Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 52178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
“You made a fatal mistake, girl,” he barks.
“No. I didn’t.”
I try to swing the gun toward him, but he’s in the wrong position. He pulls me out into the hall and when we’re in the dim light, he notices the gun in my hand. His shock has him releasing my wrist as he lunges towards my other hand. I take the moment to rush backward, away from him, before I raise it. I stand, pointing it at him, panting, my body coated in a fine sheen of sweat as my fingers tremble. “Do it,” he growls, his eyes flashing as he takes a step closer to me.
My hands tremble.
Come on, Ellie.
This is your chance.
Kill him.
He takes another step forward, his wet hair sticking to his face as he pants with a rage I’ve never seen. “Pull the trigger, girl,” he seethes, stepping up close until the gun is pressed into his chest, “watch my blood scatter across this hall. You want your freedom, now is the chance. Pull the trigger.”
I’m borderline hyperventilating now, my chest rising and falling as I hold the gun to his body. All it takes it one second, one tiny second. I pull the trigger and end him. Just end him. He’ll be gone, I can go home. Go home....to what?
“You don’t want to kill me,” he taunts, his voice low and husky. “Because that means you have to go back to your miserable fucking life and bend yourself to be the person they all want.”
“You’re wrong,” I whisper, my voice shaky. “I want to go home. To my family. To Carter. I do...”
“Then pull the trigger.”
Come on, Ellie.
“Admit it to yourself,” he pushes closer, so the gun is pressed deep into his skin, “you like the idea of being with me, you like the way I fuck you, you like the way I make your soul come alive. You are obsessed with a monster, and it thrills you.”
He’s wrong.
He is.
Right?
He doesn’t let me think a second longer, his hand lashes up, curls around the gun and he has it off me in seconds. Defeat washes over me, but it isn’t as disappointing as I had hoped. It isn’t because deep down, I’m terrified he’s right. The idea of going home, back to normalcy, terrifies me. It brings a deep, empty feeling up from the surface and makes me want to turn and run.
But to stay with Marek?
“You have sentenced us to death with your foolish act,” Marek growls, shoving the gun into his jeans.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” I mutter, praying he’s wrong because if he’s right, this was all for nothing.
I’m starting to wonder what it was for to begin with.
“You could have stayed in that bunker and let me die,” I go on, turning and walking into the room, slamming the door closed.
He is there in a second, swinging it open so heavily it slams into the old timber wall. “You don’t get to run from this now. You’re helping me.”
Shaking my head, I stare at him, confused. “With what?”
“With Barry.”
My eyes widen. “Over my dead...”
He steps forward, getting so close to me I’m forced to tip my head back to look up at him. My breath hitches, because the urge to kiss him is scarily overwhelming. I hate the way my body betrays me when Marek is around. “I can make you disappear if that’s what you want, Ellie Mae, and I assure you, nobody will ever find you.”
I have no doubt.
“Quit it with the threats, if you wanted to kill me, you would have. Where is this god damned body? Let’s get this over and done with so I can lock myself in the room that is furthest away from yours.”
“Do you have any idea the intensity of this storm?”
I huff, even though inside, I’m terrified. “I like to live dangerously.”
Turning, he walks out without another word.
I follow him – what choice do I have?
The sooner we get through this, the better.
9
The coppery scent of blood fills my nose as I turn my head away, panting and struggling to keep my balance as we drag the heavy, bloating body of Barry up the stairs and onto the deck. Marek wants to toss him over the side before it gets too intense up here, but I’m not certain it’s safe even now as the ship rocks angrily from side to side.
“Lift him,” Marek barks from above me as we try to maneuver Barry up the stairs.
“Have you seen the size of me?” I grunt, trying to lift Barry’s dead weight. “I’m tiny.”
“You’re also incredibly strong, now lift.”
“Fucking wanker,” I growl.
“I heard that,” he mutters, dragging Barry onto the deck.
It’s terrifying out here, the deck is slippery, and the ship is rocking. Items that haven’t been tied down, roll up and down as the waves crash over the side of the boat. It isn’t safe, so far from it, and I don’t want to go anywhere near the side of this thing. Rain hammers down, soaking me in seconds, and it’s freezing cold. Marek drags Barry as close to the side as we can get him.