by Erin Osborne
“Baby, what are you doin’? Why are you lookin’ at what’s been done to you?” he asks, carefully wrapping me in his arms.
“This is what you’ve been trying to protect me from? This is what you guys didn’t want me to see?” I ask, letting the tears fall from my eyes and soak the front of Bear’s shirt. “I was there, I know that words were carved into my body. What does the back one say?”
Bear looks at me for a minute, trying to decide if I truly need to know what’s permanently etched into my skin. “It says bitch,” he finally answers, pulling back to look at me as I take a deep breath.
Pulling myself together, I go to the bathroom and let Bear help me put the gown back on so that I can go back out to the room to change. It makes no sense that I’m putting it back on, but he isn’t sure if anyone is in the room and doesn’t want anyone to see me naked. You should see him when they come in to check me over. If any male gets near me, he growls and stands right next to me so they know he doesn’t appreciate them seeing my naked skin. Even if it’s their job and he wants them to help me get better. It’s funny.
Just as I go to get dressed, with Bear’s help, I hear a commotion out in the hallway. He goes to pull away and I know that he wants to find out what’s going on but I need him to help me now.
“Don’t go. Whatever is going on out there is no concern of ours,” I tell him, hanging on tight to his hand as he goes to pull away.
“You will let me in to see my daughter!” I hear shouted from the hallway and I immediately tense up at the recognition of the voice; my mother.
“She’s getting dressed so she can be discharged,” a nurse responds, trying to prevent her from entering my room.
“I don’t care. She’s my daughter and I’m here to help her,” she says, trying to play the dutiful mother in the eyes of the people in the hallway.
Within seconds, she’s forcing her way into the room. She only stops when she sees me in the arms of Bear. I would laugh at the situation as I see my dad plow into the back of her, almost knocking her to the ground. Her mouth is open in shock as I watch her save herself and then turn a glare on the man that has given her a life of luxury for years.
“You can go now. I appreciate you helping my daughter while she was in here, but she’s no longer in need of your help,” she says, dismissing Bear as she takes a few steps closer.
“Who do you think you are? You haven’t cared about me since before I left the house. Now, you show up to make an appearance to let people know you ‘care’ about the child you’ve always hated,” I ask, letting some of the pain I’ve felt for years out.
“How dare you talk to me like that! I am your mother and I demand respect! You will get away from the man that has his hands on you,” she says, talking down to Bear and me.
“You’re no mother of mine. I was never good enough for you. Remember?” I ask, wanting to get away from her and all of her lies and crap.
My mother stands there with shock on her face. I’ve never once talked back to her. I didn’t dare when I was living under their roof. I’m not living with them so therefore I don’t have to follow their rules and obey them any longer.
“You will do as I say,” my mother commands as if she has any sort of say.
“You have no control over me, what I do, or who I am with. Now, I’ll ask you to leave my room and leave town. I want nothing to do with any of you anymore,” I say, turning my back on the people that have treated me like shit for so long. “Bear, help me get dressed so we can get home please.”
“This is NOT over. Do you hear me Callie?” my mother asks, adding in a threat to make sure that I realize she’s serious and they will continue to come after me. Well, they can bring it after the last month and a half that I’ve been through.
I get dressed as quickly as I can with Bear’s help. As soon as I’m ready to leave, he grabs the first nurse he sees to bring me in the discharge papers and a wheel chair so that we can leave. The whole time I wait for him to bring the car up to get me, I’m watching out for my parents to make a reappearance. They caused a scene in the hospital and I know that they don’t want to make another one, but I truly don’t put anything past them.
Finally, Bear pulls up and I get loaded into the passenger seat of a car that I’ve never seen before. At my questioning look, he explains that it’s Smokey’s car and we’ll have it for a little while until mine can be brought back. I know that there were extensive repairs that had to be made. Honestly, I’d almost rather sell it and get a new one before getting back in the car that is going to do nothing more than remind me of the attack that fateful day.
Bear takes me into town so that he can drop my prescriptions off to the pharmacy while we go get something to eat at the diner. Corrinth wants to see me but she refuses to go to the hospital. That was the last place she saw her husband alive and she will not step foot back in there. At least not anytime soon.
As soon as my old boss sees me, she drops what she’s doing and begins to fuss over me. Our food is brought to us while she takes a seat to see how I’m really doing. We talk about anything that doesn’t involve the kidnapping or my hospital stay and for that I’m grateful. I don’t want to think of that day, or the days I was beaten and tortured anymore.
“What about the other girls?” Corrinth asks once the customers leave the tables around us.
“We found out that two of them belong to the Phantom Bastards and a few guys are comin’ down to get them and take them home. The other girl we’re not sure about. She won’t tell us her name or anythin’,” Bear answers as I look on.
“How did you find out they were Bastard’s girls?” she asks, letting her curiosity get the better of her.
