Chapter 174: Do His Worst

Something to make a note of.

"Not happy about being tied up," I responded lightly. "I am upset you outnumbered me to take me down, too," I breathed. I smiled at the pair.

My words didn't give away the fact that I knew Benny was in on the action. I could see his curious gaze fall on me, but I knew he didn't suspect that I recognized him.

Yet.

"If you hadn't been drugged up and slurring, I would have taken you seriously," the older man said gruffly. He walked over to me to make sure that I was secured to my place. "You're not going out of here. I'm going to make you my little toy and extinguish that fire."

I croaked out a laugh. "Believe me, there is nothing you can do to me that will have that effect. The worst you can do is kill me." Exactly. After what I had been through. He could do nothing worse.

Though the slits showing his eyes were small, I could see the darkness.

"Move back. We both know you can't harm me," I whispered, soft enough that only the two of us could hear. "Aren't you here to give us food? Go ahead."

As long as I was confident and rebellious, I would be alive. As long as I kept infuriating these people, their focus would solely be on me and not on the two others.

With Benny in the same room, unable to make his opinions known, they wouldn't be rash to do something that he didn't want. For now, that was the game plan.

The man grumbled and unlocked the cuff on my right hand. I twisted it to see the damage done and realized that except for some soreness, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Good. I eyed them closely as they unlocked the right hands of each person sitting in the circle and then place an extension to the chairs that acted as tables.

The plate had rice and a side of vegetable dishes. Which was good. That meant they didn't have money to buy meat products and once they ran out of money, they would go out to buy groceries.

I knew Nash and Sebastian would catch them the second they stepped out.

On closer inspection, I could see that this place didn't have sockets. The power was probably coming from a generator. That would mean they didn't have a running refrigerator as it took a lot of power to run.

They had to have some supplies stacked and once they used it up, they had to go out. I had to eat.

We were not given any spoons or utensils, probably because they thought I could use them to get out. And that was okay.

I had no appetite, but I had to eat. They waited around until I took some food into my mouth before leaving.

I didn't spit it out. I saw the others preparing to eat and stopped them. "It has drugs in it," I told them calmly. I turned to the little girl. "Gene, don't eat anything for a while, okay? Not even the water. It can clash with your medication."

She nodded before a flurry of tears escaped her.

"Tell me, are there cameras anywhere behind me?" I asked. I only trusted this little frightened girl to answer truthfully.

"What am I looking for?" she asked quietly, her eyes panicked.

"Anything protruding from the walls or a small colored light," I explained. She looked closely before shaking her head. I put in more of the food in my body as I carefully looked around.

I couldn't see a camera either. Bugging devices cost a fortune, so I didn't think they would have it. As for Benny, I wanted to see what game he played.

"Jade, Benny. Listen carefully. Gene will not eat but we need to. We need to finish their supplies."

Jade hissed. "Are you crazy?" she yelled.

"They don't have enough food to feed all of us and they will not kill us without cause," I explained to her slowly. "You have been here the longest but they didn't kill you because you still have that fire in you. You need to resist everything the guy tries to do to you. At all costs. If the woman does something, try not to protest too much. She's the one who will kill you."

I thought for a moment. "Gene has pre-existing conditions and she can't take drugs," I was talking as I ate. I needed to keep sane for the most part. "Moreover, their target is me. They can't kill me so I can infuriate them enough to keep them off you all."

Beside me Benny was shoveling down food as well. I knew that it wasn't drugged, but I saw his eyes droop as he had more. After cleaning up his plate in record time, he slowly dozed off.

"How do you know so much?" Jade asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Working for the police. I was going to make the arrest when I was taken." I felt only two pairs of eyes on me. I looked over at Benny and saw his eyes closed.

I turned to the two of them, conscious of Benny listening into the conversation.

I held the two women's eyes. 'Don't trust him,' I mouthed. They looked confused for a second. I looked towards Benny for a second for turning back.

They stiffened. "Finish the food. I can ask for more, okay?"

Control your body, Evie.

The little girl sniffed as she held back her cries.

The female entered with her mask still on. She looked at Gene and shook her head. "Why didn't you eat?" she asked carefully.

"I am not hungry," Gene whispered. She threw a look at me, pleading me to help.

