He moves towards me in a fast motion, slamming my back into a metal surface that I can only assume are the elevator doors. The forcerattles through my entire body. My head snaps back slightly from the impact, stars bursting across my vision.
I choke on nothing, mouth opening and closing as I try to pull in a breath that won’t come. My chest is burning in agony instantly, every muscle in my body locking up as I claw harder at his hand.
My fingers continue to scrape against his skin desperately.
It doesn’t matter.
He doesn’t budge.
If anything, he holds me there more firmly.
My ears start to ring, a high-pitched sound drowning everything else out, even the sound of my own choking breaths.
And through all of it.. he’s absolutely calm.
Completely fucking calm.
He leans in slowly, like he has all the time in the world, like I’m not seconds away from blacking out in his hand. I can feel the heat of him, the closeness, the way he cages me in without even trying.
This masked-man watches me like he’s deciding something. Like he’s measuring howmuch I deserve to live. Or how hard I’ll fight to survive.
Those piercing-blue eyes stay on me. But there’s nothing there.
No emotion.
They’re empty.
Hollow.
The mask caves in around his eyes making him look even more dead inside, similar to what a skeleton looks like.
Maybe that’s what Ishouldcall him.. Hollow..
My eyelids fight to stay open, but the lack of oxygen forces that strength away. My fingers begin to lose strength, grip loosening no matter how hard I fight it. My body starts to go slack, betraying me completely as the lack of air pulls me into an abyss.
And then he leans in, closing the space between us until I can feel the steady thrum of his chest against mine.
“Night-night, puppet.”
My hands fall away from him.
My body gives out.
And the last thing I can feel is him still holding me there, not letting up in the slightest.
11
Hollow
She goes slack in my hand right as the words leave my mouth.
It’s perfect timing.
I hold her there for a second longer than necessary, feeling the last bit of fight drain out of her body, her weight settling into my grip.
There’s something satisfying about that part.
Not the struggle, but the way she falls quiet in my hold.