by M. N. Forgy
“Cherry, is it?” The voice is eerie and raw. I don’t respond, trying to crawl backward. The figure steps forward, grasping my forearm harshly. I twist and pull from his grip, but he’s too strong. “She’s right, you know; there are bad guys lurking around at night.” He chuckles, the sound menacing.
He snaps his fingers and two guys step forward, grabbing me by the arms and lifting me from the ground.
“Dani!” I scream frantically, fear constricting through my chest.
“Kane! Get out here!” Dani screams.
“Put her down now, fucker!” Kane hollers. A nervous sweat builds along my spine as I look over my shoulder, finding Kane pointing a gun at the guy I ran into.
“You shoot me and my men will kill you, take your women, and burn your club to the ground,” the guy threatens, his tone cool. His silhouette outlines his muscled body, and the fear I felt before turns into terror. Who is this guy?
“What do you want?” Kane questions, lowering his gun when he sees he’s outnumbered. My heart sinks that he’s giving in and my hands tremble, terrified.
“You tell your president that the Sin City Outlaws want to do business and, when he agrees, Lip will get his bitch back.” My eyes go wide. How does he know Lip? “Lip knows my number when he’s ready to talk.”
The guy holding me turns, and two guys standing by an unfamiliar van open the back doors.
“No! No!” I scream, trying to get free.
“Stop fighting, bitch,” the guy growls, practically throwing me into the back of the van. I land with a hard thud; the wind knocked out of me, I gasp and wheeze. Before I can sit up, my hands are pulled behind my back and zip-tied. I try to protest but seeking oxygen is more important. A man with a thick beard and defined cheek bones grins wildly, placing a bag that feels like wool over my head, sealing my vision into nothing but complete darkness.
LIP
My hands strangle the handlebars of my bike, anger fueling my reason. Someone will pay for the hurt Cherry’s lived with the last six years. I can feel the demise of someone’s soul heavy on my shoulders as I ride into the night. I will become the reaper tonight, taking what I want, what I crave: blood.
We pull into a closed gas station and back our bikes into the shadows of the building.
“There, that’s the trailer park.” Shadow points across the way. Jesus, it looks like a dump. A piece of me saddens knowing this is where Cherry grew up, that this is where her little girl is growing up. Guilt shifts through me. I wonder if she would have told me she had a little girl if I had never said I didn’t want kids.
“Where does Eric live?” I question, pushing my shame to the side.
“The nice house at the end of the circle drive,” Shadow informs. I nod, surveying the house. It’s nicer than the trailers, but not by much. The roof has shingles missing and black tires anchoring tarps to the roof. The door is hanging off its hinges, and there’s trash littered all over the porch. It’s a dump.
“Right, so let’s go around the side and enter the house from the back. Surprise this fucker,” Bull instructs.
“You got it,” I mutter, adrenaline rushing through my veins.
We head across the street, sticking to the tree line skirting around the trailer park. Dogs bark and cats hiss as we pass, but nobody even glances our way. Finally making our way to the back of Eric’s house, I spot a little girl sitting on the back steps, sniffling into her hands. I stop in my tracks and put my hand up, stopping the boys.
“What the fuck?” Bobby whispers, eyeing the little girl.
“That’s Piper. Cherry’s daughter,” Shadow tells us over my shoulder. My eyes widen, and my heartbeat stutters. As if the little girl could hear my heart stopping, she looks up, and I’m pinned by this little girl who looks identical to Cherry. I never thought I wanted kids, but to see someone so small, so innocent, and holding a piece of Cherry in her, I rethink that. I feel the need to protect the little girl, to harm whoever caused her tears to spill.
I step forward, my hands up in the air to show I mean no harm.
“You okay?” I ask. She wipes her tears and nods.
“Who are you?” she whimpers.
“I’m Lip,” I introduce. I look over my shoulder at the guys, and they’re all watching the interaction with wide eyes. Glancing back at the girl, she cocks her head to the side, looking me up and down. I look down at myself, curious at what she’s looking at.
“You’re wearing one of those jackets like Cherry wears.” Her eyes perk up. “Is Cherry with you?”
