Purgatory

by Hayley Smyth

  “I know you're in there,” came a familiar voice. “I'll give you five minutes to come out and face me. If you don't - I'll fucking kill your little bitch myself.”

  I gasped. It was Marco.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Jax.

  Of all the things I was expecting after Ella and I first made love, hearing Marco's fucking voice wasn't one of them.

  Ella looked at me in horror, her smile gone, her face flushed, and I wanted to kill him. If he knew what we'd just done, the both of us would be dead.

  “Get dressed and lock yourself in the bathroom, okay? Don't come out until I come back.” I whispered, helping her up from the bed and looking around the room to locate our clothes.

  She cried, collecting her dress and underwear from the floor.

  I cupped her face in my hands and looked into her sad blue eyes. “Trust me?”

  She nodded frantically. “It's him I don't trust.”

  I kissed the tip of her nose and rushed her into the bathroom. The last thing I saw before I closed the door were her tears, yet again, her fucking tears. “I'll be back - I love you, Ella,” I said against the door as she clicked the lock.

  I was manic, searching the room for someone I could use as a weapon; every fucking alarm bell was ringing, telling me that this wasn't going to end well. But there was nothing. The table looked weak enough, made of the same cheap wood the doors were, and so I kicked the leg of it, snapping it into a small spear-like weapon, and tested the edge with my finger.

  Fuck, it would have to do.

  Shoving the bed away from the door, I then chanced a look outside the window, moving the curtain just an inch, and sure enough there he was, pacing up and down outside the room. Something moving in the distance caught my eye, and I squinted hard against the rain still smashing against the glass. I couldn't see shit.

  Stepping outside, Marco turned to face me, a murderous look on his face. There was no gun slung over his shoulder, but I quickly noticed the glistening metal of a blade in his left hand. He was after blood.

  “Where's the bitch?” He snarled, coming to a stop in front of me.

  I blocked the doorway, thanking genetics for giving me my father's height and my grandfather's strength. “What the fuck do you want?” I bared my teeth like an angry dog.

  “You don't get to ask questions now, pretty boy.” He looked me up and down, making a show of noticing my untucked shirt. “Now, where's the fucking bitch? Please don't make me use this, Jax. Don't ruin Vladimir's fun.” He swirled the tip of his knife over his finger, evil face smirking at me. I gripped my make-shift weapon tighter.

  “Jax! Man, just cooperate, for fuck's sake!” Benny's voice yelled. I looked beyond Marco, to the same spot I'd seen movement, and there was Benny strapped across the front of my truck, arms and legs spread-eagled, bound by thick rope.

  “Shut your fucking mouth, Ben. I swear to all that is holy I will plow your body straight into this goddamn building if you say another word.”

  “What's your fucking problem, man? What's he got on you, huh?” I called, the rain splashed from my lips as I spoke.

  Marco laughed. "Got any more questions for me?"

  “Yeah, I do. Why the fuck are you here? How did you know where we were?”

  “Jaxon,” Marco gasped, feigning horror. “Are you telling me that you actually thought Vlad would let you leave without sending along someone he could fucking trust? Jesus, you're dumber than you look. Whatever, man. I'm here to collect his wife and escort you all home. I'm sure he's going to be dying to hear about his wife's adventures with Jaxon Murdoch's cock.”

  “You fucking wouldn't,” I growled.

  “Oh, I fucking would.” He said, stepping forward, closing the gap between us. “In fact, why don't I call him right now, and you can tell him exactly why his wife wasn't home on time?” He looked down at his pockets, and I saw my chance. Probably my only chance. I rushed him, hurling his body to the ground, we both landed with a thump. I used the rounded end of the table leg and smacked him across the jaw with it, something popped and blood splattered across the sidewalk.

  “There's the Jax we all know and love!” He spluttered, raising his arm down as quickly as he could, connecting with my upper back. The wind was knocked from me, and my hands went limp, the only weapon I had fell beside us.

  With his elbow, he cracked the side of my head and sent me flying, and the pain tore through me. I didn't have no time to compose myself as he now has the upper hand, straddling my body he let blow after blow rain down on my face, sending my head this way and that. I coughed and heaved, my mouth full of blood. I could already feel my left eye beginning to swell.

