Page 31

Seven Years Later

It took some time to rebuild a replica of her cell on land I owned.

The top-of-the-range security system around him ensured he could never escape.

Each time I visited him, it fed my ravenous monster, but it was never enough. It was ten years since I captured him—ten years of physical and mental torture.

I smiled as my thumb opened the third door. His door.

“Hello, pig,”

I said when I saw him curled into a ball on the small metal-framed bed.

“It’s been ten years.”

He turned away from the grey wall, using his stumps and elbow to aid him. His hair and beard were overgrown. His face was gaunt, with black circles under his eyes and only a tiny flicker of blue from his eyes.

“Please, kill me, Master,”

he croaked, but his sobs were what I needed to hear.

I placed the supplies on the table. I enjoyed watching him crawl across the room on the camera, seeing his four stumps drag along the cement floor.

“What is your name?” I asked.

He paused and stared vacantly into space.

“Slave,”

he finally said.

“I've decided to keep you, slave,”

I said with a smile.

“B-b-but you said you would let me g-go—”

he stuttered with horrified eyes.

“I lied,”

I said to the castrated devil.

I stayed long enough to listen to his tormented howl echo around the room.

I inhaled it in—savoured the raging pain and torment in his cries before they turned to pleading.

I laughed as joy burst in my chest, closing the door until I saw him again next week.

I never mentioned Maeve or Daisy’s name to him.

The thought of any part of him touching them, even with his mind, drove me crazy.

He tried to erase Maeve’s name, but I erased him.

The room was due to be padded next week.

I chose the colour grey.

It would be interesting to see if he bashed his head off the walls before then. I whistled as I jogged up the stairs.

It was Maeve's birthday, and I never missed my girl’s party.

We pretended it was all for her, but she brought in so many props and activities for our nieces and nephews that we all knew it was a farce.

As I got in the car, I waited until my phone connected before I brought up his camera.

The vehicle was immediately flooded with his crazed chatter and occasional wailing.

I started the engine and looked at the rearview mirror until the building disappeared.

He deserved to live.

After all, if he hadn't broken Maeve, I would never have found my soulmate.

The End.