Page 41 of Pretty Plaything

Chapter 20

EVERYTHING AROUND MEis dark.

Dark and cold.

Until hands grab me. They’re everywhere, but I can’t see them.

I can’t see their face.

I don’t know who they are or what they want.

My instincts kick in, but there are too many of my enemies and they’re too strong. Someone squeezes my shoulder so hard I have to clench my teeth not to cry out.

They tie my wrists and ankles, and then they take me somewhere. I don’t know where.

But then they disappear, as if chased away by something.

I’m on the floor again, my wrists and ankles free.

As I sit up, the door opens. A shadow lurks in the light, and I squint at it.

“You failed again,” my father says, and then he punches me in the face.

I don’t feel any pain, but I can taste blood on my lips.

“You need to do better,” my father says.

I nod.

The dream dissipates, and I open my eyes, staring at the ceiling.

It’s not the first time I’ve dreamed of some variation of similar events, and I don’t understand why. It was all just a part of my training.

I may have failed a lot of times, but eventually, I got stronger, better, and faster.

It’s almost impossible to surprise me now. My father taught me how to sense even the slightest change in my surroundings. How to catch my enemy even while I’m asleep.

So why do I keep dreaming that? It doesn’t make any sense.

Is my father trying to show his displeasure that I still haven’t found his and my brothers’ murderer from beyond the grave?

Only, I don’t believe in ghosts or an afterlife.

I get out of the bed and lower myself to the floor. Doing some pushups usually helps me clear my head and forget about the strange dreams that plague my mind.

But even though the dream leaves my thoughts, there’s another distraction that I can’t escape now.

Sienna.

I left her in my dungeon, nicely tied up.

Is she awake? Is she squirming and trying to get some relief? Does she think about me when the plug shifts inside her?