  “Look at me!” He screamed, grabbing my collar with one hand, slamming my head to the concrete. Above me, the blade shone and glimmered, and it was all I could see as he cracked my head against the floor again. “Tell me, Jaxon, isn't her pussy just the sweetest thing you've ever been inside?” His words penetrated my fuzzy mind, and I looked at him, huffing desperately for oxygen. “Did she fight you like she fought me? Or did she willingly spread those legs for a Murdoch, huh?” I couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying. My skull felt fucking broken. My arms flailed either side of me and then brushed something, something sharp, something hard.

  “You are a dead man walking, Murdoch, and that little cunt is going to spend the rest of her days locked up and used by any man Vlad sees fit.” He dragged the blade of his knife down my cheek, but that was nothing compared to the pounding in my skull. “She'll be fucked to within an inch of her life day in and day out by old men, used and fucking beat like the no-good slut she is.” He continued his tirade, and I stretched as far as I could; my ribs were screaming in protest. I just needed...a better...grip! “And worst of all, Jax, what will rip her apart, is when she sees her kid again, but she won't be alive. Oh, no. The next time Ella sees that girl will be when Vladimir has already stilled her heart. When her pretty little throat has been slit open. How's that make you feel, huh?”

  Benny must have seen what I was doing as he screamed incomprehensible words. I wrapped my grip around whatever I'd found and, summoning all the strength I had left, plunged it straight into Marco's neck. I struck a vein, and he collapsed beside me, choking and gurgling as his blood poured from the wound. His legs kicked and fought, but nothing could bring him back now.

  I rolled on all fours and spat out as much blood as I could, hand clutching my chest as I fought to breathe again, watching the man beside me as he died. He died so fucking slowly. A pool of red swirled beneath my knees, mixing with the deep puddles already made by the storm, and I staggered to stand up. The entire world spun, but I had to get to my bird. The reality of what I'd done still hadn't hit me. I'd just killed someone very close to Vladimir, and I watched him take his last breathe when Benny called my name.

  “Jax? Oh, fuck me, mate.”

  Wobbling, I turned to the truck and dragged my aching body towards him. The knots used to keep Benny attached to the hood felt far more intricate than they looked thanks to my bruised head.

  “Jax, what the fuck, man? What the fuck are we going to do?” He panicked.

  “Shhh,” I said, wincing as I fought to undo the knots of rope.

  "Fuck shh, man! We are so dead.”

  The fucking ringing in my ears was deafening, reaching fever pitch by the time I'd freed Benny. He went running to Marco's body, checking his pockets for his belongings. Phone, keys, and the like.

  I'd reached the door of the motel when he approached me, hand gripping my upper arm to help me inside as I still could not walk properly.

  “Jax, you and Mrs C get yourselves fixed up, right? I need to dump this fucker and his car, or torch it. I don't fucking know.”

  I staggered inside and collapsed on to the bed, coughing, aware of blood trickling down the back of my neck.

  He went to walk out, but I managed to hold on to his arm. “Benny... thanks.”

  He shrugged me off. �
�Whatever, man. Let's just get this over with; I'll be back in fifteen.”

  The door slammed, and I heard Ella's voice as the world around me blackened until I couldn't see at all.

  Ella.

  The door to the motel room swung as the winds continued to howl, my eyes looked at the trail of blood coming from outside, across the carpet, and up on to the bed where Jax laid unconscious. I was in shock. I'd seen horror and experienced so many injuries in thirteen years, but the sight of this perfectly beautiful man so bloodied and broken terrified me.

  His blue shirt was crimson, his fists cut and oozing red liquid, his face was bruised and swollen, and even from standing by the bathroom door, I could see the blood in his hair.

  A noise made me jump, and then I realized that the sound was me. Crying. Howling. There was nothing I could do for him here, there was no first aid kit hidden in the bathroom, I'd checked, and I knew the last thing he'd want is to go to the hospital. So, in a hysterical panic, I grabbed some towels from the bathroom and ran them under the warm tap, ripped the thin nets down from the bathroom window, and used my teeth to make some kind of semblance of a bandage, and then ran back out into the room.

