This time I close my fingers around Doctor’s hand and let the sleep take over.
“She’ll be alright,” Doctor says to Ben. “Set her down on the bed, and leave. She’s going to go through hell until all that shit’s out of her system. I’ll stay with her.”
“No, I need to be here with her too.”
“Unless you’ve got medical training, there’s nothing you can do for her. You’ll only be in my way.”
“I need to make sure she’s alright.”
“You’ve done all you can for now. This is what I do; this is what I’ve been doing for her for years. I look after her. I patch her up. I get her better and then she goes off to do what she does. It’s my job to care for her, and…”
“It should be me.”
“You don’t get it. It’s more than a job for me. I’m caring for one of my own.”
“I do understand. She’s more than just 15 the assassin to me. She’s the woman I love.”
That’s when beautiful black velvet covers me and I fall into a deep and welcome oblivion.
I’m covered in water, or so it feels. Curled up on the soft mattress, the body I once had control over feels so alien to me. It’s bucking up off the bed, jerking and twitching. I can hear moans and groans coming from deep within me.
I’m craving the drug, just enough to take the edge off.
A hand wipes a cool, wet cloth over my face and I struggle to open my weighted eyes to see who it is.
I’m consumed by pain so excruciating that it’s a struggle just to lift my hand up and swat at the cloth.
My body is convulsing with a dire, bone-deep need for just a taste of the poison that’s polluted my body.
“Please,” I murmur, writhing in agony. I turn toward the person caring for me. “Please,” I plead, louder now, desperate.
“No. You need to fight it,” the voice replying is hypnotic, resolute. Doctor?
“Just a little,” I gurgle as the fire in my nerves washes over me again. It’s worse now, tearing me to shreds from the inside. The pain is relentless.
“You’ve been through worse, 15. You need to fight it. Remember the time I got that bullet out that was lodged one millimeter from your heart? Even two millimeters to the left and you would’ve died. Do you remember what happened when you woke up?”
My mind blanks, and I can’t fight the pain any longer as my mind fights my cravings.
I drift in and out of darkness with no awareness of the time that passes.
I’m vaguely aware of Doctor and Ben sitting with me, and they watch me heave through my hunger and thirst for the golden liquid, aching for its release to spread through me just one more time.
I’m not sure how long my mind is enveloped in darkness, pain, and weakness. I have no idea how many days, or even weeks pass by as I lay in this bed, completely consumed by my own worst terrifying nightmare – a loss of control so complete I’ve forgotten who and what I am.
The bleakness is present in every breath I take, the blackness evident in the shadows behind every flutter of my eyelids.
My body isn’t my own and the reality is unnerving. It shakes and still craving the drug, all while my system tries to purge the dirty drugs that have been pumped into me since the moment I was sold into sexual slavery.
Through the looming, horror-filled moments, I do grasp a small sliver of clarity and begin to make plans.
Plans to kill the man that bought me, the wife that insisted I whore myself out, and the daughter who encouraged men to indulge their gruesome fantasies.
My plans go deeper and stretch further than just seeking justice for myself.
Those men that were hurting the little girl in Katsu’s care will also be dealt the hand they deserve.
My head clears just a little more as my aching body is covered in goose bumps and a fine sheen of cold sweat as I think of Katsu.
My plans for him grow more detailed and precise as my body lays slumped and broken, slowly healing itself.
I will be Anna Brookes once more, and when I’m fully recovered, there’ll be no stopping the full force of what I’ll bring to Katsu Vang.
The pain I’ve endured will be nothing in comparison to the red hot wrath that I’ll happily inflict upon him.
He will die by my hand. It will be a slow, torturous, agonizing experience for him. For me it’ll be a delicious revenge, and my burning hunger to end his life will be satisfied as I watch him beg for mercy from me.
The sheer burn of my rage clouds my mind again, and I’m lost in a sea of desperate desires for revenge.
Nothing else can occupy my thoughts; they are filled with only two things: the agonizing desire for another hit, alternating with an insatiable thirst for revenge.
My stomach coils and my heavy limbs begin to seize again as I propel forward and to the side as I retch. My eyes catch a quick hand moving to retrieve a bucket that’s shoved under my chin.
I hurl into the bucket and my stomach begins to spasm as it tries to hold onto the drugs escaping through my every pore. I want them gone; I want my mind clear. But I also lust for the intoxicating euphoria the heroin provides for me.
“Please,” I moan, not knowing exactly what I’m asking for.
“Just a little while longer, 15. You’re almost done,” Doctor says in his low-pitched, soothing voice.
My body shudders as a quake vibrates through my entire being. I feel the sweat rolling off me like I’ve had water thrown on me.
The smell is sickly and coats my skin with a reminder of the drugs that ooze out of me. The wretched odor clings to everything around me. The bed sheets are soaked, and serve as a reminder how wicked addiction can be.
The air is saturated with the stale, opiate-tinged stench of sickness, the scent tricking my brain into wanting more of the drug.
I lie back down and try to keep my eyes open. The fatigue is fighting me and I let it win the battle.
