Chapter 622: Bone-Deep Fear
Chapter 622: Bone-Deep Fear
The room went deathly silent.
Marcus and Amanda, two of the most remorseless killers stared at the child before them with expressions of undisguised horror.
Marcus found his voice first.
“YOU—YOU LITTLE—”
He was stammering. Marcus Williams, who had tortured countless victims without flinching, was actually stammering.
“HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY SISTER!”
But Mika wasn’t finished.
“Oh, don’t worry, Marcus. I’m not as evil as you. I wouldn’t kill an innocent infant who knows nothing of the world…That would be monstrous.”
Marcus felt a wave of relief wash over him which was absolutely absurd, because Mika was trapped here, incapable of doing anything to anyone, not him.
But then—
“But.” Mika continued, and the word fell like a guillotine blade. “I am going to do something else.”
He sneered.
“I’m going wait until your sister gives birth and then let her hold her daughter in her arms. I’ll let her experience that moment of pure, unconditional love.”
His eyes went black.
“And then I’ll take a brick. A big, heavy brick. And I’ll grab your sister’s face and I’LL SMASH IT!”
“AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN—”
He thrashed against his restraints with each repetition, the chair rattling violently.
“—until her face is completely unrecognizable!”
“Until her own daughter will never know what her mother looked like!”
“Until the only memory that child will have of her mother’s face is the sound of a brick crushing bone!”
He stopped thrashing. He settled back into his chair. And let out a calm, peaceful smile that was somehow more terrifying than anything he had said.
“That’s what I’m going to do, Marcus. That’s my promise to you.”
Marcus and Amanda stared at him. They looked at each other. And in each other’s eyes, they saw the same thing: fear.
Real, genuine, bone-deep fear.
They were the monsters. They were the ones who tortured and killed and destroyed.
But this boy. This impossible, terrifying boy. He was looking at them like he had already won. Like he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.
And despite knowing he could never escape they believed him.
Marcus recovered first. His fear transformed into rage, and he lunged at Mika with a snarl.
“YOU FILTHY LITTLE RAT!”
He slapped Mika across the face with enough force to snap his head to the side.
“HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY SISTER! HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY NIECE!”
He grabbed Mika by the hair and yanked his head back.
“YOU’RE TRAPPED HERE! TRAPPED FOREVER! YOU’LL NEVER GET OUT! NEVER!”
Amanda joined him, her earlier playfulness completely evaporated.
“AND MY SISTER!” She slapped Mika across the other cheek, her nails leaving bloody scratches in their wake. “YOU WANT TO TEAR OFF ALICE’S SKIN? I’LL TEAR OFF YOURS FIRST!”
She dug her fingers into Mika’s arm and she peeled back a strip of skin with a wet, tearing sound.
SHRIIICK!
Marcus summoned a brick from thin air, the very brick Mika had described in his threat and brought it down on Mika’s face.
SMASH! SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!
“YOU WANT TO SMASH MY SISTER’S FACE?!” He screamed. “I’LL SMASH YOURS FIRST!”
But Mika didn’t scream. He didn’t cry. He didn’t beg for mercy.
He laughed.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Even as his skin was being torn from his body.
“Hahaha!”
Even as his face was being caved in by the brick.
“Hahaha!”
Even as blood poured from his wounds and his bones cracked and his flesh gave way.
“Hahaha!”
He laughed.
“Stop laughing!” Amanda shrieked, gouging deeper into his flesh. “STOP LAUGHING!”
The more he laughed, the more frantically they attacked him, trying to prove to themselves that they were still the monsters here and not the other way around.
But the laughter never stopped.
Charlotte watched from her corner. She didn’t try to intervene this time, as she understood now that she couldn’t stop them.
But she could be there for him. So, she walked over to the chair, ignoring the screaming psychopaths who were tearing him apart.
She took his hand or what was left of it and held it tight, her presence the only comfort she could offer, as the two psychopaths vented their fear and fury on the boy who had somehow managed to terrify them even while strapped helpless to a chair.
—
Finally, exhausted and unsettled, Marcus and Amanda stepped back.
Mika’s body was a ruin—barely recognizable as human.
