Page 13 of Straightjacket

Excitement fills the room from them both, and they slowly begin to pull out their batons, smacking the blunt end into their palms. Panic constricts my throat like a deadly snake, and I try to keep my gaze on them whilst watching the Doctor who saunters over Silas to remove the headphones. Once they’re off, I watch as he turns his head rapidly, forcing the sense of sound back into his ears.

There’s no way I can let him hear me. I won’t allow him to witness that. I can’t, but it would seem the guards have other ideas.

A throbbing blow to my kneecap hits me from the right, and I force my teeth to clamp down on the flesh inside my mouth, muffling the pain that’s threatening to explode. Fire spreads upwards through my leg and I can’t stop the pained whimper that slips past my lips.

I crush my teeth together but it’s too late, Silas instantly turns his head towards the sound, his shoulders hunching upwards as he tries to locate where it’s coming from.

I watch with heavy tears in my eyes, the doctor striding back over to Silas. He stops just at the side of him and places his hand onto his broad shoulder. At the contact, Silas jumps, completely unaware of what’s going on around him.

“Would you like to see where you are?” He says, a charm in his tone that’s slightly muffled by the glass. Fingers grip tightly onto the shoulder of the straightjacket, then he soothes the area, rubbing in gentle circles as if he isn’t the one who is causing all this pain. The act alone makes me want to vomit because no one deserves to touch Silas, other than me.

Keeping my gaze locked on them both, I watch as Silas grunts behind the muzzle, his strong body pulling against the chains. With every yank, the metal clanks together. Even with the glass between us, I can hear it.

“Please,” I whimper. “Please don’t take them off. He... he can’t see me like this, please.”

“Shut up, bitch!” The guard to the right of me scolds before swinging his baton again, landing a sickening blow into my stomach. The air inside my lungs fires out of my mouth and I pull my legs up, driving the pain away but it still lingers, spreading outwards until I can feel it all over my body. Sickness boils in my stomach but I manage to keep it down.

How the fuck did we end up here, like this?

How did they know that Silas would be at the manor? There’s no way James could have told them, Silas took care of that so there must be something else.

Someone had to have known where Silas has been all this time, unless...

As soon as the thought pops into my head, I hone in on the doctor with a million theories bouncing around in my brain. What if the doctor’s hold over Silas never really left?

Quickly a throbbing pain blooms in my head. I’m so focused on the thoughts and theories in my mind that I don’t even notice the doctor removing the black mask, not until the deafening sound of chains and pained groans vibrates through the mirror.

Not until I see him, and he sees me.

Ithought I’d endured the worst of the worst in my life. I thought I’d already been to hell and back but this, nothing compares to this. There’s no pain greater, no heartache more painful than the scene before me.

I don’t remember anything after I blacked out; I just know that once I butchered Mac, there was a needle in my neck and now I’ve been personally hand delivered to the gates of hell, once again.

Only this hell might just kill me for a final time.

Yanking at the straightjacket that binds my arms, I stride towards the glass mirror that separates me and my little demon, the chains that keep me secured to the floor, pulling tight against my waist. I can only just reach the glass until it physically feels like the chains are about to cut me in half.

Rage courses through my bloodstream, setting my veins alight as I ram my head into the glass. With every blow, Iris winces, her frail and battered body hunching tightly as if she can feel the pain I’m bringing onto myself. Blood smears across the glass with every hit of my head until it begins to rain down my face.

“Silas, that’s quite enough, don’t you think?”

As soon as Thorne’s voice hits me, I quickly turn to face him, fury burning him alive from the hatred in my eyes and I pound towards him, forcing his weak steps to stumble backwards until he’s just out of reach. He shuffles backwards until his back hits the wall, keeping a safe distance from me and the chains that only allow me so far. Fear drains the blood from his face, but he knows there’s nothing I can do to him.

“This is your punishment,” he quips, his gaze flicking towards Iris through the glass. “You could have just behaved, instead you chose violence. You chose to break the rules in my house, and those actions have consequences. Don’t they?” A smirk pulls at his thin lips, one of pure malice then he grips his nose and shakes his head. “Ah, I forgot. You can’t speak properly, can you? Once again, you’ve been silenced.”

His words force me to bite down on the bit inside my mouth that’s attached to the muzzle.

Silenced... once again. My voice taken away from me, once again.

I shun the sordid thoughts away and lunge towards Thorne. He plasters himself to the wall then begins to shuffle away from me, but I don’t let him out of my sight– wherever he goes, I follow. He shimmies across the wall until he reaches the glass, forcing me to stand just in front of it, to witness the love of my life hanging from a hook.

Tears burn behind my eyes as she looks at me. Those eyes that were filled with fire are now dull and empty, and it’s all my fault. I brought her into my mess. The moment she moved into the manor I should have left because without me, she wouldn’t be here.

“Silas,” she cries out and I force my head into the glass, smearing the blood even more. “Listen to me, please. This... this isn’t your fault, you... you need to believe that.”

At her pained words, I roll my forehead against the glass and clamp my eyes shut.

How can I believe her when the truth is right in front of me? I’m the problem I always have been. Wherever I go, cruelty and violence follows. Everything about me is a bad omen.