Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Author:Sarah Beth Durst
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2012-09-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Aleks had never been in so much pain in his life. His eyes, his lips, his ribs — all at once they pulsed with white hot agony in time to his palpitating heart. The taste of blood was strong in his mouth, but his jaw ached too much to spit it out. All he could do was swallow, making his face burn twice as much under the fire of his tenderised skin and his stomach roil with the metallic-tasting fluid.

Through the small window, a bleached light began to glow. The sunrise, after the longest night of his life, brought fresh hope, but that feeling faltered at the sound of a key turning in the door. Tied to a chair, he could only turn his head to see who was coming for him next. Bales walked in.

'I've brought you some breakfast,' he said in a jovial kind of way that made it seem like he hadn't noticed Aleks' bruised and battered state.

Aleks said nothing, watching Bales with a mix of loathing and apprehension as he walked towards him across the small room.

'I got you porridge. I hope you like porridge.' Bales dragged a chair in front of Aleks and sat down, ladling a spoonful and holding it to Aleks' mouth. 'Here. Eat.'

Aleks turned his head away, flinching at the pain triggered by the movement. 'I don't want any,' he mumbled through lips sticky with blood. It wasn't true; he did want it, having not eaten for around twelve hours — or maybe more, he had no way of knowing — but the thought of chewing and swallowing made him nauseated. Also, he didn't know what kind of trickery Bales was trying to pull, and he needed to be on his guard.

'Come now,' Bales said, lowering the spoon. 'You need to eat.' He held the spoon up again, closer to Aleks' mouth.

Again Aleks turned away. 'Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?' he said.

Bales put the spoon and bowl down on the floor. When he sat straight again, his face was grave. 'You've done a bad thing, Aleks. But I understand why you did it. You're a proud man. You’re a man who wants to do what he thinks is right. This time, however, you made a mistake.' He leaned towards Aleks, who stiffened. 'But people make mistakes, and I'm willing to overlook this one if you help me set it right again.' He sat back, lips spreading into a broad grin as if they were the best of friends sharing a joke together.

As much as Aleks felt wary of Bales' newfound friendliness, a part of him crying out for relief latched on to this sudden goodwill, believing it without hesitation. It was going to be hard to keep that part of him suppressed for long. 'What do you want me to do?'

Bales chuckled, spreading his affability on thick. 'You gave me Sean,' he said, looking down at Aleks' blood-soaked shirt, 'albeit with a little persuasion, and I'm grateful for that, really I am.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.