Deviant

Chapter 35

Rowen

We’re in the original white room.

The one where all our secrets were revealed.

And the one where Chris attempted to assault me.

But the ugly memories born here isn’t what has me on edge when I step into this godforsaken room. It’s the fact that instead of the six chairs I was hoping to find, only one sits at its center, chains and ropes lying at its feet.

“Well, this is interesting,” Mackenzie muses as she stares at the chair, a sly grin on her lips.

I watch in panic as Henry closes the door behind us, a sad frown stitched to his face as he throws me a last glance.

We all stare at each other, waiting for our orders, like the brainwashed little deviants we’ve all become.

“I don’t like this,” Abbie whispers at my side while Elias gives her a pitying glance.

“Don’t worry, Abigail. Something tells me this chair is only for my benefit,” Elias says, squaring his shoulders.

“That’s not very comforting,” she replies, casting a wary glance at the other three villains in the room, her eyes filled with petrified suspicion.

“Elias,” I whisper, grabbing hold of his hand.

“Don’t,” is his clipped reply.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Yes, I do. I always do. So… don’t. Not here. Not now,” he orders, glancing up at the cameras that are focused on us.

I swallow my confession down, letting everyone continue to believe that it was Elias who killed Ruby. No one suspects that it was me. Not the rest of the chosen nor our hosts. Apparently when Henry gave Elias those precious few moments for him to say goodbye to Andy, he also turned all the cameras off. Just another reason why I suspect that maybe Henry left the iron gate open for us to make our great escape. And that maybe… he isn’t as loyal to his employers as we first believed. Maybe he’s a hostage here, just as we all are.

“Tick-tock, bad guys. I’m starting to get bored with all this waiting around.” Mackenzie feigns a yawn at the cameras.

“You’re sick, you know that?” I growl at her, hating how she takes joy in The Scourge’s games

She just throws me a toothy grin, completely unfazed by my remark.

My stomach continues to be in knots as the first text message from our tormentors comes through.

We warned you that no life was to be taken without our consent.

Elias Larsen didn’t listen.

And for that, he will be punished.

Tie him to the chair.

“Now we’re talking!” Big Mike laughs, rubbing his hands together in glee.

David shoots Elias a smug grin before using his crutches to walk toward the chair and pick up the iron chains from the floor. Mackenzie, however, stays rooted to her spot, casting a scrutinizing gaze over the man standing beside me, a mischievous smile forming on her lips.

“Did you not get the same message?” I ask when I catch Elias staring at my watch to read my text.

“No.” Is his clipped reply.

“But I heard your watch vibrate. What did yours say?”

“Nothing. Drop it.”

But I don’t drop it.

Instead, I grab his wrist and read his text for myself.

Follow our orders and take your punishment.

Should you fail to comply, Rowen will take your punishement for you.

Elias snatches his wrists away from my grip and walks over to the chair, where Big Mike and David await him.

“Let’s just get this over with,” he grumbles, taking his seat.

“Something tells me this is going to be fun.” Mackenzie’s eyes light up watching David and Big Mike tie Elias to the chair, first in ropes, then in those godawful heavy chains.

Once Elias is struggling to break free from his bondage, they all stand back, congratulating themselves for a job well done.

“What next?” Big Mike wipes his sweaty forehead with his sleeve.

But just as the question spills from his lips, so does our hosts’ command arrive.

Torture him.

“With pleasure,” Mackenzie beams, staring at Elias like he’s a snack.

“We don’t have to do this,” young Abbie implores.

“Shut up, Abbie, or you’ll be the one in chains next,” Big Mike warns.

Abbie lowers her gaze to the floor as I continue to watch Mackenzie vigilantly, as it’s apparent she’s the one eager to run this show.

“Look,” she taunts her watch in Elias’s face. “This is your punishment. What do you have to say to that?”

“Does it look like I’m scared?” Elias taunts.

