Broken Beauty

by Bry Ann

  My jaw clenches.

  “This is all I’ll ask of you, Ajax. For all I’ve done.”

  “I do this my way, Anthony. You don’t lay a finger on her.”

  Anthony smirks. “Yes, Ajax, she’s all yours.”

  My head falls. “When?”

  Rain

  Present Day- Five Days Later

  I pace my room over and over again. Kiki’s gone. My best friend went to some abandoned fucking island days ago and I let her. What was I thinking?! I tug at the ends of my hair. I can’t stay here. I have to do something. I have to go somewhere. I turn on my heel and snatch my keys from the dresser. I don’t know where I'm gonna go. I'm the epitome of a homebody but I'm suffocating inside these four walls, knowing my girl is out there in danger. She’s as much my family as my dad is.

  I storm through the house, my heels clicking on the way. Dad’s working, of course. He hasn’t even realized Kiki left yet. I'm two feet from my car when I see Ajax standing outside the gate, leaning against the wall. Ajax… of all people. What the hell is he doing here?

  I storm towards the gate in four-inch heels and demand the security guard open it. As soon as it’s open, I make my way over to Ajax. When I reach him, both of my hands plant onto his chest and I shove, hard.

  “Did you know, motherfucker?! Did you fucking know?!”

  I shove again. And again. And again. Until he reaches the wall once more and has to grasp my wrists to stop me. Even though he’s gigantic, his hold is gentle. I could pull away, but instead, I glare at him.

  “Did you know?” I hiss.

  “Know what, Rain?”

  I'm pretty sure a growl erupts from my throat. “About Kiki, Ajax! About what he did to her!”

  “Kiki?”

  I roll my eyes. “Katrina.” That name makes me nauseous now. “She goes by Kiki now. Wanna know why? Because your bastard of a brother beat her so bad she had to change her identity.”

  “Watch it,” Ajax warns, ever protective of that son of a bitch.

  “Watch it? Watch it! Why do you always defend him? You’re weak. He hurt her. He—” I choke up. “I love her and she’s gone because of him.”

  Ajax’s eyes soften for a brief moment, but it’s quickly replaced with that empty, lost look I'm used to seeing. “I-I can take you to him.”

  My eyes narrow. “Great. Let me grab my knife,” I snap.

  “Rain… he-he didn’t do anything.”

  “Take me to him. I’ll make him confess. I’ll show you.”

  “Okay, climb in. My car’s across the street.”

  “I’ll follow you,” I say quickly, feeling my heart rate spike. Cars. Closed space with a virtual stranger where I have no control. No, thank you. No. No. No.

  Ajax tilts his head and studies me like he can see inside my soul, like always. “Alright, no problem. I’ll go slow. You can follow.”

  I nod and I do follow him. I follow him to a house I'm unfamiliar with. I follow him as he leads me inside. I don’t even know what I'm doing. I'm lonely and stressed and I trust Ajax, reluctantly. As I enter and the door is locked, I know I fucked up. Ajax meets my eyes and there’s an apology there.

  “I'm sorry.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need you to trust me.”

  “Oh yeah, ‘cause that’s worked out so well for me so far. I did trust you and here we are.”

  “Rain,” he whispers, taking a step closer. “Just follow me. Please.”

  “Or what?”

  “Nothing,” he says immediately. “I won’t hurt you.”

  “But you will force me to stay here, right? What if I were to walk out the door, like this?”

  I take a step forward. Then another. When I go to pass him, he lifts a hand to stop me. I don’t miss the way his hand shakes.

  “I need you to stay. For a little while.”

  “Fuck you,” I whisper, swallowing my urge to cry.

  “I deserve that.”

  “You’re weak. How can someone so strong be so weak?”

  “I’ve never claimed otherwise.”

  “What do you want with me?”

  “If you follow me, I’ll tell you. I don’t mind you down here, it’s just, well, if Anthony comes, I don’t want you near him.”

  “Oh, and why’s that? I thought he was a saint.”

  Ajax sighs. He doesn’t say anything. He just trudges up the stairs. I head for the front door slowly but Ajax turns. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “Why’s that?”

