Read Online White Bones by Graham Masterton - Free Book Online

away.
    “Mom?” she said.
    He reached out and stroked her forehead, and the crusted blood on her upper lip. He didn’t know why victimhood made girls so appealing, but it always did. It made them so much more feminine and vulnerable, no matter how strong and self-confident they had acted when he first met them.
Stop the car and let me out
! It was such a futile, arrogant demand that it made him smile to think about it.
    Eventually he went back into the kitchen and came back with the coil of thin nylon cord. He looped it around the top of her left thigh, and knotted it, and pulled it as tight as he could, one foot braced against the bedframe. It cut deep into her suntanned flesh, so deep that it almost disappeared. She suddenly blinked her eyes and started to struggle.
    “Oh God, that hurts! What are you doing to me? What are you doing?”
    He leaned over her and touched his finger against her lips. “Don’t shout, nobody can hear you. You’re miles and miles from anywhere.”
    “God, you’re hurting my leg, you’re hurting my leg!”
    “That’s necessary, I’m afraid. You wouldn’t want to bleed to death, would you?”
    Her eyes flicked wildly from side to side. “What do you mean? What are you talking about? Where am I?”
    “You’re alone with me, that’s all you need to know. You’re alone with me and Morgan.”
    “Listen, you creep, you’d better let me go. My father’s president of CalForce Electronics.”
    “Oh, CalForce Electronics? Never heard of them, I’m sorry to say.”
    “You’re really, really hurting my leg.”
    “I know, my sweet. I’m sorry. But, as I say, it’s necessary for your survival.”
    “What do you want? What are you going to do to me? My father can pay you money.”
    “I expect he can. But I’m not interested in money. Not in the slightest.”
    “Then what? What do you want? Are you going to rape me, or what?”
    “Rape you? Of course not. You don’t think I look like a
rapist
, do you?”
    “I don’t know. But please take this cord off my leg. It’s so tight.”
    “I know. It’s supposed to be.”
    “For what
reason
? What are you going to do? Look at my leg, it’s turning blue.”
    “That’s a very good sign. Shows that I’ve restricted your circulation.”
    “Please,” begged Fiona. “If anything happens to me, my parents are going to be devastated.”
    “Well, that’s very selfless of you. But I’m afraid that you have a destiny which far supersedes any consideration for your parents.”
    “What do you mean? Please… if you let me go, I won’t tell anybody what happened here. I’ll go right back home and I won’t mention any of this to anybody.”
    He nodded, almost ruefully. “Of course you won’t, because you’ll be dead.”
    “You’re going to kill me?”
    “It’s a regrettable but inevitable part of the ritual.”
    “Please. I’m twenty-two years old.”
    “Yes?”
    Tears suddenly started to drip down her cheeks. “I’m twenty-two years old and I haven’t lived any kind of life yet. I’ve seen Ireland, and that’s about all. I want to do so much more. I want to be a teacher, and teach little kids.”
    “Do you have a boyfriend?”
    Fiona nodded, still snuffling. “His name’s Richard. I’ve known him since I was fourteen.”
    “Um. He’s going to miss you, then.”
    “Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything.”
    “Now, then. Don’t be too hasty in what you wish for. By the time tomorrow morning comes, you’ll be pleading with me to have it done with, believe me.”
    “Please.”
    He looked at his watch and gave a little negative shake of his head. “I’m going to have to leave you for a while. Only about half-an-hour… but you took me by surprise, you see. I wasn’t expecting to come across somebody so suitable so soon. I have to make a few purchases, to see us through the next few days.”
    “I’ll do anything you want. I can call my father and ask him to send you