Above the Law

Chapter Thirty

He held her face down against the table. The stitches in her shoulder had broken open again; she could feel the blood pool against her skin, then slowly trickle onto the table. She tried to block out his cruel noises; he was close to finishing. She gripped the edges of the table harder, letting the tears slide silently. She whimpered as he slammed into her for a final time.

She tried to focus on the pain in her shoulder, not the pain the plagued her body or the sound of Fisher panting behind her.

Just as she thought she was free from him, he licked up her spin. "How about that time, bitch? Did that take the fight out of you?"

She stayed quite, her blurry eyes staring blankly at the wall. She played out his death, over and over and over again, each more brutal than the last.

He yanked her head off the table by her hair. "Still not talking?"

"Parker's going to kill you." Her voice was scratchy and barely above a whisper.

He tugged harder on her hair. Her scalp felt numb from the constant pulling. "What did you say?"

She cleared her throat, her voice still competing with the lump lodged in her windpipe. "Parker is going to slaughter you."

He said nothing for a moment. She waited for another assault. But it didn't come. "I though obedience had to be beaten into you," he said menacingly. "I was wrong. Your submission has nothing to do with your pride."

She heard the click of his knife opening and flinched involuntarily. He chuckled, low and cark, then sliced through the thick rope that bound her right ankle to the table leg, then her left. Eden brought her aching legs back together cautiously.

"But I know how to break you. And I will, that's a promise."

The door banged shut behind him.

Eden stood and wrapped her arms around her bare chest protectively. Her shoulder bled slower now that she was upright and no weight pressed down on her. She chanced a glance at her burning ankles. She'd struggled the first time. And the time after that. She stopped when she realized it was a fruitless attempt and doing more harm than good.

She sat back down in the corner of the room, arms holding herself tightly. How many days had it been since she'd been alone? How many more until Parker came to save her? And how many new bruises would she have? How many more tears would she shed until she broke completely? How many days did it take to give up on herself? Why couldn't she save herself?

"Parker, honey," Reagan said tentatively, "you don't look well."

Parker didn't move from his spot of the couch, nor did he look away from the blank TV. Now he knew what Eden had meant about feeling nothing but numbness. She didn't tell him how relieving, how blissful it was to feel nothing at all.

Reagan put her hand on Parker's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, urging him to look up at her. He didn't. "Get some sleep, Parker."

"I—I can't." His voice was hoarse. From the crying or from the prolonged silence, he wasn't sure, but he knew the sound of it sent his mother reeling.

She sat down next to him on the couch. "Try."

"I have, but I can't. I can't close my eyes without seeing..." Without seeing Fisher's frequent video updates. The pain Eden was receiving was seared into his mind. Every time he closed his eyes all he saw was her pain. Each video was worse than the last, but he knew he had to watch them. He had to know she was still alive.