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GHOSTS OF THE PAST

DIYA

W hen I woke up, I was not on my warm mattress.

I was taped to a steel gurney, half-naked, ass freezing…

The wind howled, carrying otherworldly chants from the worlds beyond, and I heard the screams in the walls… screams of those who died within.

Cursing, I looked around and recognized where I was. The dilapidated building which was once used to treat patients using unethical methods.

It was outside the main compound, buried behind the cover of trees. Nobody was coming to save me.

Oh, the fucking bastard.

After last night, I was confident Asher had changed his mind. I was wrong.

I winced, noticing the remains of old furniture lay strewn about, their upholstery ripped and stuffing spilling out like the entrails of butchered beings. The stench of rot was suffocating.

Not good.

A fan creaked above my head from the shit brown ceiling with crack, and I hoped against hope that it wouldn’t decide to let go right now. Death by a rusty metal fan wasn’t exactly how I pictured my life ending.

“Maddox, we both know you aren’t going to kill me. Why are we wasting time here when you can do other things?” Silence, followed by the echoes of my own voice. “Is this some kind of foreplay? I’m fully aroused now. You can come out and lick my pussy.”

“If you want it to be,” a familiar voice said, and my smug smile died an instant death. My heart stilled for a second before it started back again.

“God, not you,” I said, closing my eyes. Asher might not kill me, but this one surely would.

“Fuck yes. I mean, did you really think you could get away after everything you did, you demonic bitch?” Declan growled, eyes narrowed.

“He was bottom-feeding scum, and he deserved everything he got. But I didn’t do anything, Dex. Detective Knight cleared me, remember?” I said, trying to look as innocent as I could be.

Declan Hart, a heart surgeon, with a friend who overdosed children with cancer medication.

He walked out from the shadows, tall, handsome, and so fucking full of himself. The ghost of my past had finally found me.

I always knew he would, but I never imagined it’d be this soon. I also never thought that I’d be taped to a gurney when we met and that he’d have a gun pointed at my head.

Yeah, this is not going to end well. Not for me.

The last time we saw each other, he tried to disembowel me. I almost didn’t survive.

“Oh, fuck that useless detective. We both know it was you, Diya, and you used me to get to him. You broke my heart,” he said, voice cold.

“Pshh, what heart? You don’t have a heart, darling. There’s only black, rotten coal in the place where your heart should be.”

“Still snarky as fuck, I see…”

“There’s no reason to change something that’s already perfect,” I said with a grin.

He slammed the gun on the table, making me wince.

“If you’re going to kill me, do it now, Dex. Don't waste my time.”

“Oh, I am going to kill you, but not yet. Remember these?” he said, pulling out a small glass bottle of red and white oleanders. So lethally beautiful. The same flowers I used to kill Tobias.

“First, I’m going to feed these to you, followed by drugs. And then I’ll remove your organs one by fucking one, and you’ll watch me do it. I’ll make sure you stay alive until the very end.”

He could do that if he wanted. He was a great surgeon.

“You know what he did.”

“You were supposed to save him. You…” His hands shook.

“I tried to help, but he couldn’t be saved. He had a fucking god complex.”

A loud snarl stopped me as he pressed his elbow into my throat. “Shut the fuck up, Dee. For once, shut the fuck up.”

Struggling was a waste of time and energy. So, I just let go. I wanted to live, but maybe death would liberate me from the pain that haunted me.

“Giving up already? I wish Toby could see you now. I wish he could see the panic in your eyes, the resignation.” He chuckled. “Say hello to him when you meet him.”

“Not going to hell.”

“Oh, you are going to hell.”

“I don't agree, Dex.”

Gritting his teeth, he unscrewed the bottle. “Eat your own medicine, Dee.”

“That’s enough.”

Startled, Declan stumbled back, and his gun fell to the floor, followed by the bottle.

Asher was quick to grab the gun.

Oh, here’s my knight. A moment of relief, followed by suspicion. Why was he helping me? That didn’t make sense.

Bang.

My heart stilled when I heard the gunshot. With a scream, Declan lunged. They both fell to the floor.

After a few painful seconds, I heard another gunshot and a pained groan. Declan stood up, bleeding from his shoulder. “I won’t stop until you get what you deserve, Dee,” he said, eyes burning with rage before he jogged out of the door.

Asher stood up, cursing and groaning. There was a small cut on his arm, but it didn’t look life-threatening.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m peachy, Pussycat. I love to occasionally tape myself to a gurney butt naked and hire a man to choke me just for the fun of it. I get off from that.”

“Your mouth…” he scoffed. “So, I’m not the only one who wants you gone? Maybe I should leave you right here so that he can finish you off,” Asher said, rubbing his hands together.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Maddox.”