Episode 110

Naomi

To block out the noise of his bones cracking. I scrambled to get them, and the moment I slid them on, piano music filled the air, much like the type that Gavril would play. The sound soothed my nerves somewhat, knowing that when I was finished here, we could move on with our future. He could play this melody for our child and me, do the things that he loved to do without fear that I was going to reject him.

We had a bright future ahead of us, one that was going to be filled with love, laughter, and a bit of violence, but knowing that Gavril wasn’t going to do the trafficking anymore filled me with contentment so I could handle the rest. My husband wasn’t perfect, but neither was I.

Wordlessly, with the music playing in my ears, I watched Oleg remove the tips of Jon’s fingers with his cutter, not bothering to wipe up the blood that dripped from the open wounds before he added the tips into the cup with the teeth. I couldn’t hear any of the noise that he was creating, but watching