by C. M. Allen
After hearing Harper tell me that Vulture gave her a gun to protect herself with and that the noises had stopped, the relief that flooded my body was a euphoric one. But then her screams started. “Harper! Harper! Talk to me! Harper what’s happening?!” The last scream I heard from her was abruptly cut off when the call dropped. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuuuuck!” I shouted out, throwing my phone at the dashboard of the truck before punching the glovebox over and over until my knuckles started to bleed.
Feeling arms wrapping around my neck, I’m pulled tightly back into my seat. “Mav! Mav! You have to calm the fuck down man. Fuckin՛ up your hands and losin՛ your shit right now is not goin՛ to fuckin՛ help Harper. Get your shit under control so we can figure out what we need to do.” Axle said, keeping a firm grip on me as I fought against his hold. All I wanted to do right now was burn every fucking thing that was keeping me apart from her to the God damn ground!
“Mav, you know he’s right brother. Freakin՛ the fuck out and fuckin՛ up your hands is not goin՛ to help. We just need to get there as fast as we can and find out exactly what it is we’re dealin՛ with. She’s a fighter and she’s smart. If someone has her, I know she’ll figure a way to get away from them the second she finds one.” Butch chimed in.
Calming down a bit, Axle released his grip on me. Then a feeling of dread and defeat began to bleed its way into my heart. “What if it’s too late and they’ve already killed her? What if she’s injured, scared and all alone up there in the cold, Butch? Or God forbid, what if…?” Not able to say the words, I just looked out the passenger side window as the darkness passed by, only to be engulfed by more of it.
“I swear to you man, if someone took her, we will find her. And if… somethin՛ else happened to her, there’s not a motherfucker alive on this planet that will stop us from seekin՛ our revenge.”
If I even live through that scenario if the latter has happened to her.
The rest of the car ride was a quiet one as we made our way closer to finding out the answers to all our questions.
Butch’s phone went off, breaking the silence. Picking it up, he began to answer with yes’s and no’s, before he told who I knew had to be the doc calling, not to go in until we got there and that we were about ten minutes away. When I heard that we were that close to finding out what had happened to Harper, the woman I had fallen so hard for, my heart was ripped in two different directions. One of hope, and the other of dread at what I might find waiting for me. Getting off the phone, he told me. “That was the doc. He just pulled up to the cabin and says it’s all quiet, but I told him that he needs to wait until we get there before he goes in.”
***
Pulling up to the cabin, I’m out of the SUV before it even comes to a stop, yelling Harper’s name. Drawing my gun out, I headed up the stairs and inside to check things out, hoping I’d find her hiding somewhere and not her lifeless, bloodied body. Going straight to her bedroom, I found nothing but the scent of her in the air, the smell of her caused me to linger for too long just to be near her in some way. Snapping out of it when I heard Butch shout out my name, we both began methodically moving from room to room. We find nothing out of place and no one in the cabin. That is, until we get to the bedroom Vulture was using. “Looks like he put up quite a fight. Butch said, looking around at all the damage to the room.
“Wouldn’t expect anythin՛ less from him.” We both head towards the back slider.
“Mav! Butch! Lake area now!” We both heard Roman shout.
Racing out onto the deck, my heart rate picked up at the possibility of what I was about to find. As we ran down the steps and made it to the area that Roman, Repo, Gunner and Axle stood in, we saw them watching over the doc as he worked franticly over a body. The sight before me caused my steps to falter and my knees threaten to buckle, that was until I saw the boots.
Vulture.
Running towards them, I shouted. “Is he alive?”
The looks on all of their faces were grim at best when I reached them. “He’s got a faint pulse and he’s sustained at least three gunshot wounds from what I can see. The one that I’m primarily concerned about is the one in his chest. From the sound of his breathing his left lung, where the bullet entered, has possibly collapsed. He’s lost a lot of blood from the other two gunshot wounds in his upper leg and shoulder. I already called an ambulance. It should be here soon.”
“Any sign of Harper?” Axle asked me.
I shook my head. “No, I’m headed out to the treehouse now, the last place she was, and check it out.” As I said the words, I knew the treehouse should have been the first place I searched for her. But knowing what I might find caused a fear inside me I hadn’t known since that day I lost my whole world. “Do your best to save him Doc. I’ll be right back,” I announced before I turned and jogged away.
Reaching the treehouse, I listened for any sounds as I made my way closer. Hearing a branch breaking behind me, I swung my gun around in the direction it came from only to find Butch. “Thought maybe you could use some backup.”
