Fragile Truths (13 page)

“Jude…” Tate choked out but I noticed it was quiet and muffled as Sumo continued his stream of brutal attacks, each additional strike dragging a subdued cry from Tate and shredding my heart a little more.

I couldn’t hold back the whimper this time as Jude screwed the hot tip deeper and deeper until the pain became so intense I passed out with its force.

***

“Wakey, wakey, Francesca.”

I shook my head and mumbled my displeasure, fighting to get away from the pain pressing into the softness under my ear. “Someone wants to say hello.”

I moved my head, turning away from the soft touch that replaced the discomfort, its gentleness chilling more than comforting. Blinking against the harsh light that greeted my weak pupils, it took me a while to focus on where I was, however when I saw the company I had, I was soon alert and feeling very hostile. The tenderness under my arm added to my resentment and to be honest, I wasn’t sure where my aggression was coming from but I let it roll, needing its biting emotion instead of the hopelessness and misery the last few days had brought.

“Well, it’s about time,” I spat out angrily as I gave my captor a hard look.

As expected he smirked and released a small chuckle, “That’s what I admire about you, my dear, your spirit.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything about you that I admire, Mr Knight.” I stated.

Jude struck my face harshly, the flat of his palm knocking my head sideways. “Learn some respect,” he growled at me but Don held up a hand and scowled at Jude.

“Now Jude, Miss Wilde is feeling a little temperamental, give her a moment.”

“I don’t need a moment; I need you to let me out of here.”

He sighed heavily and gave me a small sad shake of his head, “Now you know I can’t do that yet, Francesca, not until you give me what I want.”

“I’d rather die.” My anger was thick and acute, feeding me courage and boldness but it was also dangerous and I knew it would cause me more unwelcome abuse, yet I was too livid to stop myself.

“Funny you should say that,” Jude scoffed but Don grumbled something once again.

“Jude, why don’t you fetch something for Francesca to wear.” His eyes roved over my nakedness before he gave Jude an aggravated stare, “We’re not animals.”

I scoffed and shook my head in astonishment. Jude left the room and Don gestured to the chair in front of his desk with a sweep of his hand, “Please, take a seat and let’s discuss this civilly.”

I did as he asked and sat but only because my trembling legs were having difficulty holding me upright. “I consider myself a considerate man, Miss Wilde.”

“That’s one description,” I mumbled.

He laughed loudly, “See, there’s that feistiness again.”

Jude returned and threw me a t-shirt. It was too large but it was clean and I slipped it over my head, its cover providing me with another layer of defence as a little of my humiliation faded. “Now where were we?” Don frowned, “Ah, yes, incentives.”

“Were we on incentives?” I mocked.

“You’re starting to annoy me,” Jude griped from behind me as his fingers slid slowly into my hair.

“You started about an hour ago,” I shot back as I braced myself for his punishment.

My fingers gripped the arms of the chair when he yanked my head back as I’d expected but for the first time I was too fired up to submit to the pain and welcomed its sensation as something to focus on.

Don laughed again, “She has you figured out already, Jude.”

I smirked as Jude’s eyes blazed with Don’s gibe and gave him an innocent flutter of my eyelashes. He was fuming and I swallowed back the worry that he would get his revenge when I was discharged from Don’s company.

“Right, back to business.”

Jude released his hold reluctantly and I rubbed at my sore scalp as I turned back to Don. “We need to find something agreeable to both of us.” He narrowed his eyes as if considering the dilemma and drummed his fingers on his desk then smiled at me, “How about you give me the evidence and I let you live?”

I smiled and sighed, “How about you go fuck yourself?”

He was waning, the prior gleam in his eyes now morphing into an irritated glint. “I don’t think you understand me, Miss Wilde. You don’t get to offer an option two.”

“With all due respect, Mr Knight,” I sighed as he nodded his head for me to continue. “I don’t think you understand
me
. I’ve waited too long for this and I will see it through to the end just to watch you burn in hell.”