"I am still hungry. You can give it to me, yes?" I asked. The woman threw me a hateful look before picking up the plate and placing it before me.

"Don't you get to eat?" she sneered.

"Been busy with fighting crime. Just give it to me," I told her in a scathing tone. She eyes me suspiciously before waiting for me to finish the whole thing. I took the first bite and knew it wasn't drugged.

This time.

I ate at a rapid pace, feeling my control slowly but surely slipping. I pressed my hand against the metal shackles, the sharp end digging into my wrist and keeping me lucid.

The quantity wasn't too much, so I shoveled it down. The plate was clean. "Can I get more?" I asked softly.

I knew they couldn't give me more drugs. It would literally kill me. She was a certified nurse, she wouldn't do it knowingly… not when Benny was watching. His eyes were open and he watched with rapt attention.

She huffed and walked away. She returned with another plate of food. It was tasteless but surely drug-free. I ate it like it was my last meal.

I remembered all those times when I got nothing to eat for days and told myself it was okay. I could puke it out later. As long as I was finishing their rations.

"All done," I said drowsily. The plate was taken away and everything was cleaned up.

They were gone and even Jade's head lolled down, unconscious.

They had been given sleeping medicines. I wasn't sure what I had gotten, though.

"Thank you," Gene whispered.

"Don't worry about it, kid. I'll get you out of here," I promised.

I don't remember much from after that, but surely when I came into consciousness, the three other people were staring at me with horror.

I looked at them curiously. I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't make a sound.

My eyes widened in panic and I felt a tear trickle down my cheeks.

"You… you screamed a lot…" Gene told me after a minute.

"You have some horrifying hallucinations," Jade said humorlessly. She eyed me warily. I eyed her curiously. "You were screaming and writhing. Woke us up from the drugs. You were that loud." She shook her head, slightly shuddering as she remembered everything.

"What?" I managed to croak out.

"We tried asking you questions. You were seeing things…" Benny said quietly. "Sounded like monsters and killers torturing you."

I grimaced.

"You shouldn't have goaded her on for information," Gene whispered at Benny. I looked at her for confirmation and sure enough, it was true.

The drugs… the drugs had made me hallucinate and Benny had egged me on and made me relive things from my past. He was playing at something.

"You did everything he asked you to," she whispered with horror. "It was scary."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Sorry." And then I shook my head to catch some control. "I did as you guys asked?" I squeezed out.

Gene nodded. "He asked you to describe the people… and you did. Benny even asked you to try and escape." She started to cry.

I frowned mildly, not understanding what that meant until I felt a sharp pain in my hands and legs. I looked down and sure enough, they were bleeding profusely.

"I tried to break them?" Or saw them out… I wasn't sure. It surely looked horrifying. Gene nodded. "Don't think about it. Forget it if you can. Nothing happened, okay?" I assured. "It was the drug. I am not a person who would hurt herself."

I could slowly but surely speak.

"What type of drug was it? Why did it not happen to us?" Jade asked, now hysterical.

"They gave me the drug specifically. Don't worry."

The door behind me opened and I heard rushed and furious footsteps.

"You bitch!" the man screamed. I felt the sting of a slap on my cheeks but didn't turn away. "Why are they contacting all my family members?" he shouted.

"Ah, so they know who you are. It won't be long, then," I said ominously. The mask came off and I saw his face in stark reality.

"You think they can find you?" he said through his teeth.

I blinked. "You kidnapped a person who works with the police. Of course, they will hunt you down." I shrugged. "You have no clue who I am, do you?" I smiled.

His eyes widened for a second before hardening. "You must think of yourself as a hotshot." He laughed.

"My fiancé is a world-famous criminal psychologist and my mentor is the head of Behavioral Studies. You might think you have connections within the police, but that won't matter." I had to laugh. I hadn't thought about it that well, but I remembered that I had some strong connections too. "The police might give up on me, but my fiancé and mentor won't. Guess what, my soon-to-be father-in-law has a securities firm. He used to be a general in the army."

The man's eyes looked down at me with rage. The slew of profanities poured out and I remained silent. He threatened the most horrible things on the planet but I didn't even blink.

"Do your worst, old man. I look forward to it."