This Regret

by Victoria Ashley

  "I don't know, Cape," the short stub says with amusement. "She may not be as easy access as you think. She looks like she's ready to give you a little hell. She’s a feisty one."

  I can’t handle his touch anymore. I’m about to flip out. While he's distracted, I take this as my moment to attempt my getaway. Not that I'll get far, but I try regardless. I bring my foot up behind me, kicking him between the legs the best I can manage.

  He grunts and his grip loosens, but not enough to pull free; just enough to piss him off. "You stupid bitch!"

  Yanking me by the arm, he spins me around and slaps me hard, across the face.

  The sting causes me to close my eyes and whimper as he slams me against the bar and starts grinding his crotch into my ass. My dress rides up, exposing my panties as he growls next to my ear. He grabs the hem of my dress and jerks it upward, almost tearing the fabric. He sounds his approval of me perched in the air behind me; taking me in. He cups his grimy hands over my sex and rubs, making me gag. I can't believe I'm bent over this bar about to be raped in front them. I am repulsed as he violates me. Where is Kellan?

  A few more unwanted tears escape. "Test me again! I dare you to do it! Try me and I will pull my fucking cock out and ram it between your legs. I'll give it to you good. I would love a piece of your sweet little ass" He licks the side of my face. He thrusts against my backside again, causing me to hiss and squeeze my eyes closed. "I bet your little boyfriend wouldn't like that, would he? I bet he thinks his cock is the best. That cocky shithead. Maybe we should let him watch while I cum all in your sweet little pussy. I bet he won't be so arrogant then. "He leans against my ear and laughs. "That's right. That little shit, Kellan. We have a lot to discuss. There's things you need to know, sweetheart."

  Grabbing me by the hair, he swings me backwards and into one of the other guy's arms. "Get that bitch into the car as quietly as you can. I'll be out in a minute."

  My eyes start to water as I realize what's about to happen. They're taking me somewhere. I'm going to end up on one of those crime shows; my body mutilated and thrown in a ditch or river somewhere. Where is Kellan? What is going on? I'm so confused and angry that I just want to scream. I try to, but another hand quickly covers my mouth, silencing me. My legs are shaking so badly, the only thing keeping me standing is the firm grip the guy has on me.

  These men are strong; a lot stronger than I am. I know no matter how hard I fight, unless someone comes along to save me, I’m screwed. I'm no match for them.

  My legs dangle below me as I try to regain my balance, but I’m being drug out the back door and over to the shitty car I saw parked down the street from Kellan’s. They have been watching me this whole time, but what I can't figure out is why? What does Kellan have to do with this?

  Both of the other men have a hold of me, forcing me to comply with whatever they want to do to me. One guy grabs my legs and lifts me up as the other guy opens the back door to the car. Then before I know it, I’m being shoved inside with meat grinder face.

  One hand is over my mouth, his other holding my arms still, as his legs wrap around mine, squeezing. This is ridiculous. I can’t move for crap. I can’t move! I start to panic more as the tears stream down my cheeks. I can’t control them anymore. I can’t breathe and my chest hurts. Where are they taking me?

  The short guy jumps in the passenger seat and a few seconds later, blondie is in the driver seat. He leans over the seat to look at me and smiles, a big, disgusting smile that I want to knock off his smug face. Now the anger is setting in. “Thanks for the cooperation, sugar. It'll all be worth it soon enough.”

  I try to swing my foot up, to kick the back of his seat, but it barely moves an inch, before being pulled back by smelly guy’s legs. Not only is this guy ugly as ass, but he smells like a dead animal. Right now, I want to crawl right out of my skin.

  Blond guy, looks over the seat and laughs at my attempt before turning back around, starting the car and driving us away from my safety. I watch with wet eyes as Spinner’s fades into the distance.

  We drive for what seems like hours when in actuality it’s for about fifteen minutes according to the calculations in my head. I figured it may ease the panic if I count in my head versus anticipate my death. It didn't do much good with being in the arms of the filth I’m in, even a second feels like hours.

