Page 61 of Unhinged Cain

“You’re a one-of-a-kind, a rare gem.” His mouth found my own, but instead of kissing me, he bit my bottom lip as his fingers tweaked my nipple, and this time, I did moan.

All I could picture was ripping his clothes off and riding him to the ground. Whether it was hormones or a bad boy attraction, whatever the reason was, my answer was the same.

I wanted him.

I wanted him in a way that I’d never dreamed was possible. As he stepped away from my body and put the knife down at his side, I had this overwhelming urge to leap on him and crash our lips together.

“You’re not ready for me, Kirby, but soon you will be. You continue to hang onto the ledge with your fingertips, but you’re tired of hanging on to something you never wanted. You will fall, and I’ll be here waiting.”

We stood still, each staring at one another with carnal lust. I didn’t need a mirror to know what my eyes were saying to him. As he turned to walk away, the connection between us broke, and I gasped in a deep lungful of air as my hand grasped my throat. The adrenaline coursed through my veins. I wondered if I was an adrenaline junky, which drove me to want more. As I looked up at him, my heart told me I could keep making excuses. I could try to deny the emotions but I’d already slipped from the cliff. That singular thought horrified me to my core.

I shook my head and cringed away from the loud screaming as my eyes focused on the table with the woman on it. A pang of guilt hit me as I realized I’d completely forgotten about her. I began to wonder if she’d been screaming the whole time. Nothing else existed when Cain was near me, he was the singular focus of every nerve ending in my body. I watched him as he methodically moved around the table and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves.

Ripping a piece of tape off the wide silver roll, he unceremoniously slapped it over Barbara’s mouth. “I told you, Barbara, your screaming hurts my Sunshine’s ears, and we can’t have that.”

His eyes flicked up to mine, and I knew I was in deep trouble. It had nothing to do with the blade Cain wielded and solely with the power he had over me. Every second I spent in this place, the more pieces of who I thought I was disappeared, and the reality of that knowledge was more terrifying than a thousand deaths.

As he started to work, I moved around the corner so I didn’t have to watch and gripped my head in my hands. It didn’t block out the sound, but I didn’t want to watch him turn her into one of the bodies I’d seen on my classroom screen.

Rocking back and forth, I pushed the last of the sounds from my mind by humming the song that had become my anthem. Either Cain heard me, or he sensed that I needed to hear the song because Cain turned up the volume of “You Are My Sunshine” once more.

I realized then that the predator had already struck its first blow, but I just hadn’t felt the bite.

CAIN

I wiped the grease off my hands as I stared under the hood of the 1980 Cadillac Coupe Deville. It had a nice candy apple red paint job. I could picture Abel driving this car, his head bopping along to the latest one-hit wonder. I’d never tell my brother this, but there were times I envied his freedom. Not that I didn’t have freedom, but I envied his ability to let go and do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

On the other hand, that exact trait was also what I needed to keep under control. I had kept it and Abel in line for so long that it felt like just another breath in my day, but I hated the lack of self-control. Yet, it didn’t stop the spark of jealousy from being there.

Sunshine was quickly becoming the one thing I wanted to throw out my rule book for, and I wasn’t sure how this would end for her. I’d never kept someone longer than a few days, and that was only to see how long they could handle extreme pain.

The gate buzzed, and I looked up at the camera to see Margaret Lawson and another FBI agent sitting at the end of the driveway. Well, now, today just got a lot more interesting.

Walking to the far corner of the garage, I undid the straps that held my gun, complete with a silencer. I checked the clip and set it in the hidden holster, but I didn’t do up the straps. The buzz sounded again, and I walked over to the two-way speaker and pressed the button.

“Hiya, what can I do for you,” I asked.

“We are canvassing the area to see if any of the residents have seen anything suspicious.” Margaret’s voice crackled through the speaker.

“I’m not sure how I can help ya, but you’re free to come on in.”

I flipped the switch and watched the gates slowly open. Grabbing the remote and pressing a few buttons on my security set up, the channel switched to a restoration show, and the television in my workroom where Kirby was would now be on. She would get to see how close her mother was to help and how it wouldn’t matter.

Picking up the torque wrench, I leaned into the Cadillac and pretended to tighten what I’d already worked on as the black car pulled up and stopped. All agents were the same. They thought they looked cool in their crisp suits and blackout sunglasses, and they all had the same arrogance. A thrill traveled through me, knowing I’d gotten to Kirby before all the personality was squeezed out of her body by these lifeless and annoying shells of humanity. They were worse than the sheep. They were the herders.

“Hi there, I don’t see too many FBI agents out my way. This must be pretty important,” I said as I wiped the grease off my hands for a second time.

“My name is Agent Lawson, and this is my partner Hanson,” Margaret said as she pulled out her credentials.

They weren’t needed, though, because I could tell who they were easier than a steaming pile of dog shit. Hanson, I hadn’t seen around before, but there was something about him that I recognized. Not his face, but his expression. He was different from Margaret. I could feel the emotionless cool of his personality and kept him in the corner of my eye. He was a predator like me. Maybe not exactly like me, but he was a threat that was most certainly a more worthy opponent than Margaret.

“Name’s Cain. I’d shake your hand, but….” I held up my hand with the dark grease on it. “So, what can I help you with?”

Hanson stepped further into the garage, and I looked over my shoulder at him.

“Please don’t touch the car. I just gave her a good waxing, and the owner is going to be here any minute.”

He nodded and obviously didn’t like being called out on his snooping as he wandered to the front of the garage. “We won’t take up too much of your time, Mister…?”