Juice could barely keep his eyes open. Over and over again his consciousness seemed to slip away, but he always came to his senses again.
His leg was pounding. There was something pinching around his leg which hurt, but he couldn't move his hand toward it.
His hand was stuck.
Juice didn't know if he realized this for the first time or that he had tried to free himself a couple of times now. His wrists and arms were at least hurting as hell. His head seemed to be filled with ooze, through which his thoughts waded painfully slow.
Lifting his heavy head, he looked around. He was in an enormous building, sunlight fell inside it through large windows. The arches that were supporting the roof made him think of a cathedral.
Yes, he was in a cathedral. An abandoned cathedral. Vegetation had wrestled itself through the windows, climbing the pews and covering the ground. There were immense cracks in the walls and the ceiling, and behind an elevation a part of the building was collapsed. The construction must have been a victim of an earthquake, where after there had been no money to restore the place. Juice squeezed his eyes for a moment.
What the hell am I doing here?
He tried to remember something. He had been in a car, right? Had he been in an accident? That would at least explain the pain in his leg. But why was he in an abandoned church now, tied to a chair?
Again he opened his eyes. They wandered through the ruin again, settling on a figure standing on the pulpit. With both hands he leaned on the wooden edge, while his smoldering eyes pierced Juice's.
Juice shivered. It felt like a demon was looking down on him.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he knew it was true. That was him. Maddox. Dana's demon – and his.
He was younger than Juice had imagined – but that made him only more terrifying. Never before Juice had experienced so much fear for someone. He had thought that cold hatred would fill him, the moment he stood face to face with Dana's rapist, but he felt powerless now and it felt like his intestines were curling up.
Of course that was caused by his current situation and not so much by Maddox' appearance.
Juice was tied up, he couldn't do a damn thing.
His throat became dry. Where was Dana? Had she been with him?
He closed his eyes again, trying to consult his memory. His concentration however vanished quickly; he heard footsteps. His eyes flew wide open. The front of his abductor's Vans touched Juice's own shoes.
Juice looked up.
With a condescending smirk the man looked down on him.
From this close, the man didn't look impressive at all. He was at most a few inches taller than Juice and he wasn't excessively muscular. Above a dark blue jeans he was wearing a light grey shirt with a demonic skull printed on hit, accompanied by an illegible name that probably referred to a band. The most colors that Juice could see, were coming from the tattoos covering his arms and neck.
"Man, you do love drama huh?" Juice noticed, with his head nodding to the creepy ruin.
"I thought a church would be suiting. Today I am God and I will decide who lives and who dies."
His voice sounded surprisingly normal, even though there a was dark tone in it that gave away his excitement.
"You will never find Dana."
The smirk that Maddox showed him now, made him feel sick.
"Dana is already on her way." He glanced at his watch. "I expect her within fifteen minutes."
His words made the anger in Juice flame up. He tried to pry himself free from the ropes and ignored the pain in his leg that bothered him again. Only now he saw it was tied off, as if the blood was stemmed. He had no idea how he had injured himself.
Suddenly Maddox touched his face. Petrified he stared at the man who caressed his cheek.
Tilting his head a little, the man studied his face. His caress became slower and his finger nails scraped across Juice's cheek until he felt blood dripping down.
"I should kill you for seducing my girl."
Juice gritted his teeth, even though there were so many things he wanted to snarl at the man. He however kept in mind that Dana could enter the building any moment and he didn't want to piss off her crazy ex. As long as his hands were bound and he wouldn't be able to protect her, he should watch his tongue.
"But the thought that you will long for her without the possibility to see her, to touch her ever again, will also be satisfying." Finally Maddox pulled back his hand. The tips of his three middle fingers were soaked with blood.
"Do you love her?" Juice asked with a shaky voice, against his better judgment hoping to make him come to his senses.
"Absolutely. The past months were a horror. I need her."
"If you really love her, you would want her to be happy."
Maddox looked at him with an almost compassionate smile. "I'll make her happy. She will fall in love with me again and she won't even remember you."
"You can't force her to love you!" His voice cracked and he blinked away the tears.
Maddox really believed his own words. He was insane and too blind to see the truth.
"Don't worry about that, Juan Carlos. I know Dana for years, I know we will be all right. Just prepare for your own goodbye. She will come with me. Voluntarily." Again he tilted his head, in silence.
Juice heard the sound of gravel underneath car tires.
"Ah, there they are." He stroked Juice's cheek again, and his bottom lip. "Oh, it's like I can still feel her lips."
With a wild movement Juice turned his face to the side. What a fucking creep. Bile crept into his gullet.
"I've missed her so much," the man whispered. "I don't know if I can keep my hands off her, the moment I'll see her."
Again Juice yanked the ropes. He tried to kick the man, but his feet were tied to the chair legs so that the chair tilted and fell on the ground. With a bang his head hit the stone floor.
The man gave him a wink, shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled to the entrance.
Juice could barely breathe. His whole body was cramping. Suddenly he could read Maddox's sick mind.
He would rape her right in front of him.