To his credit he remained tolerant and in control but I could see the fury climbing on his face, his fingers now twitching instead of tapping and his previous expressionless face now exhibiting a tense tic. “And before we go any further,” I continued with a small smile. “I think you should be aware that I have certain
provisions
in place should I not be there for your court case.”

He stiffened and I relished in the inner glow. Even if I wouldn’t be there to watch this bastard go down, I could die knowing that he would, most definitely go down, with or without me physically in the room.

He gave me a simple nod then pursed his lips. “Then I think you should be aware, although your death would be somewhat of a nuisance if I were to ever retrieve the evidence, I won’t stop causing you great pain until you offer up the information I intend to have.”

I returned his simple nod before he turned to Jude. “She’s all yours,” he said quietly with an almost sad disappointment.

I could feel Jude’s delighted grin even if I couldn’t see it and stood in readiness for my punishment. “I hope to be seeing you soon, Miss Wilde.” Don said as Jude took hold of my upper arm and led me over to a side door.

“Enjoy the show, Mr Knight.” I stated when I observed the one way mirror on the adjoining wall.

“Oh I will, Miss Wilde. Make sure to entertain.”

I snorted as my heart rate peaked and the tremble in my legs returned. I knew Jude was going to make me suffer and I prayed with my all that it was quick and merciful but as he led me into the room and I regarded the single item of furniture decorating the stark white room, I knew that the next few hours of my life were to be very painful and extremely horrific.

“Take a seat, Tiger.” Jude grinned with a wink as he waved a hand towards the dentist’s chair.

The floor gave the impression that it was made of quicksand as my thighs turned to jelly and my feet seemed to sink into the floor. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the chair, its deep black leather padding, ripped and worn brought on a deep foreboding as it exuded a vast sadness to all the hatred and pain it had seen, like it was a living being calling to me and begging for forgiveness in lieu of all its sins.

A faint tick tock of a clock I couldn’t see sounded too loud for the room, the low rhythmic noise calming against the horror rippling its way through my veins, the intensity of it slithering around me like a physical worm burrowing within me.

“It’s not on wheels, sugar. You need to use your feet to reach it,” Jude mocked from the corner of the room. I tore my eyes from the chair and looked over to him. He was stood with an eyebrow quirked in humour at me, his lips twisted and pulled taut with the width of his smile. He blinked slowly at me, his eyes cold in contrast to the excitement on his face as he once more waved a hand to the chair.

My feet moved but my body didn’t appear to be travelling at the same speed as I stumbled forward and presented Jude with a flash of my backside when I fell to the ground, my blundering producing a deep chuckle from him. “You need a hand there?”

His jeer wormed its way into my head, its ridicule firing a deep-seated hatred within me as my blood started to boil and pulse loudly in my ears.

I glared at him, pulling in a fortifying breath as I pushed myself up on the chair and slid as delicately as I could onto its cushioned seat and closed my eyes, not wanting to see what was happening as well as feel it. The sight of whatever
thing
he was using would just make the anticipation harder and I swore to myself that whatever transpired, however much pain I was feeling and screaming at, that my eyes would remain closed.

That little source of resilience didn’t last two seconds when suddenly the room was filled with music, its loudness causing me to snap open my eyes and grimace at the pressure in my ears.
Trains, 50 ways to say goodbye
filled what little air there was in the room and my jaw dropped as I watched Jude dance along the extensive worktop as he prepared his
tools
. His hips were swinging to the beat as he sang loudly to the words, his tone hitting the high notes perfectly.

He swung round and beamed at me, his eyes alight with glee and exhilaration as he threw a long cream cloth over his shoulder and opened his arms wide as he chanted the lyrics to me.

“She went down in an airplane,
Fried getting suntanned,
Fell in a cement mixer full of quicksand,
Help me, help me, I'm no good at goodbyes!
She met a shark under water,
Fell and no one caught her,
I returned everything I ever bought her,
Help me, help me, I'm all out of lies,
And ways to say you died.”

