‘It’s going to be okay,’ Ben said to him. ‘I’m sorry that they did this to you. But it’s going to be okay. We’re going to get you out of here.’

Never had a lie sounded less convincing. Ben felt ashamed to offer the man something so cheap and impractical as it’s going to be okay.

With his body now released, he tried to raise his shoulders but all strength had forsaken him. The man’s frustration was growing and his moaning seemed somehow more desperate than before. He was rocking from side to side, labouring to throw himself from the table, aching to be anywhere else but the scene of his ruin.

‘He’s going to hurt himself,’ Chloe said. ‘Help me hold him down.’

Ben did as he was told. The man’s bones felt hollow to the touch, with skin so dry as to flake off in their hands as they pinned his shoulders back in place. He weighed nothing. It didn’t make sense that he was still alive.

‘Check around for some blankets or something,’ Ben said, still holding the man down with the slightest pressure. ‘He’s going to freeze to death.’

If only he’d taken action that day when he’d heard the man’s cries. It was easier to ignore him. It’s always been easier to do nothing. They could have learned just how fucked up the Tír Mallachts really were. They could have turned and run, taking this poor wreck of a human being with them.

‘This is all I could find,’ Chloe said, draping over the man’s body what looked like one of the women’s shawls, only more tattered.

‘Jesus Christ.’ Ben sighed. ‘What do we do? He’d going to die if he’s left here like this.’

‘At least his eyes are covered,’ Chloe whispered, as though she didn’t want the man to hear. ‘He couldn’t have seen the creeper.’

Was their situation really more dire than the tortured? What if that were Ben on the table? Was there any balm for the man’s wounds that words could offer?

‘Listen to me,’ Ben said, loud enough so that the wounded man might hear him. ‘Everything that you’ve gone through, it’s over, okay? You don’t need to be afraid anymore. We’re here to help you.’

He looked to Chloe. She nodded her head as if to say keep going.

‘We’ll be leaving soon,’ he continued, ‘and we’re going to take you with us, no matter what.’

With that said, the man’s screams returned. He was too loud. Ben couldn’t bear it.

He staggered outside, seeking anywhere but the horror of that room and the tortured man’s shrieking. He could feel the noise like an electrical storm in his skull, tickling the back of his eyeballs.