Chapter 104: The Torture

>Eleina

The doctors carried the unconscious woman into the building beside the place where they had been staying, her limp body hanging between them as they struggled to maneuver her through the narrow entrance, and when one of them reached for the old metal door, it resisted beneath his hand, forcing him to brace his shoulder against it before he finally managed to drag it open, the hinges protesting with a long, shrill screech that echoed through the empty corridor.

"Why would you bring us here?! That place was already fine?" I complained as I stepped inside after them, lifting a hand toward my nose when the sharp smell of chlorine immediately stung my nostrils, the heavy mixture of disinfectant and chemicals hanging in the stale air and crawling down my throat until I could almost taste it, and the longer I remained inside, the more the pounding behind my temples worsened.

I slowed as I looked around.

Dust coated the old equipment scattered throughout the room, their metal surfaces dulled with age beneath the weak overhead lights, while several unfamiliar machines sat pushed against the walls, their wires hanging loosely from their sides like neglected veins, and the whole place looked less like somewhere meant for patients and more like a laboratory that had been abandoned long ago and forgotten.

Just what was running through that man’s head?

My gaze shifted toward Mallory as the doctors carried her farther inside, her head lolling limply against one man’s arm, her hair falling across her face.

They wouldn’t kill her, would they?

It didn’t matter to me what happened to her, but I certainly didn’t want my name anywhere near a murder, especially when one accusation could send my entire career crashing down after everything I had worked so hard to build.

Then again, I couldn’t exactly pretend I wasn’t already involved.

"Let’s just do it here," one of the doctors ordered.

I stopped so abruptly that the heel of my shoe scraped against the floor, my body pitching forward for a fraction of a second before I caught myself, and I stared at him as though he had just suggested the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

"Here?"

I pointed toward the narrow bed positioned beneath one of the flickering lights, but the doctor didn’t even bother looking at me, already turning his attention back toward Mallory as though my question hadn’t been worth answering.

Rude.

I clicked my tongue under my breath, deciding it wasn’t worth arguing with them when I could simply have Vale deal with their manners the next time we met.

The doctors lowered Mallory onto the bed, her body sinking heavily into the thin mattress, and one of them immediately caught her wrist before it could fall over the edge, dragging her arm back against the metal railing while the other pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket.

The metal snapped shut around her wrist with a sharp click.

Then the other.

Her ankles were secured next, the chains between the cuffs rattling as they tightened them against the bed frame, leaving her completely motionless beneath the harsh light.

I watched the entire thing in silence.

Then, as the doctors stepped away from the bed, the corners of my lips slowly lifted into a smirk.

"You’re finally going to pay for what you’ve done," I whispered, leaning closer to Mallory as I watched her unconscious face, the words barely leaving my lips as a smile slowly tugged at the corners of my mouth. It was almost disappointing that she couldn’t hear me, because I would have enjoyed seeing the fear in her eyes when she realized what was waiting for her.

"Can you not wake her up?" I asked one of the doctors, my gaze never leaving her.

"If the pain won’t wake her up, nothing will," the doctor replied with a smirk before turning toward the other doctor, who was standing beside the tray filled with medical instruments and several syringes.

The doctor picked up one of the syringes and drew a clear liquid from a small vial, holding it up briefly as the fluid caught the harsh light overhead before turning toward Mallory.

"Now, let’s start the torture, shall we?"

She approached the bed and pressed the needle into Mallory’s skin, slowly pushing the liquid into her vein, and I watched closely, barely blinking as the syringe emptied.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then I saw it.

Mallory’s fingers twitched.

My eyes widened slightly before a smile spread across my face, because even unconscious, her body had reacted to the pain coursing through her, her fingers curling weakly against the restraints before falling still again.

I brought both hands over my mouth, trying and failing to contain the smile stretching across my face, the sight sending a strange rush of excitement through me as I watched her body respond despite the unconsciousness keeping her from even knowing what was happening.

"Do it again!" I urged, unable to hide the excitement in my voice as I looked at the doctor with a grin.

The doctor glanced at me, then toward the tray, before her lips curved into a knowing smile.

"How about we spice things up?"

She reached down, picked up the scalpel, and held it out toward me.

I stared at the blade for a moment before slowly reaching out and taking it from her.

The rest of it sent me into such a high that I completely lost track of time, the hours slipping past without me even noticing as we did everything we could to make her experience even a fraction of the helplessness she had forced me to endure when she took my fiancé away from me, and there was something disturbingly satisfying about watching her struggle against the restraints, hearing the faint sounds of pain escape her despite the fact that she could barely move, because for once, I was the one in control and she was the one who couldn’t do anything to stop me.

By the time I finally stepped away, I could barely remember how long I had been standing there, but the exhaustion in my body felt strangely satisfying, and I looked at Mallory lying motionless on the bed with a sense of fulfillment I hadn’t felt since the day she had taken everything from me.

I had finally made her pay.

"Doc, look at this."

One of the doctors who had been monitoring Mallory’s condition throughout everything suddenly called out, his voice carrying an unfamiliar urgency as he leaned closer to one of the machines beside the bed, his attention fixed on the screen.

"What’s the matter?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I glanced toward him, hardly interested enough to move from where I stood.

The doctor hesitated for a moment before looking at me.

"I think this woman is a few weeks pregnant."

"What?"

I shot upright so quickly that the chair behind me scraped violently against the floor, my eyes snapping toward the doctor as the words finally registered in my mind, but before I could demand that he repeat himself, a sudden BANG! exploded from the direction of the door.