Page 19 of Wreck and Ruin
“You bought me dinner, and I don’t even know your name yet. Interesting,” I tease. A smirk plays at the corner of my lips when hers twitch, a smile barely hidden, though she doesn’t let it escape. She’s so fucking pretty, and I catch myself wanting to make her smile. God knows she, of all people, deserves to.
I move around a little, still seated, deciding that standing will only intimidate her more. Then, I smash the clamshell against the stone wall, successfully cracking it open. It’s a little shabby, but it did the trick.
“I’m guessing you don’t talk,” I question, the words slipping out between bites. She doesn’t answer,shocker, but the way she pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth has my full attention, and I can’t look away.
It’s a simple thing, but my gaze lingers on the curve of her full, pink lips before I force myself to look back into her eyes again instead.
She nods her head,no, then starts to clear the shattered shells now peppering the ground.
Raw clams taste like shit, but I’m starving, and the alternative isn’t an option.
Silence stretches between us as she watches me, leaning against the stones that act as a frame at the entrance.
My thoughts are anything but quiet.
Atlantara.
It was nothing more than a word I had assumed was a password or a code to something until the other night. I had spent years combing through websites and maps, hacking into databases attached to every Royal member I could find, which wasn’t easy. They have their shit locked down tight, not to mention the Valerie problem. Alone time was a foreign fucking concept to her, and her hovering around every goddamn second ruined my chances of ever digging deep enough to find anything crucial that could incriminate them.
The only proof that I had was myself. And a long list of rotten things they made me do. I couldn’t turn myself in because who would I turn to? I’d be wiped from existence, as well as anyone they thought might have been associated with me. Though, they would have had a hard time finding anyone who’d miss me.
Seeing this through was my only option. Relaying information to Titan wasn’t enough after a while. I had to dig my claws in deep. Get them to trust me. Even then, they didn’t, and just as well. Otherwise, I’d have known about this place.
Atlantara isn’t even on the map, for Christ's sake.
The Royals were always good at covering their tracks. If there were witnesses, they’d go missing, as well as their families. If there were rats, they were abused and beaten till they were begging for death, not before watching their loved ones butchered before their eyes. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers.Children.
The Royals don’t fucking care.
Whatever becomes of me being locked up here, I won’t deny the dark satisfaction bouncing around in my brain that I’m still alive. If I died, I’d have missed out on the sweet taste of pride and appreciation that those rapist fuckwits are all dead because of me.
Yet, my problem didn’t disappear with them. I’ve traded one nightmare for another because here I am. Prisoner to the Hell I’ve spent four fucking years trying to find. Only I am at a huge disadvantage now.
Nobody that would ever give a damn about me knows about Atlantara, much less that I’m still alive. And my fate, and the fate of anyone else trapped here, rests in the hands of a woman who not only doesn’t speak, but is also holding me fucking hostage. Whether she’s oblivious to the bigger picture or not, I’m still in chains.
She’s the only shot I have at ending these bastards for good, which is why I have to get out of here. If they catch wind that Charles Jensen is dead, who knows what contingency plans they have up their sleeves? They’d think that someone is coming for them, given the nature of their bullshit, and they’d think correctly. Because when I get out of here, it’s fucking over for them.
When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. And it’s high time that the world gets a fucking wake-up call because I plan to kick the pedestal they’ve put some of these low-life scumbags on out from underneath them.
All I need is a way out of these shackles.
“Do they know about me, the people I heard the other night?” I give her a pointed look, studying her expression. I half expect that she’ll avoid me altogether, but to my surprise, she’s shaking her head, looking me dead in the eyes as if to sayno.
It’s the truth. I’d know if she were lying.
But, if they don’t know about me, that means they were either punishing her for something else that she did or that torturing and raping her is a common occurrence.
That thought is like a punch in the fucking stomach.
“Who are they?” I seethe. I have to know what I'm working with here. Which I fucking regret because her body tenses, and she begins to withdraw.
Discomfort washes over her as she twists her hair around her slender fingers, looking everywhere else but at me. She’s hiding. While she might be here in a physical sense, I can see the retreat in her eyes as they glaze over.
I will not let her run away from this.
“You gotta give me something? I can help you. I can help us. If you let me go, I can get us both out of here. You just have to trust me. You can trust me.” Her eyes widen, her mouth hanging open, her hair forgotten as she starts pacing back and forth, still keeping her distance, sticking close to the entrance. She's going to run, but I can’t help my desperation at this point. I’m so close to this all being over.
“This place… It isn't good, and I know deep down you know that too.” My voice is softer now, and any hope that I had that simply talking to her would be enough is slowly dissipating.
