Page 49

IGNACIO

D r. Gerald Michaels is hanging naked from a hook in the basement, looking beat to shit.

He’s had a really bad fucking month, but Rachelle had it worse.

Liliana is electrocuting his balls with a shock wand on the highest setting with a feral grin.

While it’s used in kink play, I doubt this is what they imagined as I smell hair begin to burn.

Jared cups his balls with wide eyes, while Mr. Cruz simply smirks.

“My daughter isn’t the same girl anymore,” he says under his breath as he watches her speak to Rachelle’s ex therapist and doctor. “If you fuck up again, you’ll end up being tortured in your own sound proof basement because of your tonterias . No one will be able to save you.”

“Yes, sir,” the four of us murmur as my father snorts in amusement.

“She’s picked up a lot of tricks, boys,” he adds. “It’s going to get messy in here, and you’re on clean up duty.”

Theo makes a face, but nods. I wasn’t expecting to join in on his hate fucking with Rachelle, but I’m glad I did.

It could have gone south somehow otherwise.

Theo was careful, and I noticed the way he held her, like she was precious.

There was a smile on her face afterward, though she did ask if I was alright with it.

Theo was right on one thing: the rules of society don’t apply to her or us. Whether she cares about one person or multiple, we’ll figure it out for her. The last time we were divided, Rachelle was buried six feet under in a casket and almost died.

I don’t know if I can ever be intimate with them again, but I can figure out some of my shit for her.

“Are his balls fried enough, Lili?” I ask her teasingly, blinking as I see that she’s moved on to carving shit into his skin.

“Yep,” she grunts, concentrating on her writing as the doctor grits his teeth in pain.

“I do have a question, Doctor, while my gorgeous girlfriend takes her frustrations out on you. What did you gain by selling Rachel out?” I ask, using her fake name. I suppose it doesn’t matter since he knows everything about her and he’s going to die soon.

Still, the habit of protecting her isn’t something I can stop.

“This isn’t frustration, it’s insanity!” Dr. Michaels yells, grunting as Liliana sinks her knife into his gut, frowning at him. He makes a face, and I walk over and punch him. If he thinks that he’s going to spit in her face, he is very mistaken.

“I’ll gag you if you’re a dick,” Mr. Cruz growls at our prisoner. “We’re just getting started, believe it or not. I can keep you alive for as long as necessary.”

“Insanity is also not as black and white as you think it is,” Theo says with a shrug. “By the definition, I should have been locked up a long time ago, yet here I am. Can I get a knife? I think I want to contribute towards the wall of words Lili has going.”

She hands him gloves and a knife, picking up another to continue her word. QUACK is what she appears to be working on.

“If you didn’t think you could help my daughter, then you should have said as much,” Dad says. He has fully immersed himself in as a father figure to Rachelle. He’s never made it weird for me though by calling her that.

She needs all the love she can get, and my father adores her. His attention has been split in so many different directions, he’s had a difficult time being available to her though. Every time I catch him watching her, I can see the guilt in his eyes.

Rachelle managed to fall through the cracks, and this doctor is a reminder. I’m betting that he’ll never be found. I bet that there will be some very happy, fat pigs who will be eating him soon. While being fed alive would be fun to watch, I’m enjoying this part of his torture.

“I didn’t think she was so fucked up,” Dr. Michaels mutters, his face contorted in pain. “Antipsychotic medication is?—”

“Not the correct medication for her,” Theo finishes, digging his knife into the taint stain’s side.

The dear doctor’s arms being pulled up high over his head allows for more canvas for us to play with.

“It makes the voices from her depression scarier, and her thoughts more disjointed. Her dreams also spill into her waking moments, which means she can’t discern reality from memories. ”

“How do you know that?” I ask, confused. I doubt that she’s been telling him this.

“I stole her journal,” Theo says with a wince.

“In his defense, the journal was enlightening,” Elijah says at my growl.

“It’s why I was trying to get ahold of Gerald here to fire him,” Dad grunts. “The only part of her meds that are working are the ones for anxiety and depression.”

“It’s been a couple months since she’s been taking the Haldol,” Dr. Michaels groans.

I’m honestly surprised by his tolerance to pain.

He’s missing entire areas of skin on his legs from Mr. Cruz’s work.

“We’ve been working on goals for her reentrance to the world, and one of them was to get a job.

I honestly didn’t think she’d be able to do it. ”

“Why set her up for failure?” Elijah asks, glaring at him.

