling pin, I swing my arm back before bringing it forward to smash into the bottom of his foot.
His entire body stiffens, and he bites his lip. I can see he’s determined to act like this has no effect on him. “1998 you snatched her up.” I help refresh his memory. “She was gone a couple of weeks later, only four months old.” His eyes open, and he stares at Daia. For a girl like her, she’s likely feeling intimidated by the man. “You’re not going to get her on your side,” I say, bringing the pin down on his foot again. A whimper escapes past his lips. My grin is slow to crawl across my face.
I continue with the rolling pin until he’s screaming and the skin on his foot is shredded. Blood is splattered everywhere, and he’s visibly shaking from the exertion. I admit I’m surprised he hasn’t begged me to stop yet.
“Are you going to tell me where they have Isabel now, Father?”
He spits the saliva from his mouth before his sweat-stained face peers up at me. “Please, no more, please.”
“You can beg all you want, but you need to tell me where she is.” There is no compromise on that. I won’t stop until I have her location, or he’s dead. Whichever comes first.
“Please, Father Cassio, please tell him where she is. This has to stop.” My gaze remains steady on the man, but I see his eyes soften at Daia’s plea. He’s not nearly as unmoved by the girl as he wants me to believe.
“Fine,” he whimpers. “Fine. There’s an old chapel on the way out of the city towards the east. They’ll have her there. In one of the buildings.” My first instinct is to leave immediately, but I’m no fool. I’ve not lived this long to trust the enemy on word alone.
“Daia!” I snap her name with a hint of rage in my tone. “Get out.” I hear her scramble to her feet and rush down the hall to the bathroom where she quietly closes the door. “I’m not a trusting man by nature, Cassio.” Capturing the handle of the blow torch from where it lays on the table, I bring the intimidating device to life. With a pop and hiss, the flame fires up. “I don’t believe everything you’re saying.”
“But I told you.” His eyes follow the flame as I move in front of him. Crouching down where his foot is still propped up on the chair, I bring it close enough to burn a hole through his pant leg. “I’m telling the truth!”
“I need to be certain, though.” My eyes flick a look up to him. “You understand.” Struggling to get away from the hot flame as I bring it closer to his leg, Cassio screams as the burning penetrates the fabric and touches his skin.
Five seconds he lasts.
“Wait, wait, please, I’ll tell you…” Out of breath, he swallows before looking up at me. “It’s true, that’s where she is, but there’s security cameras starting five kilometers before the property. They’ll see you coming.”
“Wasn’t so hard, was it?” Patting his leg above the burn, he winces. “Once I find her, I’ll be back. You’ll be…free.”
* * *
Isabel
They watch me. Staring as though they’re caressing me. My skin crawls every time either of them make a moaning sound and grab the front of their pants. I don’t know what they’re waiting for, but something is holding them back, and I’m sure I’m better off in the dark right now. I don’t know if it’s Father Cassio or the prince I’ve been sold to, and I’m not sure which is more terrifying.
“He knows she’s not a virgin anymore, right?” Ephrem whispers to Judas who retrieves a small knife from his pocket, flicking it open and standing to his full height.
“I left a message.” I know why there’s been no callback. Pace went for Father Cassio. “Go check the cameras at the house by the church. See if those fools fucked up.” I’ve gathered there are six of them involved in my abduction.
Ephrem, Judas, the two morons who took me, and another two in what they keep calling a distraction house. Why they haven’t just handed me over is a mystery. I stopped asking questions when Judas touched me with each one. I always got sick on him too, then he’d hit me.
I’m tired.
So very tired.
I thought Pace would be my answer to freedom and life. It seems I was only meant to have a scant taste of it, though.
“You know what I really want?” Judas asks as he walks around me. I don’t think he’s expecting an answer, and I don’t really care what it is he wants because I know it’s going to involve me, and I’m going to hate it. Gripping my chin roughly, he lifts my head so that I’m forced to look up at him. “Your lips wrapped around my cock.”
I can’t help but laugh at him. “You want me to puke all over that, too?” In truth, the very idea of him forcing that act on me cuts me to the bone. I don’t want him in my body let alone my mouth. However, if he tries, I’ve at least got my teeth as a weapon because there’s no way I won’t bite it off.
“I’ll just choke you with it.” Gasping as I feel the knife I’d forgotten about slicing along my thigh, I stare down in horror as blood glides down my thigh, dripping onto the floor, splashing in slow motion and spreading across the cement. I feel the blade down by my knee, and before I can think, my head moves, and I head butt Judas, crunching the bone in his nose.