by Sam Crescent
“Fine! You keep an eye on her, do you understand me?” Gash said, pointing at the men.
“We will.” They all agreed in unison.
Finishing her porridge, she took the bowl into the kitchen. She helped do some dishes, and then the guys shouted they were rounding up to leave. Kissing Gash, she followed Sally, Steven, Ink, Adam, and Twisted. Angel was asking for several items, and Charlotte made a mental note to pick them up.
Climbing into the back of the truck, she saw with Sally, who was looking out of the window. She saw that Steven kept glancing toward Sally.
“Are you okay?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Steven keeps glancing over here.”
Sally sighed. “He thinks I’ve got a crush on him.”
“And you don’t.” They spoke quietly so no one heard them.
“It’s complicated,” Sally said.
“Okay, I get complicated, believe me, I do.” Charlotte ran fingers through her hair. “You know, I never thought I’d breathe again.”
“I heard you had it rough. No one has actually talked to me about it. It’s just what I’ve heard Mom and Dad talking about.”
Charlotte showed Sally her inner wrists. “I went through a really dark period in my life when Gash was sent to prison. I lost a child, and I went a little, erm, crazy. I get complicated.”
“You tried to kill yourself.”
“More than once, and these are not my only scars. It’ll get better.”
“He’s full of himself.”
“But you do have a crush, so I guess he has a reason to be,” Charlotte said. “Don’t worry. Your secret is more than safe with me.”
“I don’t want to ruin my life,” Sally said. “I’m so scared that I’m going to do or say something and they’re going to get rid of me. I can’t stand the thought of losing The Skulls.”
Charlotte grabbed the young woman’s hand and squeezed. “I have the same fears. They’re a family, and you want to be part of that more than anything. I get it.” She rested her head against Sally’s shoulder. “They’re not going to get rid of you. You’re one of them.”
The car pulled into the busy supermarket, and they all climbed out. She hooked her arm through Sally’s and made her way into the store. When she saw the clothing section, she split from the group, and started grabbing some items that she figured she’d need.
Once she was done, she made her way back, but she needed to use the bathroom.
“I’m going to the toilet. I’ll be right back.” Ink made to follow her, and she shook her head. “Seriously, we’re in a crowded shop. Let me take a pee in peace.” Before he had a chance to say anything, she was gone, rushing toward the bathroom.
The bathroom was silent, and she rushed into a stall. The pop music played in the background after she finished her break, and she left the stall, washing her hands.
“Charlotte Bilson, we’ve never had the pleasure of meeting in person.”
She spun around to find a large guy coming out of a stall, the stall next to hers. Her heart started to race.
“Do I know you?”
“You know of me, but you don’t actually know me.” He started chuckling, and she took in his business suit—it had to be designer, and expensive.
“You’re Master.” She frowned. He couldn’t be Master. He’d been terrorizing Chaos Bleeds, not that she knew where they lived, but there was no way he could be here, could he? “No, you can’t. You’ve just put Spider—”
“Into the hospital, yes. You see, darling, the key to being successful and powerful is having minions willing to get dirty for you, and that’s exactly what I have.” He leaned against the stall as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“You didn’t hurt Spider?”
“Oh, I hurt him, and I currently have two things that he considers precious in my possession. I’ll give them up when I get what I want. I love to play games.”
“Games?”
“Yeah, I think the funniest one I’ve played so far is guess who. None of you have a clue who I am. You, I don’t blame, you don’t know me. Others, I’m a little disappointed, but that’s okay. I’m never disappointed for long.”
He struck before she could defend herself. Master grabbed her, slamming her up against the bathroom mirror, so the glass smashed. He winded her, landing a blow to her stomach, and she collapsed onto the floor.
Charlotte couldn’t stop him. He picked her up by fisting his hand in her hair, and tugging so she had no choice but to get to her feet. She cried out from the pain.
“Now, let’s see what Gash will do when he knows I’ve got you, his precious little bitch. I wonder if he’ll pick to save you, or take me out, Charlotte. What do you think?”
“Let me go!”
“No.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she felt something hard pressed against her side. “We’re going to leave this store, and you’re not going to stop. You try to get attention, I will shoot you, and then I will take Sally in your place. Would you like me to do that? That little bitch knows what it’s like to be used and abused. I’m sure there are enough men willing to pay the price to fuck that bitch until she’s torn in fucking two.”
The mention of the young woman had Charlotte freezing. She couldn’t let anything happen to her.
“I’ll behave.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
She shouldn’t have told Ink to leave her alone. They left the bathroom, and she gritted her teeth as she saw there was a side entrance, leading away from the store. There was no chance of her escaping. He shoved her through the door, and then into a dark windowed car. Master didn’t allow her to sit on a seat. He pushed her to the floor and forced her to kneel with no protection. Tears stung her eyes, and she turned her head to the side so she could breathe.
“I like my bitches on the floor, knowing what is good for them. You give a whore an inch, they’ll take a fucking mile.” He wrapped her hair around his fist, pressing her head against the seat. The pain was instant, and she cried out as the tears started to fall. “You wanted to die, didn’t you? For a long time, you wanted to take your own life, and give up.”
