I must admit, I had some doubts this would work out as we hoped it would, but it turns out that it actually might. Only time will show, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much at ease after sex. I guess it’s because this isn’t just sex. It’s… love making. A word I’ve always hated, dreaded. Thought I’d never use it. But here I am and I have this little girl to thank for that.
Chapter 27
“Get up, bitch!” A rough voice wakes me up and I feel the clutching claw of fingers clasp around my elbow, pulling me out of bed, like a hand dragging me from a pleasant dream right into a nightmare.
I open my eyes quickly, with the last possible remnants of sleepiness shooed away by this rude awakening. The face I see before me is unknown. It’s not one of the bikers. I would have recognized any of them. And, besides, they’re supposed to return tomorrow. This evening, the earliest.
This guy pulls me out of bed, heading for the door. I’m wearing a thin white vest and shorts, but I feel naked. I feel scared. Where are the guys? Why aren’t they here? I slip a few times, but the guy keeps me up and going. When we finally get out of the shack, the bright sunlight pierces through my eyes and drills a hole right in my skull. It takes me a few moments to adjust to the brightness and then, I see something shocking.
Theron, Dex and Zarael are all on their knees, facing forward. Their hands are tied behind their back. Dex seems to have gotten the worst end of the deal. His right eye is swollen shut. A thin trickle of blood is already drying in the corner of his lips. Zarael and Theron look alright. The moment I am brought out before them, they gaze up at me and at that moment, my heart breaks. Fear. Hurt. Anger. All mixed up together. I can see it all in their eyes. They think they have failed me.
“Finally, we’re all here, so the party can start,” I hear a new voice and I turn to face a man I don’t recognize. By his side, I see David, the other guy who was with him on that fateful day. “Bring her over here,” the man growls.
David walks over to me, with a scornful look on his face. His nose seems different and there is a scar from the right side of his temple. It looks like his face is still healing, even after all this time.
I never witnessed him getting beat up and I’m sorry I missed it. Sounds like it was a helluva good time, for some at least. He reaches out to grab me by the wrists.
“Get the fuck away from me!” I shout at him, trying to push him away, but he’s too strong.
“Leave her alone!” Dex thunders.
“Or what?” the man who seems to be running this show snaps back at him.
His white suit is in stark contrast with the surroundings and his hat hides the upper half of his face. His black shoes have been recently shined, but that serves little purpose here. If I need to take a guess, then I probably know who he is.
“I’m only here to take back what is rightfully mine,” the man continues to speak calmly.
He takes a small cigar case from his pocket and opens it, extracting one, which he then proceeds to put in his mouth. The guy who dragged me out of the shack jumps to his aid and lights it up for him. A few small puffs released into the air make it look like someone is sending smoke signals.
“Now, why would you go back on our deal, huh?” he wonders aloud, turning his back to the men on their knees. “I thought we had everything arranged, but then you go and do something like this. I mean, seriously. What is this girl to you? She’s just a whore.”
At the word whore, all three men try to lunge at him, but the two guys behind them, keep them subdued. I see we are outnumbered. There is no way we can get out of this one. Maybe if Dex and the guys were free to fight, but this is a hopeless scenario. My heart races and chills erupt deep inside of me. I’ve always been afraid of monsters in the dark. Horrible looking things, with long dark hair, claws and fangs that would lunge at you from the night, or from the darkness that reigned underneath your bed. But I know now that monsters don’t hide in the darkness. They live in broad daylight and they are just like you and me.
They are going to take me with them. These monsters are going to take me and give me to other monsters. This fear rattles my skull, pounding against the inside of my chest. Tense silence reigns.
“I hope you haven’t broken my toy,” the man walks over to me and cups my chin with his fingers. I twitch, my head leaning to the left as far as my neck allows. I don’t want his dirty hands on me. “She looks fine. But I’m worried you have broken something on her. If you know what I mean.”
“You won’t get away with this, Leo,” Dex hisses and he looks like a defeated superhero who is finally in the hands of his longtime nemesis. This story doesn’t have a happy ending and it’s all my fault. I’m the reason they are targeted and I will be the reason they are going to get killed.
Leo laughs, filling me with chills. A gust of wind grates my neck and raises all the hairs to their ends.
“You’re done,” Leo growls, his voice like a knife’s edge. “You and your clan are done. You just don’t know it yet. Your father and I had an arrangement, but I got bored of it. And, you just gave me a reason to cut the rope.”
Hope flares up in me. Rope. The guys are tied with rope. Maybe they’re just waiting for the right moment to transform and fight back? In their bear form, ropes wouldn’t be able to hold them. David is now behind me and my heart is in my heels. I feel frozen. This is the man who didn’t refrain from striking me. He could have killed me. And, I’m just standing here, unable to act. I feel a single tear stream down my face, but I don’t sob.
“Kill them all,” I hear Leo say, as he walks up to me and David and all three of us head towards a van that is now, parked a little further down the untrodden path, hiding underneath a big oak tree.
I want to scream their names, but instead of noise, only air comes out of my mouth. I try to look back, one desperate last look, but David yanks me harder, his grip branding my skin with a red claw mark. I drag my feet slowly, my breaths short, quick. I feel like I’m suffocating.
A moment later, gunshots are heard. Commotion. Screams. Boom. Boom. Boom. A gasp escapes my lips. Leo and David don’t turn around, but I must. There is the smell of blood in the air. Nature will absorb it, drink it up, inhale it. They will become one with her, like they’ve always been. I turn around.
Three bodies are lying on the ground. There are fresh puddles of blood, mixing with the earth around. I’ve never seen so much of it. I feel weak. One body is missing an arm. The other, a foot. Bloody clothes are everywhere. The flies are already starting to gather. The fresh smell of blood is tantalizing. Soon, other animals might come, too. Three are already there. The three bears are standing on their hind legs, their fangs bared, madness in their eyes. They look like warriors prepared for battle. Their claws are bloodied, as the grim line of their mouths spreads out into vengeful grins.
I stop and I don’t move even when David tugs at me angrily.
“You cunt, what the…” he starts, but he stops mid-sentence once his eyes behold what mine have already seen. “B-b-boss!”
Leo turns around. He has finally seen what we all see. I clench my fists, testing the hands that kept me subdued, the hands that made me silent and almost broke me. The restraints are there and they try not to give, but they are too focused on the animals that are now standing before them.