Chapter 55 Eleanor, You are Tough
His sinister chuckle felt like a series of venomous stings to Eleanor's skin. Despite her restraint, a slight tremor ran through her body, a response that pleased him greatly.
With a gentle tone, he whispered a secret in her ear, "Here's something you ought to know— couple of years back, I got kicked out of MIT for hacking into the campus system and plastering the dean's oh-so-intimate videos everywhere. But hey, tracking your phone call? Child's play for me. Oh, and..." He trailed off, drawing Eleanor back as she attempted to inch away.
He blew softly against her ear, "That little mishap your assistant had with the proposal sent to Spare Credit Group? My handiwork. Vincent wanted to trip you up, just for a bit of fun. A flick of my fingers, that's all it took."
As Eleanor clenched her fists, the truth became clear - Vincent was behind this. She had been certain Nora wouldn't make such a rookie mistake. At the time, Vincent had seemed so magnanimously inclined to give Nora another chance, for Eleanor's sake, of course. But that charade seemed trivial compared to her current predicament.
She needed to stay calm. Although her earpiece was destroyed, she still wore a tracker. Since she couldn’t be contacted, it wouldn't be long before her team traced her whereabouts.
"What else has Vincent done to me?" Eleanor asked. It wasn't that she cared about the answer; she needed to buy time until her rescue arrived.
Daniel's fingers, cold as ice, caressed her nape, his touch as unsettling as a snake's coil around her. Despite the chills running down her spine, she felt completely powerless to escape.
With a sigh, Daniel conflicted by a hint of softness, murmured, "I guess I went easy on you. You won't be seeing Vincent ever again. Why am I even telling you all this?"
"Don't I deserve to know before I die?" Eleanor countered, her voice steady despite the grim word.
The mention of death oddly excited Daniel. "Ah, yes. You G City folk are big on understanding the end, aren't you?"
A distressing thought seized Eleanor. "Do you know Peter?"
Raising an eyebrow, Daniel replied, "The one who almost assaulted you, then dropped dead?"
"Was... Was he killed by Vincent?" Eleanor's heart raced with dread. Even though Grayson had assured her that Peter died from a congenital issue, she knew Grayson too well. He must have suspected something and deliberately avoided discussing it further.
Daniel shook his head, his voice soft and disturbing as he revealed, "You were the first person Vincent killed."
Eleanor's pupils shrank in terror.
It wasn't Vincent.
Then who had killed Peter?
"Okay, my turn to ask, right?" Daniel clapped his hands together, his face lighting up with mischievous glee that revealed a row of pearly white teeth. "You’ve been asking all these questions just to buy some time, haven't you?"
"Ah—" Eleanor flinched in pain as Daniel’s words ended and she felt a sharp tug on her scalp.
The man who had been all smiles seconds before was now ominously grim, his gaze menacing as he forcefully grasped Eleanor's ponytail and yanked off the elastic band. Her waterfall of hair cascaded down in an instant.
He gripped a handful of her hair, watching Eleanor wince and tilt her head back, her face turning ghostly pale. He soothed her cruelly, "Shh, it'll be over soon."
His other hand slid its fingers through her hair, probing her scalp before pulling out a tiny Tracker.
Looking at the small gadget in his hand, Daniel tightened his grip on Eleanor's hair and laughed viciously, "Even after all my warnings, you still don't listen?"
He dragged Eleanor to a table where a medieval-style candle burned, its top now melted into a small pool of wax. He tossed the Tracker into it.
With a sizzle, the Tracker was destroyed.
The light in Eleanor's eyes seemed to extinguish along with it.
Daniel leaned in closer, wanting to savor the despair in her eyes, but to his frustration, there was no despair in Eleanor's gaze. Instead, behind the extinguished light, there was a defiant spark, a stubbornness that could drive a man mad.
Daniel had never seen such a spirit in the eyes of someone facing death—it fascinated and ignited his lust for conquest to new heights.
What a thrill!
He was ecstatic with excitement.
"Vincent told me to finish you off," Daniel taunted, tugging her forward by her hair. "Do you know how to use the things on the wall?"
Eleanor, lacking the strength to resist, felt her scalp might rip off as she instinctively kept pace with Daniel's strides, staggering in agony, forced to witness the array of sinister tools adorning the wall.
"Considering how conservative you look, you've never tried these, have you? Don't worry, we can take our time."
He glanced around. "We're in an old abandoned factory, Hundred Acres Wood, way down here in the basement. Your people won't find you by tomorrow; we have all the time in the world."
His laugh was wild as he scooped Eleanor up and threw her onto the water bed, where her body swayed weakly.
The dim bulb overhead gave off a dull glow that couldn't reach the depths of her eyes.
Still unable to discern panic or despair in Eleanor's eyes, the man experimentally picked up a candle from the table and dripped its hot wax onto the back of her hand. The burning sensation was agonizing. Eleanor clenched her teeth and managed only a muffled groan.
"She's got spunk," the man remarked with a cold sneer.
Eleanor knew better than to plead; begging would only bore him and seal her fate with death. The man continued to drip wax on the back of her hand, wickedly amused by Eleanor's stifled moans and futile struggles.
Her lips bled from biting down too hard, her forehead glistened with sweat, and her world was beginning to spin into darkness. Bored of his game, the man discarded the candle.
He picked up a syringe filled with drugs from the table, its needle glinting in the light. "Most people are out of their minds with half a dose, but I like you, so I'm giving you the full hit. No need to waste time, sweetheart, enjoy the ride."
Eleanor's mind went blank, her fingers clenched. Was she about to lose this gamble? The moment the needle pierced her skin, a rustling at the door was followed by a powerful force that burst it open, and it slammed against the wall, showering the room with splinters.
A blinding beam of light clawed through the darkness.
As Daniel was momentarily blinded, he attempted to scramble for the gun on the table, but a muffled shot from a silencer preceded the bullet that entered his chest. His pupils dilated; struggling for the gun, he was hit again, uttering an agonizing cry before collapsing into a pool of blood.
Eleanor's heart skipped a beat as she stared blankly toward the light source.
From within the light, a tall and imposing figure strode towards her, too dazzling to see clearly, a hazy shadow looming large.
As he drew closer, she recognized the familiar scent.
Teary-eyed, it was him.
Aaron lifted her limp body, his temples bulging with rage as he surveyed the wall of props and the discarded syringe on the floor. For the first time in his life, he felt something akin to fear.
He looked down at the weak woman in his arms, his body going cold. "Eleanor, that's ruthless."