Lost & Bound (15 page)

Callum

He clears his throat and my eyes instantly
snap open. He hovers above me, his hands resting on his hips, a stoic
expression on his face.

My eyes search for Leila. She’s huddled at
the end of the bed, her legs tucked against her chest. She looks like a
frightened animal. Her eyes wide with fear, her body noticeably shaking.

“Hello, son,” he says. His voice is even,
not an ounce of emotion in his words.

 
I sit up, pivoting my body to look at
him.

“I was wondering when I would see you
again,” I say, my words meant as a challenge. The moment has finally arrived.

He steps forward and grabs me by the arm.
His fingers dig into the skin of my wrist, yanking me hard, my shoulder almost
popping out of its socket.

“Get off the fucking bed,” he commands.

My body falls to the ground, my knees
hitting the concrete floor hard, yet the pain barely registers in my brain.

“What are you gonna do to me?” I ask. “You
gonna keep me here, tied up like a dog?”

He laughs, a wild and throaty laugh that
causes the hairs to rise on the back of my neck. When I think he’s about to
speak again he pauses, swinging his foot forward to meet the middle of my
stomach.

I smile at him,
tasting
the now familiar
tang
of blood. I cough once, spitting a mouthful of blood to the floor. I’m
surprised that I don’t feel any pain, my body now numb from the beatings.

“That’s all you’ve got?” I ask, a smile
settling on my lips.

I don’t know why I’m acting this way.
Living in isolation has messed with my head. I’ve waited so long to look into
his eyes and now I feel relieved that he’s finally here.

He reaches forward and grabs me by the
scruff of my neck.

“You disappoint me.” The stench of alcohol
coats his words, along with the hatred he feels for me.

“That’s funny, I feel the same way about
you.” I look him square in the face.

He brings a flat palm to my face and slaps
me like the bitch that he is.

“It’s hardly a fair fight,” I tell him. “I
mean
,
I only have one hand.” I gesture toward my left
hand that is still tied to the bedpost. I’m daring him to untie me, to let me
stand on my own two feet and for once, fight back.

“You would never hurt me, Callum.” His
words escape through clenched teeth. “You would never hurt your father.”

I look away from his face. I don’t know if
it’s true. I was willing to double cross him and get Leila out of his house,
but would I be able to cause physical harm to him as he had me? I’m not sure.

“You’ve always been a little pussy.” His
words ring true. That’s why I stayed with Sofia for so long. I was too scared
to rip off the band-aid and break it off with her.

“Do you know what the definition of coward
is Callum?”

You.

He starts pacing in front of me, one of the
few traits I picked up from this man.

“A coward is someone who is easily
intimidated. Someone who shies away from danger.” He smirks to himself before
continuing. “Do you think you’re a coward, Callum?”

I don’t respond. I keep my eyes fixed to
the floor. He bends forward, his hand roughly bringing my face to look at his
while his fingers dig into my chin.

“Are you a coward?” he shouts, his spittle
hitting my face.

“No.”

He laughs, grabbing his stomach as he does
so. “You’re not? Well why the fuck would you come to my house in the middle of
the night and take her from me?”

I think about it for a long while. Was it a
fair point? Was I an absolute coward for planning this whole thing and not
taking her from him the night of the party?

“I could have taken her any time, but I
know you have this town brainwashed.” I don’t think about the words before they
tumble from my mouth. His lips turn down at the sides and his eyes snap to
mine.

“Brainwashed?”

“This whole town is full of your ‘yes’ men,
but once you leave this town, you’re nothing. You have no one.”

Fuck, where did these words come from and
why am I angering the beast?

He lets the comment slide.

“I knew it, Callum. I knew you were onto
me. The sudden interest in my life, asking my receptionist when I would be out
of town next, but you made one vital mistake,” he says, a smug expression on
his face.

I cock my eyebrow as I wait for him to
continue.

“You underestimated me.”

I scoff.

He purses his lips as he considers me for a
moment. “You think I don’t have this house watched, Callum? You think I don’t
have cameras scouring the area.”

I didn’t spot any cameras. I had been so
sure that no one was patrolling the area. I don’t know how I could have been so
blind. I look to Leila. Maybe I was blinded by my feelings for her. Feelings I
fought that won out in the end.

