Blood Red (65 page)

Vivi Anna

Red’s surprise, kind.

“Do not scream.”

He removed his hamlike hand. She smirked. “The Bears, I presume?”

He nodded. “Yup.” And with that he squeezed her at the base of the neck and she fell unconscious.

128

Blood Red

The cold sting of water jolted Red from her unnatural slumber. The big man had tossed a large bucket of it over her head.

“Wakey, wakey, sugar pie.” His voice was low and smoky.

Red spurted and spat as the water dripped from her hair. She stared wide-eyed at the man that dared to antagonize her.

A grand smile spread across his expansive face. All his top front teeth were missing. “Lordy, you are one feisty gal. You managed to kick me twice even while unconscious. Didn’t she, Pop?” He looked to his left.

Red turned her gaze. Standing with his hands on his hips, looking quite jolly, was an even bigger man than this one. He topped the other fellow by at least two hundred pounds and was a few inches taller.

“She sure did, Junior.”

She looked back at the other man. Junior? This man was a boy? “Let me guess, you’re Little Bear, that’s Papa Bear. So where’s Mama Bear?”

“Dead. God rest her soul.” Papa Bear crossed himself. “And you’d be best not to talk about her.”

129

Vivi Anna

Red nodded. “Sorry, no disrespect intended.”

She surveyed her surroundings. She was in a small, unfurnished room. The only chair, she sat upon. The walls were rock and the floor dirt. A room made for interrogation.

“Where are my… where are the others?”

The two Bear men looked at each other. A smile passed between them. “They’re in a better place, don’t you worry,” Papa Bear said.

“No matter what you do to me, I won’t talk. I can tolerate any amount of pain, even from the likes of you.”

The Bears started laughing. Junior almost rolled over with his guffaws. Red watched them in anger.

They were laughing at her bravado. But she would have the last laugh, when she escaped from their prison, after impaling them both with her sword, if she could find it. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for a weapon.

Junior came close to her. He bent down so they were face to face. Tears were streaming down his face.

“Easy now, sugar pie. We don’t want to torture you; we want to feed you. Clean you up. Give you a nice place to sleep.”