He was salsa dancing towards me, his body in perfect sync to the beat as his feet shuffled across the room. He continued singing loudly as he pulled the leather straps around my wrists and thighs then tightened the buckles so hard my fingers and legs were already turning blue. “Don’t ya’ just love Train!” he grinned as he meandered back to the counter and retrieved a large silver tray.

“She was caught in a mudslide,
Eaten by a lion,
Got run over by a crappy purple Scion,
Help me, help me, I'm no good at goodbyes!
She dried up in the desert,
Drowned in a hot tub,
Danced to death at an east side night club,
Help me, help me, I'm all out of lies,
And ways to say you died.”

I choked on vomit just as
Paloma Faith
started singing
Can’t rely on you
with backing vocals provide by Jude. The sear of the needle slithering under my fingernail was beyond agonising, the heat and blaze blistered the tender skin under my nail immediately as pain shot through my finger and up my arm like a red hot wire, piercing my brain with too many pain receptors for it to comprehend at once.

“I just can't rely on you,
I just can't rely on you,
Yeah, you got that good stuff but that don't last,
So I just can't rely on you,
Just can't rely on you.”
He screeched, mimicking
Prince
as he moved his hips in tune to the beat.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, inhaling deeply through my nose and exhaling slowly through my mouth as Jude lifted the next finger. My lungs were squealing as I tried to ingest too much oxygen for them to cope with whilst I fought against the scream that wanted to surge from my throat, but I feared the intensity of it would rip the already sore passage.

He slowly moved from finger to finger, each one becoming more and more excruciating as the previous one still pulsated violently, all the time singing heartily and merrily. “You sick bastard!” I managed to choke out as he tapped the back of my hand gently.

“All done. What a brave little soldier.” He pursed his lips and regarded me expectantly, “Have you remembered where you’ve hid the evidence yet?”

I smirked at him, “You honestly think that by torturing me, I’m suddenly going to give you want you want?”

He sighed as if contemplating my words, “Yep.” His simple answer was accompanied with a grin and a shrug and I shook my head slowly.

“You have no idea what strengthens my resolve.” I grinned at him, hoping it didn’t look too much like a grimace with the pain flowing through my system. “Maybe the harder you push, the firmer I stand.”

He laughed loudly as he nominated the next instrument with a counting rhyme, “Awww sugar, if you think that was torture, you’re gonna love this next part of the show.”

He was suddenly behind me, the chair shooting upright as he kicked the mechanical foot control and I flew forward, my restraints yanking on my wrists and thighs as they pinched at the skin and flesh.

My body kicked into survival mode as Jude slipped a plastic bag over my head, his fingers holding it tight around my throat to create a vacuum and cut off my air supply instantly. My legs and arms fought against the restraints as my brain panicked at the lack of oxygen and I sucked desperately at nothing, shaping the plastic around the contours of my face as I hopelessly strived to draw air through the bag.

The pressure was unbearable; my eyes were bulging and my throat was burning as my lungs squeezed tight and I flayed about in the chair until I could feel the pull of sleep, my brain giving up when it didn’t have the energy to feed my body.

My vision tunnelled before my eyes started to droop and I smiled faintly to myself as a complete peace flowed through me, its serenity providing me with a moment of harmony when I accepted the conclusion of everything, the end to the pain and plague of life.

Oxygen flooded my lungs when Jude whipped the bag away and my mouth grasped at the air it desperately needed. Blood and oxygen swarmed my brain making me dizzy and slightly giddy as my chest rapidly rose and fell with the intensity of my gulps and heaves.

Just as my body started to calm and gain some equilibrium, Jude replaced the bag and it began again; the pressure, the panic, the deep pounding in my head and then the serenity and surrender as my organs initiated a blackout.

He repeated his torture four more times, each time the panic more frenzied and his torment more prolonged. My ears were humming whilst my brain throbbed inside my skull as Jude stood and stared at me, his face impassive and emotionless, “Anything yet?”