Broken Mercy

by Stacy McWilliams

  A creaking sound made me freeze and the ground under me shuddered, as someone moved towards me. For a second, nothing happened and then a foot kicked me in my chest. The pain radiated through me and I began wheezing, as blow after blow, hit me.

  “Stop, stop. You’ll kill her.”

  The voice that spoke was familiar to me, but before I could place it, a hand gripped the back of my neck and a fist smashed into my face.

  “I don’t care. She’s nothing to me.”

  The male voice was full of malice and hatred, as he hit my face over and over again. I could do nothing. My body was still paralyzed, but I felt every blow. My cheekbone cracked, and my nose was bleeding.

  “You won't get the ransom, if she’s dead. He’ll want proof of life, so stop.”

  “Fine, get her ready.”

  He dropped me roughly to the floor and I closed my eyes, as my head swam. Pain radiated from several points in my body and vomit rose in my throat, as I bounced on the hard surface below me.

  “God, Mason is gonna flip his shit.”

  A sharp scratch on my arm, left me floating and I dropped off again.

  When I woke up much later, my eyes began to adjust to the dark room. I managed to make out a man, standing by the door, facing away from me.

  Something about him was familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it. Just beyond him, there were two people in black hoodies, with sweats on and their hair was tied up. Neither of them were looking at me, but I almost choked on my tongue, as I tried to hold in my gasp of recognition.

  One of the girls was Helena. I could tell by her dark hair and straight features. The other woman was blonde, and I instantly knew who she was. Ollie, Mason’s ex. I closed my eyes as tears threatened to spill over and listened to the snippets of their conversation, as it floated back to me.

  “He said what?” One voice stated.

  It sounded like Helena and I shuddered at the thought that Mason’s sister was behind this.

  “He’s not paying, unless she’s dropped off at his home,” the male voice spoke, sounding disinterested.

  “Why would we do that?” Ollie almost shouted.

  Her voice made me jump, because it sounded so much louder and clearer than any of the others.

  “He’s got the police involved, so he’ll be wanting us caught,” the male voice informed them.

  I was relieved, but worried because they could just kill me or leave me, and no-one would be any the wiser, as to where I was.

  “Mason is the smartest person I know, so why is he bargaining with her life?” Helena mused and it hit me at the same time as Ollie spoke, why he’d be bargaining with me.

  “He obviously doesn’t care as much about her, as we thought.”

  They moved away from the doorway and I tried to move again, but a burning pain through my chest made me desist. My face ached and I could barely move my mouth, but at least the feeling was coming back into my limbs. As it did, I registered that my hands were tied by something, behind my back. All too soon, the burning, stabbing, and shooting pains came back at full force, as whatever they’d given me was wearing off. My whole body ached and cramped from being in the same position. I tried to distract myself by taking in my surroundings. I was in what looked like a disused factory. There were papers strewn about the floor around me. About four feet above me, to my right, was a small cracked, window and to my left was a narrow corridor. I wriggled my wrists, ignoring the shooting pains that ran up my arms and gritted my teeth, as I tried to get my wrists free. The rope wouldn’t budge, and the friction was causing pain, but I didn’t stop.

  After what felt like an eternity, there was movement outside and footsteps sounded. So, I stopped trying to get free and froze as the door creaked open wider. Ollie’s eyes widened as she stepped through and saw that I could see.

  “Who took off her eye mask?”

  Her eyes darted around, and she rushed towards me dropping a sandwich and water at my feet. Before yanking the eye mask back down. My heart raced as she wrapped her hands around my neck, but after shaking me a little, she let go and moved away from me.

  “What am I doing?” she mused, as she left.

  My stomach rolled, when I realized how hungry I was, but I was almost free of the rope. I knew I had to keep trying to get free. I didn’t care where I went, as long as I made it out of the dank, musty room, they were keeping me in.

