by J. L. Beck
“You’ll learn all too quickly that I don’t like being swore at sweetheart.” He hobbled forward coming to a stop directly in front of me and right between my legs. I wanted to cry out, to slam my thighs closed and curl into a ball but I couldn’t.
“Just do it, whatever it is that you plan on doing.” I broke, finally letting him see the tears he had forced from me.
“I think I’ll beat you first…” Before I could say anything he was slamming his cane into my side, against my ribs, and belly. Red angry welts started to form almost immediately. Air refused to enter my lungs as every hit made it harder to breathe. I cried out in pain, thrashing against the restraints once more.
“Please stop…,” I begged, unable to take another hit. I could hear the cracking of one of my ribs but the pain didn’t stop and neither did he. Each hit making it harder for me to keep my eyes open.
The evil man laughed, actually fucking laughed like watching me wither in pain was the funniest thing he had ever seen.
“They’ll kill you when they find out,” I whispered softly, right before he raised his cane and landed a blow to the side of my head, the hit making me lull off into a far away land, where the pain couldn’t reach me anymore.
***
When I awoke what had to be hours later, my eyes were swollen nearly shut. My body ached to the bone, pain burning across my skin with every single movement I made. I sucked in a breath of air but could hardly breathe. A sharp piercing pain slicing through my chest.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I looked around the room trying to see if there was anyone else in here. If I wanted to escape this was my only chance. My legs were jelly, and my arms throbbed from the position that I was in.
“Fuck…” I cried out as I tried to move my hands to undo the knot that kept them in place. My efforts were useless, there was no way I could escape the binds at my hands. I was trapped here in this evil man’s snare.
Noises sounded right outside the door and on the other side of the room. Panic seized me right then and there. It could be anyone Fox, Seth, or it could be the devil himself, their father.
I pretended to be asleep, forcing my body to go slack against the binds as the sound of the door opening met my ears. This was it, the end. He was going to kill me and gone was my dream of finally having a happily ever after with Fox. The man that had destroyed countless lives was once again going to win and there was nothing that I could do to stop him.
Chapter Eight
Fox
I was livid my entire body shaking as I ran back up to my bedroom. The room was empty and Raven was nowhere in sight.
“I fucking told her to stay put…” I tipped my head back gripping the bottom of my nose. I had told her she could leave once but that if she ever came back to me again that I would scour the planet looking for her.
As soon as my nose stopped bleeding I was getting the address to Raven’s house and leaving. It was the only start to a trail that I had. I shoved tissues into my nose, slipped on a shirt and pair of shoes and headed back down to the patio. If Seth wouldn’t give me the information I needed then I would have to go elsewhere for it but I would be at her house come the end of the day.
I ran back out onto the patio, shielding my eyes as soon as I noticed a very naked Angel sitting on my brother’s lap. He released her nipple from his mouth and smiled at me like the sick fuck he was.
“Come back for more little brother…” He lifted his face from her tit and smirked at me.
“No. I need Raven’s address. I left her upstairs in my bed when I came down here to talk to you and she’s gone. There isn’t a single trace of her ever being here. I’m going to find her.” I confessed. Seth’s facial expression went from shock to worry in a millisecond.
“I told her to come talk to you. I wanted her to be the one to tell you about the pregnancy and I know for a fact she wouldn’t come here and then leave again like she did before.” Seth shoved Angel off his lap and buttoned his pants. I suddenly became aware of how nervous he was that Raven was missing.
“How long were you watching her?” I questioned.
“I’ve had people watching her since the day she left here. I wanted to make sure she was okay, and I knew that you wouldn’t send anyone to protect her.” His response was gruff as he headed off the patio and towards the front door.
“She wasn’t yours to protect Seth.” I seethed, angry that he hadn’t talked to me before doing something. I followed him out to the garage. We both got into the Land Rover without speaking another word to each other. The fight we had been in just minutes ago seeming to be the last thing on either of our minds.
“It doesn’t matter if she was mine to protect. I knew you loved her so I did what I needed to do to protect her for you.” Seth kept his eyes on the road while I simmered in my own anger. I hated that he took his rage out on me, that he distanced himself and didn’t tell me what was going on with Raven for the last two months.
“Has she… Has she been okay?” I mumbled over my words, asking the question I had wanted to know for the last few weeks.
“She’s fine, or was… I stopped watching her after the store incident.” His fingers flexed against the steering wheel as he drove us across town and towards the outer city limits.
“I don’t think she just left Seth.” I blurted out wanting to ask more questions but knowing I could ask Raven as soon as I found her.
“I don’t either but if we want to know where she went, if she went somewhere the person to talk to would be here mother.” Seth countered, pulling onto a dirt road. I stared out the window, watching the miles pass by. It seemed like an eternity before we pulled into a driveway. The house was quaint and nice and it screamed Raven.
We parked the car in the driveway and got out walking up the front steps together. Seth rang the doorbell and we waited, and waited, and waited. The door opened a second later. Raven’s mom appearing in front of us, her face a mirror of shock and pure anxiety.