A mumble shudders past my lips. I’m not sure what it is I’m trying to say.
Maybe the pain’s gotten to be too overwhelming. Maybe I should stop fighting it.
Closing my eyes, I drop my head back into the damp pillow and just let sleep take me away to an unknown place.
Somewhere I can be the way I was, where I can be me.
“Anna.” Cinnamon slowly replaces the smell of my body reacting to the lack of heroin. “Baby girl, I’m going to lift you and take you into the bathroom to wash you.”
“Hmmm,” is all the conversation I can manage.
“I’m going to pick you up now.”
I feel him slide an arm under my knees and one beneath my neck.
“Ahhhh,” I cry out in pain. Everywhere he’s touching is sensitive and my nerves are still burning with an intense fire.
“I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.”
I feel his lips meet my forehead as he starts taking steps.
Trying to force my eyes open, the brightness of the lights stings my delicate orbs and I close them immediately, nestling into Ben’s chest.
A thick taste of metal is heavy in my mouth, lining my throat and making it more difficult to turn my mind off or turn away from the misery that’s pounding through me, demanding another hit of heroin.
Ben sets me on a chair and lifts my sticky t-shirt over my head, exposing my breasts to the crisp air in the bathroom.
A shiver snakes its way from the top of my spine all the way down to my toes as the coolness glides across my tingling skin.
He hooks one arm around me, under my armpits, and lifts me off the chair to slide my sweat pants off. He sets me back down, completely bare. His lips thin into a straight line as he looks at me.
“I’m cold,” I say in a weak, shaky voice as I try and shield myself with my arms to guard against the cold.
“The tub’s almost filled. I’ll lift you in once it’s done. I’ll turn off the lights too, so they don’t hurt your eyes.” He drops some bath salts into the tub.
I stay huddled on the chair
as I hear the water gush from the faucet. Steam from the bath fills the air in the bathroom with warm moisture and the welcome scent of something other than my filthy body.
“Here you go, baby girl,” he says and lifts me gently into the warm tub.
I lay back and allow the water to cover me. The warmth soothes my damaged body.
“Sit forward,” he commands in a gentle voice.
I lean forward and drawing my knees close to my chest, I hug them. He moves away and I hear a click.
“You can open your eyes. I’ve turned the light off.”
I slowly will my eyelids to open and I turn my head to see a single yellow candle boldly flickering on the vanity. The reflection in the mirror behind it throws off more soft illumination, giving the bathroom a heavenly, golden glow.
Ben’s hand tenderly touches my back with a washcloth, as his fingers draw soothing circles the length of my spine.
“Hmmm,” I moan as I savor the peaceful touch of his gentle hand. “Ben,” I begin to say as I let him continue to wash my body.
“Yeah,” he says against my ear as I lean into his touch further.
“I haven’t forgotten,” my voice holds a warning in it.
“I would be disappointed if you did.” He chuckles but continues to wash me.
He fucking lied to me. He didn’t tell me he’s one of the Pace family and an arms dealer. For that he’ll have to suffer the punishment, when I regain my strength and my ability to kick his fucking ass.
Ben
Anna’s been detoxing for the last twelve days and although she’s doing well, she still hasn’t completely overcome her addiction to heroin.
Three nights ago, while I was washing the stench from her supple skin she warned me. I’m under no misapprehension. The words she said were not taken lightly. I definitely expect her to do some damage to me and I’ll let her, because I deserve it.
Doctor’s been by her side and caring for her while she hurts and her body tries to free itself from the drugs that were forcefully pumped into her.
Emily and I have heard her cries, her whimpers, and her screams as she fights her need to put more of the toxins back into her body.
Hearing her fight her demons is excruciating for me. Anna’s vulnerability isn’t something I ever thought I would see, nor do I think it was anything she expected from herself. Her wails are the worst sounds that ever passed her delicious lips.
“You do realize she’ll be pissed off when she regains some control,” Emily says as I grip the sofa cushion in my hands, trying to stop myself from going into her room to hold her.
“She’s already warned me,” I mutter as I try to block out the cries for help coming from her room.
Emily laughs and shakes her head as I focus on the quiet now coming from the back of the house.
Her pleas, although painful to hear, are becoming fewer and farther apart.
A few more days, and hopefully they will stop altogether. However, now that she’s had a taste of heroin, it will be a lifelong battle for her not to touch it again. My plan is to get her out of this life, to get us both out of it.
Emily can run the family business, or we can close the doors. I don’t fucking care. I want out, and I want out with Anna. I want us away from all the shit that comes with a constant state of pretending, of having to be covert. Trying to hide, trying to always be two steps ahead of others, and just trying to fucking survive.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I already know it’ll be Agent.
“Hey,” I answer once I’ve swiped my finger on the screen.
“We have trouble.”
I suppose he wouldn’t be calling me with great news.
“What?” I ask as I rub my forehead with my free and exhale a huge breath.
“You.”
“Me what?”
“Facial recognition caught you in Sydney. We’ve got to sneak you out of there.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“You really have no choice. I’m organizing transportation out of the country for you.”