Lowering my gun, I nodded at him my thanks unable to speak, and then started the climb up into the treehouse. When I got inside, the smell that lingered in Harper’s room was faint in here. I pulled my phone out and used the flashlight feature and began to look around. Then I saw it, her burner phone was crushed into small pieces. Picking up what’s left of it, I dropped it back onto the floor. Taking a deep breath, I looked up and closed my eyes just to see her beautiful face. “Find anythin՛?” I heard Butch shout up at me.
“No!” Climbing back down the tree, I began the walk back to the cabin with him in tow to see how Vulture was doing. “Found her phone. Looks like someone crushed it, but there’s nothin՛ else. Let’s go see how Vultch is doin՛. He’s the best shot we have at findin՛ out who it was that did this.” Stopping suddenly, I turned around and let all the pain I was feeling right now find its way out. “Harper! Harper!” Shouting her name over and over again in a strangled voice I didn’t recognize as my own, I prayed that by some miracle she’d appear out of wherever she’d stayed hidden and run straight into my arms. But nothing other than darkness answered my cries for her.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, Butch said. “I know this is hard Mav, but we will find her. One way or another. I Promise you brother.”
“I can’t lose her Butch.”
Seeing the paramedics arriving to attend to Vulture, both Butch and I headed towards them, picking up the pace. “Is he goin՛ to make it?” I asked, jogging up.
“Don’t know yet son. He’s lost a lot of blood. His only saving grace was being on the cold ground. It slowed the bleeding down. Otherwise, he would have bled out.” Doc informed me.
Vultch and I may had not always see eye to eye, but he was still a brother, and just as we would do for any brother, we would find the motherfuckers who did this to him. And God help them if they touched a hair on Harper’s head. I would unleash a Hell this world had never known before.
After we’ve contacted every connection we had that could possibly help us find out who shot Vulture and took Harper, all we could do was wait.
And wait.
Sitting here in the hospital as they operated on Vultch the occurrences of the night were beginning to fester inside of me with so much darkness and anger, I had to take a walk before the raging beast inside of me busted out of its cage and broke everything in this fucking place.
Stepping through the automatic doors, I took in a deep breath of the morning air wondering if Harper was able to do the same. The only thing that plagued my thoughts were what she was possibly enduring right this moment. And none of the things that crossed my mind were good.
She’s in this situation because of me. I did this to her. An innocent. Again.
The one thing I swore to myself I would never do after I lost Nicole. I took another fucking innocent’s life away. Because if there’s one thing I knew for a fact, it was Harper would never look at life through the same rose-colored
glasses again… if she ever made it back to me alive that was. And the biggest question of all: if she did make it back to me alive, would she still be mine?
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I made the one call I had been dreading the most, knowing it was going to cause the most pain. The phone rang only twice before I heard her voice. “Countryside Diner, how can I help you?”
“Ava?”
“Yeah, who’s this? Or should I even guess?” She asked in a snarky voice.
“Ava, I need you to go into the office and shut the door behind you if you aren’t already in there.”
“What the fuck is going on Maverick? Did something happen to Harper?”
I could still hear the sounds of the diner buzzing around her. “Ava, just do as I’ve asked and get your fuckin՛ ass into that office and shut the God damn door!” I shouted unable to hear her bullshit right now.
Hearing nothing but a clicking sound, I had no idea if she’d hung up on me or not, that was until I heard her yell at me. “I’m in the office! Now, you had better tell me what the fuck happened Maverick!”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Someone shot Vulture last night… and they took Harper from the cabin. We’re at the hospital now, hopin՛ he pulls through so he can tell us who did this.” The only sound I was met with was silence before I heard what sounded like faint sobs. “I’m goin՛ to get her back Ava. Even if it costs me my own life. I promise you I will get her back.”
Hearing her clear her throat, she said. “I warned you Maverick. Now I’m doing things my way.” Were the only words that she offered up before disconnecting the call.
Trying to call the diner again, I was interrupted by Axle’s yell. “Hey! There you are. Been lookin՛ all over for you. Vultch is out of surgery. The doctor said he repaired the damage to his lung and his other wounds but said that they won’t know if he’s goin՛ to make it for another twenty-four hours.”
Butch walked out of the doors next, heading for us. “Hey, I think I have an idea on the best way to find Harper, but I don’t think you’re goin՛ to like it.”
Perking up at his words, I asked. “How?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. It’s not the how you’re not goin՛ to like. It’s the who.”
CHAPTER
31
Harper
When I started to come out of the fog, I’d been in for who knows how long, I instantly wished I hadn’t. The smell in this room I was in was so rancid that it made me want to vomit. The first thing I felt was the throbbing pain, pounding inside my head so hard it was almost blinding. The second thing I noticed was when I tried to move my arms, I found that my wrists and ankles were tied to the chair I sat in. Struggling to move, I gave up still feeling too weak from whatever it was they had given me.