“Sent pictures and Slim called Renegade as soon as he saw them. He was pissed beyond belief and relief flooded him from what I hear. One of his other girls isn’t near the clubhouse and he’s worried about her,” he answers, finishing the rest of his lunch as I try to hide a yawn. “We’re gonna head home. I need to get her settled and then go take care of some business. Thank you for lunch mama.”
“You two don’t be strangers here. Come again soon and I’ll stop by and see you Callie,” Corrinth says, standing up and helping me out of the booth so that she can pull me in for a gentle hug.
We’re finally on our way home and the closer we get, the more a feeling of dread fills my stomach. I can tell that I’m not going to like whatever is going on at the house. The one place that my grandmother gave me as a sanctuary. A place that she wants me to make a home for Bear and me.
Bear
As soon as I got Callie settled in bed and she had taken her medicine, I made sure that Bishop was in the living room so that I could go and deal with the motherfucker that thought he could put his hands-on women and get away with it. Yes, I’m pissed as fuck about what he did to Callie, but she’s not the only one that he hurt or killed. The thought that he was going to sell her off to the highest bidder so she could suffer a worse fate doesn’t help his case at all. I think of everything that he’s done to Callie and about the women that we found dead in that drug house and let the rage build and simmer within me until I can get my hands on the twatwaffle that will soon be dead.
Renegade and Psycho are waiting outside the clubhouse when I pull up. They stomp out their smokes before following me inside the clubhouse and down to the rooms that we keep assholes in until they meet their maker. In this case, I’m his maker and I’ll make sure that he sufficiently suffers for every single woman that he ever laid his hands on or turned his eyes away while his men tortured and beat other women.
Walking into the cell that he’s being held in, the first thing that hits me is the smell. He’s obviously pissed himself more than once and I’m pretty sure that he’s also shit himself. The smell assaults me and I almost throw up before bringing my arm up to cover my nose. Pulling my bandana out from my back pocket, I wrap it around my head while I turn my back on the man strung up before me.
“He wants t
o act the badass when he can hide behind a woman. But when he knows he’s about to get a beat down, he pisses and shits himself like the bitch he is,” I say out loud as he begins to whimper. “What’s your name, bitch?”
“Harry,” he whimpers out, letting a few tears fall from his eyes as I look at the table full of tools to use on him.
I pick up a cheese grater and make my way back over to him. “Harry, we found the women you killed in the house filled with drugs and other shit. And we’ve seen what you did to the women bein’ held with Callie. What I’m goin’ to do to you is their payment for the sufferin’ they did,” I say, taking the instrument in my hands and running it along his chest and stomach. His screams pierce the air and send a chill down me.
“P-p-please, don’t do this,” he cries out, his head falling forward as the pain threatens to overtake him.
“Did Callie and the other women cry out and beg you to stop? Did they whine like a little bitch about the pain they were sufferin’ through at your hands?” I ask, already knowing that those women have more balls than the ‘man’ hanging before me. “Did you or your men stop when they begged and pleaded with you? No, you didn’t. You did what you wanted to them and took what you wanted. Now, that’s goin’ to happen to you.”
Circling around Harry, I take the cheese grater to his back and run it along his skin until I can’t see any more skin. Psycho threw freezing cold water at him more than once to ensure that he would remain awake while I tortured him. The rest of my brothers line the walls of the cell and watch as I torture this man for hours and hours.
“You know that this doesn’t end with me, don’t you?” Harry asks at one point when I’ve taken a break. “Others will come for you once they realize that I’m no longer alive. They’ll kill you and get their hands-on Callie. She’ll suffer worse at their hands than she ever did with me.”
“You think that’s goin’ to help your case? That I’m goin’ to stop beatin’ on you so that I can let you walk free and prevent a war that your dumbass started in the first place? No. I’m goin’ to make sure that you die at my hands and then we’ll do the same with whoever you think might be comin’ after us in your defense,” I tell him, pushing off the wall and grabbing the knife that sits on the table.
Since his upper body now resembles hamburger, I take the knife and slice away at his legs. One of his thighs has a slice in it that resembles the one that was in Callie’s thigh when I picked her up off the floor in that cold room. Before I put the knife back, I make sure to slice the tiny little thing he calls a cock. He used it to rape and torture women, he doesn’t deserve to have it as far as I’m concerned.
I turn my back on him and can see the men that I call my family grimacing and placing their hands over their own cocks after I mutilated his. Picking up the container of salt, I pour a handful before turning and running my hand over his chest, covering the wounds in the salt so that he experiences a burning like he’s never felt before. There’s not a moment of rest for him though. I pick up the bottle of cheap whiskey and pull the top off before dumping it over his head, making sure that it coats his back and stomach. Taking the torch that rests on the table, I light it before walking closer to the man that has taken too much away from Callie and countless other women and too much of my time tonight while Callie sits at home alone.