“I knew you were visiting her.” He points
to Leila. “But I didn’t know how far you’d take it, how far you’d go to save a
girl who is nothing more than a whore.”

I glare at him, the disgusting being who
happens to be my father. I try to find any remnants of the man I once
knew—once loved.

“You’re an animal,” I bite out. “You need
help.”

He chuckles loudly making my skin crawl.

“Too bad you won’t be around to ensure I
get help. You’ve left me no choice.”

He turns to Leila. “None.”

He takes one step toward me and then
another. His fist hits my face once and then twice.

“Fucking kill me already,” I shout at him.
“Do it you pig.”

He bends down and looks me square in the
face. His eyes are dark and his jaw is set. He barely looks like my father,
much less a civilized human being. He resembles a wild dog about to kill its
prey. I’m his prey.

“I thought about how I could hurt you,
Callum.” His words carry so much hatred, so much contempt. “Sure, I could beat
you with my own hand, but I thought physical pain was not punishment enough for
you.”

He straightens his body, shoving his hands
in his pockets he pulls out a pair of silver handcuffs. The metal rings loudly
as he reaches for my free arm.

“What the
fuck are
you doing?” I fight against him, but with only one arm it’s useless.

He pulls my arm to the opposite side of the
bed and cuffs it to the thin metal rail. “What the fuck,” I let out again. He
smiles at me, an unsettling smile that makes me fear what’s to come.

He casually wanders to the head of the bed
where Leila is huddled. I throw a glance over my shoulder, waiting for his next
move. He reaches for Leila. She shrinks inwardly when he touches her. She looks
so small, so helpless.

“I asked myself, what would make Callum
feel
,”
he drags out the word
feel
,
with so much emphasis on that four-letter word.

He traces a finger along Leila’s bare arm.
Her whole body trembles and for a brief moment her gaze meets mine.

“What would make Callum regret ever
double-crossing me?”

He raises his hand and snakes it around
Leila’s neck, drawing her close before he slams his lips against hers. Leila
fights against him, her body struggling to place some distance between them,
but he’s too strong. He ends the kiss, pulling away while sucking her bottom
lip into his mouth, biting the flesh before releasing it.

She wipes her mouth with the back of her
hand. Blood smears her skin as it seeps from the inside of her bottom lip. I
pull against my restraints, trying to free my arms so I can stop this scene
from playing out, but they don’t budge.

He stands upright and lets out a loud,
sickening laugh that
echoes
through the basement.

“I knew this would hurt you. I knew that me
touching this little whore would be your ultimate punishment.” His words are
laced with anger, a tone I know too well.

He takes a step away from the bed and I
breathe a sigh of relief. Leila is safe, but instead of turning his attention
back to me, he reaches for his belt. He unbuckles and lets his pants fall from
his hips, the clasp of his belt ringing loudly against the floor.

“I don’t know why you like this little slut
so much,” he seethes. “She’s not as good in bed as your Italian beauty,
surely.”

Leila scurries to the other side of the
bed, away from my father, her eyes wide with panic as if she knows what’s
coming next.

He follows her, first with his gaze and
then with his body, but there is little urgency in his movements. He looks like
a man in control, a man who knows what he wants and exactly how to get it.

He grabs both of her ankles and yanks her
to the edge of the bed. She lets out a cry as his fingers dig into her skin. In
one swift movement, he rips her panties from her body and throws them to the
floor.

He hovers over her, his breath fast and
uneven, his gaze never leaving her body.

He runs his hand from her hipbone to the
inside of her thigh. Leila instinctively clamps her legs shut causing him to
raise his hand in the air and slap it against the side of her thigh.

“Don’t fight it,” he warns. “You know what
happens when you fight it.”

Leila’s face falls to the side. Her eyes
glaze over as tears fall freely from their depths.

“Don’t do this,” I plead. I pull against
the rope that has my left arm pinned. The bed moves slightly, but the rope
doesn’t provide much slack.

“Get ready for one hell of a show, Callum,”
my father seethes. “This is your fault. Everything that happens from now on is
your fault.”

He leans forward, trapping Leila’s body
beneath his own. He doesn’t hesitate before driving inside her. An unbearable
grunt escapes from the back of his throat with the first thrust. I can’t watch
it. I have to look away, but I can still feel the bed shake as he pumps into
her again and again.