Hearing what sounded like a groaning noise coming from somewhere in the dimly lit room, that looked to be a basement or some kind of warehouse type building with no windows, I slowly turned my head. I was concerned that it could be Vulture still alive and in need of medical help. Quietly I called out his name. “Vulture. Vulture is that you?”
The groaning sounds got louder just as a series of lights began to flicker to life one at a time across the top of the ceiling of the room. When the last one illuminated in the area where the groans were coming from, I let out a gasp in horror at the sight before me. The first thing I could see, was that the man hanging on the wall was in fact not Vulture. The next thing I noticed was all the blood on his bare body and the floor beneath him. Taking a closer look, I saw several cuts across his chest, abdomen, and legs. Four of his toes looked as though they had been smashed as well. The only piece of clothing left on his body was his underwear, that looked as though he had urinated and defecated in them several times. Giving me the answer behind the rooms awful smell.
Just as I was getting up the nerve to ask him who he was, I heard a door creak open. “Well, there she is. Good morning, Miss Lancaster.”
The man I recognized as the one responsible for taking me made his way over before pulling up another chair and sitting down across from me. “Why am I here?” I asked, looking over to the man hanging on the wall. “And who is he?”
Reclining back in his chair, he folded his arms over his chest and let out a huff. “So full of questions still I see.”
Glaring at him, I leaned as far forward as my restraints will allow me to go. “Well, if you would just answer my fucking questions, I might stop asking them.” I growled at him, trying not to show just how terrified I really was right now. Wondering if my fate would be like that of the man hanging on the wall.
Smirking at me, he leaned forward, almost inspecting me. “I’m pretty sure you’d just come up with more questions to ask me. It’s in that nosy nature you women have.” He sat there in silence, seemingly studding me for a moment. “You really do look a lot like her. I never really noticed the resemblance until I saw you in person.” Chuckling, he said. “Hell, you even sound like her with the way you talk, so full of fire and attitude, I can almost appreciate it. Almost.”
Wondering who the hell this crazy man thinks I look and sound like, I asked. “Who are you talking about?”
“All in good time Miss Lancaster, I assure you. First, let me tell you who I am. My name is Dekes, and the reason you are here is because you have become an unfortunate casualty of circumstance in my pursuit of taking down The Devil’s Deviants and Satanic Slayers.” Looking over at the man hanging on the wall, he looked back at me once again. “Just like Worm over there.”
Not understanding, or maybe not wanting to understand how I was going to be a casualty in this whole mess, I couldn’t help but ask. “What are you going to do with me?”
Standing up, he buttoned up his suit jacket and started to pace the room. “You know, you are more like them than I care to think about.” Stopping in front of me, he crouched down in my face. “Ever hear of the old saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’ Miss Lancaster?”
“What the hell is your point? All you’re doing is talking in riddles.”
“But riddles are so much fun, don’t you think?” Standing up to his full height, he straightened his coat. “It creates an electrifying mystery that is so full of possibilities, you’ll do anything to solve it. But when you do, you must be prepared for the answers you will find to those riddles. Are you ready for those answers, Miss Lancaster?”
“Fuck you!” I screamed at him unable to hide my frustration at this shitty situation, not knowing what the hell he was even talking about or what was going to happen to me.
“Pity. I was hoping we could have been friends, you and I.”
“I will NEVER be your friend. Now let me go!” I sobbed. “Please, just let me go. I didn’t do anything to you!”
Suddenly his calm demeanor was ripped away and I was facing a new darker evil. “You didn’t do anything to me? You didn’t fucking do anything to me?!” He roared, kicking the chair he was using across the room. “You fucked him you stupid fucking whore! Just like she did! So you will face the same fate as she did! You will pay for what they did to her with your life just before I take every last one of theirs!”
Sobbing uncontrollably, I said more to myself, but still loud enough that he heard me. “I don’t understand.”
Laughing at me, he came back and leaned down to get in my face. “You don’t understand? Well, let me help you understand Miss Lancaster.” Reaching into his jacket he pulled out his wallet, then opened it up to grab something out. Suddenly a picture was thrusted in front of my face. It was a picture of a beautiful young girl that had long dark hair like mine with a slightly older boy that had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “This right here is what this is all about! Her! She was innocent! She was smart! She was beautiful! She could have been anything she wanted to be in this life! Or with any man she chose to be! And she chose him! Trevor Reed.” Still not understanding who he’s talking about, I just stared back at him with confusion. “The man you know, Miss Lancaster, as M
averick.”
Then the realization slammed into me as to who this girl in the picture was. “That’s Nicole.”
THE END…
FOR NOW