A/N: It's been a while since this was last updated but I hit a bit of a block that needed to get worked out. Now that one story has been completed I can shift my focus to this one and hopefully delve into some dark places moving forward. My hope is that these dark places will start to emerge in the next chapter so stay tuned.
Chapter 4
Mac was roughly shoving his feet back into his boots as he left me to lie on the mattress, handcuffed to the bedpost. Smoke from his cigarette drifted towards the yellowed ceiling and when he stood to his full height he turned to me with a murderous look in his eyes, the cigarette hanging limp between his lips, the handcuff key jangled against the keyring he had wrapped around his finger.
"Gotta take a piss ya better do it now," he started reaching over to release me from my binding, "get your ass back in here when you're done. And don't even think about making a run for that door neither!"
I was already in the hallway as he shouted the last part. I'd be insane to think about 'making a run for that door', as he put it. Matter of fact if I wasn't as scared as I am I'd still be paralyzed to the bed but I really had to pee. Once the toilet was flushed and my hands were scrubbed raw I emerged from the bathroom to find Mac standing in front of the door with his arms folded across his chest.
"Thought for sure you'd try to leave through the window in there."
"I have my moments of stupid but I'm not stupid enough to do something like leave especially with the looks that you've been given me."
"What look is that?" Stepping away from the door Mac pointed towards the bedroom.
"The one that says you'll rip my head clean off my shoulders." Leaving the confines of the bathroom I limped back to the bedroom. "Can I ask you something?"
When I got no response I dared to look over my shoulder and was greeted with a hand being pressed between my shoulders, pushing me onto the bed.
"What?"
"You said I was just like you but didn't know it yet, what did you mean by that?"
He nearly barked out a laugh as I shrunk into the mattress. Once I was back on the side of the bed where the handcuffs were still waiting with open jaws I was shackled once more. "Don't think I didn't see that look you had when that asshole slung ya into the car door this morning or the one you were hiding when your head bounced off the dash last night. You want him dead and you want to make him suffer." His voice low as he smashed his lips against mine, teeth tearing at the flesh until we could both taste the copper of blood on our tongues.
"How'd you know that?" fear more than evident in my voice when Mac finally pulled away.
"Ya got the same look I get when Walter starts pissing me off about his shit not being done on time. Keep your ass on this bed 'til I get back and maybe tonight I'll show you what it means to have a good time."
"You're really just gonna leave me cuffed to this piece of shit bed all day? Fuck, I'd rather be back home inside my cage i-"
Before I could finish my rant Mac's hand flashed out and was wrapped around my throat, the murderous look had returned to his eyes, and a sneer was plastered across his lips. My fingers were desperately clawing against his, trying to pry them free but I think that reaction was just normal human response.
"Was expecting pleas and cries, you just give up?" he snarled when he finally released me from his grip.
"When James isn't beating the holy hell out of me he resorts to chocking; if I make even a peep he'll keep it up until I either pass out or stop breathing all together. Two weeks ago he chocked me out until I stopped breathing, woke up in a hospital bed a few hours later surrounded by doctors and cops wanting to know what happened. They knew but they wanted me to say it out loud…would've gotten it a lot worse when we got home if I said anything. I know the game he's playing and I hate it. One of these days I just wish he'd kill me and let me stay dead."
"Tell ya what, you sure know how to bait people if you want a reaction outta 'em." He muttered after the room fell quiet. "Told ya before I ain't a nice person, but I'll make an exception. I said to keep your ass on this bed 'til I got back, never said I was gonna be gone all day…maybe an hour or two at the most."
"Why make an exception with me? James would never say it out loud but we all know he dropped me off here in the hopes you'd kill me just so that my blood wouldn't be on his hands."
"There's that mouthy lil bitch I met last night," he smirked as he backed away from the bed, "don't like seeing animals play with their food, gotta either kill it or let it go."
"Unless you're a cannibal I don't think I qualify as food."
"Ya ain't but that's the best pussy I had in a while. Just stay here 'til I get back, alright? Once the sun goes down I'll show you what it means to have a good time."
I couldn't help but huff out a laugh at Mac's response. If I'm being honest James has never once put tongue to tail, he could never stand the idea that a woman could get off on being licked. But Mac? Let's just say before Mac I never knew what it meant to be devoured by a man with an appetite for pussy. Sure Mac thoroughly enjoyed watching me deep throat him but when he said it was his turn, I really didn't have the slightest clue what he meant until he had his face between my legs.
"By 'good time' do you mean more of what you did with that talented tongue of yours?"
"Think about it, behave yourself I'll even think about bringing ya back something to eat."
"What if anyone comes around looking for ya?" I hollered after him as he took off down the hallway.
"Stay on the bed."
With that Mac turned on his heel and left, the front door opening and closing, the distinct sound of his truck coming to life as the dog in the yard barked wildly at the tires that kicked up dirt and gravel. Once the truck could no longer be heard traveling down the road, everything around the house fell eerily quiet, including the dog. Sure the wind occasionally picked up and whistled through the sparse trees but other than that…nothing.
I had all the time in the world to do (almost) anything I wanted but I was handcuffed to a bed with strict instructions not to even put a toe on the floor. Mac's threat earlier this morning that he'd kill me rang constantly in my head so I did the only thing I could think to do until he got back.