  We end up at some old abandoned warehouse that sits off of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t another business, street or car in view for at least five miles. Looking around, makes me feel even sicker. I have no idea what they’re going to do to me here. There's no one around to help if I were to scream. I’m on my own. I feel like I'm in the middle of a horror film.

  When the car engine stops, snake eyes gets out of the car and walks over to open the back door. Leaning in, he grabs me by the hair and pulls me out of filth’s arms. My hands shoot up to grab my hair as I scream, feeling little pieces of hair being ripped from my scalp.

  He swings me around so we’re face to face. “Go ahead!” he yells. “Scream!” He laughs sadistically and looks around with wide eyes. “No one can fucking hear you, sweetheart.” He turns to his posse. “Do you hear her anyone? Huh?”

  I fall into his chest as he yanks me against him and picks me up, tossing me over his shoulder. Out of instinct, I slam my fist into his back repeatedly, until he drops me to the ground. I land on my back, the air getting knocked out of my lungs, making my chest ache.

  Laughter surrounds me as I slowly open my eyes, focusing on what’s above me. Cape, as they call him and his two morons stand above me obviously amused with my struggling as I fight to regain my breath. It hurts to breathe. Maybe I bruised a rib.

  “Stop testing me.” Squatting, Cape shoves a finger into my forehead, scraping it across my flesh. “I have someone that has been dying to meet you.” He nods his head, stands up and starts backing away. “Oh yeah. You ready or what?”

  I suck in a deep breath, trying my best not to cry. I don’t want these morons to get the pleasure of seeing my tears. I won’t let them. Instead, I decide to play the calm role to ease things until I can figure out what the hell is going on. “I don’t have much of a choice. Now do I?”

  I stare up at him, surprising him with my come back. I guess he was expecting me to cry almost as much as I want to.

  He raises a brow and shoves the short guy, almost knocking him off balance. “Pick her ass up and help her inside, idiot.”

  The thought of these guys touching me, sends me straight up to my feet. Breathing or not, I don't want them helping me. “I can walk.” I swing my arm out, stopping Humpty as he reaches for my arm. “Don’t touch me,” I growl. “I’m not a fucking child, you know.”

  My reaction sends Cape into a fit of laughter as he walks backwards a few steps before spinning around and reaching for the metal door of the huge old building.

  Ugh! He makes me sick. I wish I could rip his heart out.

  When Humpty reaches for me again, the taller guy gives him a little shove before slapping him upside the head. “Let her walk by herself. Shit! Are you stupid? If she fucks up again . . .” He smiles at me and licks his disgusting, cracked lips. “Then she’s ours.”

  I find my legs working fast to be sure I don’t have to let one of these guys touch me again. My stomach can’t handle it. I’m about one touch away from a full blown anxiety attack and vomiting on someone's shoes.

  I keep walking fast while wondering, where’s Kellan? Is Kade in serious trouble? What the hell did I walk into?

  I reach the door, with the two idiots right on my trail. I can almost feel one of them on my backside and it makes my stomach churn at the thought. Too close; they're too close.

  Upon poking my head through the door, I see the room is almost empty besides a few wooden crates and pallets that are scattered throughout the room and what looks to be a card table, surrounded by folding chairs. The building smells of rot and mildew and the cement floor has a wet coating over it as if the roo
m has recently been wet down, the water getting drained into the various floor vents.

  The door slams behind me, causing me to jump and cover my mouth. This place creeps me out even more then the men.

  Cape looks at me and grins wickedly. “Calm down, sugar. We're not frightened, are we?” He walks over to stand next to me and I stiffen at his closeness. “There’s nothing to be scared of . . . yet.”

  I back away as he reaches for my chin, but he grabs it anyways and brings my face close to his. His breath smells of cheap Tequila and cigarettes making me gag a little. “So, tell me . . . Phoenix. Has your boyfriend ever mentioned me before?” I shake my head, trying to keep from shaking. “Oh what a fucking surprise. He acts as if nothing ever fucking happened. It must be nice to go on living normally.” He kicks the crate next to him and growls while squeezing my chin tighter. “As if he didn’t ruin my fucking life; after how generous I was to him. That little shit!”

