As she moved down the hallway towards Ryan’s door, she suddenly felt as if she could not move. Her knees trembled and she placed her hand on the wall for support. Her mind flooded with the same images that had flashed in front of her when Alex had asked her what was wrong: A void. Laughter; several people laughing. A tap dripping with a tick, tick, ticking sound. Red water. Screaming, calling for help, help that never comes. There was a distinct sensation of danger beyond Ryan’s door. But what danger? Why couldn’t she remember? Lauren was frozen with fear, and unable to bring herself to continue, she crumpled to the floor.
She reached for her phone, selected Alex and called her, but the line was engaged. Unable to think of anyone else, she called Matt. Another engaged signal. With no other choice, she left a voice mail with a stuttering, terrified voice.
“Matt? It’s me, Lauren. Umm, I’m in a lot of trouble. I—I think I need your help. I’m at Ryan’s. But I can’t go in. I—I don’t want to go in. I can’t move at all. Something’s wrong. Can you please come get me?”
Through tear-blurred eyes, she saw Ryan’s door opening. With a quick burst of energy, she used the railing to pull herself to her feet so he wouldn’t see her sorry state, only just managing to get herself upright when Ryan came out.
“Hey, babe. What took your sexy arse so long?” he grinned as he approached her. He wrapped her in a bear hug and lifted her to the wall, trying to bury his tongue down her throat, paying no attention to the fact she was not returning his attempt at a kiss.
“I—I’m just not feeling very well. I should probably—”
“Aw, you’ll be fine, pooh bear,” Ryan said, taking her hand and leading her towards the apartment.
“Yeah…ok. Well, let’s just go to dinner then?” she said, trying to halt him.
“Nah. I’m still only half ready,” he said dismissively, trying to pull her through the door.
“I’ll just wait here for you then.” Lauren knew she sounded fishy, but she truly did not want to step foot inside Ryan’s apartment right now. Why hadn’t she listened to Alex? What did Dante know about this guy?
Ryan laughed and looked at her like she was a bit crazy. “Not in the hallway. What’s wrong with you?”
“Let go!” she screamed, ripping her hand free.
Ryan faced her, expressionless now, all pretence gone. Without words, both of their intentions became clear to the other. Ryan was determined to get Lauren inside and she was determined to run. Lauren turned to do just that but was caged in Ryan’s vice like grip.
“No no, sweety. Not tonight.”
“Get off me. Help, someone!” she screamed, fighting with every last ounce of strength she had. She kicked and screamed and swung with her elbows until she herself was thrown against the wall, smacking the side of her head. Suddenly silent and only semi-conscious, she crawled this way and that, blood dripping to the floor from a gash in her head. “Scream all you want, baby. No one else lives in this building.”
Ryan was behind her, the door to his apartment was in front of her, she had nowhere to go.
“See what you made me do?” Ryan asked mockingly, hands in the air with exasperation. “You went and cracked your head open. You were supposed to be intact. Now I won’t get as good a price. Fuck!”
Ryan curled his fist and flung a punch directly to her face. “Now get in here.” Wringing his hand, he grabbed a fistful of her hair with the other and dragged her inside the apartment.
Chapter Ten
Pol Ti Volare
Lauren awoke to a sharp slap, her head throbbing.
“Get up,” Ryan ordered. “You need to be awake for this.”
Lauren’s eyes fluttered open, barely making out the sight of Ryan kneeling above her. She was lying on a cold floor in the centre of a circle of candles, hands and feet stretched out and tied. Looking at the ceiling, she thought she must be in the bathroom.
“I hope you’re happy, bitch,” Ryan spat. “Because of this,” he said, pressing hard on the gash still partly oozing blood, “I am out five hundred bucks. Thanks a lot.”
“What are you going to do with me?” She heard her voice tremble. It sounded as weak as she felt.
“Not much, anymore,” he replied solemnly, reaching up towards the sink and shining a light from a video camera in her face.
“What are you doing?” she croaked.
“Continuing my business. Now shut up and smile pretty.”
He picked up a balaclava off the floor by his feet and placed it over his head. He turned the camera around to face himself and cleared his throat.
“Good evening again, subscribers. Your buddy RarRar here, ever ready to provide you with the most authentic and brutal dark fantasies. At darkfantasies.com.au, you send them, we make them! Today we have one of our more popular ladies of late, Lauren, looking a little the worse for wear. But I’m sure that will not impede your viewing pleasure. What’s going to happen on tonight’s webi-sode, you ask? Looks pretty scary to me!”
He switched off the video camera. “Got to leave them wanting more, you know? I’ll edit it later.”
“Ryan, please… Whatever this is, don’t do it.”
“Hey, it’s not up to me. I am a man of the people and this is what they demand to see.”
“They want to see me killed!?”
“Killed? Goodness, no, darlin’. Not at all. Far from it. The fee for that is more than most of my subscribers can pay anyway. What they want is to watch a transformation and how it happens. You should