  He gives me a sad smile. “Trust me.”

  “I hate you,” I whisper, taking my first step towards the stairs.

  “I hate myself,” I swear I hear him say, but I don’t care.

  I follow him up the stairs and into the room. I don’t know if what he said is true. I don’t know if there’s a trap if I were to open the door, but my life has led me to believe that there is. When we enter one of the rooms, Ajax doesn’t shut the door, which I'm more than grateful for. I’m quiet for a long time. Just trying to stay calm. Trying to not panic, but when Ajax doesn’t say anything further about holding me here I can’t stay quiet any longer.

  “Why am I here?”

  “Katrina left Anthony. He needs me to keep you here until Katrina agrees to speak with him. They just need to talk.”

  “Her name is Kiki,” I whisper.

  “Sorry, Kiki” Ajax says, tilting his head to the side a bit.

  I feel my heart start to race. “How can you apologize for getting her name wrong and condemn her to a fate with Anthony?”

  “Rain…”

  “You know!” I shriek.

  Ajax’s gaze drops. “He won’t do anything,” he mutters.

  “Oh, you piece of shit,” I scream. “You’re in complete denial. You have to let me go, Ajax! My father has money. A whole lot of it. If he finds out you did this—”

  “Your adoptive father,” Ajax interjects coldly, smirking. I hate him.

  “You son of a… He’s my father legally.”

  “Yes, and why is that, mon ami?”

  “Don’t give me nicknames,” I hiss.

  We’re both silent for a long minute, staring at each other with narrowed eyes.

  “You know,” Ajax whispers, “Anthony said I could lock you in the bedroom if you misbehaved.”

  All the blood drains from my face.

  Ajax stops smirking. “Rain, I wouldn’t—”

  “You can’t keep me here. I-I can’t stay here. I didn’t do anything wrong. I'm not in trouble. I'm not bad. Please,” I whisper, backing up.

  “Rain, it’s okay. You’re not in trouble. You’re safe.”

  “N-No, please.” I duck down in front of the closet and curl into myself. “I'm sorry. Please.”

  “Rain, you’re okay,” I hear Ajax say. “Rain, look at me.”

  I flinch. “Why are you calling me Rain? My name is Marie. I-It’s Marie. I'm sorry,” I whimper as the first tear falls.

  “Rain, what’s happening? You’re not in trouble. You’re good. You’re a good person, I know that.”

  “I'm a good girl,” I whimper.

  “Yes, you are,” Ajax agrees with a whisper.

  I'm quiet for a long time while my head spins and tries to get a grip on reality. “Something’s wrong with me,” I whisper.

  Ajax sits down a few feet away from me. “Nothing’s wrong with you. We all got damage.”

  I meet his eyes. “Don’t lie. I'm completely certifiable.”

  He cocks his head. “It’s okay,” he whispers. “Who am I to judge?” he mutters.

  “Ajax, please,” I whimper. “He’s gonna hurt her.”

  He winces. “He won’t. He’s changed. He just wants another chance.”

  Heat rises in my chest. I have to bite my tongue to keep from yelling at him, but I know that won’t help anything. Ajax is broken and desperate. There’s no one more stubborn than that. He wants to believe Anthony isn’t evil, because I know Anthon
y is all he has. So despite the fury boiling between my blood and the trembling of my fingers from my lingering flashback, I place my hand on his strong arm.

  “Then why does he need to be alone with her? Why does he need me gone? If he just wants to talk, why am I, or you even, in the way?” Taking a deep breath, I stare at my knees. “My dad did that. When he was gonna hurt me. He’d make sure we were alone.”

  “Rain,” Ajax whispers as my body shakes harder. “Anthony isn’t your father. He wouldn’t.”

  “But he already has,” I snap. “Once a monster, always a monster.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “I do. I’ve experienced it.”

  Ajax stands, shaking his head. “Once I get the all clear, I’ll check on them. You have my word.”

  “No, please!” I scream. “You shouldn’t need an all clear! I don’t want her broken like me! She’s a light in this world, Ajax. God, please.”

