Walking With The Outcast

Chapter 31 - Lucilia

"I'm going to kill you."

I turn to the direction of the voice, as if doing so would somehow allow me to see through the blindfold and to the person who spoke. Shifting as much as possible, I listen to a mocking chuckle that comes from Nikolai.

"Brave words from a man with a gun pointed at him." I hear a soft click, so faint it's a miracle I can hear it from my position on the other side of the warehouse, and I immediately think of how many action movies I watched where the main character always cocked his gun threateningly. My breath hitches when I hear the click, and I really hope I'm wrong about Nikoli having a gun.

Nikoli speaks deeply, "Walk."

Footsteps come toward me, the rhythmic beats hitting the cement floor like the sound of a death march. I tug on my restraints, trying to loosen the gag around my mouth. The oily rag makes me dry-heave, but there's nothing in my stomach since I threw it up earlier.

"Luce," says a masculine voice that I would recognize anywhere. His tone is soft, and I feel tears welling under my blindfold from the affection in his voice.

I try to call out his name, but it is too muffled to be recognizable.

Footsteps fly towards me, and hands touching my face follows soon after. They caress my cheek tenderly, stroking the skin slowly. His fingers leave a cool trail when they glide under my eyes and over my nose.

"Ace," I try again to say.

"Shhh," Ace hushes. "It's okay."

His fingers leave my face, and I feel them slip through my hair to the back of my head, untying the knot that holds my gag.

"Ace," I whimper, as soon as the nasty cloth leaves my mouth.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now." His words help to calm down the tremors wracking my body.

But then I remember the tools on the pallet, and I shake all over again. "A-Ace, y-you can't be h-here!"

His hands softly stroke my hair to comfort me, but all it does is make me realize that Ace is in more danger than he knows. I jerk my head away from his touch and steel my voice, fighting the stutter that wants to escape. "Ace, you can't be here! He's going to h-hurt you." My voice breaks on the last sentence, and I feel my heart beat painfully fast.

"It's okay, Luce." I almost start to fume when it seems that he ignored what I said. "I'm used to a little pain."

My heart cracks from his softly-spoken words. I then start to think about the torture instruments on the pallet and think about how that it's not going to be just a little pain.

His hands drift up to my blindfold and tug them down, and the sight that greets me makes my heart stutter and my tears overflow. A full-blown smile adorns Ace's face, and I don't think I've ever seen something so beautiful. He tilts his head to the side and leans close to me, resting his forehead against mine.

"There are those gorgeous eyes," Ace murmurs and pulls back so I can see more of his defined features. He tightens his jaw, and for a second I think I see a flash of something metal behind his grin. I narrow my eyes at his mouth, trying to figure out if I actually saw something. Was there really a metal thing in his mouth?

While I'm thinking, Ace stands, sending me a wink that I think is meant to comfort me. He turns to Nikoli who had been standing by his torture pallet, watching our exchange with a clear look of disgust, and perhaps, a little envy. A gun hangs limply from Nikoli's hand by his side, and when he sees me staring at it, he gives me a menacing smile. "Not for you, dear."

I shudder, and Ace blocks my view of him. "Sit," Nikoli demands, and Ace slides away from me and over to a nearby chair that looks depressingly like mine with handcuffs on the armrests and rope laying by the feet. I feel my heart crumble in terror, but Ace just lowers himself into the seat with all the grace of a lion on his rock. How can he be so confident right now?