I smile at her excitement that I may have Cherry with me. “She’s at our club. I’m her friend,” I inform.
Her excitement fades. “Oh, well, I’m Piper.” She smiles shyly.
“Why are you so sad, darling?” Bull whispers, stepping up beside me. Her smile fades, and she looks over her shoulder.
“My daddy burned all my clothes Cherry got me.” She points behind us and we all turn, finding a barrel smoldering. “Daddy doesn’t like me looking like a girl, and I’m not allowed to talk to Cherry again.” Her dad sounds like a guy with anger problems, taking his frustration and fury out on Piper.
“Does your daddy hurt you?” I ask, my chest puffing out on its own accord. She looks down and her head falls, but she doesn’t answer.
“Why don’t you come with me, and let us have a talk with your daddy?” Shadow offers. I plan on doing way more than talking to this fucker.
Piper shakes her head. “Oh, no. I can’t go with strangers. Daddy would be mad.” Her eyes widen with fear.
“It’s fine; Cherry knows us. We’re here to take you to her, sweetie.”
“Piper!” a voice yells from inside the house, and Piper tenses.
I hold my hand out. “Come on, you’re safe with us. Promise.”
She looks over her shoulder once more, and the screen door is slammed open. She jumps from the bottom step.
“Get your fucking ass—” he stops. The tall blond-haired guy looks us over, his face turning into a deep scowl.
“Who the fuck are you?” he snarls. His button-down shirt flaps in the wind, and his jeans are unbuttoned.
Bobby holds his hand out to Piper, and she walks toward him.
“Don’t you think about it, Piper,” Eric sneers.
“Come on, Piper. You’re okay, sweetie,” I encourage. Her eyes peer at me nervously. She’s scared to go with us ‘cause she doesn’t know us, but she’s terrified to go back into that house.
“I got you,” I whisper. She nods strongly and grabs my hand with force.
I lean down and brush her hair from her ear.
“Go with Bobby; he’ll keep you safe,” I whisper.
“Piper, get in the damn house!” Eric hollers.
Bobby grabs her other hand and they walk away together, Piper looking over her shoulder at us every couple of steps.
Eric stomps down the steps, but Shadow and I step in front him, stopping him.
“Going somewhere, brother?” I scowl.
“You better get out of my fucking way!” he growls. Having enough of this, I grab my knife and shove it in his gut without warning. His eyes widen, and his puffed-out chest deflates. Slowly, he lowers his gaze to my knife, buried deep.
“How about we go inside, huh?” I ask, pulling my knife from his flesh. He shakes his head, fear surfing in the depths of his eyes.
“You ain’t got a choice, I’m afraid.” Bull chuckles.
Shadow and I drag Eric into the house, and he starts to holler for help.
I punch him in the mouth to shut him up, his teeth colliding with my skull ring. He quiets instantly and starts to whimper. Bull pulls out a kitchen chair and I kick Eric in the chest hard, throwing him into it.
“You tried to hurt my property,” I begin. His brows furrow in confusion. “Cherry is my property,” I clarify. His eyes recognize the name, and his brows scowl.
“You mean Lindsay? Yeah, I know the little gutter slut,” he growls. I grit my teeth at his insul
t and stomp forward. Pulling my fist back, I slam it into his nose, a loud crack sounding from impact.
“You won’t talk about her like that,” I warn. He groans with pain, his nose busted all to hell and bleeding down his chin and chest.
“You know what happens when you fuck with ours?” Bull questions, pulling his gun from his holster.
“Look, man, I didn’t know she was with some gang,” Eric stammers, and I smirk.
“Doesn’t matter if you knew or not. What you did was shady, and maybe the law around here won’t deal with you because they know your daddy, or your last name is respectable, or they think you’re better than Cherry. But where I come from, our justice system has a way of dealing with those who may escape.”
“Wha-what’s that mean?” He looks between Shadow and me.
“That means, you’re going to die tonight.” I lower my head and glare.
“Please, no,” he whimpers, but it sounds fake.
“The little girl, why do you dress her like a boy?” Shadow asks. I furrow my brows.
“Do what?” I question.
“The little girl. Every day I’ve seen her, she’s in boy shit.” Shadow shrugs.
