Page 56 of The Boy I Loved (Eternal Hell #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

HAZEL

It wasn’t until I was in my new room with Stacy at my back that I crumpled on my mattress.

A gut-wrenching sob tore from my throat, agony trickling through me with the weight of the horrors I’d just witnessed.

That girl … she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Tristan did give me an easy question. It was a fucking no-brainer.

My body shook violently, but I tried my best to keep the sound-level down.

Emerson. That was her name. My mind whirled as the events catapulted through my brain in a constant loop. She said she loved him, and he mocked her for it. How could she ever love someone like him? He was awful.

“Hazel,” Stacy said lightly, her own voice strained. She wasn’t immune to what had just happened, but she’d probably experienced and witnessed so much by now that she’d begun to grow desensitized to it.

When I didn’t respond, opting to bury my face in my pillow, her footsteps sounded against the wooden floor.

The bed dipped as she joined me, followed by a soft thump when she lowered her body parallel to mine.

Through the gap between my arm and the rest of the room, I could make out her concerned brown eyes .

What a fucking twist.

The girl who hated me and made my life a living hell growing up was pitying me.

“Why did he do that to her?” I grumbled, turning my head so I could see her better.

Stacy grimaced, rolling her lower lip between her teeth before releasing it with a harsh pop. “He enjoys it. These guys…” she trailed off. “Trying to understand them will just make you more and more confused. They’re evil.”

I’d gathered that already. I just didn’t realize that people could be so vile that they inflicted pain for fun.

Tristan made me an offer. He said if I consumed that…

Bile rose to my throat, my head unwilling to form the word.

He said if I consumed it, he’d grant me and a friend access to the lounge.

I chose Stacy to come with me. Tristan had already targeted her once, and with her being up here, she wasn’t likely to get in his way as much. Lauren would be okay. Hopefully.

“Tristan seems to like you enough though,” she added with a faint smile.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. He liked Emerson at one point, too.”

Stacy grimaced. “That’s true. Hopefully you get out of here before he gets bored.”

Get out of here. She meant sold. I wasn’t sure if that was any better. If people were buying women, they were probably just as vile. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and blew out a breath. How had my life gotten so twisted?

“At least we have real beds now,” I said, changing the subject.

The room wasn’t much, but it was a million steps up from the cell. There were two full-size beds in here with actual box springs and frames. We each had our own closets and a connected bathroom that didn’t smell of rotten flesh. It was sad how far my standards had dropped .

Stacy returned the smile, though it didn’t reach her eyes. It never did. “Yeah. We do,” she agreed.

Nicholas retrieved me from my room after dinner. Apparently, he was instructed by Tristan to give me a tour since Tristan was on basement duty again tonight. A shudder rolled through me. I felt sorry for whatever girl he chose to take out his frustration and kinks on.

“This is the studio,” Nicholas announced, motioning toward a closed door. He reached for the knob and twisted before I could ask any questions.

Inside, chairs were scattered toward the back of the room, closest to us. At the far end, there was a large bed and couch set up. Cameras and chairs surrounded the set, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what this place was used for.

Porn.

My stomach twisted painfully, tying itself into a series of knots.

“Do all the girls here do porn?” I asked lightly, hoping he wouldn’t punish me for speaking out of turn.

Nicholas was silent and emotionless. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if he heard me. Not until he spoke. “Most of them,” he admitted.

Disgust twisted my stomach. I wasn’t sure I could do anything like that, even if a gun was pointed at my head.

I’d never been good at lying or pretending.

Nicholas ushered me back out into the hall before leading me down it and opening two large double doors at the end.

This was the biggest room we’d been in yet.

Empty cages adorned the far side, but aside from that, it appeared to be a ballroom.

The floor was decorated in an expensive tile with a large chandelier hanging above .

“This is where we do our auctions,” he explained.

“They’re done here ? I thought we were sold at other places.” I’d heard some of the girls talking about how a few girls were loaded up and taken to an auction outside of town.

Nicholas shrugged. “Sometimes. We like to host our own from time to time.”

I followed Nicholas back into the hall. This time, he headed through the lounge and didn’t stop walking until we reached the basement door.