“No, that’s not going to happen. We go together or I stay here.”
“The FBI knows you’re there. I can stall them by sending them your picture from the other side of the country, but they’ll eventually find you, which means they’ll find 15. I can probably give you three or four days maximum. Then you’ll need to leave.”
I close my eyes and rest my head on the back of the sofa, “We’ll all be ready to move by then.”
“There may also be another problem. Looks like Yakuza is closing in on Katsu. He’s been located in the Philippines. Word is, the Yakuza are on their way.”
My eyes fly open and I turn to look at Emily. Everyone wants him dead, but no one more than Anna, Emily, and me.
“Can you get to him? Get him to relocate, somehow herd him in a direction where we can intercept him?” I ask Agent. His fingers are furiously tapping on a keyboard as I try and formulate some sort of plan.
“I’m not sure. The lead I have on him is good now, but the channels to further information could be closed tomorrow, given the intelligence operations and deep pockets of the Yakuza.”
“Just do what you can, and keep me informed.”
I disconnect the call, stand and go into the kitchen. Emily’s only steps away behind me.
“What’s happening?”
“The Yakuza’s found Katsu somewhere in the Philippines. Facial recognition software has identified me here and we have a maximum of four days to get out before we’re found.” I lean against the kitchen counter and hang my head as I try to calm myself down with some deep breathing.
My damned heart’s hammering too fast. This clusterfuck is getting worse by the moment.
“Well, big brother, we’d better get your girlfriend and get the fuck out of here.”
I nod once though I continue to breathe deeply. I walk to the back of the house, and knock on Anna’s door.
The door opens slowly and Doctor walks out. His sleeves are rolled up and the top two buttons of his shirt are open, showing a spray of grey hair.
“What do you want?” his tone tells me he’s pissed off.
“We have four days then we have to move.”
“I’ll give it my best, but she may not be ready to go.” He throws his thumb behind him toward the bed.
Anna’s asleep but she looks pasty and sweaty. Beside the bed is a bucket and the stench of vomit mixed with body odor clings to the confined air in the room.
I push past him and go sit beside Anna on the bed. She looks terrible. Her hair is all matted, her face is sunken in, and she’s lost too much weight. The track marks on her arms aren’t as bad as they were when we rescued her, and the bruises are fading to a light yellowish color.
“Baby girl,” I gently say as I stroke her hair.
“She only got to sleep a few minutes ago. Don’t wake her. She needs her rest,” Doctor commands as he towers over the bed.
“I’ll stay with her. You go and do whatever it is you do.”
“I’ll be back in a few hours. If she wakes up aggressive, just call for me.”
I nod but don’t look at him. The door closes and I know he’s left us.
Moving over to the chair, I relax, sit back, and close my eyes. I allow my mind to drift and my body to become heavy as I sit and wait for my girl to overcome her demons.
Crying wakes me, not full on hysterical crying, but more like soft whimpering.
I sit up in the chair and open my eyes, blinking to let them adjust to the low light in the room.
Anna’s restless in the bed, her legs kicking out and her arms flailing every few seconds.
Little cries escape her and her head thrashes from side to side.
“Hey,” I say as I try and wake her gently.
I’m not stupid though. She’s still a highly-trained assassin who could kill me in her sleep. Sitting on the side of her bed, while she’s in this state, is a guarantee of at least one broken bone – mine,
not hers.
“Hey,” I say louder, hoping my voice can rouse her from her nightmare.
Anna’s eyelids softly flutter open; she pulls the covers over her body then looks straight up to the ceiling.
“Anna,” I lower my voice, speaking softly in an effort not to frighten her.
She turns her head and looks at me, cocking one eyebrow as her eyes take me in. “What are you doing here?” she asks as she turns her body on its side to face me.
“I gave Doctor a few hours off.”
“Hmmm,” she huffs, looking peeved.
“What do you need?”
“I’m hungry and thirsty and I need a shower.” She places both her hands together between her cheek and the pillow.
Although she looks like she’s been to hell to fight the devil, she still has that beautiful spark in her dark brown eyes.
“When you’re ready, I’ll take you to the bathroom and help you shower. When you’re done I’ll make you something to eat.”
“I can wash myself, and I only want something light to eat.” She stretches in the bed and rolls her neck.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t wash yourself, I said I’m going to wash you. Big difference, and get used to it, because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Why were you asleep in the chair and not beside me?”
“First, because that bed isn’t big enough, and second, because I value my balls and don’t want you killing me in your sleep,” I say as I chuckle.
“You think I’d kill you?” she asks as she turns her head to look at me again, furrowing her eyebrows.
“Not intentionally, but you’re more than capable of doing so if you wake up during a nightmare...” I trail off and wait for her reaction.
“You’re probably lucky you haven’t come to my bed. You wouldn’t like what I’d do to you.” Her voice is stiff, laced with warning, but her body betrays her. Anna tries to maintain that hardened ‘don’t fuck with me’ exterior, but the corners of her mouth twitch up just the slightest amount. She looks away from me and attempts to hide a smile.
The HiT Series Page 47