Chapter 7
1058 Words
Everything in the room suddenly felt cold.
It felt as if we were walking on thin ice in the room.
The room felt small.
Like I had started breathing through a straw.
Alonzo’s hand was still clamped on my jaw, with his fingers that were digging into my skin until I felt my teeth press against the inside of my cheek.
"Did you f**k him?" He asked again.
His voice had gone very low this time, with a vibrating hum right against my ear.
I could smell his expensive tobacco and that sharp, clean scent that now meant terror to me.
"No... Alonzo, no I didn't, I swear." I choked out, but my eyes darted to where Elliot was.
He looked like he was about to explode.
His face was a mask of pure, suicidal rage.
"Let her go, you piece of…."
Alonzo didn't even look at him.
He didn't have to because he just casually flicked his fingers with his free hand, and the front door I knew I had locked before stepping into the room swung open and two men, built like stone walls with eyes dark like the night, stepped in.
"No! Wait!" I screamed, but it was too late.
Their movement was bold, practiced and silent.
One of them grabbed Elliot by his arm, and pinned them at his back, while the other shoved a thick, black cloth into his mouth before he could finish cursing this mother fucker! that stood in front of me.
They dragged him toward the small guest bedroom at the end of the hall like some criminal they'd been searching for.
"Alonzo, please! He hasn’t done anything! Don't hurt him!" I kept crying and almost screaming. Trying to use whatever air I got to fight.
I was clawing at his hand but I bet that was a wasted effort.
Because my nails just scratched the expensive fabric of his sleeve.
How heartless can this man be.
It was as if he wasn't hearing any of my plea.
He finally looked at me with those blue eyes that were as flat as a frozen lake.
"I told you, Eve. You have a choice. His life... or yours remember?"
Then he signaled his men and they shoved Elliot into the bedroom and slammed the door.
I heard the lock click from the inside then the apartment went deadly quiet, except for the muffled, frantic thumping of Elliot’s fists against the wood.
"He is alive. Isn't he?" I whispered, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might break my ribs.
Alonzo leaned in closer, with his lips grazing my earlobe. "He can hear everything. Every breath. Every whimper. Every sound of what I’m about to do to you."
He let go of my jaw, but I didn't run.
Where would I go?
He owned the door.
He owned the hallway.
He owned the man in the next room.
"Get on your knees, Eve."
I looked toward the guest room door.
I was doing this for him. For us.
The thumping had long stopped but something told me he was still okay in there.
I just hoped he wasn't pressing his ear against the wood, trying to know if I was okay.
"Please... don't make him listen to this," I begged, the tears finally dropping down.
I tried so hard never to cry in front of this man but he keeps making it hard for me
"Kill me instead. Just don't do this."
Alonzo’s face didn't change.
He just reached out slowly, and deliberately, ran a finger down the center of the red lace bodice.
"The clock is ticking, Eve. Every second you waste is a second I spend wondering if his heart is still worth keeping inside his chest."
I felt the last of my pride snap.
It broke loudly I could hear it.
Like a plate made of glass that was thrown on the floor.
I dropped.
To my knees.
With my head down and my heart in my palms steering sadly at how much life I had endured.
Then I crawled toward Alonzo, with the red silk rubbing against my bruised skin.
I felt like an animal.
No, worse than an animal.
I was a puppet, and he had the strings.
"Tell him, Eve," Alonzo commanded, staring down at me with a look of bored power. I looked at him confused
But he continued."Tell him why you’re down there."
"I... I can't."
"Tell him."
I closed my eyes, picturing Elliot’s face on the other side of that door.
"Elliot..." my voice was a broken rasp. "I'm... I'm doing this for you. I don't want you to die…. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
I heard a muffled, guttural scream from behind the bedroom door.
A sound of pure agony.
It wasn't physical pain—it was the sound of a man watching things fall apart and knowing he could do nothing about it.
Alonzo unbuckled his belt.
Each sound from the metallic clink-clink was like a gunshot to my head.
"Now," Alonzo whispered, his hand sliding and tangling in my hair, forcing my head back so I had to look at him.
"Remind me why you’re mine."
I reached out, my hands shaking so violently I could barely grip the leather of his belt.
I knew Elliot was listening to the rustle of clothes.
He was listening to the silence of my submission.
He was imagining every movement, every touch, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
I leaned forward, the taste of my own tears mixing with the salt on my lips.
“I disrespected and defiled your commands”.
“Hhhmmm” he nodded. “Now you can start”.
I began the 'payment' for Elliot's life
Every sound I made.
Every gasp, every muffled sob—was a blade I was driving into my heart.
And Alonzo? He just stood there, his hand steady on my head, watching me with those devil eyes,enjoying the symphony of my destruction.
I knew he didn't just want my body.
He wanted to break and own me.
He wanted to make sure that even if I ever saw Elliot again, neither of us could ever look each other in the eye.
And…. And yes! He was winning.
He was.
But not for long I promise him.
- Writer