My stomach churned violently. I’d already witnessed too many horrors down in that place, and had no interest in going back, especially not so soon.

Especially not with Tristan on basement duty.

Biting my tongue, I followed him down the steps.

After being away from the basement for a period of time now, the rancid smell hit me much harder.

My throat constricted and I gagged, moving my fingers to pinch my nose, not that it helped much.

It reeked of decaying flesh, blood, and sex.

How had I ever grown accustomed to this?

To my surprise, Tristan wasn’t tormenting any of the girls when I spotted him. He was leaning against one of the walls, flicking his pocketknife open and closed.

Our footsteps sounded like gunshots in the silent space, echoing through the room. Tristan, glanced over at us, his predatory gaze sweeping over one of the outfits he’d given me. It wasn’t much, but it was better than being naked or prancing around in lingerie like the other girls had to.

“Hazel,” Tristan purred, pushing off the wall. My shoulders drew tight as he neared, his gaze flashing with that hunger I was growing accustomed with.

“Figured I’d show her the torture chamber,” Nicholas explained.

Tristan hummed in response, the wheels churning through his head. “Why show her when she could experience it for herself?”

A chill crawled down my spine at the inclination, my eyes popping wide. I took a cautious step backwards, wanting to put as much distance between me and this horrible human as possible.

“She hasn’t done anything to be punished for,” Nicholas added casually, sounding like he didn’t really give a shit either way.

“That’s true. But it could be fun.” He shot Nicholas a grin, flashing his blindingly white teeth that contrasted against the dark shadows blanketing the room.

Tristan reached forward, wrapping his warm hand around my wrist. In one swift movement, he was tugging me against him.

His hands dropped down to cup my ass, forcing my body right up against his.

Repulsion swam within my stomach, but I tamped it down, knowing denying him could very well be a death sentence.

He already wanted to torture me; I didn’t want to give him more of a reason to do so.

“You’re so fucking sexy.” He groaned, grabbing my ass even harder. I shifted uncomfortably from the unwelcome feeling, but kept my mouth closed.

I wasn’t sure what had changed. After he raped me, he’d left me alone.

Hell, he wouldn’t even acknowledge my existence for the first few days following the assault.

And then at random, he’d done nothing but bother me.

Once he fucked me again, because I knew it was inevitable, he’d probably lay off like he did before.

“Do you even need me anymore?” Nicholas scoffed, clearly annoyed that he was playing third wheel.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tristan shot back, finally releasing me as he stepped away. “I’ve just been bored down here. Nia’s dead and Hazel isn’t here to play with anymore. The other girls don’t even begin to compare.”

Tristan moved to my side, sliding his hand in mine.

I wanted to take that pocketknife from him and stab him in the throat with it.

To my dismay, he flicked it closed and returned it to his pocket.

He led me to the other end of the basement where a table was set up with a small flat screen TV.

There was an unused deck of cards resting on the surface and three chairs positioned around it.

To the right was another door, one I’d never seen before.

Tristan reached forward with his free hand and typed in the code before pulling me inside. Nicholas hit the light switch, illuminating the room in a dim glow.

My steps faltered as I took it all in, fear slamming into me with brutality.

What the fuck was this place?

There were a couple of beds positioned near the far right with equipment hanging from them.

Such as cuffs and gags. There was a contraption at the other end of the room that didn’t look too difficult to figure out.

The victim would be placed in the machine, bent over the board and locked in to where she couldn’t move.

She’d then be fucked, tortured, or both.

Most of the equipment, I couldn’t even begin to figure out. They looked like outdated machines that would have been used in the fourteen hundreds.

“Badass, right?” Tristan questioned, pride filling his tone as he turned to look at me.

I couldn’t tell if he was truly expecting a response or if it was rhetorical. But he kept staring at me, waiting for me to say something. Reeling in my annoyance, I blew out a breath. “I feel like you’re trying to get me to say something that will warrant my potential torture,” I said slowly.

Tristan’s eyes flashed with something I couldn’t decipher, but the smile tugging at his lips told me I hadn’t been far off. He turned to Nicholas. “Wait outside,” he instructed.