“Animal now, am I?” Robbie asked. His mood changed quickly. “Never mind all this shit, Mary. Point that fucking gun at your head now!”
She couldn’t.
“If you don’t, I will.” She knew he would. He hadn’t bluffed about anything so far. “Now!” he screamed into her face.
She urinated herself before raising the gun to her temple, very slowly.
“This game is called Russian roulette, Mary. Not sure why. Don’t even know the origins of the game, but I find it funny. The chamber has only one bullet. Pull the trigger.”
Mary was shaking like a leaf. She thought of her mother, on her own in the care home. She thought about the staff, who would wonder where she was. Even Manny might be wondering. How sad that they would probably never have an answer.
“Do it.”
Tears ran down Mary’s face. She had never felt so sad, so embarrassed, so humiliated in her entire life. Not to mention powerless.
Robbie moved so fast that all she felt was a stinging blow. She fell against the wall, dropped to her knees, and let go of the gun.
He was on her before she registered, weapon in hand. “It’s quite simple, Mary, you just pull, like so.”
Mary screamed as she heard the click of an empty chamber. “No, please, please don’t do this.”
“What’s wrong, Mary? Nothing happened. No bullet in that one.”
Mary sobbed heavily.
Robbie grabbed her by the throat. “Your turn. And so help me God if you don’t pull the trigger this time, I’ll pull it another five fucking times. Won’t be so lucky then, will you?”
Mary had absolutely no idea what to do. Hadn’t anyone noticed she had gone, set the alarm bells ringing? Hadn’t someone seen her abducted?
Robbie spun the chamber and then put the gun in her hand. “Pull it.”
She wouldn’t. He kicked her hard. “I said, pull it.”
She
still didn’t respond. Mary felt like she was shutting down.
Robbie grabbed the gun back. “Okay, you stupid cow, have it your way. Now I’m going to shorten the odds.”
He put five bullets in the chamber and pressed the gun into her hand.
“If you didn’t like the game before, you’ll fucking hate it now.”
Mary froze.
“Pull the trigger.”
She couldn’t.
“If you don’t, I will. I’ll count down from three.”
Mary glanced around. Surely there had to be a means of escape.
“Three.”
There were no windows and only one door, and she was shackled. What possible means of escape could there be?
“Two.”