"This man, who is he?" I ask Diana.
She glances at the photo.
And when she says the name, my blood runs cold.
No.
Fuck.
No.
TWENTY-FOUR
Hartley
Black doesn't come back in for the entire night.
I don't know what he's doing. I don't want to know. I'm simply grateful for the fact that every second he stays out there, we have a better chance of surviving. Taylor fell asleep within the first hour, after exhausting herself from crying. I sat on the ground, and let her rest her head on my lap, and only when she was asleep, did I let my fear break loose. I let the warm, salty tears run down my cheeks, but I don't let them beat me.
///
I can feel the fear, but I don't have to give in to it.
My legs are numb, my body aches, and I'm already getting hungry. It's well into the night, maybe early morning, I'm not sure. It's dark. I can't see. I can't hear anything. The only thing that comes through in the darkness is my shallow breathing and the occasional shuffling sounds from above. I can't hear Taylor, but she shifts around in my lap every now and then, so I know she's still okay. For now.
My mind twists and I try to think of a way to get us out of this. It doesn't matter which way I play it, my best option is to act like he's broken me. At the very least, he'll leave Taylor alone. If I act tough, he is guaranteed to torment her. I have to take the risk in putting on a show and hoping it'll make him forget about using her. I only hope that doesn't mean he feels her place is no longer needed. Either way, it's a risk. This risk is the one I'm going with, because it makes more sense.
He wants to break me.
It's what he's doing this for.
I want to see his face. I want to see the man behind the mask. I want to know who decided my life was worth destroying with his sick game. I want to know if he's random, or if I know him. I want answers. And the longer I sit here, the more frustrated and frightened I become. I think about Ace, and I wonder if he's figured it out yet. And if he has, how does he feel? Is he scared?
Then I wonder if I'll ever see him again, and that brings a tightening into my chest I haven't felt since Raymond. A tightening I can feel right to my very core, a deep affection I didn't realize I had developed. The thought of not seeing Ace again, the thought of him worrying where we are, and feeling like he's failed, makes me want to scream. I know how he'll take this. He'll blame himself. Then he'll blame me, because he'll be angry, and scared, but after that, he'll feel the fear.
And I don't want him to feel that fear.
The door makes a clicking sound and my head jerks up. A moment later, it swings open and a light flicks on. I squint and Taylor jerks upright with a gasp. It takes me a solid few minutes to be able to see anything, but when my eyes adjust, I see Black reaching the bottom of the stairs, a machete in one hand, a chain in the other. He's fully masked. Still covered all in black. That doesn't matter. My eyes zone in on his hands, and the items he's holding.
I feel like I'm going to pass out from the fear that invades my body in that very moment.
"Get up," he orders in that hoarse voice. "Now."
Taylor and I get to our feet, but it takes all my strength to stay on them as my knees begin to tremble. I try to ignore Taylor's whimper beside me, as I keep all my focus on Black.
"I'm sure you're wondering by now, who I am, and why I chose you," he says, running his fingers over the chain in his right hand. "Those answers will all come in time, but they will only come at the right moment. I don't want to answer those questions for you, I want you to answer them for yourselves."
"I know what you want from me," I say, and I don't have to put on much of a show to get my voice shaky, because it's already mostly there. "Leave my friend out of this. Please."
His head swivels in my direction. "And what is it I want with you, Hartley?"
"You picked me for a reason," I say, my voice trembling. "You did your research to torment me the way you did. Taylor has nothing to do with this."
"Always the hero," he says. "So strong."
Strong.
God.
I need him to think I'm weak. That he's won.
"But I will break you, and that's what your little friend here is for," he rattles the chain in Taylor's direction.
No.
"Leave her alone," I cry, once again. It isn't an act. The thought of him hurting Taylor sends shivers up my spine and causes a coldness to take over my whole body. I let a lone tear roll down my cheek. "Don't hurt her. Please. I'm begging you."