“Because she reminds me of her fucking momma,” Eric spits, doesn’t even hide the hatred in his voice.
“I don’t get it, why do you hate her so much?” I cock my head to the side.
“Cherry reminds me of my no-good mother. Getting knocked up on purpose, just so she can live off my paycheck for free. Well, not this guy. Fuck Cherry; she ain’t getting shit from me, including the kid she got knocked up with.” My chest rises and falls rapidly, anger burning my veins to the point I can barely breathe.
“Cherry ain’t like that,” I manage to say. My vision doubles with the amount of fury poisoning my blood.
He scoffs, and my jaw clenches.
I hold my hand open to Bull, requesting the gun. He obliges without haste.
“Please kill this piece of shit before I do,” Bull growls, sharing my amount of hatred for this motherfucker.
Taking the gun from Bull, I turn to aim it at Eric. Suddenly, he hollers out and jumps from the chair, slamming right into me before I can pull the trigger. We fall to the floor, the gun knocked from my hand. A fist smashes into my eye, ripping skin and causing blood to pour, distorting my vision. Pulling my fist back, I punch him as hard as I can in his broken nose. He screams with pain and flies off me, hitting his head on the kitchen cabinet. I scramble to my feet and grasp the closest thing near me, the kitchen chair. I slam it over the table, breaking off a leg as Eric drags himself from the floor, huffing and puffing.
“Give me your best shot,” he pants, taunting me.
Gripping the busted leg hard, I swing it, slamming it against the side of his head. The impact vibrates through the piece of wood into my hand and his head whips to the side as he falls into the kitchen sink. Stepping forward, I grab him by his neck and slam his head into the tiled counter. The bright letters of a Drano bottle catch my attention, and I grab it.
“Hold him!” I order Bull and Shadow. They both step forward and grab his arms. “Turn him,” I instruct, opening the bottle. They spin his body so he’s facing me and pin him against the counter.
Eric’s eyes widen when he realizes what I’m about to do, and he clamps his mouth shut.
“That won’t help.” I chuckle. Gripping the side of his jaw, I apply pressure to his pressure points, his mouth slowly opening as he begins to yell. I shove the bottle in his mouth, his teeth catching the sides, and I squeeze it as hard as I can. Instantly, he starts choking and gagging on the chemical. I squeeze it one last time and notice blood sputter from his mouth. I pull back and Bull and Shadow let go of his arms. He falls to the floor, choking and vomiting, his hands clawing at his mouth as he sways back and forth on his knees. Black chunks of blood spill from his mouth as his nose begins to bleed and his eyes cry crimson. The chemical is eating him from the inside out. It’s fitting, really—his toxic threats and shameful greed burned Cherry from the inside out for years.
“Finish it.” Shadow hands me the gun. I grasp the cold metal and aim it at Eric’s cold heart. “This is for Cherry,” I croak and pull the trigger. Eric’s body jumps as the bullet collides with his heart.
My phone rings, and I growl in frustration.
“Jesus,” I curse, grabbing my phone. “Yeah?” I snap.
“We got a problem, brother,” Kane nearly yells in my ear.
“What?”
“Cherry was taken. Some club called the Sin City Outlaws took her, and said we ain’t getting her back ‘til we agree to do business with them.” My eyes widen, and my heart stills. “The way the man talked, sounded like he knew ya,” Kane continues.
“He wouldn’t.” I look up at Bull, who eyes me curiously. “You just let them take her?” I snap at Kane.
“Dude, Cherry stormed out of the MC and walked right into the barrel of his gun. I tried to step toward her, but he was going to kill her,” Kane breathes heavily into the phone. I clench my jaw in anger.
“We’re on our way.” I hang up the phone. “My brother took Cherry,” I inform Bull.
“I’ll get this cleaned up of any traces and meet you at the club,” Shadow states, and I nod. Shadow is the best at cleaning up DNA and traces of evidence..
“Thanks, man.” I pat him on the back as Bull and I practically run out of the back door and race toward our bikes.
“Your brother, as in the one from the other motorcycle club?” Bull questions as we hurry.
“Yeah,” I reply.
