Storm
1548 Words
HER
“You… you can’t do this!” Sera screeched, more to herself than to Cassian as he tied her hands to the metal chair in the middle of the warehouse. Her hands were shaking, even though she tried her best to conceal the tremor betraying her.
The tall man towering over her ignored her, just as he had when she thrashed and screamed while he dragged her downstairs with one hand. Sera knew he was the devil. He had proven that many times, but the emptiness in his eyes and the complete lack of emotion were diabolical. Inhumane, even.
His hands worked behind her effortlessly, despite her struggle to break free. Cassian finally let go once he was certain she was secured to the chair. His hair was disheveled, a result of her determined attempt to overpower him. An attempt that had ended fruitlessly. Obviously. Because now she was helplessly bound to the metal chair, the man before her now her captor.
Sera stopped struggling and stared directly into his eyes. He hadn’t spared her a single glance since he threatened to ruin her life. In fact, he treated her like a lifeless inconvenience. The man was strong. Very strong. Sera knew that, but it wouldn’t stop her from fighting him. She refused to sit here like a helpless captive and let him have his way.
Her voice came out as confident as she intended. “What are you going to do to me?”
Silence. Pin-drop silence.
He was now sitting at the far end of the room, putting a wide distance between them as though she were some kind of parasite. She didn’t mind. In fact, she was glad.
But his silence was unnerving and completely unnecessary. “Look, I don’t want to talk to you any more than you want to talk to me. But you choosing to ignore me is just–”
“I don’t know what kind of delusional b***h you are, but let’s get something straight.”
His harsh voice cut her off. His eyes remained fixed on the phone he’d been typing on. “Watch your tongue when you speak to me.”
Sera rolled her eyes, unconcerned whether he saw her or not. “I’ll talk to you however I want. You don’t get to–”
“Except I do. Shut the f*ck up.”
“I won’t–”
“Shut. Up.”
“I said I won’t–”
“Do you think I’m joking?”
He stood immediately, stalking toward her like a hunter closing in on its prey. His presence, his face, everything about him–was terrifying. But Sera had seen more trauma than anyone should in a lifetime. So she didn’t care. Not enough to back down.
“Whatever you’re doing might work on others, but I’m not going to tremble just because you think I shouldn’t talk back.”
Cassian brought both hands forward, his eyes still locked on hers, sending chills down her spine. “Humor me again. Run that mouth and see how little I care what you do or don’t do.”
She blinked. “You’re rude. Despicably so.”
He gave her a cold, bored look. “Says the dimwit who’s been trespassing.”
“Did you just call me a dimwit?”
“A mannerless dimwit.”
“What’s wrong with you? Were you never taught–”
“Now you’re going to stop talking. And I mean it.” His voice was calm, but the intensity behind it made Sera fall silent.
In a swift motion, he dragged the chair forward until it was right in front of him, then lowered himself until their faces were nearly level. Nearly, because he was still ridiculously tall, even like this. “It seems you think being a woman gives you some sort of immunity.”
Sera blinked. “You said you don’t hurt women–”
“I said you being a woman stopped me from torturing the life out of you. It doesn’t stop me from hurting you.”
He grabbed a handful of her hair, sending a sharp pain through her scalp. “If you push it, I’ll give you exactly what you’re asking for. That monster you’re trying to unleash with that stupid mouth of yours? It’s waiting for you.”
His grip tightened with every word.
Sera struggled to breathe, her heart pounding violently in her chest. He was staring at her, but it felt like he was staring through her. It made her uneasy, though she tried not to let it show.
“I’m not afraid of death,” she said, her voice strained. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again.”
“Who said anything about killing you?”
Her breath hitched. There was no emotion on his face, but something shifted. Something worse. “Wh–what… what do you mean?”
“You think after that s**t you pulled, I’d just kill you?”
He tilted his head slightly, his hand still tangled in her hair. “You think I’ve forgotten? Ten minutes ago, I couldn’t care less whether you lived or died.”
Sera swallowed hard.
“But you didn’t just try to play me,” he continued. “You wasted my time.”
Her nose flared. “Try? I didn’t try to play you. I did play you. Right to your face.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. He released her hair, only to grab her throat and slam her back against the metal chair, her neck pressing painfully against the cold edge. “No one plays me. There’s no trick you think you know that I haven’t seen or heard of before.”
Sera felt like her neck might snap at any second. “Keep trying to convince yourself,” she choked. “I like the delusion.”
“The only delusional person here is you.”
His grip tightened. “Tell me, did you really think I was going to make a deal with you? That I trusted you enough to hand over the phone?”
Sera swallowed again, her pulse racing. “It would’ve taken me a second to get that phone from you,” he went on. “All I had to do was pull you in, like I did anyway.”
Her brows furrowed as she stared at him, confusion flickering through her fear. “I wanted to see what you’d do,” he said. “And I got exactly what I wanted.”
“You’re just trying to put on a show.”
“I don’t need to put on a show for anyone, least of all you.”
“Then what are you saying?”
He studied her for a moment. “So you really are dumb. I suspected it when you thought you could fight me. Now you’ve confirmed it.”
“Confirmed what?”
“That you’re dumb.”
She frowned, anger cutting through the fear. “You don’t know me, and your words don’t mean s**t. I’m not dumb. What are you getting at?”
That muscle in his jaw ticked again as he leaned closer. “You were ready to die. So why would I kill you? Worse, I can’t torture you the way I’d like. But you were more afraid of me finding out who was calling you than you were of dying.”
Sera’s breathing faltered.
No. No…
“So I made you show me how far you’d go to protect your accomplice,” he continued softly. “And you did.”
Her heart began to pound erratically. “What do you mean?”
“After everything you’ve done, I want you to understand just how traumatizing it is to cross me.” A slow, sadistic smirk spread across his lips. “I find people’s fears, and I break them with it. For most, it’s death. For others… it’s something else. So I find that something else… and I crush them with it before I kill them.”
His voice dropped. “And I’ve found yours.”
Sera felt her world crumble. She thought she had outsmarted him. Thought she had saved Abbon. But it had all been a trap. He had always been one step ahead.
Still, she forced herself to steady her breathing. “That’s your grand conclusion?” she shot back. “I don’t give a f*ck about anyone.”
He tilted his head, releasing her throat.
“Save the bravado for someone else,” he said coldly. “I’m not the one.”
Sera coughed, dragging air painfully into her lungs. She tried to speak again, but a sudden c***k of thunder outside cut her off.
Then the rain came. Heavy. Violent and relentless. It pounded against the roof, the temperature dropping sharply with it. The weather had hinted at a storm, but not one this brutal.
Cassian glanced at his wristwatch, then pulled out his phone again, typing something quickly.
Sera’s stomach twisted as she sank deeper into the cold metal chair. There was no way his car was nearby. She would have heard it when he pulled up. And with the storm raging outside, escaping on foot was nearly impossible.
She was trapped.
- Writer
