Heartland Junk (Part II): Sanctuary by Eli Nixon

Abby. One of her eyes had burst a blood vessel. Her pupils were dilated to points, and her irises were hazel. I'd never noticed that.
                  Abby didn't reply to my question at first, but eventually she shook her head. Her eyes grew pleading.
                  "Then we have to find out," I said softly. "Knowing this could be the difference between life and death. Its reassuring that you care, Abby. I don't know why you care, but...it's nice. Thank you." Gently, I extricated myself from her grip. "You ready for this, Rivet?"
                  "To tie you up? All my life, Ray. All my life." He rubbed his palms together, eyes gleaming.
     
     

Chapter 8
     
                  THE LIVING room was cozy, if a little sparse. I don't know why we didn't just do it in the kitchen, but somehow we all ended up in that room at the front of the house. While Rivet wound duct tape around my wrists and the padded arms of a hard-backed sitting chair, I looked around the room, wondering why I never spent any time in here.
                  Most of the dark hardwood floor was covered by a long, woven Persian rug, and what that didn't touch was claimed by the massive black grand piano. It gleamed in the lamplight, the only thing in the house it seemed that had been given any love. Theo sat on the piano's bench, toes dangling an inch above the floor, and plunked out "Jingle Bells" one finger at a time.
                  "Ow!" I jerked as Rivet pulled a corner of one of the layers of duct tape, tearing out a few of my arm hairs.
                  "Don't be such a baby," Rivet said through grit teeth, kneeling to bind my legs. Abby stood in the doorway, hugging her ribs.
                  "Aren't they sweethearts?" Jennie sidled up to Abby's shoulder. Abby stared at Jennie as if Jennie had just offered to murder her loved ones, then turned back to me and Rivet. Rivet worked his way between my knees, reaching to get the duct tape around my other ankle.
                  "While you're down there..." I began.
                  "You know I'd love to, but gosh darn, my lips are so dry. Maybe next time," Rivet didn't even look up, and I felt the next tape winding squeeze my calf uncomfortably hard into the wooden chair leg. The windows being boarded as they were, I couldn't tell what time it was, but I knew it was well past sundown. We'd had to wait a few hours until my system washed out the Vicodin, and even then I'd opted to hold off an extra half hour, just to avoid being taped to a chair so long. While Rivet moved to my chest, Theo maimed a staccato rendition of "Chopsticks" on the piano. I wondered why there weren't any pictures of the people who'd lived here.
                  "Shit, wait!" I exclaimed. "I have to piss."
                  Rivet looked annoyed. "You should have gone before you started turning into a zombie. Now we'll never make it to granny's in time for Thanksgiving."
                  "Fuck you, I'm serious."
                  "Me too. Sorry, Rayman, that train has sailed. But I promise you this: If you piss your pants, I'll laugh so it's funny and not pathetic."
                  "I could kiss you," I said dryly.
                  "Save it for my girlfriend."
                  "I will."
                  "Don't forget who's tied to a chair and who isn't."
                  "Will you two just shut up and get on with it?" Jennie exclaimed, exasperated.
     
    --
     
                  Abby didn't take her eyes off me the whole time. Shit, I don't even think she blinked during those two hours. The first thing we had to do was let me get to the edge. I won't lie: I was fucking terrified. I'd been there before, stared into the dark where demons writhed and hell had the only eyes to stare back. On River Street our first day, I'd sunk