by J Marie
I couldn’t take another second of this.
“Darren, please stop this! Please!” I screamed, turning around to face him, tears in my eyes, but all I was met with was a quick backhand to the face. My body jerked back in response as my face lit up with heat and pain. I brought my cold palm up to cool the side of my face as Darren yanked me to him by my hair. Out of total fear, I shrunk into myself and winced my eyes shut, too terrified to face him.
“Look at me,” he snarled. I tentatively opened my eyes; my hands clutched into fists at my chest, and cringed even more as the dark evil blue of his eyes swallowed me whole. “What the fuck did I tell you?” he roared at me.
“P-please, Darren,” I replied softly. “Please, I can’t watch anymore.”
He looked down at me and glared without a single hint of compassion in his eyes.
“At this point, Jaden, I couldn’t give a fuck less about what you want. Beginning today, I start hunting down your entire family, and I won’t stop until there’s nothing left of them and nothing left of your old life for you to hold on to. This idea of escape ends here and now. Now, shut your fucking mouth and watch the misery you’ve created because you thought you might have a chance to get away from me.”
He released my hair with a shove, and my mind officially went numb. I was in shock, yet I was in denial of what he actually said. I felt my heart race as my breathing pattern increased, panic rising in my blood while tears pooled at the corner of my eyes.
Darren was going to kill my entire family.
My horror mixed with the screams of my rescue victim was enough to completely send me over the edge. I felt my lips curl up in a snarl, exposing my teeth as I thought about Darren murdering my family. I shook with rage, the screams of the gardener ringing through my ears, and finally, I just … lost it.
I lunged at Darren from the floor, screaming like an absolute animal as the force of my advance caused the chair he sat in to flip backward. Darren and I crashed on the floor while I rained fists and elbows down on his face.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I screamed in total fury. “I swear to God, I will!”
I only got in a few hits before Darren threw me off him, but he didn’t throw me far. He kept a strong grip on my dress before quickly righting himself, gripping the collar of my dress with both hands, and yanked me under him with such force the fabric ripped. Terror filled me, but I continued to fight. I wasn’t backing down. Not after a threat like that.
I managed to get one more good elbow jab across his face, but it didn’t even faze him. Instead, the growl that manifested itself accompanied by the intense glare of Darren’s eyes made me feel like my entire world was about to end. He didn’t even hold back this time. He straight up close-fist punched me right in the face and that was it. Lights out.
~*~
I stood over Jaden’s unconscious body, my chest heaving up and down with rage as I fought to control myself. I had lost it, completely fucking lost it, and silenced Jaden’s defiance in a way I never thought I would. I knew I would probably regret it in the morning, but I was too pissed to give a shit at the moment.
The buzz of the drill silenced while the pleas and cries of the stupid fucking gardener continued and I couldn’t stand the pathetic sound of it anymore. I grabbed one of the throwing knives I kept in my jacket, turned, and swiftly threw it right into the gardener’s jugular. I would have shot him, but the sound of the gun without a silencer would have shattered everyone’s ears. His screams instantly turned to gurgling as he began to choke on his own blood. I watched as the light faded from his eyes, satisfaction filling my soul knowing the meddling piece of shit was dead.
“Clean him up,” I ordered my men as I reached down and lifted Jaden.
I threw her over my shoulder and headed out of the basement shed. I took her back into the house and down to the black room where she would remain for the rest of the day. Placing her in her cage, I made sure the side of her now bruising face laid on the cold floor of the cage in hopes of bringing down the swelling by the time she woke up. Locking the door of the cage, I stepped back to admire my beautiful girl as she slept away her pain.
Now that I had calmed down, I felt like an asshole for hitting her like that. I had warned her so long ago that if she didn’t listen to me, I could snap and then I’d really hurt her. Today was exactly what I meant. I guess I couldn’t really blame her for attacking me like that; I had just told her I was going to kill her entire family. I probably would have done the same thing. The problem was she should have known better. She should have known she wasn’t going to win against me, yet she went after me anyway like the stubborn little girl she was.
My poor little Jaden. So much fury in such a tiny body. She probably wouldn’t speak to me after this for a while, which was probably a good thing. Nothing good ever came out of her mouth anyway, unless it was my dick.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Scott, whom I had left with my guards to help clean up the gardener and ensure my orders for the miserable fuck’s pathetic little family were carried out.
“Yeah,” he answered on the first ring.
“Meet me in my office,” I said, heading for the stairs and hung up.
Time to start making preparations for Jaden’s family.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Deal
I woke up shivering with a massive headache and a dull pain throbbing in my cheek. I opened my swollen eyelids to find myself surrounded by darkness, but I knew where I was. I was back in my cage.
I curled into myself, wrapping my arms around my legs as I began to shed the necessary tears over today’s events. That was the most gruesome and traumatic thing I had ever witnessed. I wasn’t completely sensitive to blood and gore. After working at a personal injury law firm for so long, I had seen some pretty disgusting autopsy photos and injuries, but nothing compared to this. I could still hear the gardener’s screams echoing in my ears. It was as if I was back there, in the basement, watching him suffer because of me. I cried harder then, my body shaking with grief and guilt as I blamed myself for the horror of that poor man’s final moments of life. I didn’t even know how it ended.