Placing the torch close to his skin and watch as his body goes up in flames. His screams pierce the still air and turn to tortured gasps of agony until he finally passes out for the last time. Walking out of the dank cell, I pull my bandana from my face and wipe the sweat from my head. The smell of burnt hair and skin cling to me and everything in the lower area of the clubhouse. Now, I can turn my attention to Callie and help her heal from the last month and a half. So, I walk away from the dungeon and make my way to a room to clean up and shower before heading home to be with my woman.
Chapter Eleven
Callie
I’VE BEEN HOME FOR ALMOST A WEEK and today is the first day that Bear let me go into work. He didn’t want me to rush into anything but I can’t keep sitting at the house while he’s at work and then the clubhouse all day long. So, with a determination I forgot I had, I argued and pleaded until he finally agreed to let me go back to work. But, I had to ride in with him and I’ll go home with him.
It might have been different if Hadliegh could come visit, but she’s not ready for that yet. She’s been in the same room they put her in and has refused to leave. Psycho is the only one that she lets enter and he’s in there with her until he’s needed for club business or has to go to work. She won’t even let me in to see her. While I don’t blame her, I do think we need to spend some time together. We’re the only two that know what really happened in the hell that we were in for so long. Even if we don’t say a word about what happened, we’d still be together.
The day has been long and I ended up taking a nap on the couch for a little bit. I was exhausted and I know that being here is taking a toll on me. My ribs still hurt and there’s pain in my entire body from the beatings. The bruises are beginning to fade and I don’t even bother to try to cover them with make-up. They’re now a deep, dark purple color that’s slowly fading to blue and yellow. Not one customer has said a word about them though. They’ve all been extremely nice and asked me about my health. We haven’t told anyone else about the baby yet in case something happens.
Bear has me loaded up in the car and we’re ready for a quiet night in. We’re going to order in dinner and spend the night curled up in front of the TV. Apparently someone else has other plans for us though. As we pull up to the house I see a line of cars and a ‘For Sale’ sign sticking out in the front yard. Looking over at Bear I can tell that he’s as confused as I am about this.
“What the hell Bear! Why is my house listed as being available to buy? What’s going on?” I ask, tears filling my eyes as I get out of the car before it’s fully stopped.
Running inside while ignoring the pain that racks my body, I find people walking all over my house. One couple is going through my things as I run into my grandma’s den. Bear is right behind me, ushering people out. Rage fills my veins as I realize that these people are trying to steal my grandma’s things.
“Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my home?” I yell out, startling the couple that stands at my grandma’s desk.
“We have every right to be here. This house is on the market and we’re interested in buying it,” the man says, standing up and holding something behind his back.
“Like hell you are! You’re interested in what you can steal from me. Bear! Bear, call the cops. Now!” I yell out as I move to stand in front of the door.
Bear comes to the room and sees what’s going on. He pulls his phone from his pocket and I hear him call someone. It’s not the cops based on the way he’s talking; it’s the club. Maybe they are better equipped to deal with the individuals that are standing before us right now. He tells me to make sure that nothing else has been taken from the house while we wait for reinforcements. I wander through the house and make sure that everything is still in place. Especially in my grandma’s room.
Walking back down to Bear, I see that he’s still standing in front of the open door while the rumble of bikes starts to get louder as the guys approach the house. Looking over Bear’s shoulder, I see that the couple are sitting on the floor in front of my grandma’s desk. They’re trembling with fear and a pile of things sit on the floor in front of them. Things that they tried to take from the house that belonged to my grandma. How could people be so horrible that they would walk into someone’s home regardless of it being for sale or not, and take things that don’t belong to them?
It’s not long before I hear the familiar rumble of the guy’s bikes pulling up in the driveway. The couple still sitting in my grandma’s den begin to tremble in their seats as they realize that Bear isn’t going to handle them alone. He’s brought the club into this matter because it’s not the first time that my parents have
tried to sell my house out from under me. But, it will be the last time.
“What’s up guys?” Smokey asks as he walks in the room followed by Renegade, Grave, Psycho, and Snake. Bishop is the last to walk in as he leans against the wall just inside the doorway.
“Got home to people walking through the house. When I came in here, these two were going through things and I know they were taking things from the house. Things that belonged to my grandma,” I answer, knowing that this news will piss them all off.
“Really? And did we take care of the realtor and shit already?” Renegade asks Bear while keeping his eyes on the two sitting in front of us.
“Yep. He’s already puttin’ together a cease and desist along with tellin’ me that Callie needs to file for a restrainin’ order,” he responds, shocking me as I didn’t realize my lawyer would want me to take it this far. “I’ll be payin’ my own visit to the family after this is taken care of.”
I look at Bear while he watches my reaction. While I don’t want anything to happen to him, I know that he’s going to do this. So, I nod my head at him and know that tomorrow morning I’ll be going to the courthouse to file the necessary paperwork against my parents. For now, I just want to figure out what they’re going to do with these people so that I can get some rest. Or, go see Hadliegh while Bear goes to see my parents. I’m sure they’re still in town so that they can see the realtor and find out what they have to say about the house being sold. They won’t want to talk about it over the phone or have to make the return trip to Shadowville.