“Can I help you?” Her voice wobbled. She was young, but due to the chemo, she seemed older. Her wrinkles were more apparent but her eyes they were still bright with life.
“Mrs. Miller we are looking for Raven. Can you tell us if you have seen her in the last hour?” Seth turned into an investigator within seconds.
Mrs. Miller shook her head no but gestured for us to come in. We both did, Seth closing the door behind us.
“Is everything okay?” She countered.
“Everything is fine,” Seth answered for both of us. I glared at him.
“I’m Raven’s boyfriend Fox. She was just at my house and disappeared. I was wondering if maybe she came here or something.” I looked around her and at the house. The kitchen was simple, and clean, while the living room was warm and inviting.
“Fox…” Mrs. Miller tapped her chin with one of her fingers. “As in Fox Smith?” She wrinkled her nose at me.
“Yes, as in Fox Smith.” I scrubbed a hand down my face.
“And you’re Seth?” She narrowed her eyes in Seth’s direction. Had she been playing dumb? How did she know who we were? There was a chance that Raven had told her but that chance was very slim.
“Of course.” Seth winked, and Mrs. Miller’s face fell a look of sadness covering her features.
“I’m afraid I have bad news…” She started which caused my heart rate to spike. I waited on pins and needles for her to start speaking again.
“Bad news? How can you have bad news? We just told you that your daughter is missing.” Seth spoke, sounding as dumbfounded as I looked.
“And she isn’t here… I know who you boys are because your father used to be my boss. I saw your photos on his desk many times.” Her eyes refused to meet mine, and Seth’s, which meant she was hiding something.
“So your point is what? Our photos have graced more than just our father’s desks…” Seth shot a bewildered expression my way.
“It was I, the one that sent you that letter. I know information about
your mother’s death you wouldn’t know because I was having an affair with your father for many years. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone and I’m pretty sure he’s the one that’s done something with Raven.” My eyes popped open wider than I ever had before.
“You sent the letter?” Seth sounded shocked and then enraged, and then relieved all at once.
“Yes. I wanted to conceal my identity in case your father found out that I still had the files on your mother’s case. That and I was afraid you may go to him,” Seth stepped towards her with a clenched fist you could see the pain lacing his features.
“Fuck! It all makes sense. I need all the information. I need to know why you were having an affair with my father, the real reason he let you go, and if you made Raven auction of her virginity with the hopes that you could get ahold of my family.” Seth started talking off his head. I was consumed with finding Raven before something horrible happened to her.
If my father had gotten his hands on her then she had already endured a lifetime of pain and if that were the case I would kill the man myself.
“I didn’t want Raven to do the auction she did that on her own. It was when I found out who, the money was from that I pieced the puzzle together. I’m sorry.” Mrs. Miller started to sob, her fragile body shaking.
“Stop your fucking crying!” Seth growled snapping his fingers. “We need to find Raven and then I need the paperwork that proves my mother didn’t die of cancer.” I was furious to possibly learn that my mother’s death wasn’t because of cancer but something else and even more furious that Raven was still missing.
Mrs. Miller jumped from her chair and scurried down the hall and towards what I assumed to be her bedroom. Seth turned on his heels, one of his hands fisting his hair. He looked so broken.
“If she’s lying Fox I’ll kill her with my bare hands.” Seth stared me straight in the eyes. In seconds Mrs. Miller was back two pieces of paper in her wrinkly hands. Seth ripped them from her grip and eyed them front to back.
My stomach ached, anxiety filling my veins as I waited for him to stay something. Most people would never be able to say what day their parent would die but I knew today, that my father would meet his fate. He would die at mine and my brother’s hand for the things he 'd done.
“Thank you, and I’ll be in touch.” Seth didn’t scream or yell. In fact, he was calm though the fire that burned in his eyes gave him away. In his stare, I could see an entire world being burned to the ground. He had said time and time again that mom’s death wasn’t an accident or even of declining health. He claimed that our father must’ve had something to do with it and that he was going to get to the bottom of it one day.
Raven’s mother just stared at both of us with a vacant look in her eyes. Like she never expected to be able to speak the truth.
“We're going to get Raven back, and make my father pay for every bad thing he’s ever done,” I promised, knowing that even if I couldn’t hold onto the promise of making my father pay that Seth could. I never was as evil as my brother.
“Let’s go, Fox,” Seth ordered already at the front door. My jaw throbbed from the amount of clenching I had been doing lately. Seth and I walked out to the Land Rover without even mumbling a word to each other. I was stuck in the present wanting to get back the woman I loved, and my unborn child well Seth was stuck in the past wanting to avenge our mother’s death.
“No matter what we do, nothing will bring her back,” I announced, hoping that could shed some light on his darkness. Seth didn’t say anything, though, hell he didn’t even look at me and I knew then that there was no saving him. He wouldn’t stop until our father was dead and I wouldn’t stop until Raven was back in my arms.
Chapter Nine
Raven
They whoever they are say that right before you die a movie of all the important things that took place in your life plays right before your eyes like a movie made just for you.