In a way, I was glad Darren had knocked me out. It meant I didn’t have to continue watching the torture show that I would never forget. But now, I had a new horror to panic for. Darren had revealed he really was planning on killing my entire family. It had been a month since he last revealed the idea to me, and I thought maybe he had dropped it since then, but apparently I was wrong. The thought of him forcing me to watch them die as I had watched the gardener had me panicking all over. Time was of the essence now. I had to warn them. I had to get a message out, but I didn’t know how.
I certainly couldn’t use another person as my messenger. Darren would just kill them and ensure I had a front row seat to that show, too. I had to figure something out. I had to get this goddamn collar off me! I didn’t think I would be able to escape Darren entirely. Even if I somehow destroyed the collar, I had a strong feeling Darren would still find me. I couldn’t make this escape about me. I had to make it about them, about my family. I just needed to warn them to run. If I could do that, if I could accomplish that one single goal, then that would be enough for me. I would take whatever punishment Darren would rain down on me for running because it would be worth it a thousand times over if it meant my family would be safe from him.
But what if that wasn’t enough? What if, even after I successfully escaped, Darren still found them? I couldn’t force my family into that kind of life, of running all the time, if it could be avoided, especially if it meant Darren would eventually find them anyway and then make me watch them die. I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t survive it.
Maybe what I really had to do was just bite the literal bullet and accept my life as it was. Maybe if I made a deal with the devil and sacrificed myself for them, he would spare them and I could live on knowing they would, too. Maybe that would finally be enough for me.
After wha
t felt like days later, Darren finally returned to me. I remained in the same position, curled up on my side, my arms wrapped around myself as I stared off into the distance. I refused to even acknowledge him.
I heard him release a heavy sigh as he reached down and unlocked my cage, opening the door and waiting for me to exit. I stayed right where I was. Even though my body was sore and cramped from the small space, I’d rather stay in there for the rest of the day then spend a single moment with Darren.
“Come on, Jaden. Let’s go,” he urged me, snapping his fingers. His voice was soft, but I could tell he was losing his patience. Still, I remained.
Another sigh escaped him as he rolled his eyes and bent down to the opposite end of the cage. He quickly lifted it up with one hand and I inevitably slid out of the cage and onto the carpeted floor. Darren was quick to seize me before I could retreat to the safety of my cage and hauled me to my feet. I tried to jerk away from him, but his hands held my upper arms, preventing me from moving.
“Stop it,” he ordered softly, annoyance tagging along in his voice.
I halted my protest, finding it pointless as I stared off blankly at his chest, my lips curling back in disgust. I felt his warm hand gently grip my chin and lift my face toward him, exposing my bruised cheek so he could get a better look. He stared at it for quite some time, and I noticed something in his eyes that I had not expected to see—regret. Did he actually feel bad for hitting me like that? I’d never seen him care after he’d backhanded me, but I guess actually punching me with a closed fist was something entirely different to him.
I took this moment to examine his cheek as well, the one I had slammed my elbow in. He had a small purple and red mark on the bone, but it apparently didn’t bother him as much as mine did.
Darren lightly took my face in his hands and sprinkled tiny kisses against my bruised cheek. I felt my body tremble with anguish as he tried to comfort me for what he had done. A single tear slid down my cheek over my bruise and Darren kissed it away, his thumbs tracing along my jaw, making it that much harder not to crumble before him. It just made me sick to my stomach.
“I’m so sorry, Jaden,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“Like this is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me,” I replied bitterly.
He could punch me in the face as many times as he wanted. I could take it. As long as he left my family alone, I would take it. Gladly.
“And it probably won’t be the last,” he replied softly, his lips against my temple. “Especially with an attitude like that.”
“I want to make a deal with you,” I said seriously.
Darren pulled back and looked at me, an intense look of surprise across his face.
“You want to make a deal with me,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure you have much to bargain with,” he said, regarding me closely.
“I have a lot more than you think,” I replied with confidence.
“Well, let’s hear your proposal,” Darren said with intrigue.
“You have me, this much is obvious, but what you don’t have … is me voluntarily.”
Darren raised any eyebrow at me, but I could tell he knew where I was going with this.
“Not yet.” He smirked.
“Precisely,” I replied. “If you agree to leave my family alone, to let them live out their days without harm, then I will remain yours voluntarily for as long as you want me.”
This time, both of his eyebrows raised.
“I’ll obey every word you say without question or complaint. I won’t argue, I won’t try to run, and I won’t fight you unless you want me to. I’ll surrender my subconscious to your rules and become the perfect little princess you’ve always wanted. I’ll walk down that aisle in a white dress or nothing at all and give you as many sons as you ask of me. You’ll be able to trust me to leave your sight and return to you without command or coercion. I will be yours for the rest of my life and admit it to you every day without revulsion and replace it with pride. All I ask of you in return is that you simply let my loved ones live.”
