It’s just as I remember it; only, this time, a sliver of light from the setting sun shines through the old windows. The smell of burning leaves still lingers throughout the main entrance, and I’m immediately taken back to that night. The night that it all began.
Talon led me here. He sought me out, tricked me, gave me no choice but to fall for him, and because of that, I’m caged in this house with a psychopathic lion. “Who? Talon?” I have to dig. I need to know what Zed’s endgame here is. He says it’s not about me, but who is trying to hurt through me?
Leading me down the steps to the basement, memories of that night come flooding back. It’s all too familiar. It was only a month ago that I was in the same position with Talon, but it didn't feel like this. With Talon, it was about the thrill of walking into the unknown. With Zed, it’s a fear of walking into a death trap.
No one knows I’m here. No one can save me—except for Lars. It’s apparent he’s not on my side in this. For whatever reason, Zed forced him to deliver me. Even if he didn’t want to, he did it, and he’s just earned a name on my shit list if I make it out of here alive.
If.
Hope is slowly slipping away as Zed shoves me into a chair and begins strapping my hands to the side of it. Giving up my fight, I surrender. At this point, I wish he’d just knock me out so that I don’t feel what's coming.
Zed begins pacing in front of me, brushing his chin with his thumb. “Oh, Little Thorn. What am I going to do with you?”
“Zed,” I say pleadingly, “you can just let me go now. We can forget this ever happened.”
Stopping in front of me, he stoops forward and places both hands over mine as they remain still on the arm of the chair. “You know what I like about this place? No cameras. Everyone has those damn things these days, and it feels like someone is always watching. Lurking, spying, getting off on watching someone when they don’t even know they’re being watched.”
Dipping my head down, I avoid eye contact. “He’ll find me,” I say in a hushed voice.
“Oh, he will find you.” He perks up. “That’s a fact. But not until I’m ready for him to find you.” Pacing in front of me again, he continues, “You see, Talon is probably racking his brain right now trying to figure out where you are. He might even be losing his mind, unable to come up with a logical explanation about how his girl and one of his best friends just disappeared. Talon might be a loose cannon, but he’s smart.” Leaning forward again, he gets right in my face and taps the side of his head with one finger. “But I’m smarter.”
“And what? You plan to kill him when he gets here?” I chuckle, but I don’t find it funny in the least bit.
“Ding Ding Ding.” He chimes. “She’s beginning to catch on.”
My stomach twists and sweat dampens my palms as they grip the arm of the chair. “Talon is one of your best friends. You have that little pact thing with the tattoos. Why would you wanna kill him?” I’m not even sure why I’m asking him any questions at all, something tells me that he is going to give me all the answers, whether I ask for them or not.
Zed grabs an old rusted chair and pulls it over. The sound of the metal scraping across the concrete echoes in my ears. Lifting and twisting the chair around, he sits down on it with his legs straddling the back as he faces me. My legs dangle free, and if I could kick high enough, I could get him right in the face.
“You ever hear of a lady named Rose Monte?” he asks. When I don’t answer, he continues, “Of course you haven’t. No one has, except for Talon. You see, Rose was an agoraphobic. Her body hadn’t seen sunlight in seven years before it was taken out of the house on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Only, she couldn’t feel the warmth of the sun or the cool of the breeze because she was dead as a door knob. Wanna know how she died?”
This time I nod. I don’t wanna know. I have to know. Did Talon kill her? How many people has he killed? First Josh, then his dad. Is Zed about to tell me that he killed this Rose lady, too?”
His eyes widen. Dark, empty, and unapologetic. “Your druggie boyfriend fed her a handful of Methadone then left her to die.”
Oh no. Talon, what have you done?
“Rose Monte was my mom. That is until Talon assisted her in a planned suicide.”
“I’m sure there is more to the story. Talon wouldn’t—”
“There isn’t! And he did!” he shouts, jolting my body upward.
Zed walks away in a fury and I fear that his entire body is filling with a rage that he plans to unleash on me. I wiggle my hands to try and free them, but nothing budges. These damn straps are so tight. There is no way I’m getting them free any time soon. I kick up my legs that are still loose, and it grabs Zed’s attention. He turns around, shooting daggers at me, then eats up the space between us.
“No!” I shout, as he grabs my left leg and holds it against the chair then straps it in. I kick my other leg out and nail him in the crotch, but it has no effect on him as he straps the other one in as well. “Just let me out of here,” I cry out. “Please.”
“Talon says that he had no idea that Rose
