“How many times what?”
“How many times was he shot? Where was he fucking shot? Was he able to survive the fucking shot or not?” Gage screams, it shocks the fuck out of me to hear the pain and anger in his voice.
“I counted four or five, in the back but I don’t know whereabouts exactly he was hit. He protected her! I don’t know what the fuck happened after the explosions went off. I saw her, I ended up in the water and found Koby. I sent the others to search for him.”
“You should have fucking gone for him not her!” Bishop yells over the pouring rain, I stand here and stare at each of them feeling nothing but rage. I want to fucking kill Mav and rip him apart until he begs for me to deliver the final blow, the blow that would never come because he needs to feel half the pain I feel right now.
“It wasn’t just Pauly and Vinny, Bish. The fucking Russian’s showed up, they’re the ones that shot him.”
The rain pelts down around us but I hear nothing except for Mav’s words replaying over and over again in my head. I drop my gaze to the girl in my arms and stare at her, my fucking brother––my other half is dead because of her! I turn to Gage and shove her into his arms. He catches her before she can fall to the ground. I turn back to Mav, his gaze already on me. Whatever he sees in my eyes has him backing up a step, you’re next you little bitch!
“Take her back, stich her fucking wound. Make sure she is alive and able to sustain what I’m about to dish out.” Mav’s eyes widen in surprise but it isn’t him who answers me.
“Knight, I’ll take care of her––” I pin King with a look that has him closing his mouth.
“He is my twin, not ours. I’ll fucking deal with the bitch and I promise you this. She will fucking talk whether she likes it or not.”
I feel my blood start to flow again, my body thrums with anticipation at the prospect of letting my most darkest part of myself out to play. Rook was the only in this fucked up world that kept me sane and grounded. Without him, I have nothing left to fucking lose.
Koby
Groaning in pain, I try to move but something keeps me still. I try to move my arms but can’t. I slowly blink my eyes open expecting to find myself in my bed. My eyes widen when I look around the sterile white room. I look down and see I’m in a pair of sweats and a singlet, these clothes aren’t my own.
Where the fuck am I?
I try to recall what the fuck happened and how I ended up here. Memories flash back through my mind. Tears cloud my vision the moment I reopen my eyes.
Rook.
I swallow the sob that wants to break free. I don’t know what happened to him or if he is even alive! I blacked out after I hit the fucking water. Fear begins to rear its ugly head, I’m back where I started. They are going to kill me this time, there is no way I’m getting away from the Bratva a second time. I allowed myself to fall into a false sense of security by staying with the Murdoch’s. I almost felt like I could be a normal fucking person for the first time in my life!
How stupid was I to ever think that I could be someone other than who I was born to be. I never lied to Allison, I really was born into the wrong family and my brother and I are the ones who will pay the price for that. I try to scan the area again to give myself something to do rather than get lost in my own head. My shoulder radiates with pain with any sudden movement. I turn to the side and I can see a patch of gauze that has blood staining it. Fuck, I was shot. My hands and legs are bound to the metal chair I’m sitting upon. There is a table in front of me that has a shit load of tools on it. Bile works its way up my throat, I know what they are used for and I need to prepare myself for the pain I am about to be in. I look to the right and see a hose curled on the ground, I run my gaze along the concrete floor and spot three drains, one either side of me and one just in front of me.
The sound of a lock turning has me tensing, I prepare myself to retreat inside my mind and ready my body for the pain that will be inflicted upon it. I saw firsthand what Allison went through and I know they will do the same thing to me. They are going to try and break me—mind, body and soul. I won’t allow that, I need to make it out of here and get back tohim. I don’t know when or how, but Knight Murdoch became so much more to me than a casual fuck. He became the knight I needed to save me from the life I was born into.
The heavy metal door is pushed open, a man with a ball cap slung low over his face enters the room. Another follows, dressed exactly the same, all in black with a low-slung hat. Two more follow after, each of them stands in a corner of the room. I keep my mouth closed and watch for any sign of what they might be about to do. What I don’t expect is for two more men to walk in, dragging an unconscious body with them. They drag the man to the corner and cuff him to the chains that hang against the wall. How did I not notice those before? Once the guy is secured the six of them walk out without saying a word or looking over in my direction. The fact they haven’t said anything or even touched me makes me more uneasy than if they had just hit me.
