What She Thought She Knew (Rachel Moore Mystery Book 1), стр. 60

At the same time, I did my best to memorize the route from my cell to wherever the interrogation room was in hopes of finding a possible way out.

My eyes bothered me the entire time as the incredibly bright lights were too much for my sensitive eyes. I couldn't make out any specific detail about the area.

Finally, we stopped in front of a barred door.

Shadow placed his eye in the retina scanner and the door opened.

He proceeded inside, and my "escorts" pushed me in as well.

They brought me to the middle of the dimly lit room, and sat me down in the chair. They freed my sore hands only to press both of my arms down, and pin them with a metal slit, along with my legs.

I mentally sighed. Great, I've gone from one form of bounds to another.

The two companion Phantoms stepped aside, and looked at their superior in expectation.

"Leave us." He said simply.

As obedient as ever, the two Phantom agents left the room without saying a word, and closed the door behind them.

Shadow stood in front of me, allowing me the view of black discoloration that covered both of his eyes.

He looked like the undead.

"We're going to play a game." The Phantom said as he grinned.

I stared at him blankly, though I was slightly shaking. Whatever this guy had in mind, it wouldn't be good for me.

He leaned his face so close to mine that our noses were barely touching. "Here are the rules," he started. "If you properly guess why you are here, then I'll let you go. If you don't have the correct answer, then you'll be begging me to cut off your finger, and you'll be forced to stay."

Not at all the one to bluff, the Phantom took out a Swiss Army knife, and trailed it lightly over my right pinky.

I self-consciously gulped, but retained my strong demeanor.

The Phantom removed his knife from my pinky, and took a step back. "Round one." He said.

I glanced at his knife then at his face.

His chilling eyes stared back at me with an intense focus that I had to fight the urge to shiver subconsciously.

I shuddered out a breath. "You brought me here so that you could kill me." I said.

For a moment, the Phantom was quiet as he took in my answer, but then he regained his concentration. "Wrong." He said simply.

He came towards me, grabbed my hand roughly, and began to carve his knife into the flesh of my pinky.

I yelped at the sudden pain, and bit my tongue as I tried to not scream.

Mercifully, he stopped once he reached the growth of my nail, and stepped back. "Try again," he said and waved the bloody knife in the air.

I shuddered violently, and found my voice. "You brought me here to interrogate me about the Seekers." I said warily.

The Phantom agent shook his head and sighed. "Wrong again." He said.

He brought the knife forward, and stepped towards me.

I shuffled in my seat as I desperately tried to get away, but the hold on me was too strong.

The Phantom agent once again grabbed my hand and carved the knife through the other side of my pinky.

This time I was not able to hold back as I screamed loudly from the intense pain.

I continued to thrash about, but that only made the knife jiggle inside my flesh which caused even more pain. I kept on screaming, and eventually tears poured down my face.

The Phantom agent looked like he wouldn't stop any time soon. "Oh come on, Agent Moore!" He exclaimed. "I just gave you the answer yesterday. Why did I kidnap you?"

I gasped out in pain. "Because you view me as a valuable asset to your organization!" I cried out.

I had finally guessed correctly for he removed the knife from my finger and took a couple of steps back.

When I finally had regained my breath, I looked up and saw that the Phantom agent was looking at me in blankly. "You win." He said quietly.

He then turned around, and walked slowly towards the wall. He leaned against it, and crossed his arms.

I stared at him as I breathed heavily. My pinky throbbed like mad, and blood droplets poured onto the grey floor.

After a few minutes of silence, the Phantom finally looked up at me with an unreadable expression. "You win," he repeated, "but I forgot to tell you something."

He got off the wall, and walked back towards me. My body convulsed violently and my heart began to race. What was he going to do?

He stopped in front of me and leaned his weight on one hip. "You should know something about me: a trait that is very common in humanity."

He knelt down to my level and took my hand in his gloved one, and I stared at him widely.

He smirked. "I like to cheat." He said.

He then pressed the knife in between the fresh openings in my pinky and cut through it as if it were barbeque waiting to be eaten.

I leaned my head back and thrashed about as I screamed so loud that my throat felt raw. I was pretty sure that the other side of the world could have heard it.

Eventually, all I could do was sob as the Phantom agent sliced through my pinky and lifted the flesh up.

Blood sprayed in the air and I cried out once more. "Stop!" I screamed. "Please, stop!"

"I'm sorry what? What did you say?" The Phantom teased.

I gritted my teeth together, in both pain and anger. "AGGH, just cut off my finger!" I finally shouted out.

Apparently satisfied, the Phantom did as I asked and swiftly cut the remains of the finger off.

I shrieked out incredibly loud, and lowered