“There’s no better way to say ‘I told you so’ than when a patient is a mess,” the doctor explains.

“I retired from the government, but not before being put in charge of running experiments on service men once they got out of active field duty. The goal was to see how much it would take before they ate their own firearm.”

“Holy fuck,” Dad whispers. “That’s nowhere in your files. You’re a monster.”

“A monster without a leash,” Dr. Michaels says with a laugh.

“Lucky for you, the only one who holds ours isn’t here, and isn’t aware that it’s hers,” Elijah says, putting on gloves as well. “It’s your unlucky day. We once filled Rachelle’s skin with a canvas of nasty words, but hers washed off. Yours won’t.”

“Have at him, boys,” Mr. Cruz says. “Do you think he should hit the pig pens alive or dead?”

“You’re bluffing,” Dr. Michaels snarls.

“My father never bluffs,” Lili says. “Was she just a plaything to you?”

“I came out of retirement to care for a girl with a fractured mind. Why wouldn’t I play with her, build her up, and then destroy her? Emil, you gave me entirely too much freedom,” the doctor scoffs.

I can’t help it. As soon as my father gets the cold, dark look on his face, I laugh.

“Looks like the blood bath is arriving early. Elijah, your stomach may not be able to handle this,” I warn him, watching as Elijah pales.

Just because my dad only had one biological kid, doesn’t mean Rachelle isn’t his too. It appears that Dr. Gerald Michaels is going to learn that.

RACHELLE

I’ve been debating whether I should get out of bed or not. I fell asleep between Liliana and Nacio, but now I’m alone, cold, and can’t sleep.

It seems that my nightmares will fuck off for the most part if I have someone with me. It’s not completely foolproof because I’ve had at least one since I’ve been out of the institution, but the ability to actually sleep has been so nice.

Insomnia alone can make anyone feel cranky and loopy when they go long enough without sleep.

Funny enough, medical sedation isn’t restful, at least not for me.

I just end up feeling as if I’ve been launched into a fourth dimension where life passed me by while I was suspended from reality.

A time out, if you will, because that’s what it feels like the institution did.

Wrinkling my nose, I get up from the bed. I don’t know where they could have gone so late at night, but tossing and turning alone doesn’t interest me.

Walking through the dim hallways and down the stairs, I shake my head as I find no one else up.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Elijah asks, making me gasp as I turn around.

The man needs a fucking bell!

“Not alone,” I admit, shrugging. “Where is everyone?”

“In the basement,” he says immediately. “Ah, we were hoping you’d sleep through it.”

“Through what?” I ask, wondering why he’s being so open with me. Usually, it’s half truths and misdirection.

“Mr. Cruz came with some baggage,” Elijah hedges.

Liliana’s father came in this afternoon, saying he missed his daughter and also wanted to see how I was. It was really odd. The vibes of his appearance felt off to me for some reason.

Emil told me that Mr. Cruz has been babysitting Dr. Michaels, so I was expecting him to stay in Portland while doing whatever he’s been doing.

Torture, Rachelle. Torture.

Swallowing hard, I wonder if that’s related to the baggage Mr. Cruz has.

“Spill, Elijah,” I insist.

“I just left the basement because it was getting a little bloody,” he admits. “Your ex doctor is down there. He’s a fucking psychopath if we’re splitting hairs. He said he wanted to see how far he could build you up before fracturing your mind. He’s a control freak.”

“He seemed it at times, but he always said that he wanted the best for me,” I mutter. “Will you take me down there?”

Gazing at my bare feet and my pajamas, he winces. Paying better attention to him, I realize he’s fully dressed and wearing boots.

“You’ll need to sit where I put you,” he grumbles.

“I’m not a dog,” I sigh. “You can’t just put me somewhere.”

“I suppose the drain will get most of the blood,” he mutters to himself, grabbing my hand as he walks with me. “Put on boots before you go downstairs.”

Shoes are neatly lined up just outside of the basement door, and I shove my feet into a pair of Liliana’s. It’s not for long, so it doesn’t matter if they’re a little big.

“Better?” I ask, exasperated.

“Almost,” he says, pulling off his sweatshirt and placing it over my head. It smells like him, and I breathe in his scent without him noticing that I’m being a creeper. “I guess it’s fine now.”

Walking downstairs together, he leads me to a little room where there are people huddled over someone hanging from a hook.

“Look what I found,” Elijah says, sighing.

Liliana glances over, her eyes appearing worried when she sees me.

“I told you she’d wake up without us,” she says, frowning.