Control is power but also a weakness that can be stolen.
There is no hesitation in his hand as it slides under the black hoodie I stole from his room, gliding over the bridge of my rib cage and not allowing it to touch anything else. He reaches deep inside my bra, gently teasing my stiff nipples with one hand. In order to ensure complete control of my body, he grips my hip firmly. A groan slips from my mouth as his hand works one breast, then continues on the other while still kissing me. We are both panting when we pull away, and I feel his hard erection against me.
“Later, little doll,”
He winks at me before taking my hand and leading me toward the door farthest away.
“I’ll hold you to it.”
Taking a quick look around to ensure that no one is in sight, he turns and opens the door cautiously.
We pass a world of glacial silence frozen in time by a blanket of snow draping over the trees. The wintery chill has descended and faded, leaving the world drained of vibrant colors and only shades of white.
Despite wearing Grey’s hoodie, I still shiver from the intense coldness of the cutting winds surrounding me. We arrive at the fence, and he helps me climb over. However, it feels like this was too simple, and an odd feeling fills me, as if someone is secretly monitoring us.
The dreaded lake is one meter away, looking all peaceful and shit, as if it didn’t hide a corpse months ago. Unlike what I’d feared, there is no dead body in it. Although I feel myself finally breathing, I cannot help but wonder how it was moved in the first place.
“Holy shit, we are out,” I whisper through a breath, relaxing my body.
As I’m turning toward Grey, the satisfaction on my face is obvious, but I don’t recognize how Grey’s movements become rigid.
“Down on the ground!” A voice reverberates through the trees, embracing us as if it’s part of the landscape.
I frantically take in my surroundings, my eyes landing on the four guards with their weapons drawn and pointed at us, and I feel the searing heat of the lava-like swallow working its way down my throat. Shock engulfs me when I see Grey rushing toward the guards, throwing one hell of a punch at one of them. The guard falls to the ground from the impact, blood gushing from his nose. I can easily see Grey’s whole body trembling as he attempts to contain his rage, but all monsters eventually break free from their chains.
I can’t move or even express a sound as I stand there, my brain urging me to join him in the fight, yet my body refuses to move from its spot.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Madden. Down on your knees.”
It’s Ray’s voice. He is as corrupted by this system as we are. Looking into his eyes, I can tell he wants us to make a run for it, but he feels an obligation to his job and can’t bring himself to do it.
A flood of thoughts overwhelms me, making me unable to decide how to act or react as I realize this is our last moment together.
“Naya, please,” Grey’s voice is a broken whisper. I’ve never heard him so defeated.
A sense of dread overtakes me when one of the guards–the bald one from earlier–points his gun directly at my head. I tumble to the ground, the cold wetness of the snow-covered grass chilling my skin through my pants.
“How did you know?” My words come out like a stutter while one of the guards pulls my arms tightly behind my back, securing handcuffs around them.
My world is slowly falling apart, and the prospect of escaping this situation slips away like a faint whisper.
“Emilio Ricci knows everything, sweetheart. He’s been watching you for weeks.”
The thought of that fact ripples through my stomach, like a sinking feeling as nausea curdles over.
“W-why?”
But I know why. He’s a sick bastard.
“He had to watch out for his newest toy. He knows you two were here, he knows you saw the corpse in the lake. And let me tell you this, sweetie, that is what happens when you fail the initiation. Just like Rebecca did.”
The bald guard’s face twists into a wicked grin. Upon hearing his words, all of my organs hurt from the inside out, my stomach becoming a pool of dread in a vivid motion.
I hear a spitting sound just before I hear another punch thrown at Grey. Two other guards, apart from Ray, who stands to the side like a fucking coward, take their turns punching and kicking Grey, and the amount of blood and skin ripping is enough to make me scream out my agony. The guard has a firm grip on me, preventing me from getting to Grey, but I desperately need to reach him.
The two guards force Grey to stand up, his hands secured behind his back. Seeing him in such a state–all beaten up–breaks my fucking heart, and it’s a feeling that I will never forget. The gaze he gives me is one full of apology before they drag him away from me, and there is not a goddamn thing I can do about it.
“Grey!” My voice cracks as I scream for him, thrashing against the guard’s hold. “Where the fuck are you taking him?”
