“At home. Well, Bill’s home.”
Her breath caught in her throat as her vision cleared and settled on him. Memories bolted through her and terror gripped her stomach. She sat up, brought her knees to her chest, and pressed herself against the concrete wall behind her. A thick shackle of chain was wrapped around her ankle.
“Now Eva, there’s no reason to be afraid. We’re just chatting. Remember, I’m one of the good guys.” She followed his eyes as they looked around the room. Each concrete wall was framed with plywood and sheets of drywall leaned up against them. “I know what you’re thinking, it still needs work. I’ve been watching a lot of those home improvement shows for ideas.” He hopped on the metal exam table cemented to the floor in the middle of the room. “You know the shows I’m talking about?”
Eva’s breathing quickened, and she nodded at him weakly.
“Is this scaring you?”
Eva nodded again, holding back tears.
“Just pretend it’s not here. It’s a table, Eva. A table can’t hurt you.” He rubbed his palm over the table’s smooth surface. “I got this at an estate sale. I know why I need this, but I cannot for the life of me think of why those people needed it. But we don’t need to focus on this right now. Okay? Tell me okay.”
“Okay,” she rasped.
“You don’t need to use your inside voice down here, Eva. The walls are concrete. It’s a fantastic sound barrier. No one can hear a peep from down here.”
Eva hung her head. An oversized man’s T-shirt and sweat pants draped over her body. Her eyes widened and bile roared in her stomach as she did an internal body check.
Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out.
Tears dripped from her eyes and speckled her light gray sweat pants.
“Nothing happened. I just rinsed you off and put you in a clean outfit. I wouldn’t do anything to you while you were unconscious. That’s not going to happen,” he snorted. “That’s not what this is about.”
Eva swallowed hard and forced her eyes to relax. Her throat was sore and her voice hoarse as she spoke. “What happens now?”
“I thought that we’d pick up where we left off last night and spend some more time together. No need to rush things. Don’t you agree?”
She nodded slowly.
Bill continued, “You know, I’ve been following your family for a while. Well, not literally following, that’d be creepy. That only started after I got out and made my way up here, but I know a lot about you, Eva. Why do you think I chose you?”
“I…I don’t know. I don’t know. Why did you choose me?”
“You already know the answer.”
“I don’t. I swear.”
“It’s staring at you plain as day.”
“I swear I don’t know. Just tell me what you want from me.”
“Admit what your ancestors did for hundreds of years and this will all be over. You want to go home, don’t you?”
“But I…I don’t have anything to admit. They were ranchers, I think. What did they do?” She tripped over her words as her exhausted body trembled.
“For hundreds of years your ancestors spouted prophecies that resulted in the slaying of innocent beings and you want to pretend like it never happened?” He slipped off the table, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. “I’m not going to lie to you; I’m getting a little irritated. This game you’re playing is making me very tired. And you’re never going to win. I am always the victor.”
“I’m not playing a game,” she said meekly.
Bill crept closer to her, right at the edge of her chain. “Then why won’t you admit it?” he hissed between clenched teeth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she screamed, tears pouring from her eyes.
“Confess your family’s crimes. Accept the blame!” He took a deep breath and smoothed out his button-down shirt. “We’ll both feel so much better after you do. This will all be over.”
“You’re not making any sense,” she sobbed. “This is crazy. You are crazy.” She buried her head in her knees and struggled to control her shaking.
“I’m a big enough man to admit that I may be, just a little. Being trapped in a pit in the Underworld for centuries will do that to you.”