Page 62 of Point Proven
Does this bitch really think I want to have a conversation?
Sighing, she didn’t get the fucking memo as she continued. “I was five when I was brought here. Don’t really remember much of my parents, but I remember the other kids in my room. We bonded, hell, made a pact to keep each other alive for as long as possible, but out of all of them? I’m the only one still alive, like a cruel fucking joke. I thought I was stuck here forever untilrumors ofyouspread. Liam Bennett, the man who’d successfully escaped this place for ten years. You know how many tried because of the hope you brought?”
Chin snapping back in her direction, my lips curled into a snarl. “You are not going to sit here and blame the deaths of innocent lives on me just because I got fucking lucky. I do not care to hear your goddamn sob story. I do not care how long you’ve fucking been here. I do not give a shit about any of it. So save yourself the breath and shut the fuck?—”
“Woah.Woah. I think you’re misunderstanding. You brought hope back to people who thought it was lost. Peopletriedto escape for the first time because they believed they could. I’m not pinning shit on you, rather thanking you for giving the kids here their dreams back.”
“Yeah, well, see how well that ended for me? Maybe you should tell them to avoid the repercussions of my fucking stupidity.”
“Yeah? You want me to storm into the room with a bunch of five-year-olds and tell them that? That they’ll never see their families again?—”
Swallowing, tears butted up against my waterline as I glanced down at my hands. “Stop.”
“Yeah, didn’t think so. I’d rather tell them the story of a brave nineteen-year-old who escaped Stefan’s clutches, who saw light for the first time and fulfilled his dreams. You might think being back here means you’re a failure, but it’s the opposite. The older kids view you like a God, a beacon of resilience. All we need is a single…sparkto ignite it into a roaring flame.”
“I-I can’t…” I shook my head, a trail of sorrow rolling down my cheek. “I-I can’t help you… but my friends… my friends can.”
“Friends? Are… Are theyhere?”
“M-My… my boyfriend… he traced my location, so hopefully… Hopefully soon… They’ll be here.”
Genuine happiness lit her solemn features. “You… You mean I could see the sun?Outside?”
“If their raid is successful…” Focusing my attention on her again, I gave her a half-hearted smile. “Then y-yes…”
Tears welled. “I thought I’d never?—”
The rest of her sentence died the moment the bullet pierced her skull, the force causing her body to crash sideways into the ground. Lifeless eyes stared at me, crimson trickling underneath the iron bars.
“Oh. She’s already dead.”
My stare remained transfixed on her, ignoring Stefan’s approach. Blinking, my breath caught in my throat as tears coated my skin. A rasped inhale was all I could muster before the anger rolled forward, pent-up rage that I’d swallowed for sixteen years of my fucking life roaring from my parted lips.
“You disgusting piece ofshit!” Ripping the lines from my flesh, I forced myself upright, ignoring the rapid bloom of affliction that followed. “I’ll fucking kill you! I willkill you! You’re fucking pitiful! A pathetic waste of space and a poor excuse for a fucking man! You’ve shown this entire fucking bunker just how small your goddamn dick is with your lack of basic human fucking decency?—”
“Hmm, how many insults is that? Seven? Let’s round up to ten?—”
“For fucking what, Stefan?For. Fucking. What? To make yourself feel better? Youreekof fucking crumbling self-esteem.”
Pulling out his phone, he was silent for a moment as his fingers tapped across the screen. Another pause, longer this time, before a ding echoed in the chamber. “I needed to clear up space for younger kids anyway.”
His words slammed into the center of my chest, and the single syllable I uttered came only as a mere croak. “W-What?”
“Ten insults, right? So I shot all of them that age.” Shrugging, he slid the device back into his pocket. “I have a shipment on the way of two-year-olds….”
He kept talking, but I didn’t hear a word. Instead, my panic spiked, vision tunneling as my shoulders rose and fell in rapid succession. Clenching the sheets in an attempt to ground myself, it only further solidified my horrors, myfailures.
I’d killed… I’d killed…
They were only fucking ten…
It was my fault.
My fault.
My fault.
Throat aching, each inhale felt as if I’d swallowed a mouthful of glass, lungs burning with equal intensity. The guilt it brought forth meant to swallow me whole, and as tears streamed down my cheeks, I prayed to whatever would listen to end my pathetic existence.