  Ajax’s jaw tightens and I think for one moment that I have him, until footsteps sound outside the window and Ajax straightens. He glances over at me quickly to make sure I'm still huddled up by the closet before turning to the window and pulling a gun. A gasp escapes my lips right as a man with long blonde hair and a thin but muscular physique jumps through the window.

  “You have five seconds to get yourself out the same way you came in,” Ajax growls, muscles flexing over the grip of his gun that is trained straight on the man who jumped through the window.

  The man with the blonde hair glances around the room until he finds me. When his eyes land on my curled-up form, they blaze with fury.

  “What the hell did you do to her?” He growls.

  “Don’t make accusations you know nothing about,” Ajax snaps, knowing the reason for my pale face isn’t solely on him.

  Ajax is still stiff, ready to shoot the mysterious man on sight, when I see a large, intimidating figure with slicked-back hair sneak up behind Ajax.

  “Ajax!” I shriek right as this new man’s gun is pointed at the back of Ajax’s head.

  “We don’t make idle threats,” the man with the gun pointed at Ajax growls. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t put a bullet in the back of your head,” he snarls.

  “Wait,” I find myself whispering. Everyone turns to me. If these men care about my life they have to know Kiki since I don’t know them, or my father, but I’m praying it’s Kiki. So I take a chance. “Where’s Kiki?”

  I feel Ajax’s gaze boring into me, wondering why I saved him. Because I did. The man with slicked-back hair was on the edge of pulling the trigger. The topic has now changed and his control has strengthened.

  “She’s in the car,” the blonde-haired man says. “Ready to bust out of here?”

  She must have found out about Ajax holding me here and come for me. My girl.

  I’ll have to ask her how she found me and how she met these men. I wouldn’t put it past her to recruit people to come save me.

  “Y-Yes,” I stammer, feeling my panic start to bubble since I still don’t know these men. I turn to the seemingly friendly blonde-haired man. “Is he gonna kill him?” I ask, gesturing to the man with the dark eyes standing behind Ajax.

  “Do you want me to?” the man asks.

  I smirk and stare into Ajax’s green eyes. Exaggerating the sway of my hips to be smug, I walk so I'm face to face with Ajax.

  “Rain,” Ajax growls, looking truly pissed… and it pleases me. It pleases me so much. This man thinks he can kidnap me with no consequence. Hell no. He should have known better.

  “Maybe just knock him out,” I tell the man behind him with a smirk. “Bye, mon ami.”

  I give him a slow wave as Ajax seethes right in front of me. I stand there smirking as the man brings the gun down on his temple. Part of me, a large part, regrets letting my ego get in the way, but also… how could he? How could a kindred broken soul do even one thing to hurt the other? I don’t regret it. Even when his large body hits the ground with a thud, making me jump.

  The man with slicked back hair looks at the other man. “You good?”

  “Fine, nothing happened,” he replies.

  “Where exactly is Kiki?” I interrupt, walking over to the blonde man because I sense I can trust him and I usually am a good read of people. “Where’s my girl?”

  “She’s out in the car, like I told you. Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?”

  I look down at myself and scowl at the dirt on my cream dress.

  “I'm fine. I’ll clean up after I see Kiki.”

  He smiles a bit at that. “Funny, Kiki said about the same thing. Come, I had five minutes to get you in and out before she comes barging in. I expect her any moment now.”

  The blonde man turns to leave but pauses when he sees the other man’s face.

  “What?” he asks him.

  “It’s been eight minutes since we entered the house,” the man with slicked-back hair says, making the blonde freeze. “I'm no expert on your girl, but she was watching the timer—”

  The blonde man immediately takes off in a run before he even finishes.

  “Kiki!” he screams.

  I take off in a run behind him. If Kiki said she’d only wait five minutes before coming in this house, she would have been in here the second the clock hit five minutes… unless she physically wasn’t able to.

  “Kiki!” the blonde screams again, making my heartbeat kick up a notch. He pushes the front door open so hard it rebounds off the wall behind it. “Kik—no. No, no, no.”

  “What?” I breathe, skidding to a stop behind him. I stare at the car in front of me. The driver’s side window is busted open and there are glass shards everywhere.

