Page 69 of Til Def
I bite down hard, refusing to let the agony consume me, and reach for the axe, but one of the guys kick it away. When I lift my head, I’m met with the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed firmly against my forehead.
Ricco looms over me, his smirk is wider now, more triumphant and the gun trembles in his hand, not from fear but from excitement.
“You really thought you could come here and kill me, didn’t you? Do you know who the fuck I am?” His tone is smug, like he’s enjoying his powerful pitiful moment. “I saw it the moment I took her—that fire in your eyes. A kid with a vengeance.” His grin widens. “And I fucking loved it.”
My jaw locks so hard it feels like my teeth might shatter as he steps closer. He leans in. “After around ten of us fucked her virgin pussy, she was nothing but a lifeless fucking corpse anyway, Ty.”
His words are acid in my veins, biting and harsh, and the tears I’ve fought so hard to hold seem to burn my dry eyes. My vision blurs, and I lower my head.
“I did her a favor. She was like a wounded animal. I put her out of her misery.”
My head snaps up, rage burning through the tears and my eyes lock onto his, wide and unhinged. Before I can stop myself, I spit. A thick glob hits him square in the face, sliding down his cheek.
The man beside me growls, grabbing me by the scruff of my shirt, but I laugh—a mentally unstable sound that echoes throughout the huge room, high-pitched and sudden.
Ricco wipes the spit from his face with a forceful movement, his icy stare never leaving mine.
“You think this is funny?” he hisses, his calm surface cracking as the first hint of anger slips through.
My laughter only grows louder, my shoulders jerking, the sound developing into something manic, something fucked.
“You’re dead,” I whisper through the laughter before my lips curl into a defiant grin. “You’re already fucking dead.”
The gun suddenly smashes into my face with a sickening crack, the impact snapping my head back as pain explodes across my cheekbone. Blood floods my mouth, pooling on my tongue and spilling from my split lips, but it doesn’t stop me.
I spit the blood onto the floor before another broken, rasping bubble of laughter forces its way out bitterly, dripping with madness. I grin up at him, teeth slick with crimson, mocking him further.
“I will killyou,you little cunt!” Ricco snarls, his face contorted in irritation as he shoves the barrel of the gun against my head.
His chest heaves as he stares me down, veins bulging in his neck. Then, without warning, he spins on his heel, the urn stillclutched in his hand. With a loud roar, he hurls it through the air.
Time seems to slow until the urn smashes against the edge of the fireplace, shards of pottery raining down as Penny’s ashes spill into the flames. The heat churns her remains into spiraling wisps of smoke, rising and twisting into the air.
I watch through blurred, blood-streaked vision as the room spins around me. Everything hits me at once, crushing me under its weight: Penny’s face, her laughter, her screams. The years of planning in Sacred Heights, every moment leading up to this, the lies, the bloodshed. Raven’s voice, her soft moans and touch. It all swirls around me like the fucking ashes drifting in the firelight.
And then, something snaps.
“SO FUCKING DO IT!” I bellow, the sound ripping from my throat.
Ricco freezes, his hand tightening on the gun.
I grab the barrel with both hands, forcing it harder against my skull. My fingers curl around the cold steel, white-knuckled and shaking, but I don’t care. My head tilts, wild eyes meeting his with a vicious stare.
“Come on, Ricco. Don’t be a fucking pussy now.” My voice drips with venom, a low growl vibrating in my chest. “Blow my fucking brains out. Do it. End it, you sick fuck!”
He stares at me, his rage flashing into something else. Unease, hesitation. His handshakes, just a little, but enough for me to notice. Tears stream down my cheeks as I breathe violently, my chest heaving like a caged animal ready to maul its captor.
His lips curl into a snarl, but his eyes betray him.
“No,” he whispers, a chilling calm washing over him. “I’m not into fucking full-grown psychopathic men,” he says. “But I know a few who would love to eat you alive and spit your ass out. Let’s finish what your parents started, shall we?” He seethes before leaning in closer, his lips curling into a deranged smile as he whispers, “Only then will you find your place with pretty Penny. In my firepit where I roast my fucking marshmallows while thinking about how she felt around my cock that night.”
Suddenly, from the darkness beyond the huge window to my right, something catches my eye—two spiraling black-and-white circles. They hover there, perfectly still, staring back at me. At first, I think I’m fucking tripping or it’s a trick of the firelight reflecting off the glass, but no.
They’re steady. Watching me.
Then, as if summoned, two red spirals appear just above them, glowing faintly, almost pulsing. The red deepens, swirling faster, and then green spirals appear below, completing the bizarre trio.
The spirals bore into me, their hypnotic pull impossible to ignore. Each color churns like an endless vortex, the black-and-white centres spinning slowly while the red and green glow eerily, flickering in the night.
