Jerking, I try to free myself from my restraints, tugging on the belt wrapped around my wrists. The more I pull, the tighter it gets, straining my muscles. The leather is cutting into my skin, leaving a painful mark as I hiss during any movement. It’s no use; I can’t get out, and someone’s coming. It must be him, which is why I’m so desperate to get out.

The stomps grow louder and louder, and then the door slams open.

“I’m back!” he says with a happy voice as if it’s feeding time for the dogs.

“Get away,” I yell, pulling harder on the belt than ever. The fucking thing just won’t come loose.

“Are you still trying to get out?” He makes a disapproving sound. “I told you not to try anything.”

His boots sound like trucks as they come closer. I try to move away from him, leaning back in the chair, but nothing stops him from touching my face. “Poor girl. All strapped up, trying to free herself. Did you miss me that much while I was gone?”

“Take your hands off me,” I say, trying to bite him, but of course, I miss.

He pulls the bag toward him, gagging me in the process. “Keep talking like that and I’ll slit your throat.”

“Do it,” I say, when he releases me from his grip. “I dare you.”

He laughs as if I’m pathetic. “Oh, Vanessa. Do you honestly want to die that quickly? Has your life been that miserable?”

“I’d rather die than spend one more second in this room with you.”

“Aw … you hurt my heart,” he jests. “If I had one.”

He walks away, and for a second, I wonder where in the hell he’s gone. Then I hear a screeching noise. It comes closer. It sounds like he’s dragging something made of metal toward me.

“What are you doing?” I ask, nervously awaiting my fate.

I was expecting him to kill me now. I mean, he’s wanted to do it for ages. I’ve known for a long time that he’d come for me one day. I just didn’t expect it to be this soon. Guess I underestimated his escape methods.

The moment that he found me, I knew this would be a struggle for life and death. He swore to take his revenge out on me, so that’s what I’ve been expecting, which is why it’s distressful for him to leave me in this attic alone. I don’t know why, and I don’t understand. If this is his idea of how to torture me, then I’d rather have it end now than to endure it one more second.

I know I have it coming for me anyway. It was only a matter of time before death came to claim me. And now he’s at my doorstep, staring at me without making a move.

What is he doing?

“There,” I hear him mumble as he places the metallic thing behind me. “Perfect.”

“What?”

“I suppose you’d like to see what I’m doing, but you’ll know soon enough.”

Shuddering, I ask, “How are you going to kill me?”

He laughs again, as if I’m making a joke or something. “Jesus, you really wanna die, don’t you?”

“You want to kill me, Phoenix. It’s what you came here for, isn’t it?”

“I did.” He places his hand on my shoulder, which makes me flinch. “And I do.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because you’re asking for it.” Suddenly, I feel something sharp near my neck, and I immediately hold my breath. It must be his knife. “And I’m not going to give you what you want. Ever. You see, I’m not an enabler like all those other guys. I don’t just give you what you want and hope that you’ll be merciful enough to give me what I want as well.” I can hear him smile from the breaths he’s taking so close to me. “No, I’m going to take what I want, when I want it, without your permission. And you’re just going to have to accept that.”

“So, you’re not going to kill me?”

“Yet,” he adds as he gets up.

“Then what do you want from me?”

Suddenly, my chair leaves the floor, and I squeal from the weightless feeling. “Isn’t it obvious?” he says. “I want you to suffer.”

“Fuck you!” I spit through the bag.

I can’t do much, but this I can do.

It’s not as if I have anything to lose, being tied up. He’s probably going to kill me anyway, so I might as well speed the process. I don’t want to be in this situation any longer. I’d rather die than have him torture me any longer.

“Call me whatever you want; it’s not going to help you. In fact, it’ll only worsen your punishment,” he says, hauling back my chair with me on it.

“Just kill me! Just get it over with already.”

“And that was why, while I was gone, I decided that I’m not going to kill you.”

I gasp, but I have no time to respond because my chair suddenly spins around with me still on it, causing me to almost drop off. The only thing keeping me from falling is the belt wrapped around my wrists.

“Killing you now would be a huge waste of all the potential suffering I could give to you. Oh no, I’m not going to let you go that easily. Why would I, if there are so many more ways that I can give you what you gave to me?”

“What are you doing?” I squeal, as he pushes my chair forward, my head tilting to the ground.

“Giving you exactly what you deserve. The same thing you put me through.” He shoves the chair until my head is pushed against the floor, and then he lets it go. God, it hurts for my entire body to rest on my head. What in the hell is he thinking? Is this is his way of punishing me?

Suddenly, something pokes between my wrists and the belt is loose. The sudden release makes me drop to the floor. The chair is hauled away quickly. Another screeching sound is audible and then a chain, and the metal clings together. It almost sounds … like a cage.

I groan as he rips the bag from my head.

What I face is my ultimate fear.

My demise.

Not just a figurative prison, like the one I’ve endured for many years while being chained to that tyrant called Phillip.

It’s a real, metal barred cage.

I’m a prisoner in my own home with Phoenix Sullivan as my captor. Trapped inside with no way out.

CHAPTER 8

PHOENIX

She looks so pretty when she cries.

Mascara stains her cheeks, her eyes are watery, make-up lathering down her face, and there’s a delicious pout on her lips. I grab her face and squeeze, increasing the pout. Love the sight. Smiling, I ask, “How do you like your new surroundings?”

“Let me out,” she sputters.

I release her from my grip. “No can do.”

“You put me in a cage. A freaking cage!”

“Indeed.” I cock my head. “What a great observation you’ve made.”

She grabs the bars tight. “Are you insane?”

“Maybe.” I put my hands on my knees and bend so I can look into her eyes. “But I have you to thank for all of that.”

She makes a face. “I hate you.”

My lips curl up into a smile. “Aw, I hate you, too.”

She growls, tugging at the bars, but of course, it won’t help her. The cage shuts tight with a chain that only bolt cutters can snap. The metal doesn’t yield to human hands. It’s made specifically to hold a strong pet, except mine is a very specific kind of pet that needs to be constrained.

“I’m going to have so much fun with you,” I say, a grin spreading on my cheeks. “So many things and plenty of time to try them all out.”

“You won’t get away with this,” she says.

“I already have.”

She growls again, almost like a witch screeching for revenge. “Everyone will realize I’m gone, and when they do, the police will be at this doorstep in no time. And when they catch you, I’ll make sure you won’t get out ever again.”

“You forgot the part where they don’t know you’re stuck in this house.”

She frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“If they don’t have a reason for coming here, they won’t,” I say, as I turn around and rummage in my bag. I take out the laptop we stole back when I was still with the guys. I thought it would come in handy, and now it will. “And you’re going to make that happen.”

“Why?” She chuckles, almost as if she thinks I’m joking, but I’m not. “Why on earth would I help you keep me here as a prisoner in my own home?”