The days that followed blurred together into a nightmare of pain and recovery, torture and respite.
And each day, Marcus arrived with a new theme.
A new method of inflicting suffering.
—
On the second day, he focused on Mika's hands. He drove thin metal nails under each fingernail, one by one, tapping them in with a small hammer.
Then he attached wires to the nails and ran electricity through them—not enough to kill, just enough to make every nerve ending scream.
"ARGHHHHHHH!"
Mika's fingers twitched and spasmed. His flesh sizzled. The smell of burning meat filled the library.
Charlotte vomited. She couldn't help it. The smell, the sight, the sound of Mika's screams—it was too much.
But she wiped her mouth and returned to his side, holding his other hand, whispering that she was there.
—
On the third day, the restraints themselves became instruments of torture.