* * *
I don’t know how much time has passed before the man to my left begins to the stir. I’m exhausted, but the fluorescent lights above make it hard to fucking sleep when you can still see them through your lids. The man whips his head up and darts his gaze around the room. One of his eyes is swollen shut, the other is red rimmed and blood shot. His bottom lip is split, bruises cover his entire face. I may not be able to see any marks beneath his long pants and long sleeved shirt but from how stiff he is, I can tell his body would be black and blue beneath his clothes. When he finally notices me his eye widens ever so slightly before he masks his features. His upper lip pulls back in a snarl of disgust as he spits on the ground beside him.
“Predatel,”(Traitor)he spits the word at me like I’m supposed to give a fuck what he thinks. The piece of shit turns his head to the side to show me the eight pointed star, the mark of the Bratva. I have no idea what the fuck he did to land himself in here with me. Frankly, I don’t give a shit. I pull against the restraints and cringe when the burn in my shoulder intensifies, causing me to grind my teeth to keep from crying out in pain. “Ty umresh' za to, chto ty sdelal.” (You’ll die for what you have done.)
I smirk, making sure to keep all traces of emotion from my face. I’m not stupid enough to think this fucker isn’t a plant to get me to talk. I also know there is no fucking way this room isn’t wired with mics and cameras. If they think I will ever talk willingly, they have another thing coming.
“Prodolzhay govorit', suka, ya ub'yu tebya, prezhde chem vyberus' otsyuda.” (Keep talking bitch, I’ll kill you before I get out of here.)His eyes narrow as he breaks out into a rant, promising to cause me pain. I block out his bullshit. He can make threats all he wants but the truth is, we are both just as fucked as each other. He may come from my motherland but that doesn’t make us friends in any way. He made his choice when he decided to work for the Volkov Bratva, he signed his own death warrant.
Music blasts throughout the room making me cringe. It’s so loud I can’t hear a single thought in my own mind. I knew there would be cameras and listening devices but I never thought they would usewhite tortureas a way to break us. Russian’s use their hands and inflict pain on the body like they did to my friend over there. The bass of the song has my ears ringing, the screams of the lead singer has me grinding my teeth. The guy screams but I can’t make out what he is saying over the music, it’s so fucking loud that it grows painful as time ticks by.
I try to shrink inside my own mind but the bass of the same song playing over and over again won’t allow me to hide. It’s killing me that I’m unable to use my hands to cover my ears. I fight against my restraints hard, ignoring the pain in my shoulder until I feel the gunshot wound tear, then I do finally cry out in pain. I feel the blood soak through the gauze and slowly trickle down my chest, I slam my eyes shut and bite my lip to stop myself from screaming in frustration. He taught me better than this, he taught me how to ignore all the pain and breath through it.
Koby
My head lulls side to side from exhaustion. I’ve barely slept more than a few minutes. I don’t know how much time has passed, all I know is I feel absolutely disgusted in myself because I’ve had no choice but to piss myself. It’s the most degrading thing I have ever done in my life. Aside from the music that constantly plays on repeat that has my ears and head pounding, the smell in here is the next killer. The pig beside me has shit himself. I should thank my lucky stars that I have IBS and don’t shit like normal people. The song loops again and I’m so close to tears because of it, I’d rather have the shit beaten out of me than suffer through this song any longer.
The ache in my shoulder burns every second of the day. I know I have a fever and I fear I’m getting an infection from the wound not being treated or cleaned. If the Bratva’s plan was to drive me insane and kill me from starvation, they are winning. My mouth is so dry I barely have any saliva left to keep my mouth moist. My stomach is constantly cramping from not eating for what I assume is days. That’s not the worst part though, I need water so badly that it's all I can think about––dream about even.
“Eto ostanovleno”(It’s stopped.)I startle at the sound of his voice. My ears are still ringing and his voice is barely audible over the ringing. A sigh of relief whooshes out of me at the silence in the room. I could cry tears of joy from not being able to hear anything. The sound of the lock turning has a burst of energy zapping through me. I’m sleep deprived and starved but the prospect of something new happening has me more alert than I have been in a long time. The door pushes open, six men walk in again all dressed the same as the last time. Four of them stand in each corner of the room whilst the remaining two stand at either end of the table that houses the tools.