“Stop,” she said, whispering the words. She had never been so afraid before in her life.
“Why? I’m giving you what you want.” He pressed the gun to the back of her head. “I’ll give you what you failed to do yourself.”
She shook her head, crying out and whimpering. “Stop.”
“Do you want me to end your miserable, childless life?”
“No, please stop.” She didn’t want to die.
Master laughed. “That’s okay. I’ve got another game I want to play first. Let’s see how much Gash loves you.”
****
Gash looked around at the weapons in the basement. They had quite the collection ready in case of a war.
“Tiny believed in being prepared, and I believe in shooting first and asking questions later,” Lash said.
“We haven’t got time to fuck about. Not with our families’ lives at stake,” Nash said, looking through the ammunition. “We’re getting too old for this shit.”
“We’ll deal with Master.”
“Any news on Spider?” Gash asked.
“None.”
Gash nodded. “We’ll wait.” Rubbing the back of his head, he stared around the room. “I’m going to ask Charlotte to marry me.”
“Well that was fucking fast,” Nash said.
“I love her. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. I want to get my ring on her finger before she realizes that I’m not what she deserves.”
“Angel deserves better than me. She deserves a man who has a nine to five job, who’ll bring home a steady wage, and won’t be at risk of dying when he goes out on the road. I thought about all of the shit kind of reasons why Angel and I shouldn’t be together, and then I thought of the most important reason we are together.”
“What’s that?” Gash asked.
“There’s no one else in this world who’ll give her the kind of love I can. I worship Angel. She’s the love of my life, and no one out there can make her feel as special as I can.”
“That sounded romantic. Did you know your brother was romantic?” Gash asked.
“Nah, he’s a pussy deep down. I bet he even writes her poems and shit.”
They both started laughing, and Gash headed toward the stairs leading out of the basement to answer his ringing phone.
“Hello,” he said.
“A little birdie told me that you’re looking for me.”
Gash frowned. “Who is this?”
“Well, I never said you were bright. First letter is M, the last is R. Do you want me to spell it out to you?” he asked.
“Master?” Gash looked around the room as people noticed he was on the phone.
“Wow, a point to you. You know how to spell.”
“What the fuck do you want?”
“It’s not about what I want. It’s about what you want.”
“What do I want?” Gash asked. Tiny moved to stand beside him.
“Tell me, Gash, have you been in love recently?” Before he had a chance to answer, he heard a scream, Charlotte’s scream.
“You fucking bastard. Let her go. You let her go!”
“Oh, I’ll let her go. I have to say I’m struggling here. She wanted to die, and I’m more than happy to give her what she wants. What do you think of a bullet through the head?”
Another scream, and Gash slammed his fist against the wall. “Leave her the fuck alone!” He yelled the words. His heart was pounding, and when he got his hands on this fucker, he was going to tear him apart.
“You know what, I think burning. That would be an interesting way to go, painful, and Charlotte deserves pain.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Threats are nice. They turn me on, but I’m curious how much in love you are with this woman. Come to where this all started. Come to the first place you met Charlotte.”
“What?”
“If you remember that, you might have a chance to save her. I’m about to light a match, and I’m not interested in waiting. Oh, and come alone. I think it’s time you and I meet.”
Master hung up the phone, and Gash didn’t stand around. He rushed out of the clubhouse with several of the guys on his tail.
“He has Charlotte. I can’t stay around, and I’ve got to go alone. Get Ink and those fuckers back. I’m going to fucking kill them.”
“Gash, this could be a trap,” Tiny said.
“I haven’t got time to think. He’s going to kill Charlotte, and I can’t let my woman burn.”
He rode out of the clubhouse as darkness started to fall. Gash remembered where he had first met Charlotte. It had been at the old apartment building where he fucked Rebecca, where everything had been fucked from the start.
Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die.
Through the whole of his life, he’d never been afraid. Not once had he ever been afraid. Going to prison, getting beat up, he had lived through hell, and yet throughout it all, he’d not been afraid, and he had accepted his fate. Right here, right now, he couldn’t handle it. Charlotte’s scream would be something he’d not be able to forget for a long time.
He had failed her.
Master wouldn’t have gotten to her if he’d gone to the shops with her.
Fuck!
Riding toward the apartment building that had been rundown and was the filthiest building he ever seen, Gash pulled up, and climbed off his bike. He rushed toward the door, and stopped as he heard his voice. Master’s voice.
“Don’t you want to see who I am?” Master asked.
Gash was going to kill this fucker. He was going to destroy him, and laugh as he did.
“You messed with the wrong man,” Gash said, turning around, and coming to a stop. He’d never expected to see him again, and hadn’t given him a thought, as he’d assumed he was dead.
“Hello, brother.”
“Andrew.” He stared at the brother he’d not seen in over fifteen years. The last time he’d seen the man before him was when Tiny told him he couldn’t join the club.