  “Jax? Jax, can you hear me? Please, wake up,” I cried as I used a wet towel to clean the wounds I could see. A nasty gash went from his left eye down to the corner of his mouth, and I dabbed at that, the white towel turned red within seconds.

  After ten minutes of taking care of Jax, once each towel was soaked with blood, he still hadn't woken up. And just when I was beginning to accept that we'd both die here, headlights from a vehicle lit up the room.

  I gasped, running to the door, I used it as a shield to see who was coming. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Benny exiting Jax's truck, him running inside and asking me this question and that, him lifting Jax into his arms and ordering me to get in the truck. I followed, numb and shaking, and before I knew what was happening, we were back on the road with Jax slumped across the back seat.

  We'd been driving for a little while, and I'd been staring wide-eyed out the window, watching as the beautiful world I'd seen earlier morphed into a barren wasteland. The sandy banks beside the highway were now muddy, long gone were the bright yellows and greens, and I twisted my fingers, anxiously preparing myself for whatever was waiting for me back at The Mansion.

  “Jax was attacked by a junkie.” Benny declared, his voice startling me.

  I frowned and looked over at him. “I'd heard Marco...”

  He shook his head, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “No, Mrs C, you're not hearing me.” He met my gaze and raised his eyebrows. “Jax was attacked by a junkie. He'd gone out to get us a drink, and the junkie and his friend tried to rob him, okay?”

  Oh. Stupid, Ella. “What about the mess we left behind?” I choked.

  Benny sighed. “You don't worry yourself, Mrs. I got a fella on his way, okay?”

  I nodded, but I didn't feel okay. Jax wasn't okay. None of this was okay.

  “Ella?” Came a shattered voice from behind me.

  I cried out loud at hearing his beautiful voice once more, spinning around on to my knees in the seat to see him. Dark eyes, swollen and bloody, tried to open and look for me. I reached forward and took hold of his hand, mindful of all his cuts.

  “Jax, you're awake,” I said through hiccups and tears.

  He groaned and lifted his free hand to touch the back of his head. “My head is pounding.”

  “We're on our way home, Edith will be able to fix you up,” I said, my heart racing.

  Jax squeezed my hand. “I love you, bird.” He murmured just as sleep took him from me again.

  I stiffened, knowing full well Benny had heard Jax's admission, and I felt his stare on the side of my face as I settled back into my seat.

  “He's confused,” I said by way of an explanation.

  “Mrs C,” Benny sighed. “Did you know I was a Marine back in the UK?”

  I shook my head.

  “Well it's true, I only left because of health reasons. Not because I'm stupid, yeah?” A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. “I won't say a damn word to anybody, but after tonight? I'm not sure how much my silence is going to help. Vladimir sent Marco, and he's going to be awful suspicious when we arrive home with a beaten Jax, and he never hears from Marco again, ya hear me?”

  Oh, I heard him alright. I heard him loud and clear. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  The rest of the drive was made in silence. Nothing but the sound of the truck over the gravel road, the pitter-patter of rain as it grew weaker, the ragged breathing of Jax.

  Before long, the glowing, forboding sight of The Mansion came into view. I'd never seen it from beyond the walls in the dark. It reminded me of a gothic castle, with the road leading to the main gates flanked on either side by towering trees, thick with dark green leaves, and then the building itself. You couldn't see much, seeing as Vlad had built high walls all around the property, but from my seat and with tired eyes, I could make out the top of The Mansion. The dark terracotta bricks, the flat roof, the closed windows that showed no light or signs of life.

  I shuddered.

  “You okay, Mrs C?” Benny asked as he navigated the twisting roads that would bring us to the gates.

  “No, not really,” I admitted.

  “Anything I can do?”

  I shook my head and almost cried out as the metal gates came into view. “You've done enough, thank you.”

  Benny rolled his window down, and then reached his arm out and pressed a button on the intercom. A fizzing noise rang out, waking Jax a little, and then there was a voice I recognized all too well.

