Page 4 of Terror Tuesday

Terror overtakes me, stabbing me in the gut.What does he mean?

Before I can run away, Hunter and Bryce burst into the room, arguing about something, breaking the force of electricity between me and the shadowed stranger.

Hunter stands behind the hacker as if he’s going to intimidate the scariest man in the room. “I’ll pay you next week. You know I’m good for it, Vanq.”

Bryce shifts from foot to foot and brushes the end of his nose with the back of his hand. “We just got a new shipment in and will be selling that off?—”

Without looking at the two of them, Vanq cuts in. “I’ve already done the work, so payment is due now. If it’s not already wired to me, then that’s a complication I don’t think you want.”

For once, Hunter is speechless. The nervousness in his eyes makes my stomach drop. How can we get out of this?

“Fuck!” Vanq’s sudden outburst startles me. One of his monitors flickers to black, and he stands abruptly, the scrape of his chair against the concrete like a wailing cry cutting through the stiff air. After inspecting the back of it, he swears again under his breath.

“Anyone have a knife? I need to tweak this wire,” he says with an outstretched glove.

Bryce sniffs. Hunter lifts his finger and points at me with his voice barely above a whisper. “She does.”

“No, I?—”

I feel the hacker’s stare behind his mask as he turns his palm up toward me, fingers beckoning to lend him my knife.

It’s more dangerous to be disobedient.That’s what they tell us.

Heaving a sigh, I dig in my bag and lay my father’s gift in his gloved hand. I feel naked. Exposed and alone. The cold steel is the only thing left between me and the chaos unfolding in front of me.

Hunter shoves his hands on his hips in a vain attempt to assert control. “Vanq. Come on, you knowBetaand, hell, my father are good for any payment. We’re at your service whenever. Midterms were hard on us, and Terror Tuesday is next week, and?—”

“There.” Vanq ignores him and straightens his posture, my knife now a dangerous prop in his hold. Facing my boyfriend, he lifts his chin slightly to address him. “Your character was built on farces and excuses. Ask me what I want instead.”

Hunter’s mouth closes. The bravado fades from his face, replaced by something darker. He glances back at Bryce, who shrugs.

“What do you want?” Hunter asks, his voice tight.

Vanq wafts my knife through the air like a showman. “Entertain me.”

When Hunter’s face flushes red with fury. “Look, I don’t speak your language. What are you asking for?”

The room holds its breath as Vanq turns to me, then Hunter, then Bryce. In my half squat to a stand, I pause as my dress rides up my thighs until I feel defenseless in a way I never have before.

With a tilt of his head, the hacker responds, “I want your boy to make me a movie.”

Hunter swallows, the tension in his throat thick. “What kind of movie?”

The hooded man flicks the knife at me, using it like a pointer. “The kind where she’s on her knees, sucking you off.”

two

“Y-You wantto watch my girlfriend blow me?”

The man straightens his shoulders, a challenge flaring through his stance as Hunter spreads his palms out at his sides. My blood crystallizes to ice until my body freezes in place. Everything around me stutters to slow motion, an inescapable nightmare unfolding before my eyes. Limbs won’t respond. Voice won’t even squeak.

Our silence is pierced by a sharp flick as Vanq opens the knife with deliberate dramatics. “No. You’re not listening. I wanthim”—he aims the sharp end at Bryce, who looks like he’s about to buzz out of his skin—“tofilmyour girlfriend sucking you off.”

Words hang in the air unnaturally. Suffocating the oxygen from the room. Several seconds of unabashed flabbergasts pass.

My mind feels like it’s been disconnected. It floats away, somewhere high above the bodies standing below. If I stay, the terror will be so heavy, I won’t be able to withstand the weight of it and come crashing down to Earth again. Hair clings to my temples with sweat, even though my body feels cold.

When no one moves, Vanq continues. “She’s done it before, I presume. Been a good little appointed and performed her duty?”