  His breath is heavy on my lips as he looks me in the eyes and brings my hips close to his, rubbing his erection against my thin dress. “I’m going to love ruining his life. Yeah!” His fingers dig into my chin as I struggle to pull away. “I started with that dipshit brother of his. You know. . . Kade. You’re next, sweet tits.”

  I shake my head, holding back the tears as his lips press against mine, roughly kissing me as his tongue tries to pry my lips open. He tastes disgusting, as if he’s just licked an ashtray. I fight against him enough to get my lips away from his and scream. “Don’t kiss me!” I struggle some more in his arms as he grips my ass, working his way down between my legs. “Asshole!” I spit in his face and he slaps me, while cupping my ass tighter and slipping a finger under my panty line.

  “Let me feel what Kellan gets to feel. I bet you're tight. We can loosen you up a bit. I'm sure when I'm done with you, these two would love my left overs. They always do.” Just then, one of the two doors across the room opens and in walks a beautiful woman with long red hair, pushing a wheelchair. She takes one look at me in Cape’s arms and her face twists into disgust. “I’m not staying for this. I’m done this time.” She turns to leave.

  Pushing me away, Cape throws me into another set of arms where I’m forced down onto one of the crates, a hand pressing my shoulder down. “Maxine, baby. You know how this works. This is business not pleasure.” He grabs the woman by the arm and pulls her to him, grabbing her chin just as he grabbed mine. “Now shut the fuck up and kiss me, yeah? Don't forget your place and that's to please me.”

  The woman’s eyes meet mine as she hesitates. She looks at me for a moment before leaning in and kissing Cape on the mouth. I can’t tell for sure, but it almost looked as if she gagged a little upon impact. It makes me wonder what she’s doing with someone as awful as this guy. She is actually quite stunning. She doesn't belong here.

  Now that I’m out of the creep’s arms, I can finally focus on what I heard come out of his mouth. I can finally pull myself together enough to try to get some information. “What did you do to Kade, you sick bastard?” I grip onto the wood, preparing myself for the worst, while looking across the room at the wheelchair. Who is this guy staring at me? Why won’t he stop looking at me?

  His hair is long, blond and unkempt and it looks as if he hasn’t shaven in months. Maybe he can’t take care of himself. Can he even use his hands? He’s not moving; he’s just staring at me expressionless. I feel sick and I want to run. I can't help but wonder if Cape did this to this poor guy.

  My eyes wander around me, scoping out my options as Cape takes in my words. I have to get out of here. “Kade!” He laughs and walks over to stand behind the wheelchair. My eyes land on him as he begins to rub the guy’s head, lovingly. “This is Echo. My fucking brother! My damn flesh and blood. The boy I looked after as a kid. The boy who wanted to follow in my footsteps. Does it look like he'll be following in anyone's footsteps now?”

  He starts coming my way, so I turn away, not wanting to look at his face. I can't look at him. The thought of him makes me sick. I just want to know what he’s done to Kade. I can’t take this. “Tell me what you did!” I feel him standing right beside me, so I bring my eyes up to look at his waist that is inches from my face. It’s then that I notice the handle of a gun, sticking out the top of his jeans. My heart goes crazy thinking of all the possibilities. Are they all armed or can I get away with this gun? I’m good with guns. I can use one. I didn't notice anyone else with guns. Then again, I didn't notice his until now either.

  Just as he’s about to look back at me, I look up before he can notice me checking out his pistol. He laughs and lifts his pant legs before bending down in front of me with a sneer. “He’s dead.” He frowns and pats my cheek. “You can thank your little boyfriend for that. Sorry you have to find out this way.”

  Dead? I couldn’t have heard that right. He can’t be fucking dead. Is that why I never heard back from Kellan? I’m going to kill this sick jerk! Anger courses through me and without thinking, I reach for Cape’s gun as he stands up and face’s his brother.