Sleep.
The last month and a half I'd done nothing but sleep in the dirt in a basement so being in bed with a tattered mattress underneath my battered, aching body was like heaven on earth. I was more than surprised at quickly sleep came to me, the feel of the sun shining through the window warming the blanket at the end of the bed while I kicked my feet around trying to grasp it between my toes until it was finally within the reach of my outstretched fingers. Despite being cuffed to the bed I was thankful that the cuffs didn't completely restrict my movements. As I settled into slumber a faint thought began to take shape that maybe being in Mac's house wouldn't be so bad.
How wrong I was.
The clock on the nightstand read 12:56 just before my eyes shut completely. When I was rudely awakened by a thunderous voice shouting for Mac the clock was reading 1:37. Boots stomped wildly throughout the house until they finally came to halt at the threshold of the bedroom door.
"I leave you here to do as you're told and I come back to find you sleeping in a bed?! You don't belong on the fucking bed!"
James crossed over the threshold, hands out in front of him ready to rip me off the mattress. When he did, the handcuffs bit viciously into my wrist, cutting a near perfect circle into my skin, the blood dripping freely onto the cluttered floor and fear started washing over me at the thought of what Mac may do to me if he decided to come home now and find me on the floor instead of the bed. Next thing I knew a sound whipped through the air and came cracking down against the back of my neck, something cold catching in a small cut and ripping it open even further.
His fury was getting the best of him and winded him quickly but it didn't stop him from dropping his belt to beat me with his bare hands. Rage rolled off of him in waves as he continued to pummel away at me; he was so lost in his anger that he never heard the truck pulling up, never heard the front door slam shut or the boots stampeding across the floor. All at once James' weight was lifted from me and the front door opened and quickly closed. Anything that happened after I couldn't fathom as the only thought I had in my head was to try and get back in the bed before Mac got back inside.
Blood in my eyes had my vision blurring and a ringing in my ears had my hearing at a minimum. Hands under my arms had me fearful that everything was going to end where I knelt. Instead what I felt where hands helping me back into the bed, my head carefully propped against the headboard and my wrist coming free of its restraint.
"I did like you said, I stayed in the bed but he came looking for you and found me; he dragged me out, please don't-"
"Told him not to go anywhere near ya when he got here, fucker never listens, does he?" Mac interjected, his boots dropping to the ground just before his feet shuffled along the floor disappearing for a moment then coming back. "Get ya cleaned up a bit then we'll wait for nightfall."
"To do what?"
A cooling sensation washed over the top of my head followed by something rough and scratchy drying the spot. It took a minute or two for my brain to realize that what I was feeling was Mac cleaning the blood from my head and face that had dribbled down into my eyes. My vision somewhat restored, I saw hints of concern written into Mac's features and every once in a while he'd glance over his shoulder to peer out of the window at his truck making sure everything maintained its normal appearance.
"You're finally gonna get yourself free of that asshole. Was hoping I wouldn't have to do that but kinda happy it worked out that way. You ain't gonna be a mouse on the string no more."
"You set me up?" my body gave an involuntary shiver as the cool cloth worked its way around the gaping hole in my neck.
"Could say that. Fucker left without paying, wouldn't answer his phone so I had to find Walter."
"He answered when Walter called and you told him to get his ass back up here?" I surmised as Mac continued to clean the blood away.
"Told him to wait outside until I got back, don't go in the house. Course the stupid son of a bitch don't listen; funny he thought he was coming ta getcha, thought I was done with ya already."
"I hate sounding weak, but please don't leave me like that again, not with maniacs like that running around, not with animals who play with their prey and refuse to kill it."
"Just like me and don't even know it yet." The smirk was evident in his voice as the blood continued to be washed away. "Ya ain't weak for wanting to get away; laying on the ground and just taking it makes ya weak. Saw ya trying to get back up here when I was hauling that piece of shit outta my house."
"Just because we share similar looks when it comes to our want to kill James and Walter, doesn't mean I'm just like you."
"Sun goes down we're going out to the caves; you've known nothing but hurt your whole life, you were made to take your punishment for every rule you broke. There's something buried deep in there that wants out – a beast behind the bruises. Gotta feeling when I put a knife in that hand tonight you'll know what real pleasure is."
"Is that what you want me to see in you? That behind the beast I see before me is someone capable of being gentle and almost kind to the right person? That despite how badly Walter's fucked you up you're capable of more than just murder and drugs?"
"Wasn't born a monster, I was made one; never had a kind or gentle bone in my body. I kill without mercy."
"But yet you make an exception with me. You got James off me, you're wiping away blood. Why do you care what happens to me? I can see a little more clearly how we can be similar but we're not the same."
"Never said we were the same, said you were like me just don't know it yet. Dunno why I care, guess I can't stand to see someone try to be a bigger asshole than me. Beaten on my fair share of women but at least I have the decency to put 'em outta their misery when I'm done with 'em."
"Other than shared looks that could kill how else do you think I'm like you?"
"Guess we'll find out when you wake up. Try and get some sleep, got a long night ahead of us with that one. Gonna find out what your name is before he's dead."