  Finally, my thumb escaped the rope that was binding me, and I almost groaned in relief, as my whole wrist slipped free. There were loud voices in the hallway, but they sounded farther away, than before. I slowly moved my arm around to my front and my shoulder protested, as I lifted my hand to take the eye mask off.

  My wrist was bruised and bloodied, and my stomach recoiled as I tried to move up onto my knees. My breath wheezed out and I struggled with the pain. I found that if I stayed partly leaning over, that it was less unbearable. My ears strained for sounds and after pausing for a moment, there was nothing. So, I forced myself to sit up, giving myself simple instructions to follow, to help with managing the pain.

  Right, Amber, sit up straighter.

  I told myself, and as I followed my own instructions, I winced at the stabbing pain in response.

  Okay, now move towards the window.

  I crawled across the floor, cutting my knees on glass, that was hidden beneath the papers on the floor. Using the pain of that to distract me from the pains elsewhere.

  Stand, now.

  My legs began to shake, as I used the wall to push myself up. My head swam for a moment, as I collapsed against the wall, a few feet from where I need to be, to try to escape. I dragged myself along the last few steps, gripping onto the wall to keep my balance, since my vision was swimming in and out.

  Every few steps I paused, listening intently to make sure no-one was coming back. Just as I reached the window, gripping onto the ledge, the sound of footsteps coming closer, reached my ears. I turned back to see Helena standing, watching me, impassively. She didn’t speak, just watched, as I gripped onto the window ledge, so tightly that my fingers tingled and turned white. For a protracted moment, neither of us moved, and then, she stepped towards me. My body froze and I flinched as she reached me.

  “Here, let me help. This has gone too far.”

  She pushed me up and helped me towards the window. I crawled through, with my stomach rolling, chest burning and ears ringing. As I clambered through and dropped to the other side.

  “Amber,” she muttered as I dropped from her view. “I’m so, sorry.”

  My legs gave out beneath me as I landed, and one ankle sent a cascade of pain over me. I dragged myself over to the dumpster and steadied myself against it. Before hobbling off down the street and heading for the sound of traffic.

  My ears strained for oncoming sounds and when I heard a feral roar. I ducked along a side street and rushed behind a dumpster. My eyes strained in the darkness to see anyone coming towards me, but there was no-one. After a few more minutes of waiting, for what felt like a lifetime. I peeked out of my hiding space and glanced up and down the alleyway, I was in. There were dumpsters in both directions, so I took off, in the opposite direction from where I’d come from. I ducked behind the dumpsters and hid in the shadows, waiting until car, after car passed me.

  I heard voices approaching me and I ducked down lower, hiding my head. I saw Helena and Ollie, racing down the street, with a hooded man, running after them. His walk was familiar to me, but my head was still fuzzy from the drugs, so I couldn’t place him. I rushed around the corner and ducked into a doorway, as a black SUV raced by. My hand scrambled with the lock and I gasped when the door opened, and I was yanked inside.

  “Shhh, Amber, it’s Helena. I’m going to get you out of here.”

  She led me by the hand and pushed me into a dark room, with no windows. Her fingers flipped her cell light on, and she shone the light around the room.

  “Stay in here. I’m going
to get Mason.”

  She spun on her heel and was gone before I had a moment to speak. My legs gave out and the burning from my ankle worsened, as I sat waiting on her coming back. The room was so dark, that it made my skin crawl. I could hear scratching and shouting, so I crawled behind the door and sat there, unmoving for a moment.

  What if she doesn’t come back with Mason?

  What if she’s gone to get Ollie and that guy?

  Oh. My. God.

  Due to the adrenaline and the drugs, I was exhausted, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t let myself be found. If they came back and found me here, they’d kill me. I stood up, wincing at the pain in my leg and hissing, as the pain worsened with each step, but I was a survivor. I would survive this. My fingers closed on the doorknob and I twisted it, opening it up and falling through the doorway. I moved slowly along towards the escape, when I heard loud voices, just outside.

  “How can she be gone?” The male voice asked.