“Thought you said he wouldn’t be a problem?” When I first joined the club, I told Bull about my family, and he said as long as they weren’t a rival club he didn’t care. As far as I knew, they weren’t. ‘til now.
“Well, he wasn’t but lately, he’s been asking me to go into business with him, or to trade clubs. I thought he was just being a pain in the ass,” I tell him honestly.
“Well, now he’s a problem.” Bull shakes his head and I stop in my tracks, eyeing Bull.
“A problem I will deal with. He’s crossed a line,” I grit.
Bull places his hands on his hips and inhales a large breath. “So you’re saying you’d go head-to-head with your brother?”
I take a deep breath, the thought of brother vs brother, club vs club, surfacing through me.
“You know that’s blood against blood,” Bull interrupts my thoughts.
I nod. “I know where my loyalty lies, and it’s not with my flesh and blood,” I scowl.
Getting closer, I notice Bobby hopping in the shadows.
“No, that’s not how you play hopscotch.” Piper giggles.
“We gotta get to the club, brother,” I tell him, getting on my bike.
“What’s up?” I look at Piper and then to Bobby, second-guessing telling him Cherry is in danger in front of her.
“We got a problem, is all,” I inform, starting my bike.
Bobby hands Piper a helmet that is way too big for her and helps her on. I think about telling Piper to get on my bike, but rethink that idea. I’d be too nervous with her on my bike and likely kill us both. It’s best if she rides with Bobby. He’s ridden Doc’s daughter around before, so he knows how to handle a kid on a bike.
“You go slow with her, goddamn it.” I point at him, my tone threatening. Bobby smirks and starts his bike. Who knew I’d like a kid, that I would be protective of her as if she were my own.
“No problem.”
CHERRY
The van rocks back and forth, and rock music is blasting loudly so I can’t hear anything. I have no idea where I am. My heart beats rapidly in my chest, the adrenaline pulsing through me, making me high. I clench my eyes shut, tears threatening to spill. Lip will come for me. The club will save me. I will see Piper again.
The van comes to a stop, and the music is shut off. Silence fills the air and is more deafening than the rock music. My body trembles in fear as I hear the doors to the bac
k of the van being opened. Hands grab me and pull me from the van but I fight back, kicking and screaming to get free.
“Jesus Christ, this one’s squirrelly,” a man says, his voice thick with an accent.
The bag is ripped from my head and I blink a couple of times, my vision blurry from sitting in the darkness. A rusted, metal building sits behind a bunch of guys, one streetlight shining barely enough to see in front of me.
“Do you know who I am?” a rough voice asks. I squint, trying to make out the man standing in front of me. He has scruff lining his tanned cheeks and the top of his hair is pulled into a ponytail, with the rest of his head shaved. He’s big and tattooed. “Well?” he continues.
“No,” I mutter, eyeing him from head to toe. If I didn’t hate him so much right now, I’d be attracted to him. He’s sexy in a menacing kind of way.
He pats at his patch. “Zeek, the name’s Zeek,” he informs. I shrug, still not knowing who the fuck he is.
“Really, lil bro never told you about me? I’m hurt.” He laughs, sarcasm dripping from his voice. I shake my head confused. Lil bro? My eyes suddenly perk. Lip. Zeek is Lip’s brother. My eyes shoot to his.
“Aw, so you do know who I am.” He grins. Lip told me how much he disliked his brother, how his brother was like his father. Evil. My heart sinks further into the pit of my stomach. I’m screwed.
“I’m the president of the Sin City Outlaws, and right now, I own your ass,” he sneers, pointing at me.
I scoff. “Fuck you,” I grit bravely.
His brows furrow in and his jaw clenches. “You will respect me, bitch,” he seethes.
I scowl, but I don’t say anything.
“I think she needs to learn her place around here, brother.” Another man chuckles, walking up beside Zeek. He has thick, black hair and really tanned skin.
“Bow to my president.” He points to the ground.
“I don’t bow for any man,” I whisper, swallowing hard.
“Wrong answer,” the thick-haired man growls. He stomps forward and kicks me hard in the back of the knees. My legs give out and I fall knees-first into the ground. I want to holler out with pain, but I won’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they hurt me.