  “Yes?” Jozef's voice said.

  Benny rolled his eyes. “It's us, open the gates. Got a man down here.”

  There was a loud click noise, and the gates opened, dragging metal across the gravel, and my hand gripped the door handle. For the first time today, I was tempted to run. How far would I get? Would Benny come after me and drag me back to the lion?

  And then the truck moved forwards, killing any stupid thoughts I had.

  Vladimir was waiting at the open front door, and he looked murderous. Dressed in a white shirt, black slacks, he held a bottle of scotch in his left hand, every so often he'd take a long swig as he watched the truck pull up.

  Jax was trying to sit up, somehow aware of where we were, and it hurt me to see him desperate to help me. Because of me, we were in this situation. Because I, even if it was subconsciously, lured Jax to me. My head and heart's civil war continued within me. He loved me, though. Didn't he?

  “Ella, you head indoors, I'll help Jax,” Benny said.

  I stole a glance at Jax on the backseat; he was half sitting up, one hand resting against his ribs, the other one shaking under his weight. Fresh blood was now trickling from the cut near his eye. I didn't want to leave him.

  “Bird...” he groaned. “I'll be okay.”

  Needing one last touch, I let my hand run carefully down the untouched part of his face, making sure to burn the feeling of him to my memory.

  Unable to speak, I went to leave the vehicle, but Benny exclaimed. “Oh shit, Mrs C, I almost forgot.” He pulled a necklace from his pocket, a chunky thing that dangled from a long chain, and my blood ran cold. That was Marnie's. “You forgot this.” He said, placing the piece of jewelry in my hand.

  I looked down at it, the angels' wings, the blue gem in the middle. “Where did you find this?" I asked.

  “It was outside the motel room with Marco's shit,” he shrugged, before switching off the engine.

  I didn't have any pockets, and so I shoved the necklace in my bra, and looked at Jax one last time, feeding off the bravery he'd shown since arriving here.

  Vladimir hadn't moved from his spot by the time I made it up the front steps. He glowered at me, his knuckles white around the bottle he held, I could smell the fury. His black eyes had burned a hole in the top of my head as I'd ascended the stairs. Every inch of me, from my t
oes to my head, was trembling. Even my breaths were coming out as noisy, shaking rattles.

  I stood before him, waiting, preparing myself for the worst.

  “Hello, Ella,” he said, deep and dark.

  “Hello, Vladimir,” I replied.

  “You're late,” he looked towards the truck. “A junkie, huh?” The raised eyebrow told me everything: he didn't believe Benny's story.

  “Y-yes, I believe so. I wasn't with him when it happened.”

  Vladimir regarded me for a moment; his eyes raked up and down my body. “Get inside, Ella. We need to have a little talk.”

  He stood aside, and I walked into the foyer, Edith came bustling out the kitchen and gave me a sad smile before disappearing again. Behind me, the door slammed shut, and I spun on my heels.

  Vladimir was stalking towards me, placing the bottle on a small table beside the main doors, and then his fingers unbuckled his belt.

  “Vladimir, please don't. The weather, we wouldn't have made it.” I said, taking careful steps backward.

  He made a show of flipping the leather of his belt aside so he could release the catch, and then he yanked it through the loops of his pants. My hand went to the scars across my chest, a pathetic defense mechanism against the most evil of men.

  Folding the belt, he swished it through the air, grinning as it cracked back and forth. “Shut up, Ella. I'm tired, exhausted even, and I want to play with my wife.”

  “Play?” I gulped.

  “Meet me in the library in five minutes. I want you naked, on your knees, and waiting for me, sweet wife. Don't fucking argue, I am in no mood for any more lies this evening.” With that, he stormed upstairs, the crack of the belt echoing as he continued to whip it through the air.

  Just at that moment, Edith appeared. I ran over to her, pulling the necklace from my bra. “Edith, please, you must hide this somewhere Jax will find it.” I shoved the chain into her warm palm and looked into soft blue eyes.

  She looked nervous, quickly tucking the jewelry into the pocket of her apron. “Mrs Chrobak, what's going on?” She asked, touching my shoulder.