  It finally clicked for me. It was Tommy? I was sure it was, and my head swam, as I remembered meeting him at a few of the shows with Helena. He hadn’t come back to meet Mason though, and I wasn’t sure Helena spoke to anyone about him.

  Now, I couldn’t help wondering, if he’d just come to see me and to size up how easy it would be to get to me. Something about that didn’t add up either. I couldn’t believe it. He’d seemed so nice and funny and sweet, but he spoke a lot to me and to Helena, when he’d come to the shows.

  “She’s our ticket out of here.” He continued, interrupting my chain of thought and I froze, listening intently, barely even breathing, as I took their words in.

  “I don’t know, but I can’t find her anywhere and if she goes back to Mason, then we’re screwed,” Ollie spat out.

  Her voice was low and furious. She paused for a beat and then spoke again, this time with an eagerness to her voice that made my stomach curl.

  “I’ll go to Mason’s and pretend I’m there to see my daughter. Then, if she shows up, I can rubbish her claim, that I’m involved.”

  They agreed and I heard car doors slamming and wheels squealing as they took off. The door was locked, but I managed to open the window enough to squeeze myself out of, and I took off running. I ignored the agony shooting through me as my foot, wrist and my ribs protested. I ignored the pain, at thinking Mason didn’t care enough about me to pay the ransom. I ignored the gut-wrenching fear that they would find me and kill me, for managing to escape. I struggled on, running as though my life depended on it, because it did. My legs burned and my chest ached, but I didn’t stop. I ran and ran, until I found a convenience store and I ducked inside, heading straight for the restroom.

  My face was a mess. My blonde hair had blood dried into it and my lip and eye were both swollen. I dabbed at my face and cleaned some of the blood off. My vision swam and my ribs ached. Vomit rose in my throat and I rushed to the toilet, throwing up over and over again.

  Eventually, I collapsed onto the dirty floor as pain and exhaustion overwhelmed me. I allowed myself a few minutes to sit there, then forced myself to stand. I was unsteady and my feet shook under me, as I left the restroom. I asked the cashier if there was a telephone I could use, but he just shook his head and returned to reading his comic.

  A few cars rolled by as I scuttled down the sidewalk. I hoped I was heading for downtown, but I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t even know where I was. I just had to keep going. I had to find a payphone, or a cop. Either of those things would do.

  I hid from most cars, but eventually saw a cop car and I ran chasing after it, like a maniac. My arms were waving, and my body swaying as it turned the corner away from me. My eyes stung as the clouds opened and the rain began to bucket down on me, but still I kept going. Eventually, an old lady stopped her car and called me over.

  “You alright there, dear?”

  Her voice was calm, and she had a kind face, bright green eyes, and wisps of white hair around her forehead.

  “Nnnnn… No…”

  My voice shook as I tried to answer her and the old dear took pity on me.

  “You hop in and I’ll drop you off wherever you need to go.”

  My first thought was to say no, but then the rain started to fall harder, and I knew I didn’t have a choice. So, I hopped inside, and the old lady started the car, driving slowly down the street, before heading onto the freeway.

  “I’m going uptown. Is there anywhere I can drop you off at?”

  I glanced at her, mulling over my options, and decided to go to the Emergency room. My foot was aching, my wrist was throbbing painfully, and my ribs were burning, so it seemed like a good choice.

  “Eh… could you drop me at the ER please?”

  She nodded slowly and then began singing along to the radio, as the wipers swished up and down.

  “My name’s Bethann. What’s yours?”

  “I’m Amber.”

  She nodded once and then glanced over at me.

  “You stay gone from whoever did that, you here?”

  I nodded at her, and she opened her mouth, closed it, and then started speaking.

  “I was a young girl and my fella was a little too handy with his fists. After one really bad night, once he’d passed out, I took my kids and got the bus here from Florida, when my youngest was just a few months old. An old friend lived out here, but we hadn’t spoken since we were kids. Long before I met my fella, in fact, but she was happy to take me in and my three little boys. If it wasn’t for her, he would have found me, but she helped me change our names and gave us a new life.”