“Oh, you should be. You should be very scared.” She flips her hair back as she approaches me. “See, our hosts want us to torture you, but they weren’t specific on how. That opens up a world of possibilities, don’t you agree?” she asks, pretending to flick lint off my shoulders.

“Mackenzie, don’t you even think about it,” Elias growls, tugging at his binds.

“See? That right there… that’s where you messed up. You showed us your hand when you were supposed to keep it close to the vest. An amateur move if I’ve ever seen one.” She tisks, disappointed. “Everyone in this room knows where your true weaknesses lie, and they begin and end with her.” She lays her head on my shoulder, forcing me to chuck her off me.

“Mackenzie, I’m warning you,” Elias says through gritted teeth.

“Threats from a man currently bound to a chair don’t frighten me. Not when I have the backing of The Scourge to do this next. Boys… tie her up.”

David and Big Mike immediately jump on me, holding my arms behind my back to keep me still.

“Let go of her!” Abbie shouts from behind me.

“Stop fucking hitting me, Abbie, and grab me some of that leftover rope,” David orders as I try to wrestle from their hold.

“No!” she yells just before I hear a loud slap. Abbie falls to the floor beside me, a large five-finger mark reddening her cheek.

“I’ll get it myself,” Big Mike says, eyeing Abbie in disgust.

“You’ll pay for that,” Elias snarls over at Big Mike.

“Yeah, whatever. But if I were you, I’d be more concerned about what we’re going to do to your girlfriend next. You can’t kill us like you killed Chris tied up to that chair, now can you?” Big Mike throws him a skin-crawling smile.

Elias starts frantically trying to break free as real fear begins to claw at me.

“See? What did I tell you?” Mackenzie asks with a smile. “We haven’t even touched your precious Rowen, and already you’re losing your mind. Torturing you is easy. All we have to do is hurt her. And believe me, I’ve been dying to get my hands on this bitch,” she scowls as David and Big Mike tie me up and push me to my knees.

“Do you have your switchblade with you?” I hear her ask David.

“I never leave home without it.” He chuckles, handing Mackenzie the knife.

Mackenzie skips over to stand between me and Elias, pointing the switchblade to my face.

“Now… what shall I do to you first?” she sing songs, pointing the tip of the switchblade to my eye. “I could take out her eye first… or maybe I should start with her tongue. Or what if I cut her pretty little face so she isn’t so pretty anymore? Would you love your precious Rowen if she looked all twisted up and deformed?”

“Yes, he would,” I say with conviction, my gaze fixed on hers so she sees that I’m not one bit scared of what she could ever do to me.

“I didn’t ask you, bitch. I asked him.” She points the blade over to Elias.

“You have your answer. Rowen already gave it to you,” Elias deadpans, his eyes on me.

But where I show unwavering bravery, I see true fear hiding behind his gorgeous eyes.

Luckily no one here seems to notice it but me.

“You say that now, but men are fickle.” Mackenzie scoffs. “Just tell my bitch of a mother. She’s gone so many times under the knife to look young for my father, and still he fucks around with any young thing that sits on his lap. He might be disgusting, but she’s the one that’s pathetic.”

“Is this what this is about? You have unresolved mommy issues?” I taunt. “Because get in line. We all have our baggage.”

“Did I say I have mommy issues, you bitch? No, I didn’t. I couldn’t care less about either one of them. They are just a means for me to get out of Blackwater Falls. Nothing else.”

My forehead bunches at the confusing remark, but I don’t have time to analyze it since Mackenzie grabs me by the hair and places the switchblade on my throat.

“Ruby was right not to like you. You think you’re better than all of us, don’t you? I wonder how superior to me you’d feel if I sliced your throat right this second?” she raves, like the true psychopath that she is.

She presses the blade so hard to my flesh that I can feel it cut into my skin.

She only stops when Elias begins to chuckle behind her. It sounds like a low rumble at first, but soon, his laughter rings loudly across the room.

