Blood and Bones || Victor, Roy, and Grace
When the blade had slid across Victor's throat, he didn't feel anything. He wondered if he was perhaps too stunned to even feel it, the blood welling up and spilling over onto his collar and tie hot and bright, bright red. His whole body seemed to go numb as the realization washed over him that this was real, that this was happening.
He was going to die like this.
His hands scrambled for his neck when they were free, his first thoughts on survival. He no longer cared about the Macini dragging him about, only about being alive. His eyes met Armand's one more time before he was dragged out of the office, and he wondered if Armand saw fear in them. He certainly felt afraid, and with a slit throat it was hard to hold strong.
He was thrown into a car's backseat, and by then he'd lost enough blood to start feeling sluggish. He was having a hard time getting his thoughts together, but he knew he had to stay focused if he wanted to get out of this alive.
As if you're getting out of this alive.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to dismiss that thought. He'd seen a man survive this before, once, back when he was still green. He just had to stem the blood flow, had to get his fingers pinched on the artery or vein or whatever it was he couldn't think straight right now--
They were only in the car for a few minutes, though it felt like an eternity, and he was tossed out onto the sidewalk. His vision was blurring, but he recognized the building. The Lombardi tended to do business here.
I'm a warning, he thought bitterly as he heard the tires squeal off into the night. He wasn't sure if he was stopping the blood flow because his fingers had gone numb, and they were already so slick with his own blood that he couldn't tell the difference.
The pain settled in. The truth came with it.
I'm going to die like this.
His head felt heavy on the sidewalk as he closed his eyes, and he thought quietly to himself, I failed.
He didn't even hear the car pull up nearby.