When it did, she could feel her blood pressure rising.
He meant that whatever number it landed on, he would break a bone from that part of her body.
With another smile, he tossed the dice in the air and let it drop to the floor where it bounced a couple of times before rolling to a stop under the table.
“Go get it, see what your number is,” he instructed.
Avery complied.
She wanted him to think she was some docile little girl who was going to do whatever he said whenever he said to do it. That way he wouldn’t see her coming.
She walked to the table, stooped, and looked at the dice.
“What number did you get?” he asked before she could pick it up, coming to stand behind her, presumably in case she lied. What was the point in lying? None of her options were any good.
“Three,” she replied. What was that again? Hands? Depending on what he chose, that shouldn’t be too debilitating. If he’d broken her leg, she wouldn’t have been able to do much, but a hand still left her with options.
“You got lucky, a broken finger isn’t such a bad place to start. Bring me the dice.”
Avery scooped it up and started toward him, pretending she intended to do what he asked. At the last second, she launched herself at him, aiming her shoulder right for his stomach. If she could just stun him long enough to get the key, she could run. Run and not stop until she was far, far away from here.
She threw her entire weight at him, but instead of knocking him down, she simply bounced straight back off him.
For a moment, she was stunned.
She’d given it everything she had, and he hadn’t even staggered.
A hand clamped painfully down on her shoulder, and she was spirited across the room, where he lifted her easily onto the examining table. Although she struggled wildly, it didn't seem to faze him, and in less than a minute, he had her firmly secured.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes.
This was hopeless.
How could she fight him when he was so much bigger than her?
And in a couple of minutes, she would be injured. He hadn’t told her how long he waited in between bone breaks. Would he let her fully recover or just give her a couple of days or a week or two and then move on to the next one?
The man picked up her right hand, which unbeknownst to him was lucky for her because she was left-handed. He felt along her thumb, settling on the top bone.
“This didn't have to hurt, you know. You could have had a local anesthetic, a morphine drip. But you chose not to be a good girl, and now you have to suffer the consequences.”
Then he picked up a small hammer, positioned it carefully, then lifted it and swung it down in one fluid motion.
She was sure she heard the snap of the bone breaking.
The pain was swift and sudden.
Avery could feel her heartbeat getting louder and louder until it seemed to reverberate through the room, the sound deafening.
The world shimmered around her, then dissolved into nothingness.
*****
7:36 P.M.
He felt like scum.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been so hard on Chloe.