He was right, he found a punishment that is
worse than any beating. A punishment that will last long after it’s over.

I hear Leila’s pained cries muffle together
with his grunts of pleasure. I shuffle my body forward, but I can still feel
his thrusts reverberating through my arms.

“You feel that, Emmy?” my father grunts,
using the name he once called my mother. “You feel that pain? That is what my
son has caused you.”

“You’re a sick fuck,” I yell.

Leila cries out again, this time louder as
the bed shakes violently behind me. I can’t look, but I know Leila is
suffering. The air in the room is heavy, like a giant cloud is hovering above
us.

He pumps into her again and again. Leila
doesn’t make another sound and I don’t look at her. I can’t look at her.

He lets out a loud grunt as he grinds into
her one last time. His release finally comes along with a disgusting sequence
of moans.

He breathes loudly and for a moment it’s
the only sound to fill the room.

I feel the bed move as he stands, pulling
his pants up and fastening his belt.

He walks around the bed to look me square
in the face. “That is your punishment. What happened to her is your fault.”

I don’t recognize him. This man isn’t even
a shadow of the man I used to know. He purses his lips before he chuckles
loudly. I can’t take much more. I’m breaking. I can feel it.

He takes a key from his pocket and throws
it to Leila who is motionless on the bed.

“Maybe you can use the handcuffs on the
little whore later,” he says before turning his back.

“Just fucking kill me,” I shout. “Grow some
balls and kill me already.”

He turns at the foot of the stairs, his
gaze holding mine with such intensity that I want to look away, but can’t.

“Killing you would be far too easy,” he
says with such hatred that it sends a chill down my spine.

He ascends the stairs slowly, his feet
announcing each step like a big fat exclamation point. He slams the door before
securing the lock.

The basement is silent once again. I can’t
bring myself to look at Leila. She’s crying. I can’t hear her sobs, but I can
feel the bed shake as the tears silently fall.

“Leila,” I whisper, but she doesn’t answer.
“Leila,” I say once more.

But all I hear is silence.

Leila

I pick up the key and rush to Callum’s side.

“Leila,” he whispers.

I’m so close I can feel his breath hit my
skin. I can’t handle how close he is. I shuffle my body along the floor to
place some distance between us. Inserting the key in the lock, I turn it. The
cuff falls from Callum’s wrist and bangs loudly against the bedpost.

“Leila.” He reaches for me, but I fall
backwards, my ass hitting the floor with a thud. I scramble to stand as my feet
wobble beneath me.

I meet his eyes long enough to see the
sadness in them. He will never look at me in the same way again.

I rush to the bathroom. I hear him let out
a gentle sigh behind me, but I don't turn back. I reach for the faucet and turn
it to hot. It takes me two seconds to strip out of my clothes and step into the
steaming alcove.

The water runs over me, but it’s as if it
doesn’t touch my body. I
scrub
at my skin violently, but no matter how hard I
wipe
, I don’t feel clean. My skin turns red raw, both from the
heat of the water and the aggressive attempts to scrub myself clean.

During my time here I can’t even guess how
many times I’ve been raped, but this time it was different. This time he took
something else from me, something that I may never regain.

I fall to the floor as the water continues
to pelt against me, this time my face taking the brunt of the spray.

My tears merge together with the water as
the sobs threaten to erupt from within. I bite into my fist, stifling the cries
I need so desperately to release.
He
cannot hear me cry.

I bring the loofah to my thighs and rub at
the skin until my flesh is red and raw and I can no longer take the burn. I
throw the cloth to the floor and summon the energy to stand.

Shutting off the water, I reach for a towel
from the rack and gently wipe it over my body. As I dry the tiny beads of water
from my skin fresh goose bumps take their place.

I risk a peek through the archway and spot
Callum huddled on the floor like a dog. He has one cushion propping up his
head. His eyes are closed and I assume he’s asleep. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Slipping on some fresh panties and an
oversized t-shirt, I curl up on the sofa and force my eyes closed. I can’t
sleep in my bed tonight. The smell reminds me of
him
. It reminds me of
being raped in front of the man I care about more than any other.

I feel as though I’m dying from the inside
out. I can feel the
death
ripping through my body at such a rate that it scares me. And yet, I don’t want
to stop it, for this time, I hope death will save me.