Spread her on the table

**Ivery Clark POV**

A wave of shock deluged me, sweeping me off my feet.

But beneath the shock, there was something worse — something colder, sharper.

My hands were shaking, my breath coming too fast, too shallow. I couldn't believe what he just said now.

"You bitch, stop right there !" One of the goons behind screamed as all were almost eliminating the distance.

*No, no I can't die like this...!*

I clasped Alrigo's strong hand, my voice raw with desperation, "Alrigo please, don't do this. Please just save me once, I don't want to die."

I cried out desperately, but despite my imploring, the callousness in him didn't diminish. They were completely void.

Emotionless and unforgiving just like a cold harsh winter.

"But isn't this what you wanted, Ivery ?" Alrigo's voice was rich with indignation and malice as glared at me.

"I wanted to keep you safe, give you everything you wanted but you are the one who chose this path. You crossed the line I drew, you disobeyed me."

"No, please Alrigo. I'm sorry, I learnt my lesson. I shouldn't have gone out of the mansion." I gripped his hand like he was my only life line, I could hold onto.

"But you already did, Ivery. If you already had all planned out from the very beginning then why don't you see it to the very end. Hmm ?"

"Can't you see ? Nobody will help you ? You dug your own grave, Ivery." His words hit me like a whiplash.

My chest tightened and the danger surrounding me blurred for a second, the world fading into a muted hum, because the only thing I could hear was the deafening silence of his absence, the person I thought would stand by me. Protect me.

The betrayal settled deep, burrowing into me like a knife twisting slowly in my chest.

How could he abandon me like this ?

In a second the goons grabbed me by my hair making me cry out, "Fucking bitch you dare run from us."

A sob caught in my throat, as a nerve racking pain spread through my skull.

"Alrigo, please...!" I cried out as I struggled to hold onto Alrigo's arm but the one of goon yanked me so hard that I lost the grip. And he....didn't react after all.

A sick, twisting sensation took hold in my chest. Not from the danger closing in — no, it was him. The space he left when I needed him most.

How could he just stand by, knowing what was happening, and choose to do nothing ?

I wasn’t just afraid anymore. I was... broken. He was supposed to help me. Yell at me and pull me back, but he didn't.

He just stared at me and I felt nothing. Not a flicker of anger, not a shred of sympathy.

It was a cold, flat gaze, void of anything human.

And in that moment, I felt something inside me shatter, because now I knew the truth — I was alone.

I was all alone from the very beginning.

"What are you doing, drag her fast before Aurelia and others gets angry. We shouldn't waste time." One of the goon yelled.

"No! No let go of me, you bastards!!" I let out a loud cry, tears flowing rapidly down my cheek.

"This bitch, she needs to have nice beating, before we kill her. She will learn lesson if we thrash her like an animal!" One of the goon sneered, his hand rough, his fingers digging into my arms like iron claws as he dragged me across the sea shore.

"No, please let me go !" My legs kicked out, scraping against the dirt, but it didn’t matter. I was nothing to them, just a body to be moved, controlled.

My mind raced, frantic, searching for a way out. But there was no escape. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. No one to help.

It was just me, trapped in this moment with death closing in like a shadow, swallowing everything in its path. I felt it — cold and relentless, creeping toward me.

The goons dragged me far enough until Alrigo and his men were out of sight.

Dread shrouded my viens when my field of vision fell on the house I escaped from. Where human were slaughtered like nothing. My feet went cold at the sight.

"Oh you found her! Fast, bring her in before anyone notices !" I heard Aurelia's voice slowly inching in.

The fear of death was not a scream, not a sudden burst of terror. It was a slow, creeping thing, a weight that settled in my chest, tightening with every breath.

This can’t be happening.

"No, don't take me there ! Let go of me monsters, don't you have any ounce of empathy ?" I cried out as they dragged me by my hair.

"Shut up bitch! Who do you think you are to preach to us ?" One of the goons yelled and threw me inside the entrance of the house that I fell hard.

My breath caught in my throat as the stench of blood invaded my nose. The realization hit me like ice, freezing me in place.

I was going to die a dog's death today.

Everyone was present here and they were looking at me voraciously dripping with murderous intent.

I looked around in terror, every inhale of my breath feeling sharper, more desperate, but no matter how hard I tried, the air felt thinner.

It was like the world around me was closing in, squeezing tighter, until there was no room left for me to breathe.

