The boredom is starting to eat at my mind again, although it’s barely been a few hours since I was taken into my new room. I didn’t realize just how much those books were helping me pass the time, but without them I’m just stuck obsessing about everything that’s happening.

There are more footsteps in this part of the compound and I can hear voices in a nearby room. At first, they’re barely a muted buzz, but soon I hear shouting and thumps. I don’t know what they mean, but I know that whatever’s happening isn’t good.

Fear wells up inside of me but I have to work to push it back. I can’t let myself give in to whatever game they’re playing with me. I have to hold on, or else I’m going to ruin everything. Logan needs me to be strong, and regardless of whether he’s alive or not, that’s what I’m going to do.

After the shouting stops, there’s silence for about ten minutes, maybe more, before I hear footsteps outside of my room.

The door slides open and the bald man steps in. He shuts the door behind him and smiles at me.

“I’m Anton,” he says. “And you’re mine. Do you understand that? I own you. Logan worked for me.”

I sit up and stare at him. “Logan worked for you?”

“That’s right.”

“What do you mean ...worked?”

He smiles at me slowly, that wicked and gross smile again. He looks like a pig. Or at least he looks like what a pig would look like if it were pure fucking evil.

“He’s not with us any longer,” he says.

“What happened to him?” I feel desperate and I know I shouldn’t be asking questions, but I can’t help it.

“You’re fond of Logan,” Anton says. He walks over and sits down at the foot of my cot. “I can understand that. He was a handsome man, I’ll give him that.”

“Was ...?” I’m practically pleading with him.

I have to know what happened to Logan. I have to know. I can’t sit around without finding out if he’s alive or dead, forever in suspense.

“It doesn’t matter, Riley,” Anton says. “Maybe he’s alive and maybe he’s dead. Is that what you want to know?”

“Yes,” I beg. “Please. I just need to know if he’s alive.”

“I see.” Anton leans back and sighs. “It’s been a very trying day, you know. Very trying. You know I have a shipment coming up?”

I don’t know what he’s talking about and I really don’t care. My whole body is screaming for more information about Logan but he’s clearly not giving me any. I can already tell that this man likes to play games.

He’s the boss. That’s obvious. He’s the guy that runs this whole operation, and I know that I need to be careful. If this man is the one in charge, that means he’s a very dangerous man. He’s probably broken many, many girls already, and probably killed even more. I’m in danger with every passing second this man sits near me.

I don’t know how I know this. I can just sense it. I’ve been around horrible men my whole life and maybe I’ve just developed a sense for it. I knew Logan wasn’t a bad person instinctively, deep down inside of my body, in the same way that I just know that this man is rotten.

It’s the way he’s looking at me, like I’m not a person but a piece of luggage. He says he owns me, and although Logan said similar things, I think this man really means it literally. He owns me like a piece of property, and I’m his to do with whatever he wants.

That includes breaking me. Physically breaking me.

I have to be careful, but I have to know the truth about Logan. I need to find some way to get it out of him.

“Do you want to talk to me about it?” I ask, leaning toward him.

I don’t expect him to backhand me. It comes out of nowhere. He whips his hand and smacks it across my jaw, sending stars dancing across my vision. I collapse back onto the cot, curling up into the fetal position.

He grins at me. “Did I fucking ask for you to speak, bitch?”

I stare at him quietly.

“Good. There you go. Learned your lesson. You speak when spoken to.” He leans back against the wall, smiling again, looking innocent and normal but I saw it, there for a second, the beast inside of him.

“So, lots of stress. I don’t need you pretending like you give a fuck. I’m sure you’re just trying to get me to open up about Logan.” He sneers and spits on the ground. “That stupid fuck.” He looks at me, shaking his head.

Why does he hate Logan so much? He has to have seen through Logan’s façade. Or maybe he can sense these things, just like I can, and knew that Logan wasn’t like the rest of them.

That has to be it. This guy can sense these things, just like I can, but he didn’t like what he felt about Logan. Now that Logan is out of the picture, wherever he is, this Anton guy is going to take it out on me.

All because Logan was good to me. All because Logan tried to save me, to shield me from the worst of it. My time here was easy compared to most of the girls, and now this bastard Anton is going to try and take that away from me. He’s going to try and taint Logan’s memory as much as possible.

“And now your precious Logan is all gone. He treated you like a queen, even made sure you were okay with everything that happened.” He grins at the look on my face. It’s pure and abject horror.

“That’s right,” he continues, moving closer to me. “We were listening. We heard everything you two said to each other. Absolutely everything. We even heard you, too.” His grin is disgusting and I want to hit him or scream, but I know that will only make it worse.

“Your moans ...they haunt me. You know that, girl? Your moans have stuck in my head and won’t go the fuck away.” He reaches out and grabs me by the hair, tearing me toward him. I cringe and cower but I don’t fight.

“Now I want to hear those moans,” he says into my ear. “I want to hear them from your own fucking mouth.”

He releases my hair and hits me again. I back up, crawling into the corner, and he laughs.

“Go ahead, run away. There’s nowhere to go. You’re mine now. And you’re not going to like it.” He stands and looks down at me.

“Where is Logan?” I ask him weakly.

