The Hunted

22

With Hung Jin’s face up against hers, the cabin door suddenly swung open, bringing with it a forceful draft of freezing air. The candle flickered several times before finally going out. Almost completely in the dark now, with only a splash of moonlight projecting through the open doorway of the cabin, Lauren began to sweat — while still shivering from the frigid wind that ripped through her thin flannel pajamas.

Hung Jin reluctantly turned and kicked the door closed. He reached into his pocket and rooted out a red Bic lighter, then relit the candle. He turned to Lauren and paused. “Now, where was I?”

Lauren looked at her captor and attempted to assess what this man was all about. But with her brain still deprived of oxygen, she felt she was on the verge of losing consciousness. She blinked and shook her head. Stay awake. Focus.

Hung Jin walked behind her and pulled on the rope. It tightened down on her chest again, a cobra coiling around her, attempting to squeeze the life out of her.

Lauren’s mind went blank. Everything that she had been concentrating on so hard was gone. All she could think about was trying to get a breath.

With a sudden thrust, he yanked on her wrist bindings until they clamped down so tight her hands began to tingle. Tears rolled across her cheeks. And as quickly as her mind had gone blank, something wormed its way into her thoughts.

Lauren struggled for a breath. “When I was… a teenager I had a boyfriend… who would handcuff me to the headboard. Tommy. He was tall and very muscular, and when he… grabbed my arms it would hurt. He’d throw me… onto the bed, a brass bed, and I’d be naked.” She paused. “I can’t… breathe. Loosen ropes.” She waited a moment, then felt him loosen the bindings around her chest. As she suspected, he wanted to hear more. Good. “Tommy would tighten the cuffs so the metal would be digging into my skin. It hurt, but felt good. It felt so good I told him to make it tighter, and tighter, until I couldn’t take it anymore.”

He moved around in front of her, rested his hands-on her thighs, and looked into her eyes. “Do you want me to make the ropes tighter?”

Lauren forced a smile as she tried to recall what Steven had told her while under hypnosis. What were the words he had used? “Hit me. Make me bleed.”

Hung Jin matched her smile, a blissful grin that broadened his narrow face. “Yes, ma’am!” He brought his right hand across to the left side of his torso and unleashed a vicious backhand across Lauren’s face. Blood oozed from her nostrils and bled down into her lips. “I want more,” she said. “Do you feel it, too? Are you enjoying this?”

He began to breathe faster, his chest rising and falling quickly. But then the smile disappeared and he threw his left hand up to his temple. “Owww!” he screamed, recoiling backward, struggling to maintain his balance. He gripped his skull with both hands and thrust his head backward. “Ahh!”

Lauren watched as he moaned and dropped to his knees in agony. “I told you to keep some Excedrin nearby, you son of a bitch.”

“No!” He struggled to get to his feet and leaned his left shoulder against the cabin wall.

“Untie me!”

Hung Jin grabbed two handfuls of his hair and moaned.

“Anthony, are you there? Please, help me.”

“I won’t let you beat me,” he shouted. And then he did something Lauren had never seen a patient do before — not that any of this was something she’d ever experienced — but he began slamming his head against the wall until he finally crumpled to the floor, where he lay in a heap. He had knocked himself out to avoid leaving his mind susceptible to someone else’s control. Amazing… but not very helpful. Or was it?

He lay there for what seemed to be five minutes, finally stirring and getting to his feet. He stumbled forward and stopped directly in front of her.

Lauren looked down and braced herself. She didn’t know what form of retribution he would choose for what she had just done to him, but whatever it was, it would most certainly involve pain.

He leaned menacingly over her, his jaw locked and his eyes narrow. “Where is your husband?”

Lauren wearily lifted her head and made eye contact. His gaze was sterile, devoid of humanity. She tightened her lips and said, “I don’t know.”

“Then perhaps you need some more convincing in order to properly consider your position.” He grabbed the ligature and tightened it again.

Seconds later, everything went black.