  It finally clicked, why she was telling this story and why she’d stopped to help me. She thought I’d been abused and was running from my abuser.

  “You understand what I’m saying, Amber?”

  “Yes, Ma-am. Thank you.”

  I decided it would be easier to let her think that than to tell her that I’d been abducted by a guy, I’d only met a handful of times, my employer’s ex-wife, and his sister. That was too messed up for anyone to handle, including me.

  Chapter Three

  Fight Or Flight

  Mason

  My body tensed as the door opened at my back and Ollie walked in.

  “Hey guys, how’s it going?” she asked in an amused voice and smirked, as she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled a bottle of water out.

  Her voice grated on me and I wanted to turn around and shove her ass out of my house.

  “What are you doing here, Ollie?” Harris asked, as my spine stiffened.

  “Oh, didn’t you tell them yet, Mason?” She glanced at me, but I refused to even look at her. She wasn’t important.

  “Mase and I are getting back together…” she began in a playful tone, that made my stomach churn.

  “No, we are not.” I growled and she tensed.

  “Oh, but we are sweetie.”

  Her voice was certain, and I really wanted to fucking punch her, because I’d never been surer that having her out of my house and my life, was the right thing. She came over and put her hand on my chest, looking up at me through her fake lashes, with a fake smile on her face.

  “If you want your precious Amber back, you’ll do whatever I say.”

  Her conspiratorial whisper and the smile on her face, made my skin crawl. My mouth dropped at her words and I glared down at her. Only she could be psycho enough to waltz back into my life and then threaten the people in it. I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened again. I was interrupted from speaking, or potentially strangling my ex-wife, when Quinn came into the kitchen.

  “Mason, Lexa’s had a call. I need you to come with me.”

  His tone was more serious, than the usually playful Quinn could manage, and I turned to face him. He glanced between Ollie and me and shook his head when he saw her hand on my chest.

  “Right now,” he muttered in a commanding tone.

  I stepped back away from Ollie, pushing her hand off
my chest as I stared at my best friend. My eyes must have conveyed the absolute panic that I was feeling, because he nodded slowly at me and I realized what he meant. Amber was fine. Amber was safe and I didn’t have to deal with psycho Sally, behind me anymore.

  “Ollie, we are done. In fact, we are more than done. At this moment there are two cops standing behind you. They are going to take you downtown and find out exactly what you did to Amber…”

  “Mase…” she started, but I shook my head and cut her off.

  “No. You don’t get to talk, not anymore. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care a fuck what you have to say,” I muttered in a deadly voice and her face paled.

  My blood sounded in my ears as thoughts of Amber and how much I wanted to see her, almost overwhelmed me. I didn’t want to talk to Ollie anymore. I wanted her gone and I nodded at the two guys behind her.

  “You’ll regret this,” she hissed.

  I laughed, because the only thing I regretted was ever getting involved with her. She glared at me and struggled, trying to throw the hands from her shoulders, as they frog-marched her to the door.

  “You know what, I really don’t think I will. Now get the fuck out of my house, and don’t let me ever catch you on my property again.” I spat the words at her and watched in satisfaction, as she was led out the backdoor and into the back of the waiting police car.

  My words were low, but you could hear a pin drop in the silence of the room. Everyone watched me in shock, as I strode back from the door, kicking it closed, once I was sure she was in the back of the cruiser. The room exploded with noise and I wanted to bury my head in my hands, but Amber needed me, so I turned to face everyone.

  “I’m going with Quinn. Harris, will you stay here please? Field all my calls. Unless it’s Harvey. He’s dealing with the restraining order against Ollie.”

  With that, we left the room and I shoved my feet into my sneakers, before pulling on a hoodie and putting my hood up. We left the house and climbed into a waiting SUV. Lexa was sitting in the seat fidgeting. She glared at Quinn as we climbed in, but didn’t say a word. I could feel her shooting daggers at me, the whole car journey though.