Apparently, they hated traitors just as much as Darren did. Yet Brian was still alive.
He laid there, motionless and barely breathing, but I could still see small
movements from his chest even as Darren stood over him. But Darren was clearly
not finished.
“Knife,” he said calmly, holding out his bloody open palm.
I felt my stomach immediately twist in two.
“Why does he need a knife …” I asked quietly.
“Watch,” Owen said.
I felt myself inching backward, but the wall behind me in the form of Clive
prevented my retreat.
Scott handed Darren a long hunting knife, the serrated steel glinting off the
flood lights of the ceiling, and I felt my hands ball into fists. This was not going to
be good.
I didn’t know why I cared, though. This man had worked for Darren, had been a
part of the evil of his empire, so why I cared what happened to him didn’t make
sense to me. Maybe it was just because I didn’t want to see the bloodshed. Maybe I
wasn’t ready for the brutality of Darren’s world. But I obviously didn’t have a choice
in that as I felt I was being tossed into the deep end of this darkness.
Before I could even register what happened, Darren had plunged the knife into
Brian’s chest. Brian’s screams became a clear indication that he was, in fact, still
alive, and it only got worse as I watched Darren drag the knife further down his
chest and across his stomach, completely slicing him open.
Blood pooled everywhere, and a sickening dizzy feeling overcame me as I
watched Darren carve more and more of Brian away, cutting out his intestines and
spilling them onto the cement floor. Brian’s screams were so loud I had to cover my
ears as I fought not to retch. What made it even worse was the obvious enjoyment
on Darren’s face as Brian’s blood coated him.
When the show was basically over, I felt my back hit the stone wall behind me
and slid down, my legs no longer able to hold my weight up. I felt sick, my body
shaking with fear as I watched Darren beat the shit out of someone and then gut
them alive. I could fucking see Brian’s guts protruding from the gashes Darren had
made in him. My heart was racing erratically, and my breathing was becoming
short. I’d never witness anything so fucking gruesome in my life.
As the cheers died down, Darren stood over his opposition, blood soaking his
clothing and covering his hands and face. I barely recognized the monster that
stood before me, and it terrified me further as he took the necessary steps to
advance toward me. I inched even further into the wall in a stupid attempt to back
away from him, but there was nowhere else to go. My hands moved to cover my
mouth, my lips curling in on themselves while I forced myself to hold back the
tears that threatened to fall.
I was fucking shaking with terror.
Darren crouched low in front of me, his eyes intense with calming rage as he
looked at me. This was the result of betrayal. This blood-soaked demon before me.
And I never wanted to fucking see it again.
“Do you understand now what happens to those who betray my trust?” he asked
me, his voice calm and low.
I nodded my head, unable to finds the words to answer him.
“Good girl. Now, you’re going to crawl into my arms, and you’re not going to let
go until I tell you to, understand?”
I nodded again automatically, even though I wanted to be as far away from him
as humanly possible.
Darren stretched his arms out to me, waiting for me to comply with his order.
And like the fear-stricken fool I was, I did just that. Biting my lower lip, I crouched
forward onto my hands and knees before tentatively wrapping my arms around his
neck and pressing myself into his blood-soaked chest. Soft panicked cries left my
mouth as I felt the blood seep into my torn dress, coating me in Darren’s cruelty.
He wrapped his arms around my body protectively, pressing me tightly against
him while he lifted us from the floor. I couldn’t have clutched him tighter. I didn’t
understand it, but the tighter I held onto him, the more he would know I wanted
him to shield me from what I just saw. Even though I knew he was the one
responsible, the one who caused the anxiety flowing through my limbs, he was also
the one who could easily take it all away. In one singular moment, he could
effortlessly switch from my tormentor to my savior, and right now, I desperately
wanted my savior, and I needed him to know that.
“Wrap your legs around me.”
I didn’t think I even had the strength to lift my knees, but I somehow managed
to
