Lakehouse

Chapter Twenty

What the hell. What the hell.

Before I can say anything out loud, Cara pulls away from him and turns over to us, her permanent smile still painted on her lips. She stares at me, standing perfectly still, as if she's examining every inch of my body from my head to my toes. I feel shivers down my spine; she's like a robot. She doesn't even know who she is anymore. She's no longer Cara. She's not the girl that I watched Theo weep over and her smile is different than the one I saw in the pictures. She's a machine.

"Another, Ry?" she says, still glaring at me.

"Of course," he replies, running his hand all the way down her back without stopping. She doesn't even flinch. "The more pieces, the more fun the game is."

She laughs at this, but it doesn't sound real. It sounds forced, like something you would hear after someone tells an awful joke but you don't want to hurt their feelings. Maybe she is still in there, deep down. Or maybe that's just her programming.

"Put her back," Theo growls from behind clenched teeth. He has his thumb pressed between his eyebrows, his gaze fixed on the table.

Ry just smirks. "Hey, Cara," he says.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember that boy right there?" he asks, pointing at Theo. He raises his eyes and looks up at his sister, just a glint of hope glistening in the darkness of his sad eyes.

"He's the one you drew flesh from, sir," she replies. "The one you told me would come and see me."

"And what did I tell you to do when he showed up?"

"Show no mercy. And then, after time-"

"Shush, darling!" He places his index finger over her lips, dragging it down her jawline and then to her neck. "You don't want to spoil the surprise, do you?"

She laughs theatrically once more. "No, sir."

What surprise? What are they planning?

I want to scream. Or throw up. Or both. It sickening, really; my stomach is churning and I have to bite my tongue to keep from lashing out. I just can't wrap my head around how someone could be so cruel. How they can find pleasure in seeing people suffer to this point. In some ways, I kind of feel bad for them; people don't just develop things like this. Something excruciating had to have happened to them to place this terrifying mindset into their brains.

But that's why they need to be exterminated. No one deserves what Levi, Theo and I are going through. Absolutely no one deserves what Cara is going through. No one deserves this.