Page 151 of Off the Rails

I held my breath waiting for an admission, an acknowledgement — an apology, even. But instead, she just laughed.

“I probably didn’t do anything at all. You’re just a sick little freak who gets off on throwing temper tantrums.”

“Do you want to live?” I snarled. None of this was right. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

“Oh Cyrus, we both know you don’t want to kill me. Who would you throw your toys at then?”

I slammed the chest shut, pure adrenaline surging through my muscles as I gripped my trusty machete. My plans had abandoned me. It was time to make my own course.

“I wonder why you’re so grumpy? Didn’t get enough attention growing up? Oh wait, of course you didn’t!” She laughed again. “Well here’s your chance. If you’re going to fuck me, just get it over with already.”

In one swift motion, I raised the blade to her throat, tipping up her chin with the flat edge.

Not so talkative now.

I basked in a single, glorious moment of silence before twisting the machete upward, only leaving a slight trail of blood behind as I cut away her blindfold.

With her safety blanket gone, Tess couldn’t hide the terror in her eyes. She blinked hard, trying to adjust to the lantern light of the cave.

Her eyes wavered — I could tell that she wanted to look at her surroundings, to map out an escape route, or otherwise to look down at the blade that was so close to her artery.

But she didn’t dare look away as I leaned closer to her. My breath filled her lungs as I hissed in her face. “I don’t want to fuck you, Ragdoll.”

She swallowed hard, drawing my eye down to her throat. It would be so easy to slice the delicate flesh and free us all from our misery. But there was still a debt to be paid.

Pulling my machete back to my side, I towered over Tess. “Tell me what you remember.”

“About Heirs of Promise?” Her brow furrowed.

“About that night.”

When her head tilted, wispy blonde hair shifted around her like a dip-dyed halo. My chest tightened at the sight. I could see how the whole innocent act got to the others. But all that Tess’ performance evoked in me was rage.

“I um… I don’t remember that much?” Her gaze grew far away, and she bit her lip as she stared off into the dark corners of the cave.

“Look at me when you’re speaking,” I barked, pacing away from her. “I didn’t ask you how much you remembered. I commanded you to tell me what you do.”

“Commanded?” Tess frowned.

“Commanded,” I glared down at her. “I caught you. You are mine to do with as I please until dawn. And if you keep making me wait, I will consider it a violation of our agreement.”

A vein jumped in her neck at the threat. Shaking her head, she sank back further on her heels. “The night you left, I remember sneaking down to the kitchen for a snack…”

It was the middle of the night, about fifteen minutes after the sister’s hourly rounds. Nash and Blade were pawing through the pantry, trying to figure out how much they could pilfer from the communal stash without getting caught. If we were going to get out of this place, we needed supplies to survive out in the woods.

I was guarding the door while they packed the bag, clutching the stolen pantry key tight in my fist. I had no idea what I was supposed to be guarding against — if any of the nuns, or god forbid Pastor Harris found us, we were utterly screwed.

But then I saw her.

“When I walked in, you were standing in the middle of the kitchen with a duffel bag at your feet. Blade and Nash were in the pantry making a mess. I tried to turn around and leave, but before I could make it back to the door…”

I barely caught Tess by her scrawny little shoulder. I was still scrawny myself: hardly fifteen with just enough muscle to make due in a fight on the yard.

But Tess was a tiny little thing. It was no wonder she was sneaking down here for snacks — by the look of her, you’d think the nuns were hardly feeding her.

They did that, sometimes — denying us food as a punishment. But Tess never got into much trouble.

“You cornered me against the old refrigerator, told me that I better not squeal.”