AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Uh, hey, new guy,” Bri said as she took her usual seat.
The visitor glanced at her but said nothing. Ignoring her, he looked away, deeming, by his reaction, her question unworthy of an answer.
“Dick,” Bri muttered under her breath when he ignored her.
I sat and tried to look over the man. He didn’t have a cuff, but neither had I when I first got here. He was strange. The guy kept sweeping his gaze over us like he was inspecting us. Drake was a bundle of tension beside me. When I looked up, he was staring at the new guest with a strange look. I couldn’t tell if it barely contained fury or fear.
The chime went off, and Liam reached forward to lift the domes off the food. Oatmeal with a dozen different toppings, yogurt, fruit, granola, and a bunch of little boxes of cereal with matching tiny bottles of milk. Beside it were two big carafes of orange juice. It was a very minimal meal compared to the hearty stuff I’d become accustomed to for breakfast. More like what you’d find at a complimentary hotel breakfast.
Still giving the new guy sideways glances, we ate. As strange as he was, we didn’t want Sam to punish us for not eating. The man watched us, that same weird inspecting look in his eyes. Something was wrong here. If this guy was a new addition, then he had to have been completely insane. No normal person would find themselves in this place and not be freaking out.
He caught my eye and grinned slightly as he reached to take a handful of granola. He munched on it slowly as we continued our meal. It was the most uncomfortable meal I’d had since arriving. That was saying a lot because several of my meals had ended in bloodshed and dead bodies.
When the man was done with his granola, he wiped his hands and stood, straightening his tie and lapels as he did.
“Well, I trust you all are enjoying my home,” he said jovially.
Spoons clattered, glasses sloshed, and gasps echoed around the room. My own gasp came from deeper than my chest or stomach, almost as though my entire soul had cried out in shock.
Bri’s face looked stricken with fear. I felt the same terror, but he didn’t sound like the same voice that I’d heard all the days I’d been here. Was this really the man who’d been speaking to, ordering, and punishing us. My own hand shook as I held my spoon, all thought of food gone. Was this what it would feel like to be in the presence of the Devil or God? It seemed like it might be. This man had taken me, held me hostage, and forced me to endure and inflict tortures I would’ve never dreamed of. For want of a better word, he had become a god of sorts. My entire brain was misfiring as I was busy thinking of what this meant.
Beside the man, Elise reached a trembling hand to her right, reaching for the butter knife that sat beside her plate. I could see the fear on her face, but also a determination that terrified me.
Without even bothering to look toward her, the man claiming to be Sam said, “Miss Lindon, please don’t be so stupid. Let’s not play silly games.”
Elise stifled a screech as she was shocked. She kept her lips jammed closed as she yanked her hand back to her lap and shuddered. I was afraid for her, too. Was he going to kill her? Would he punish her for even thinking of attacking him?
“Well?” he went on. “Are you enjoying my home?”
We all looked around hesitantly. Elise cleared her throat and said, “Yes, sir. We, uh, we love it.”
Liam nodded so fast his head might pop off. “Yes, yeah, we, umm, love it here.”
We all murmured our thanks to him. Everyone but Drake. He was still looking at the man with that strange expression on his face, his jaw set, eyes locked.
The man who was Sam nodded and gave us all a bright smile. “Good. I only wanted to check in. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast.”
He turned and walked toward the door. I watched as he pulled a small key fob out of his pocket and clicked a button. The door unlocked and swung open. My jaw almost fell open. If nothing else, that alone showed he was who he said he was, or he was at least working with Sam. When it clicked shut behind him, the room was left in silence. We all breathed deep sighs of relief.
“Was that really—” My words were cut off by Drake’s vice-like grip on my thigh.
I kept my mouth shut and did my best to finish my food. I had no appetite, but there was no telling what that psycho would have us do today. It seemed the rest of us had the same idea. All my housemates had their faces down, shoveling food into their mouths. I hoped the rest of the day wouldn’t be as eventful as this had been.
Chapter 17
I was sent to a new room after breakfast. Something called the observation room. There was no other door other than where I entered. All I found was a stool sitting in front of a window. It had to be one-way glass, as when I entered Elise never even bothered looking up from what she was doing on the other side.
Taking my seat, I watched her work with a pair of pliers. There was an older man strapped into a chair. I could hear his shrieks and moans coming through small speakers on either side of the window. Elise’s face was screwed up in determination as she worked the metal tool into the guy’s mouth. There was thrashing and guttural wet pleas for mercy from him, but Elise ignored it all. She jerked her hand back viciously. A string of spit and blood hung from her knuckles and the white pearly tooth streaked with pink frothy blood was wedged between the tines of the pliers.
“Dahlia? “ Sam said through the speakers. “Do you like what you see?”
I narrowed my eyes, and looked through the window as Elise tossed the tooth aside. I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“Would it change things to know what this man has done?”
Sighing, I shook my head in exasperation. “I’m not sure. Maybe?”
“This is James Neff. A nefarious child pornographer. He made tens of thousands of dollars every year producing and selling porno films on the dark web. The youngest victim was only eighteen months old. The oldest was nine. Originally a resident of Utah, Mister Neff has spent the last several years living in Vietnam to avoid US extradition. My reach is broad.”
