Chapter 139: I Want You

In the picture, snakes squirm on the floor sticking and stick their tongues out at the camera. Bile rises in Avery's stomach and she wonders if she's going to be sick. She looks more closely at the phone and realizes the file is a video. Suddenly, she hears screaming. The scream is unmistakably Gabby's.

The camera pans to the side, revealing Gabby tied up tightly in the corner. The snakes move slowly toward Gabrielle and the snakes slide over her arms and legs and chest. She's so scared that her face turns livid. She wants to scream but she's scared to move near the snakes. She bites her lip and her eyes water.

Avery shuts down the video. She can't watch anymore. All she knows is she wants to cut Andrew into pieces for torturing her sister in this way.

Avery checks the contacts on the phone. One number is saved. She calls it and the phone rings twice before Andrew answers. His lazy voices fill her ear and make her skin crawl.

"You called earlier than I expected," he says.

"Andrew!" she hisses, "What the hell have you done to Gabby?"

"I'm letting her develop a friendship with my snakes," Andrew says coolly, "Don't get so worked up—you'll give yourself wrinkles."

Avery feels her rage pounding in her temples. She has no patience for Andrew's nonsense.

"Don't worry—she's better now," he says with a smile, "I didn't put her with any poisonous snakes. Or, I haven't yet."

"Andrew! Don't you dare!" Avery screams.

Avery tries to suppress her fear and think rationally. She knows Andrew will follow through on his threats, and she has to devise a way to get Gabrielle away from him.

"Have you ever heard of Belcher's sea snakes?" Andrew asks.

Avery knows it is the most venomous snake in the world. There is no antidote for its bite. She takes a deep breath and counts to five in her head.

"Tell me, what will it take for you to release Gabby?" she asks.

"You want me to release her?" Andrew asks viciously, "You already know what I want: I want you."

His heart pounds as he speaks the words. He can't control how badly the heart wants her. He only agreed to let her go last night because he wanted to avoid a gunfight between his men and Evan's—both he and Avery could have been hit in the crossfire. He also knows it's better for Avery to come to his place willingly, and he knows that Avery will walk into any trap to save her sister.

"No problem, just tell me where you are," Avery says immediately, "The same villa?"

"I'm at a place you can't possibly find on your own," Andrew says, "You have five days to get here. I'll send my men to fetch you."

He hangs up. Avery is so agitated that she wants to throw the phone, but she knows it's her only way to reach him. She calls him back, but it goes straight to voicemail—he's turned the phone off.

A mist spreads across the yard, and the moonlight becomes milky. It falls in irregular patches in the forest. Andrew turns off his phone. He's at the so-called Misty Mansion located in the Lost Forest. The mansion is situated among densely forested mountains, making it incredibly difficult to locate.

Magnetic veins beneath the forest have been known to interfere with most navigational equipment, and it's easy to wander in circles through the forest. Andrew lies on the couch in his study. He stares at a giant screen in front of him and sighs. He can't help feeling bothered as he thinks about Gabrielle's reaction to the snakes. He's never seen a more timid woman in his life.

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At first, he just threw some toy snakes at her and she fainted. When she adapted to those, he threw mechanical snakes at her and the movement sent her into another panicked faint. He turns on the screen and watch the live feed of Gabrielle with the snakes. The serpent's coil around her warm body and she closes her eyes and screams.

He can't understand how she's still screaming. She should have gone hoarse by now. He clicks a button and a microphone switches on and transmits his voice to her. 

"If you shout any more, they might crawl into your mouth," he says.

The shouting stops. Gabrielle can guess that the cameras aren't just for Andrew's benefit. She knows she's being used as a bait for Avery, and she feels her whole body crawl with disgust and shame. She mentally curses Andrew, calling him every disgusting name she can think of.

A scratchy snake's tongue flicks across Gabrielle's face and she can't help but scream.

"It's not poisonous. What's there to be afraid of?" Andrew says over the speaker, "You're not half as fun as your sister. I'm eager to replace you with her."

"Avery's coming here?" Gabrielle says, suddenly even more panicked, "No! I'm not afraid of snakes. Not at all. This is fine!"

Gabrielle hurries to open her eyes. A snake raises its head to her face. She wants to scream, but she doesn't want to show Andrew and Avery, her fear. She bites her tongue and tries to keep herself from fainting.

Andrew laughs cruelly. It amuses him to watch Gabrielle's weak attempts at bravery. Her face is bright red and blotchy with fear and her pupils are dilated with terror. When she stares back at the snake, her eyes cross, making her look even more comical. Gabrielle suddenly whispers to the snake, surprising Andrew.

"Little thing, you've been staring at me for almost half an hour," she says in a negotiating tone, "Your eyes are crossed. Why don't you go and find your friends?"

Andrew thinks it funny that Gabrielle calls the snake cross-eyed.

"Does she know her eyes are crossed too?" he wonders.

"How about you leave me alone, Mr. Clifford, and you leave with your friends?" Gabrielle says, looking up at one of the cameras, "Assuming animals like you can have friends, that is."

"It's no use watching me like this. If you want to bite me, then bite me," she continues, and Andrew is unsure if she's talking to him or the snake, "But you'll be making a huge mistake if you do. I swear, in the next life, you'll come back like a snake. Sorry, I forgot you're already a snake."

Andrew scowls ill-naturedly.

"How about this? I'll play with you. But you have promised to ask your buddies to leave me alone after that, okay?" Gabrielle says.

Slowly, Gabrielle raises herself into a squat. The snake seems to understand her intentions, and it agilely flattens itself against the ground. Hesitantly, Gabrielle extends a finger and strokes its head. She's surprised that it's not as horrid as she imagined. Slowly, she coils the snake into a harmless position and then moves to do the same to the next. The snakes obediently allow her to bend and contort their bodies.

When understanding dawns on Andrew, he flies into a rage. She has used the snakes' bodies to spell out his name. He throws the remote at the screen.

"Get that woman out of there!" he orders.

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