He cocks his head to the side. “Did I say you could speak?” He hits me again. I cover my head and hide away. “No, I fucking didn’t. God, what is it about that fucking guy that you liked so much?”

“He didn’t treat me like a dog,” I say.

Anton punches me in the mouth. Instantly, I can feel blood well up on my lips and I check my teeth with my tongue. None of them seem missing, thankfully, and I spit a wad of blood onto the ground.

He laughs, watching me with his arms crossed.

“Logan was a big fucking pussy,” he says. “If he just played along and did what he was supposed to do, we wouldn’t have this problem. You’d be broken and I wouldn’t have to come in here and clean up his mess.” He walks across the room and looks into the mirror. “You think I like doing this? Answer me.”

“Yes,” I say, watching him. He watches me back through the mirror.

“Well, you’d be correct.” He straightens up, laughing. “I fucking love this. I love breaking stubborn bitches like you. Except I don’t like having to do it on a time crunch. I like to take my time, find ways to hurt you that you can’t even imagine. I like to get you to the point where you’re not just afraid of more pain, but you welcome me as a savior. I have three girls standing in the other room right over there, you know that? There’s an open window and they could jump out of it at any time, but they won’t.”

“Why?” I ask him, defiant.

“Because they want to be here, the stupid whores. They’re broken shells. They don’t know anything else anymore.”

I clench my jaw and look away. This man is so revolting that I can barely stand it.

But I can see how that would happen. It happened with me. My father broke me a long time ago and I lived in his house, every single day, never running away although I could have. I was just too afraid and thought that my father knew what was best for me.

I know better now. I’ve seen real abuse, and I know what my father did to me was it. I know that I can survive now.

Although I’m not sure I can survive this.

Anton turns and walks slowly toward me, talking the whole time.

“You see, men are disgusting. We’re pigs. They just want some hot warm hole to hump until they drop a load, and then it’s back home to the wife and the kids.” He stops in front of me and crouches down. “Some of them want the fantasy. They want to pretend like the slut is enjoying their little prick, too. But the guys that come to me, they know the truth. They don’t give a fuck.”

I stare into his eyes and don’t know what to say. He’s sick and twisted, and I know not all men are like that. Logan isn’t like that.

“Where’s Logan?” I ask him finally.

“Dead,” he says with a wicked grin. “Feel better now? I had my best man drive him out to the desert and put a bullet in his skull. He’ll be a rotting corpse by now.” Anton takes my hand. “Your life is mine now, bitch.”

I stare back as terror and pain rip me apart.

Logan, the only man to take me seriously, to treat me well. He made me feel things I never really imagined before. And as soon as I truly realized that I was falling in love with him, this bastard steals him away.

I fell in love with Logan and now he’s dead. Maybe I’m cursed to be alone and abused for the rest of my life.

But no, no, I can’t do that. He was ...everything. And without him, I have nothing to live for. I know it, deep down inside of me. I was holding on to life just because I thought he might still be alive, but now I know the truth. Now I know for sure.

Logan is dead. He’s gone and he’s never coming back. Whatever is left of my life will be short, brutal, and full of misery.

But I have no reason to keep living. I truly don’t. So why not end it all?

I can’t kill myself. I don’t have the strength. But I know someone that will do it for me.

This bastard. Anton. He’ll kill me if I raise a hand against him. I’m sure of it. If I hurt him as badly as I can as quickly as I can, he’ll kill me. Maybe it’ll be slow but at least it’ll happen and I’ll be free. It can be my last act on this world. I can die knowing that I made a choice and followed it through.

I can choose to die. These bastards can’t enslave me and force me to do things that I don’t want. It’s either that or death, and I’ll make my choice.

I bunch my fists, readying myself. It’s going to hurt. I know it’ll hurt. But I can take pain. I’ve taken pain my whole life. That’s not the issue. I just hope it doesn’t break me even more.

I’ll go for his eyes. Maybe blind him. I’ll jam my fingers into his right eye as hard as I can and then attack him. Maybe it’ll destroy his eye for good, I can’t really say.

I tense, readying myself. Anton leers at me, still talking, but I’m not hearing anything. It doesn’t matter at all.

And suddenly, there’s a noise in the other room. It’s loud, and people start yelling. Anton stands suddenly and turns away from me.

“Stay,” he says, and then leaves the room.

I release my fists and collapse back.

I was too slow. Whatever just happened may have doomed me to this life forever. Maybe I’ll get another chance, but maybe I won’t. It’s impossible to say.

The yelling continues, but I don’t hear it. I’m too busy sobbing. I see myself as if from a great distance, sobbing as hard as I can, my whole body wracked with pain and emotion. Logan is dead and my life is done. I had hope but now it’s dashed and destroyed.

At least I got the night on the beach. I felt the sand under my toes, the surf at my feet. And Logan’s body in that cave. It was beautiful. It was perfect. At least he gave me that before I give myself up completely.

As the noise intensifies, I just wrap myself into a ball and cry. I’ve given up completely and whatever is happening doesn’t matter at all. I’m lost and Logan is lost. Whatever love I felt is dead and gone now.

I’m just a bundle of nothing, dashed to bits on a reef.