“What’s so goddamn funny?” she seethes.

“You. You’re what’s funny.” He continues to cackle.

“I don’t get it,” Big Mike throws a confused glance over at David, who just shrugs.

“Explain,” Mackenzie demands, “Or I’ll be the one laughing next after I’ve gutted your girlfriend like a pig.”

Elias’s laugh simmers until it becomes this evil thing ringing in our ears.

“You want to torture me, then do it. Have-fucking-at-it. But one fact remains—you can threaten to kill Rowen all you want, but you can’t kill her. Not if you don’t want our hosts to seek vengeance on you, too, for breaking their rules. Which means you can’t kill me either. And though, right now, you have the upper hand with me bound to this fucking chair, sooner or later, you’ll have to untie me. And as you’ve all figured it out by now, I don’t play by the rules. If you think I care a shit if I live or die, then think again. All I care about is her. So you think long and hard before you hurt a single hair on Rowen’s head because if you do, it will be the last thing you ever do. I’ll kill every last one of you. I promise you that.”

I watch Mackenzie’s face pale, hearing the threat in his voice.

“He’ll do it, Mackenzie. He’ll kill you with his bare hands if he has to. So think twice before laying a hand on Rowen,” Abbie warns with a smile as she pulls herself off the floor.

Mackenzie scowls as she looks left to right, her loathing gaze bouncing from me to Elias.

“You know what? You’re no fun,” she finally calls defeat as she struts to stand behind me. “I might not be able to hurt her, but I can still hurt you,” she says before grabbing a chunk of my hair and cutting it off with the switchblade.

I hiss as she pulls on every strand, almost yanking my hair from its root with how forcefully she cuts it. My scalp feels like it’s on fire as she continues to butcher my hair until most of it is on the floor.

“There! Not so hot now, is she?” Mackenzie barks, still seething that she’s been beaten. “Abbie, you’re up!” she orders.

“What do you want me to do?” Abbie asks, confused.

“You got the same text we did, idiot. You have to torture the asshole,” Mackenzie shouts like a woman gone mad.

But while they all talk, my attention is on my love.

“Are you okay?” I mouth, gaining a little nod from him.

“Are you?” he mouths back, to which I nod in return.

His tense shoulders relax, though his eyes sadden as he takes in whatever messed-up hairdo Mackenzie just gave me.

“Don’t know about you, but I’d still fuck her. Even with that jacked-up hair,” Big Mike says to David, with a vile chuckle.

“Abbie?! Come on!” Mackenzie grumbles, grabbing Abbie by the arm and flinging her over to Elias.

Abbie stares at the two dipshits that are standing behind me, before she turns her attention to Elias.

“I’m sorry,” she says before walking toward him and whispering in his ear.

I don’t know what she says, but its enough to have Elias losing his mind.

“Let Rowen go! Untie her! Now!” And when those orders don’t work, he starts screaming at the cameras. “Get me the fuck out of here! You’ve had your fun! Untie me! Now!”

“Well, what do you know?” Mackenzie says, impressed. “I guess you have your uses after all. I’ve never seen him this riled up. Good job, Abbie.”

Abbie lowers her head in shame, holding her arms around her chest as she seeks refuge in a corner of the room.

“Okay, boys. Have at him. I’ve grown tired of his constant begging.”

That’s all David and Big Mike need to hear to approach Elias.

“Our fucking pleasure,” David says before cracking his knuckles and swinging his left fist across Elia’s jaw.

“Elias!” I shout, trying to get up, only to have Mackenzie push me back onto my knees on the floor.

“Shut the fuck up. Just sit back and enjoy the show,” she says before leaning in closer to my ear to whisper, “Let this be a lesson to you both. There will only be one winner here. And that’s me. I might not have killed you today, but soon… very soon… I’ll get my chance.”

And with that threat hanging in the air, for the next hour, I’m forced to watch the man I love get beaten to a pulp.