“I go by Master now.” The man before him was his brother, but he’d changed. There was no sign of him being an addict. The suit was expensive, and he was filled out. “Do you like?”
“What the fuck are you doing?” This was the man who had been hurting women. His own brother had paid Jeff and Rebecca to set him up for rape and murder.
“I’m playing. You know as kids we always liked to play.”
“You also liked to trap and torture animals.”
“I’ve upgraded. I torture people now, men and women. It’s fun.” Andrew smiled. “I like to keep women as my pets now.”
“You brand them.”
“You’ve heard of my work.”
“What the fuck is your problem?” He charged toward his brother, slamming his fist against Andrew’s face.
His brother laughed, wiping away some blood from the cut lip. “You sure know how to pack a punch.”
Screams came from behind him, and Gash looked back. Charlotte was in there.
“I’m going to have to ask you, brother. Do you love your woman enough to let me go?” Andrew asked.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“All will be revealed. I sent Whizz an email. It has a rather poetic message.”
“You’re my brother,” Gash said.
“I wasn’t your brother a long time ago, even before we tried to join The Skulls. You should tell Tiny that it was his mistake, and he had it coming. MCs have a very short life. It’s outdated, and they’re all going to move on because of men like me.”
“No one is going to stop The Skulls.”
Master laughed. “I’m not like any other enemy you’ve faced, Gash.”
“We’ve defeated every single person who has come to take us down.”
“It’s going to be interesting, isn’t it, Gash? You won your chance at being part of The Skulls.”
“You were a fucking addict, Andrew. You were more interested in getting high than you were in being loyal. The point of the club is to watch each other’s back.” Gash didn’t even know why he was justifying himself to his brother. Andrew had always been a sick fuck, torturing animals when they were growing up, hurting people every chance he got. He should have stopped him, and now others were going to suffer.
Andrew shrugged, running his hands down his pristine suit. “Let’s see who will win this time. I’d say we’re equally suited. I’ll give you a proper burial when it is all over.”
This time Gash laughed. “You see, Andrew, the reason we’re not going down is because you sent us everything you’ve got, and yet, we’re still fighting strong. You can’t defeat us. We will kill you.”
There was an explosion in the distance, and he ducked as glass rained down from the building.
This time, Andrew laughed. “Go on then, kill me, Gash, but then you’ll never find Spider’s women, and Charlotte will die. Take me out, and you lose the time you need to save her. I guess that’s not a hardship. She’s nothing but a fucking whore.”
The memory of Charlotte’s scream echoed through his mind. Andrew took a step back. “Choose, brother, me or Charlotte. Who is it going to be? Tick tock, Charlotte or me?”
As he stared at Andrew, the man he needed to kill to stop the evil that was going on in the world, he thought about Charlotte. His memories went back to the moment he first saw her, and how attracted he was to her. Next, he remembered having fun and dancing with her late one night while he waited for Rebecca to come home. The memories went by to the point where he kissed her that morning.
He couldn’t lose her.
This was the hardest decision he ever had to make. Before him was the reason his club, his family had been hurting, and it would be so easy to kill him, but Andrew would make it hard for him. He’d make it so Gash lost more time.
Either save his family from future pain, or save his woman.
Gash didn’t hesitate.
He turned his back on Andrew and rushed into the burning building.
“Charlotte!” He yelled her name, rushing upstairs.
The first place they’d met was inside her room, and he ran as fast as he could to get to her. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
“Charlotte!”
He kept shouting her name, rushing upstairs, and making his way toward her. His heart raced, and as he got to her floor, the smoke started to get thicker.
“Help me, please, help me, I don’t want to die.”
Charlotte’s words had him rushing toward her room. He slammed open the door, and there, chained to the radiator was his woman.
“Gash?”
He rushed toward her, staring down at where she was handcuffed to the radiator. Not giving himself a chance to think, he pulled on the pole.
“Come on, baby, I need you to pull with me.”
Together they tugged, and when that didn’t help, Gash lost his temper.
“Go, Gash,” Charlotte said. “I don’t want you to die. I love you. I love you so much.”
He bent down, cupping her cheeks. “You’re not going to tell me that you love me, and then leave me. I’m getting you out.” He tore some of her shirt, and rushing toward the sink. The water was dirty, but it would give them some time. Gash placed the cloth over her nose and mouth, and did the same for him. Then he found an old wrench. Grabbing the metal bar, he pried it against the wall and the radiator. Using all of his weight, he pried and the metal snapped. Charlotte slid her hands out of the gap, and together, they started rushing out of the apartment building. Leaving the room, they entered a cloud of smoke. Grabbing the cuffs, he ran toward the stairs, and Charlotte kept up with him.
Together they charged out of the apartment building, and when they were clear, he picked Charlotte up in his arms, carrying her toward his bike. Removing the fabric from their faces, he cupped her face, and slammed his lips down on hers.
In the distance he heard the rumbling of bikes, followed by the sirens.
“I love you,” Charlotte said. “I love you so much.”