  I feel the cool steel in my hand as I clasp it and pull it from his waistband. On instinct, or from what I’ve seen in the movies, I reach for meat grinder next to me and hold it to his chin as Cape comes at me. “Don’t make me use this.” Knowing these guys, I don’t have to check it to know it’s loaded and ready to go. Men like this are always packing. My legs shake, but I try my best to keep steady. Showing weakness with a loaded gun in your hand can backfire in a heartbeat. “Tell me what you did to Kade. He can’t be dead. Don’t fucking lie to me.” I push the barrel further into meat grinder’s face and he laughs. The idiot actually laughs. “Tell me!” Why are they all smiling?

  Cape walks over to me as if he doesn’t believe I’d actually shoot him. The balls of him. “If you’re going to make a threat, you better go through with it. Once you pull that trigger, there’s no going back; you have to shoot every last one of us. Can you handle that?” My hands shake as he reaches for the gun and points it at his own head. “Go ahead. Make my fucking day.”

  My finger hovers over the trigger as sweat drips down my face. I’ve never taken a life before. Is this really something I can live with for the rest of my life? Now, my whole body is shaking. I scream and fall to my knees, dropping the gun down beside me. I can't do it. There’s only one way out of this: death.

  My heart aches for Kade so bad. He can’t be dead. Tears fill my eyes and I watch, helplessly as Cape bends down and reaches for the gun. He grips my arm, lifts me to my feet and then slaps me across the face with his gun hand. The hard steel cracks against my cheek, sending a surge of pain through my face and I fall back down on the cement. “Try that again and I will fucking kill your skinny ass.” He leans above me. “Now get up! We have company coming soon. I have plans for the both of you. It's sad, really; you have to pay for someone else’s mistake.”

  He looks around the room and waves the gun. “Someone get a handle on this bitch before I shoot someone.”

  The short guy grabs my arm and throws me onto a crate, holding my arms still behind me.

  Cape smiles at this and points to the woman. “Baby, bring Echo over here.” The woman just stands there until Cape screams, “Now!”

  She quickly scrambles to the wheelchair and pushes the man across the room and over to Cape, with wide eyes. “Sorry.” She looks up at him as if she’s afraid of getting hit. “It won’t happen again.”

  He rubs the gun across her cheek and kisses her on the mouth. “Good girl; damn straight it won’t.” He slaps her on the ass and turns to me. “Push Echo over to his new friend. They need a proper introduction.”

  The woman does as told and pushes the guy right in front of me so we're face to face and then walks away to stand at a distance.

  My eyes can't help but to take in the sight before me. This guy is the creep's brother. I would have never guessed. He's sitting there broken, looking helpless just staring into my eyes. I stare back, taking in the light shades of brown, tr
ying to figure out what he's thinking and why he would want to see me. I want to speak to him; to ask him what happened and what I have to do with anything, but I know I wouldn't get an answer so I don't. I just sit there on the verge of tears as he stares at me.

  It feels like forever has passed, with us all in silence waiting for this mystery guest he keeps speaking of. No one seems to want to say anything more until he arrives. I'm so anxious, I can't sit still anymore. Another couple of younger kids have appeared from one of the back rooms and now it’s the eight of us. Every time a door opens, I pray for it to be Kellan. I want to see Kellan so badly. I need to know him and Kade are safe. Is this why Kellan left?

  The silence is finally broken by the door being kicked open. I can't see who has just entered, because I'm facing the other direction, but I can hear the sound of boots hitting the cement. The look on Cape's face makes me believe it's exactly who we've all been waiting for.

  My body stiffens at the sound of a familiar voice. The one voice I would die to hear at the moment. "Get your fucking hands off her or I will kill you myself."

  My heart starts beating so loudly, I can hardly make out anything else being said. Kellan is here and my body is no longer controllable. I need to see him. I need to make sure I'm really hearing what I think I'm hearing. I start struggling in my seat. "Kellan," I scream, pulling my arms away from the man's grip. "What's going on?"

  The guy grabs my arms and yanks me back down, twisting my wrist in a painful position. A small cry escapes me and before I can get all the way back down to my seat, the guy is yanked away from me and slammed into the ground. His head bounces off the cement as Kellan pounds his fist into his face, kneeling above his head. Blood begins to splatter with each hit.