"You bitch...you dare play tricks on my brother !? Look at him the state he is in right now, you dirty wench !" Sophia screamed at me and kicked me in the stomach.

Pain exploded throughout my body, my breaths coming out laboured as I groaned in agony.

But I looked at her defiantly, despite being in pain. "He deserves it. In fact I should have cut his dick off and trust me it wouldn't be enough for a pathetic excuse of a being like him. You all are bloody monsters!"

Sophia face turned red, her body vibrating in anger, "The nerves of this bitch !"

She kicked me hard again, making me curl my body in pain, "You seem to have a lot of guts in you to talk shit despite death looming in your head. I guess we were too lenient on you...."

She lowered herself and grabbed a chuck of my hair, forcing me to look at her.

"You say we're monsters? No...we are much worse than that, Ivery. After all we all are part La eme..." Her eyes were dark with malice, the face that no longer cared about anything but the thrill of hurting others.

She let go of my hair and walked towards the table. My eyes darted around the table, catching glimpses of what I was up against.

Hooks hung from the ceiling on rusted chains, swaying gently as if waiting for the next body to be strung up.

On a table across from me, knives, saws, and other tools were laid out in neat rows, gleaming under the dirty light. They’d been used before. They weren’t clean.

Sophia ran her fingers over the tools, looking downright sinister.

"That's the thing about La eme. We thrive on weakness, we thrive on blood. It’s what keeps this world spinning. Everyone’s afraid of something."

Her eyes were cold, hollow, "And we'll show you the the reason why people who fucks with us don’t sleep easy at night."

My pulse roared against my ears and I hated how my heart thrashed against my ribs.

Sophia commanded the goon, "Drag her to the chair."

Two of the men hauled me up and I screamed, "No, take your hands off me !"

They yanked me hard and strapped me to a chair, my arms and legs bound together.

My wrists throbbed against the iron cuffs, the metal biting into my skin every time I tried to move. I was locked in place, completely at their mercy.

If they had any.

"What are you going to do to me?" I cried out panicking, hating to be so powerless.

"You hurt my brother Carlors, you tried to seduce my Alrigo. You tried to run away from us. I wanted to give you easy death but you had to fuck it up. Now I want to hurt you, torture you in the worst way possible that....you’ll be begging for death long before we grant it.”

A full shudder worked through my spine when one of them brought over a car battery and a tangle of wires.

*What...!?*

"Are you insane!?" I looked at her in disbelief.

"You see, I’ve learned something about pain. It’s not enough to just inflict it. You have to make the mind break first. That’s where the real fun is. The body can take so much more if the mind’s already shattered.”

She's sick, everyone is sick here.

I felt my stomach drop as they attached the clamps to my fingers, my toes, my chest.

“Electricity is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it ?” Sophia mused, her hand hovering over the switch. “It can bring the dead back to life… or take the living right to the edge of it.”

She flicked the switch.

The shock hit me like a lightning bolt, my muscles convulsing uncontrollably.

The sound of my scream filled the air, broken and loud, louder than I thought I could be.

The current tore through me, burning along my nerves, setting every inch of me on fire from the inside out. It only lasted a few seconds, but when it stopped, I was gasping, my body trembling with the aftershocks of the pain.

They waited, watching me, as if they were savouring every twitch, every shudder. Then they did it again. And again.

Each sob tore through me, harder than the last, leaving me raw, exposed, like I was unravelling, piece by piece.

There was no room for hope now. The air was thick, suffocating, and the fear of death wrapped itself around me like a shroud, but beneath it was something worse — a quiet, heartbreaking acceptance.

"What's this, do you already feel like dying ? I thought you were tougher than that." Sophia chuckled in a mocking tone.

*Psycho bitch!*

"You can't die yet, Ivery. This is only the beginning. We still have a lot more to come."

Aurelia entered the room, holding up a small vial of clear liquid. My blood ran cold.

"Do you know what this is, Ivery ?" Sophia chuckled, uncorking the vial and filling a needle with the clear substance.

"Neurotoxin. It paralyzes the body, but you’ll be completely conscious, you’ll feel everything we do next. Every cut, every burn, every twist, every moment.” Her eyes gleamed with a sadistic edge.

"And you won’t be able to stop it. Not even blink.”

I couldn’t catch my breath, my chest heaving with each desperate inhale, and the sounds that came out of me were wild, almost foreign, as if I didn’t recognize my own voice.

"Now...shall we begin ?"

*No...*