Elisa was forcibly suspended, her eyes unable to close as they were pulled upward. Her once beautiful pupils were now bloodshot, so red that they seemed capable of dripping blood.
The chains on her hands were loosened, followed by her neck and ankles. The chain, sticky with her blood, was thrown to the ground.
The surrounding air carried a scent reminiscent of rust. Elisa lay on a wooden board, her breath faint, her chest calm. If not for her open eyes, one would think she was dead.
The sharp object embedded in her clavicle had not been removed. A silver hook was attached to its end, connected to a delicate chain, resembling a fishhook piercing through a fish’s gills.
Elisa rolled off the wooden board, following the force exerted by the man. She lay face down, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth onto the ground.
“Bring the fool we captured the day before yesterday,” the man commanded.
Elisa tilted her head. Her ears were already partially deafened by the five needles of medication. She couldn’t hear the man’s voice clearly, and from her angle, she could only see his thin lips moving.
There was commotion outside, followed by a “thump” sound like a sandbag hitting the ground.
Finally, Elisa reacted. The person brought in was none other than Autumn.
Why was Autumn here?
Autumn didn’t have an ounce of good flesh left on his body, but compared to Elisa, he was in a better state. At least he had his sanity and could speak. However, his mouth was stuffed with a cloth, rendering him unable to speak, so he could only stare with his bloodshot eyes at Elisa, who was barely clinging to life on the ground, like an angry lion rising from the earth.
His legs twisted as he knelt on the ground, clearly broken. But seeing Elisa, he mustered the courage to move forward despite the pain. Unfortunately, his hands were bound behind him, and with a broken leg, he had little strength.
Elisa’s pupils contracted as her gaze slowly turned to the man in front of her.
The man sensed her gaze and looked down at her blood-stained face from a superior position.
“Do you think Hamish would regret seeing you like this?” he asked with a smile. Regret? Those two words did not exist in Hamish’s dictionary. He never regretted his decisions.
From the moment he made the exchange with her, he anticipated this outcome. Since he had foreseen it, how could he regret it?
The pain Elisa endured today could be described as bone-chilling. Even if she recovered later, just thinking about it would make her soul tremble.
She glanced at Autumn. She didn’t fear death in her current state, but she didn’t want to see the people who cared about her suffer the same fate.
Autumn cared about her, right? Although they hadn’t known each other for long, he genuinely cared for her.
She remembered the promise he made to her in the warehouse that day.
“I will solve anything you’re afraid of.”
I don’t want you to solve anything for me. I just want you to be safe and sound.
“Curious why this fool would appear here?” The man’s lips curled into a pleased smile. Compared to the injuries on his body, what he enjoyed most was tormenting others mentally.
“I wanted to see a good show. He enjoys tormenting the people around Hamish, especially those he cares about. He found an opportunity to capture Autumn after learning that Hamish was secretly investigating him.”
After a series of investigations, he discovered that there was something extraordinary about Autumn’s relationship with Elisa. How could he maximize the pain? By making her watch as the people who loved her fell one by one.
The man squatted down, tugging at the silver chain on Elisa’s clavicle, forcibly pulling her up to face Autumn.
“A fool with low intelligence. Even if he dies, no one would care, right?”
Elisa shook her head, the sharp object tugging at her flesh, causing her teeth to chatter in pain.
“You… let him… let him go…”
The cloth was pulled off Autumn’s mouth, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Elisa, let her go! Come at me!”
If Elisa’s consciousness were a little clearer at this moment, she would notice that Autumn’s eyes and the way he spoke were completely different from his previous dazed state.
The man raised an eyebrow, closed his eyes, and listened carefully to the pleas for help from both of them. He wore a satisfied smile, as if he were listening to a delightful concert.
He applauded, applauding their love. It was something he had never possessed and had always wanted to destroy.
At this moment, Hamish should have already rescued Lila, I wonder if he has the energy to think about you. The man smirked sinisterly, “Let’s play a game.”
He pulled out his phone, “You call Hamish for help. As long as he answers, I’ll let go of that fool. But if he doesn’t answer, you lose a finger. One finger per call. Do you want ten chances?”
The fingers are the most sensitive to pain, and every finger is connected to the heart.
Elisa anxiously looked at the devilish mask on the man’s face. At this moment, she felt like she was facing a cold-blooded and merciless death.
She never thought of seeking help from Hamish, nor did she want to. She hated him! The hatred ran deep in her bones!
“Have you thought it through?” the man looked at Autumn, who was kneeling several meters away, with a sinister smile. “Have you made up your mind?”
Elisa asked hoarsely, “If he answers, you’ll let him go?”
“Yes, after all, I have no use for a fool.”
“But what if he doesn’t answer…”
“Then you’re out of luck.”
Elisa shook her head in terror, chokingly said, “Why is the bet on him? Kill me instead, I’ll trade my life for his.”
The man laughed out loud, “But that wouldn’t be fun.”
Playing, she was played with by Hamish’s side, and now she was being played with here. Was human life really so worthless?
The man was somewhat dissatisfied with Elisa’s hesitation. He took out a gun and aimed it at Autumn. Elisa suddenly grabbed his pants in fear and shook her head, “Don’t… don’t kill him.”
Autumn was far away, and their voices were low, he couldn’t hear clearly, but seeing the man pointing a gun at him, he knew he was threatening Elisa with something.
“Ellie, I’m fine, I’m not afraid of death. Don’t agree to anything he says.” He had died once fifteen years ago, so he wasn’t afraid at all.
The only thing he couldn’t bear to lose was Elisa. He had just remembered this Little Whiner, but it turned out to be a farewell between life and death.
Tears welled up in Elisa’s eyes as she watched the man take out a cellphone from his pocket and throw it beside her.
Her arms were weak, but her fingers could still move. She strained her eyes and dialed Hamish’s number on the phone screen with all her strength.
The call went through, and Elisa counted the waiting tones, praying in her heart for Hamish to answer, but unfortunately, all she heard was the cold voice of the system.
“Sorry, the number you dialed is not answering…”
As the voice in the phone sounded, Elisa felt a chill all over her body.
“Nine chances left,” the man smirked and took out a box from below the stage. When he opened it, there was a row of steel needles inside.
Before Elisa could react, he stepped on her left wrist, and the man pinched one of her fingers. “I feel a little reluctant to hurt such a beautiful finger.”
He finished his sentence with a smile and forcefully inserted a steel needle into the gap of her fingernail.
“Ah!!” Elisa screamed in pain, her right hand clawing at the cold floor tiles.
She thought her body was already numb from the pain, but the man always found a way to make her suffer more. Three steel needles were inserted into one finger, her nails mixed with blood and fell off, and the needles remained embedded in her flesh, resembling newly grown nails in the dim light.