That was it. I had officially surrendered my soul to the devil to spare my family his torment. I felt my heart break as I realized what I was giving up, but in the end, knowing they would live would be worth it no matter the sacrifice.
Darren stared at me for a good long time. I pleaded with my eyes for him to take my offer. He had to have known his life would be so much easier if I was cooperative and accepting of what he wanted from me. This was the deal of a lifetime. Fucking literally.
As I looked up into that dark deep blue of his, something shifted in them, and a slight smirk formed in the corner of Darren’s lips.
“My sweet, sweet, Jaden,” he smiled. “That is one hell of a deal you’ve presented.”
I felt my insides quiver as I waited with baited fucking breath for his response.
Take the deal. Take the fucking deal!
“But why on Earth would I agree to give up something I desire for something I’m already going to achieve?”
I felt my eyes bulge as I stared up at him. Was he seriously turning me down?
“Wait, what?” I asked, not sure I even understood. Darren still held my face in his hands, and he suddenly began to walk forward, forcing me to take several steps backward as I fought to remain balanced.
“You see, Jaden, everything you just offered me is already going to happen anyway, regardless of whether I agree to spare your family or not. Voluntary or not makes no difference to me. You are mine no matter what you try to rationalize and no amount of bargaining will change that. In fact, those lovely words you just declared can be considered your wedding vows to me because that is exactly what I expect from you and, in time, that is exactly what I will get from you. I don’t need to make a deal with you to ensure that. I hate to break it to you, princess, but I’m declining your offer because, like I said, you have nothing to bargain with.”
I felt my entire being completely shut down. I felt my knees give out, but Darren caught me and held me against him. I felt myself begin to hyperventilate as I came to the realization that the devil didn’t need to bargain for my soul … because he already fucking had it. My body shivered with fear as more hushed tears rolled down my face, soaking Darren’s shirt.
“Shh …” Darren whispered, his arm tight around my body, as his hands caressed up and down my back. “You’re going to be all right, Jaden. It will be hard at first, but eventually, it will get easier. I promise.”
Rage instantly built up inside of me again. It would get easier? He thought it would get easier for me once my family was dead?! Was this guy on drugs?! How could he possibly expect me to forgive him for this!
I tried to contain it, but it needed an outlet. Badly.
“You …” I started to say softly, and eventually, I finally found my voice. “You can’t fucking do this to me!” I shouted at him, pulling away, but his arms remained around me. “I’ve already given you everything! Why the fuck do you need to take them from me, too?!”
“Jaden, stop it,” he demanded sternly, his hands now gripping my upper arms tightly.
“No! Get the fuck off me! Let go of me! I fucking hate you! I can’t even stand the sight of you!”
I started to cry. I couldn’t help myself. I felt so weak and pathetic as I tried to break free from his hold, but he was just too goddamn strong. Irritated as shit, I finally brought my foot up to kick him. He absorbed the kick, grunting as he did and then threw me roughly on the floor. I crashed against the carpet and had no energy left to fight him. My anguish was absolutely exhausting. My face still hurt, and my body had nothing left to give. I just curled into myself, covering my face and ears with my hands in a futile attempt to hide from him.
I could feel him standing over me, could feel his rage seep from him, infecting the air around us, and it made me sick to my stomach.
“Keep behaving like this, Ja
den, and I swear to God, you won’t see the light of day for a very long time,” he warned, his eyes gleaming down at me.
I felt my lips curl in absolute hatred. What difference did it make? It wasn’t as if I would ever feel real light in my life ever again. I looked up at him from the floor, my fists curling at my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to hurl myself at him and gouge his eyes out with my thumbs. But something else entirely roared off my tongue.
“If you kill them, you’ll be taking away my only reason to live. If there’s nothing left of them, you will find nothing left of me in return. Then we’ll see who’s really won this little battle, won’t we?”
My new attempt at threats was stone cold and serious. Why would I want to continue living if my only reason for living was gone? This was my personal Hell. If death was my only escape, then maybe that was the better way out. I wouldn’t be able to accomplish my goal of killing Darren and bringing his criminal organization to the ground, but at least, he would have to continue living without his obsession. He could spend the rest of his miserable days in want, knowing I was free of him and resting peacefully with my loved ones. Maybe that was the only way I could truly get back at him, truly win.
Darren’s hands casually shifted into his pockets as he remained unfazed by my latest threat. A little grin began to form at the corner of his lips while his eyes blazed with that intensity that made me quiver inside.
“Please,” he said, amused. “Like you’d ever allow yourself to become that weak as to end your own life. And besides,” he said, resting his arm on the tall bedpost and leaning over me, “I plan on giving you a whole new reason to live. And they have little feet tinier than yours.”
His arrogance was beyond annoying as well as disgusting. It was as if no matter what I said, what I proposed or threatened, Darren would not budge. It was his way without even the option of the highway. Fuck, if I had that option, I’d be speeding down it so fast, I’d have the entire county police department on my tail.
