‘You gotta understand, Stone, that they can give me the fucking electric chair once I’m done with you. All I want is your last breath. I want to watch the life fade from your eyes and for me to be the last thing you ever see.’
‘So let the girls go,’ she said as he pushed open the front door of the middle cottage.
‘Oh no. I have big plans for those two little girlies.’
Kim’s stomach turned at the anticipation in his voice.
‘And you’re gonna watch every single minute cos I know how badly that will fuck you up while you wait for your turn. You’re gonna die with a broken body and a broken head.’
He pushed her into a room on the left.
Her legs were still tied together, and her hands were behind her back.
She had no choice but to fall. She twisted herself slightly so she fell on her right arm and not her face.
She heard a small squeal as she fell. The sound was music to her ears. They were alive.
‘Over there,’ he said, nudging her to the far wall.
He moved to the corner and switched on a high-beam torch. It lit up the room, and once her eyes adjusted to the glare, she saw two young girls huddled together against the wall behind the door. They looked dirty, pale and terrified. But they were alive. She’d take frightened over dead any day of the week.
She fought down her rage at their tiny wrists and ankles bound by tie wraps. Their mouths covered with duct tape. The corner of one had come loose, which is why she’d heard the scream.
A single empty bottle of water stood a few feet away from them. There was no evidence of food. He’d done only what was necessary to keep them alive. She remembered the state in which she’d found Edna. Why would she be surprised? Why would he treat two little girls any differently when his plan was to beat them to death anyway?
The fact that their mouths were covered only highlighted the terror in their eyes.
‘It’s okay, girls,’ Kim said, trying to sound reassuring.
‘Is it fuck,’ Symes said, punching her in the side of the head. She blinked away the stars to keep eye contact with the girls.
‘The girlies don’t know what’s gonna happen. I’ve been saving that pleasure for your arrival,’ he said, walking perilously close to them. They recoiled and tried to push themselves further against the wall.
She fought every urge inside her to scream out not to touch them, knowing he would use them to torture her more.
He walked backwards and forwards in front of them.
‘Our little girlies here don’t know that I’m going to break every bone in their little bodies.’
He kneeled down and touched the cheek of the smaller one, who tried to burrow further into the other girl.
Kim ached to get his filthy hand away from her.
‘I’m going to punch them and kick them until they flop around the floor like rag dolls. I’m going to cause them unimaginable pain and suffering until their tiny little organs give up on them and they die.’
Kim could hear their moans of terror, and they were visibly shrinking before her as the excitement built in his eyes.
Symes truly was the most despicable psychopath Kim had ever known.
‘And the poor little luvvies don’t even realise that it’s all your fault. You condemned them to a horrifically slow and painful death when you took my reward away.’
‘It’s me you want, Symes,’ Kim said, trying to get his attention back to her. She was powerless physically, but she had to play for time. Even if it was to annoy him. One kick for her was one less for them.
‘Oh no, bitch, you are not going to fool me again. You distracted me last time with your clever mouth, and I lost my payment.’
‘How many hours, Symes?’ Kim asked, determined to bring his attention back to her. ‘How many hours of your life have you dedicated to getting revenge on me?’
‘I’ve planned this from the minute I was in the slammer. Every day and every night I’ve thought about this moment and what I’d do to you.’