I felt like I was getting to that point. I could no longer feel my hands or legs, and every breath I took seemed to take all the energy out of me. I was past hoping that Fox or Seth would come save me.
Their evil father had told me already that he sent them out of town and that any chance of being saved by them was slim to none. I wanted to believe that Fox, and maybe even Seth weren’t as bad as their father but the longer I laid here being beaten by the man that had created them the longer my faith in that fell.
“Please…” I cried, my voice cracking. My lips were chapped and bleeding, making it hard for me to say even one word and my throat was raw from all the screaming that I had done.
The sinister bastard, smiled down at me, his face hovering over mine for a second. If I had the saliva to give away I would spit right in his ugly face.
“Ready for more are you? It sure sounds like you’re begging for more than just the cane…” He snickered like he told a joke. My body was weak and worn and there would be no chance at fighting him off, not this time.
Tears burned behind my eyes as he trailed a wrinkly old finger from my navel down to my pussy. Acid burned up my throat, and I choked on the bile from it.
“I can see why my son was so taken by you. Your pussy is delightful looking, and I’m sure it’s tight as hell…” His dark, devil eyes lifted to mine as he spoke. “It is isn’t it?” He questioned.
I tried to swallow down the bile but couldn’t, his hand drifting lower until his fingers were slipping between my dry folds.
“Oh come on Raven, even your momma got wet for me. You can do better.” He landed a hard slap against my vagina, and my legs tightened against the restraints as I tried to pull my thighs together. Pain shot through my body as he slapped me again, and again.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” I begged. The baby I was carrying had been protected from his evilness, but if he went inside me, if he touched me, really touched me our babies life could be at risk, and while the fucker could destroy me, and taint me all he wanted. I wouldn’t let him hurt mine, and Fox’s child.
“I’ll stop when you give me what I want and what I want is for you to tell me you never cared for my son, and that you’re ready to die for your betrayals to this family.” I shook my head back and forth confusion filling my head. He had said before that even my mother had gotten wet for him. Had he slept with my mother?
“I haven’t betrayed your family.” The words came out in a whisper my voice far too weak to scream. I was growing weaker and the chance of me escaping all of this was starting to seem more and more daunting with every passing second.
Still, I had to hold onto the fact that Fox knew I was pregnant with his child. If he didn’t want me he would want his child at the very least, right?
“I don’t really give a fuck what you have to say, all I care about is fucking you, destroying your body, and killing your whore ass.” Fear had left me long ago, now I just needed to climb deep inside myself well he did whatever he wanted to and pray that I could protect Fox and I’s child.
I squeezed my eyes shut right as his finger pressed hard against my clit, my entire body locking up and begging me to slam my legs closed.
Think of a better time. Think of the future, of Fox. The harder I squeezed my eyes shut the less I felt of the man touching me, and the closer I came to the dream of Fox and I having a family, home, and marriage some day.
“I can’t tell you how much I love you, Lamb.” His hand cupped my cheek as he brought my lips to his. His kiss was soft and filled with love and passion.
I pressed my lips to his more eager than he had anticipated. I wanted him like I never had before, and the fact that Logan was in his crib asleep only added to that intensity. We were both so busy all the time with very little time to make love, or even watch a movie together.
“I need your touch, Fox,” I mumbled against his lips. His hand slipped from my cheek and down to my throat where he squeezed, except his touch was rough, and vicious and not out of love.
“Fox…” I cried out, pain lashing
through me. Except when I looked up I saw his father, his hold on my throat growing tighter with every passing second.
“If you refuse to give me your body then I’ll fucking kill you out right.” He squeezed, his hold fierce for such an old man.
Black spots formed in my vision as the lack of oxygen started to take hold. This was it. I was going to die, and so was my unborn child. As the memories of my life started to play out in my mind, the hand at my throat seemed to stop. His grip was slipping, and allowing a tiny bit of oxygen to seep into my lungs.
“I told you I would kill you if I ever found out you had a part in my mother’s death. I told you I would kill you if I ever found out you were hurting women again.” Seth’s voice met my ears but I couldn’t get my eyes open, everything hurt, and even though relief flooded my senses I still felt that things weren’t over.
“You have no proof son.” Suddenly things had changed; I could feel the energy in the room shifting. I felt a warm hand against my cheek and then the sound of a bullet entering the chamber of a gun.
“Wait, Fox…” Seth sounded panicked. My eyelids blinked open but only partially my eyes landing on their father right as Fox, pulled the trigger on the gun. The bullet left the chamber and entered into his father’s forehead. Blood sprayed everywhere and the small contents of my belly shot up out of my throat spraying against Fox’s pants.
I was numb, my emotions gone, as Fox released me from the restraints. He plucked me up in his arms and carried me from the room. My body ached and my mental state shattered. This would forever leave an impact on me.
My eyes landed on Seth’s right as we walked out the door. Despair, grief, anger, and pain seemed to float in those dark eyes of his.
“I will make this better lamb. I will take care of you. I will provide for you and never, ever let anyone hurt you again.” Fox’s voice was dark and powerful and as he entered his room, my body sagged deeper into his arms. Now that Fox was here everything would be okay.