  Kiki’s gone.

  10

  Ajax

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  I'm running for my car before the other three have even processed what happened. I don’t really want to leave Rain alone with them, but they came to save her from me and were pissed when they thought I hurt her. She’ll be okay. Katrina, on the other hand…

  Fuck.

  She’ll be fine. Anthony promised.

  I slam on my gas. I know exactly where Anthony is. I'm not worried, I'm not, but Rain’s words keep playing in my head. I can’t deny that she cast doubt in my head. And he’s hurt Katrina—Kiki—before. God, I don’t know what I’ll do if he lied and all this was to hurt her.

  That would make me an accomplice to this sick shit. My stomach swirls with nausea at the very thought. My mother was an advocate for women’s rights. She ran a shelter for victims of domestic violence and worked with the government to pass laws to increase the punishment for domestic violence victims. What a disgusting way to repay her this would be. Not to mention years in the foster care system will make you an advocate for girls’ rights quickly.

  I pull up to Anthony and Kiki’s house. I use the spare key under the mat to let myself inside.

  “Yo, Anthony! I have to talk to you!” I call as I walk through the entryway. No reason to panic unless he gives me one.

  No response.

  I pick up my pace until I'm in the carpet-covered living room. What I see has the blood boiling beneath my veins. Kiki’s on the floor, gasping for air with blood running down her lip and a bruise forming on her right eye. Anthony, on the other hand, is tearing her clothes off her and this is not consensual.

  “Anthony, what the fuck?! I thought you were done with this shit! Let her go.”

  I'm easily twice Anthony’s size so I run over and grab Anthony’s collar, pulling him off Kiki. I crouch down in front of Kiki.

  “Jesus Christ, you son of a bitch,” I mutter to Anthony. “Hey, hey,” I say softly when Kiki flinches. I lift my hands to show I'm not gonna hurt her. “It’s okay. I'm just gonna cover you up, okay? It’s all okay.”

  I lift my shirt over my head and place it over her slightly exposed body.

  “Please,” Kiki whimpers, using her heels to push back frantically. I look up to see Anthony standing at her feet,
glaring at her. A sound resembling a growl escapes my chest as I shove to my feet, storm over to Anthony, and punch him square in the jaw.

  “I’ve always defended you, even though I suspected what you were doing! Instead of turning you in, I tried to help you. You swore, if we got your wife back, you wouldn’t hurt her anymore. You’re my brother, man. My fucking brother. You took me in when I had no one. I’ve wanted to repay the favor but—but I can’t sit by while you do this anymore, man. I can’t and I won’t. This shit is fucked. Kiki’s bleeding. She’s bruised. She almost—fuck, you almost raped her, man.”

  “She’s my wife!” Anthony roars.

  “She didn’t consent, you fucking son of a bitch!”

  I reach up to punch Anthony again, but before I can process Anthony’s movement, a knife plunges into my chest. Once, then again and again and again until I'm crashing to the ground in pain.

  “Stop!” I hear Kiki scream. “You’re killing him! Please!”

  I don’t really care about dying, but I don’t want Kiki to see it. I feel fabric land over my chest and then Kiki is screaming again, but I can’t make out what she’s saying. Her voice is shrill and my brain is muddy. Time seems to pass as slowly as molasses. I want to help Kiki. I try to move but nothing is working. When Anthony drags Kiki out of the house, I activate every muscle I’ve got to try and help her, but nothing works. Even if I could fight past the pain, the energy just isn’t there. My eyes are starting to flutter closed when I hear the sound of the door crashing in.

  “Ajax, oh my God!” I know that voice… Rain.

  The same two men from earlier are directing each other to look for Kiki while Rain slides down next to me, breathing heavy.

  “Rain?” I croak.

  “Ajax, please. Ajax!”

  “I—get Kiki. Rain…” I slur. She needs to calm down and go save Kiki.

  “Ajax,” Rain cries as her hands run up and down my body.

  “Hey, hey, what do we have here?” one of the men asks, taking a seat beside Rain. I want to scream. They shouldn’t be here. They need to find Kiki. “Rain, let me help him,” he says.