But even now, even through the mangled flesh and shattered bone, his eyes still gleamed with that terrible amusement.
“I think…” Amanda’s voice was shaky. “I think we should go. We have preparations to make. The party. The guests. We should…”
“Yes.” Marcus’s voice was equally unsteady. “Yes, we should go. There’s…there’s work to be done.”
They retreated from the library, their steps quicker than usual.
Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they were fleeing.
Fleeing from a boy strapped to a chair. From his laughter. From the promises in his eyes.
The door slammed shut behind them.
—
Charlotte waited until their footsteps faded completely before she spoke.
“Mika? Are you…Are you alright?”
A stupid question. She knew it was a stupid question.
His body was restored now, but the exhaustion in his eyes told a different story.
Mika managed a weak smile. “I’m fine. Totally fine.”
“You’re not fine. You’re never fine. You just pretend to be.”
“Pretending is half the battle.” He let out a shaky breath. “Your teacher, though. I didn’t see that one coming. She was one of them all along.”
He chuckled humorlessly.
“It’s like one of those plot twists in the mystery novels you read to me. The kindly mentor was secretly evil the whole time.”
Charlotte nodded, her expression grave.
But before she could press further, Mika’s expression became more serious.
“Charlotte…I need to tell you something. I have to that I…I have to take back what I said earlier.”
Her heart clenched. “What do you mean?”
“We’re not going to get out of here as quickly as I thought. The appearance of your teacher has complicated things. My original plan is messed up now that she’s here…”
He shook his head. “I need to adjust. So, we’re going to have to wait a little longer.”
Charlotte grabbed his hand with tears in her eyes.
“I don’t care about that, Mika! I don’t care if we stay here forever! I just care about you!”
“You’re the one who’s suffering. You’re the one they’re going to send even more people after—people who they said are worse than her and Marcus combined.”
Her voice cracked.
“Can you even survive that? Can you endure days more of this torture? Because if you can’t—if there’s even a chance—let me take your place. Let me bear the burden instead. Please!”
Mika clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.
“Charlotte, you start crying if your bathwater is slightly too hot. You once sobbed for twenty minutes because you stubbed your toe on a table leg.”
“And you want to sit in this chair and endure what I’ve endured?”
He shook his head like it was a joke and said seriously,
“If I actually did what you’re suggesting and brought you into my consciousness and took your place—your mind would shatter in an instant. And then mine would follow.”
“It would be double suicide.”
Charlotte’s shoulders slumped. She knew he was right. She wasn’t like Mika. She couldn’t endure what he endured.
“But don’t worry.” Mika continued, his voice softening. “I’ll work around these new complications. I’ll find a way out of here.”
“I promised you, didn’t I?”
Charlotte looked into his tired, determined eyes and nodded.
“Okay, Mika. I trust you.”
—
In the stairwell of the mansion, Marcus and Amanda stood before a floating screen that showed the library in perfect clarity.
They had been watching the entire conversation.
“It seems the boy has some kind of plan.” Amanda said, her brow furrowed. “Something he’s been working on. Something that almost came to fruition before I arrived.”
Marcus shook his head.
“It’s impossible. There’s no way he could escape. I’ve checked every aspect of my domain. There are no loopholes. No weaknesses. He’s just spouting nonsense to give the girl hope.”
“Are you certain? Because the way he looked at us…” Amanda shivered. “I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was like he was already picturing exactly how he would kill us.”
“Like…he had already won.”
“He hasn’t won anything!” Marcus scoffed. “He’s trapped. Helpless. At our mercy.”
“And yet you’re trembling.”
Marcus looked down at his hands. They were, indeed, trembling.
“But it doesn’t matter.” He clenched them into fists. “We’ve already had our fun with him. And soon, everyone else will have their chance too.”
He smiled. “Let the others deal with him. Let them try to break that unbreakable spirit. Maybe one of them will succeed where we failed.”
Amanda smiled back.
“Yes.” She said deviously. “Everyone is waiting for this opportunity. They’re practically clawing at the walls, desperate for their turn.”
She looked back toward the library door, her eyes gleaming with dark anticipation.
“Let the Gates Of Hell finally open!”
Illustrations have been posted in the comment section…Check them out!
Read Novel Full