She’ll sink within minutes.
Either that or a ’gator will come for her.
He should really be considered a conservationist, given how much food he provides for the critters of the bayou.
With that thought in his head, he grins and walks back inside. He really prefers to have more than three girls at a time, but since that one killed herself, he’s down to just three.
That won’t do.
“I’ll have to go hunting this evening,” he says with a sigh and sets his hands on his hips. “If I’m careful, I could take two. That’s tricky, but I’ve done it before.”
Neither of the remaining girls is crying. The one he’s had the longest is sleeping. He checked her vitals earlier and verified she’s still alive, just tired.
That’s understandable.
He made one of the other girls rape her with a broomstick for about an hour this morning, and that’ll tucker a girl out.
He turns to one of the other remaining girls and smiles.
“Hello, Brielle.”
“Sarah,” she responds coldly. “I’m Sarah.”
He doesn’t reply. Not at first. The anger is swift and hot, but he doesn’t want to hit her. At least, not yet. The fire burns so fiercely in this one. He wants to draw it out a while. He needs to see how long it’ll take before he finally breaks her mind, then he’ll mutilate her body.
He’s looking forward to it.
So, he simply leans in until his face is just inches from hers. He can smell the stink of her. If he put her outside, the bugs and rats would have a field day.
“You should thank me,” he whispers. “I could make it so much worse for you than this.”
She doesn’t reply, just turns her head away in disgust.
He leaves her be and walks back to the sleeping girl. He pushes his fingers through her hair, enjoying the way the strands feel against his skin.
He’s already getting hard.
“Brielle, wake up. We’re going to have some fun.”Chapter ThirteenBrielle“Come on!”
It’s happening again. Six girls gesture for me to follow them, and then suddenly, I’m back in the horrible torture room. It’s daytime. Light filters through a dirty window, catching on the dust floating in the air.
There are still three girls, including the one who saw me last time, but the other two are different.
The ones who were here before are dead.
They helped to lead me here.
Knowing that he’s already killed them makes my stomach sink. He’s killing these girls so quickly that it seems he will make his way through many more before we find him.
Light shines under the door that leads to the rest of the house. I can hear he’s listening to music.
Hello by Adele blares through the room, barely muffled.
I used to love that song.
Not anymore.
I need to get through that door so I can see who he is and where I am. I need to go back with information so we can catch him before he kills these poor girls.
I start to walk toward the door, but a voice stops me.
“It’s you again.”
I turn to find the girl from before staring at me. The same one from last time.
“You can see me?”
She nods and swallows hard.
“I never let him see that he scares me. My brothers always taught me to stand my ground, to never let them see you sweat.” She sniffs. “I’m never going to see them again, am I?”
I don’t know.
I hope she does.
“Sure, you will,” I say and try to smile at her. It’s only been a day since I last saw her, but I can see the fight leaving her. The fear, the torture, the torment are taking their toll. “You have to stay strong. You have to keep fighting back.”
“It makes him mad. I talk back to him. I bit him when he tried to touch me.”
“Good for you.”
She turns, showing me her bare back where whip marks weep with blood. “I was punished.”
“Please tell me your name. Tell me what he looks like.”
“He calls us all Brielle.”
My heart stops.
“What did you say?”
“Brielle,” she says again. “Like you.”
Before I can ask more, someone tugs on my arm, and I turn to see one of the spirits beside me, her eyes wide. “You have to wake up. Right now. Wake up, Brielle.”
The phone rings beside Cash. He grunts sleepily as he reaches over and answers his cell.
“This is Winslow.” He listens, and sleep leaves his face entirely as he looks over at me. “We’ll be right there.”
“What’s happening?”
“The bastard tried to take someone tonight, but he fucked up. She got away.”
“Oh my gods.” I jump from the bed, and we hastily dress, then hurry from my apartment to Cash’s car. There’s no traffic at this time of night, and we arrive at the police station moments later.
“Cash and Brielle for Lieuten—”
“He’s expecting you,” the receptionist says immediately. She doesn’t even ask Cash for his weapon as she buzzes us through, and we hurry through the bullpen to Asher’s office.