by Ash Night
“Don’t touch her!” Ryder yelled. I squeezed my eyes shut as Devin pulled the trigger. The shot was deafening in the open space. A low groan made me open my eyes. Ryder was in front of me. Blood was rapidly staining his favorite white band T-shirt.
“Ryder!” I screamed, kneeling beside him. “How?” It hit me that he was out of his cuffs.
He laughed dryly, his breathing fast. “Dislocate both thumbs and slipping outta cuffs is pretty easy…” With that, he passed out.
Devin laughed. “See, Lay-Lay? You shouldn’t have run. You cost an innocent guy his life. I am surprised he managed to get out of his cuffs fast enough to save you, though. Poor fool. Dying for a girl who isn’t worth anything is pathetic.”
“Dammit, Devin, just shoot me! Get it over with!” I stood up and placed myself in front of Ryder. He wasn’t dead. He was still breathing, but I wasn’t a doctor. I didn’t know how long he’d be breathing. I didn’t know if the bullet had done any damage.
Devin smirked at me. “You aren’t getting off the hook that easy, Lay-Lay.”
I felt something hard strike the back of my head and I blacked out.
Chapter twenty-two
Layla
Waking up to the sound of blood dripping onto the concrete was something I thought only happened in movies. My life would make one hell of a movie script. Opening my eyes, it took a few seconds for them to focus. Ryder was hung up again, although this time he wasn’t conscious. A small puddle of blood had formed underneath him. That wasn’t good.
“Comfortable?”
I strained against the ropes digging into my wrists behind my back. One of Devin’s friends, the one who had been playing cards with him the night I came back, was standing beside Devin. What a good little lap dog.
“Let Kristen take Ryder to the hospital, please!” I begged. “She can drop him off! She won’t say anything, I swear! Please!”
He shook his head. “She may not go to the police, but who’s to say a security cam won’t pick up the plate?”
I didn’t have a comeback for that one. It wasn’t fair. Ryder was going to die and it was all my fault. He never should have picked me up. I should have been smart enough to run.
“Chris, I want to play a game,” Devin said, handing him a large chef’s knife. “We have plenty of time. The girls won’t be back from their runs for at least two more hours.”
“Game? Ooh, I like games.” Chris’s face twisted into an awful mask of pleasure. I squirmed. That made him laugh. His beefy hand clamped down on my arm and he scooted me closer to where Devin sat on a metal folding chair. “Please don’t tell me you want me to carve up her face. She’s very pretty.”
“No, that would be a waste. I want you to carve this symbol on the back of her neck. I want her to remember that she’s mine. Forever.” Devin quickly drew something on a piece of paper and handed it to Chris. I couldn’t see what it was. I wasn’t sure if that made the situation better or worse.
My heart was fluttering like a bird in a cage made of ribs. My chest hurt like hell. Was I having a heart attack? Hopefully. That seemed like a better option at the moment. I’d rather die than have him brand me for the rest of my life. I wasn’t his. Not anymore.
Chris moved out of my line of sight and my first instinct was to turn around. Devin grabbed my chin roughly. “No peeking,”
I shuddered. I felt his breath on my neck as Chris swept my hair out of the way. The gesture was oddly gentle. Cold steel on my neck made me jump about a foot in the air. Or at least it would have if not for Devin’s iron grip. My heart rate skyrocketed. The black spots were back.
“Please…Do whatever you want with me. I swear, I swear to God I won’t run. Just please let Ryder go…Please…” I looked into cold, unfeeling green eyes as I begged, fully knowing my pleas fell on deaf ears. I was ready to take back everything I said and spend the rest of my life as his slave if it meant he would let Ryder go. I’d never been more honest about anything in my life.
“No deal. Fresh start, remember?”
“Then…why are you branding me like cattle if you’re just going to kill me?” I screeched, tears springing to my eyes.
Devin moved in close and caressed my cheek softly. “Because, Lay-Lay, just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you didn’t belong to me.”
Acting on instinct, I reared back and smashed my forehead into his so hard I saw stars. The folding chair he was sitting on toppled over backwards. He scrambled to his feet, looking like a wild animal, eyes blazing.
“You bitch! Chris, change of plans! Kill the boy! Now!”
Chris blinked slowly. “Um, okay.”
“No!” Whipping around, I ran at Chris, tackling him to the ground. In his surprise, he dropped the knife. I screamed on pain as I landed on my bad finger. Chris pushed me off of himself and got to his feet.
He chuckled and picked up the chef’s knife. “Stubborn one, aren’t you?”
“Leave Ryder alone,” I said through gritted teeth. Both men turned toward me.
“You aren’t in any position to be making demands, little girl.” Devin flicked out a pocket knife. “Forget what I said about leaving your face pretty. You deserve for people to see how ugly you really are. That poor bastard who tried to save you, who got shot because of you, was wasting his time. You will never be deserving of love, Layla. All you are is a slut and a waste of space. What I paid for you wasn’t worth all the trouble you’ve given me! You’re a dirty slut and you will never be anything more.”
I flinched inwardly at his words. Devin’s words shouldn’t have mattered, he was just playing on my insecurities, but, damn, did he know what buttons to push. “Fuck you,” I spat. “I may be too easy, but at least I don’t switch teams just to get dogs to work for me! I’ll only screw the gender I actually like, you sick bastard!”
Chris looked at Devin accusingly. “You said you were bi, man.”
“I lied!” Devin hissed. “You liked it either way so just shut up and hold her down!”
The knife clattered to the floor. “No, I don’t appreciate being played with. I thought we had something. You’re on your own. I’m taking my cut and leavin’.”
“If you think I’m lettin’ you leave without finishing the job, you’re even stupider than you look.” Devin pointed his pocket knife at him. Chris’s eyes narrowed in anger.
“Fuck off, man. Get someone else to do your dirty work.” He pulled a gun out of his back pocket and pointed it at Devin. Devin’s eyes widened. For once, he didn’t have the upper hand. I assumed it must have been the same gum that shot Ryder. When did he get it? It must have happened when I blacked out.
Flipping him off, Chris headed up the stairs. I watched him go, stunned. Crossing Devin was like asking for a funeral. Devin turned to me. “Well, isn’t this an eventful night? I didn’t even realize that idiot had gotten my gun. What do you say we continue?”
He rushed at me, slamming his full weight into me. My skull cracked against the cement wall. Man, my poor head couldn’t catch a break today. Devin pushed me against the wall, his mouth practically on my ear. “Before I kill you, I want full payment.”
“Pig…” I muttered. He chuckled and threw me onto the floor.
“I want everything, Lay-Lay. And if I don’t get what I want, exactly what I want, I’ll force you to watch as I defile your boy toy. Even if by some miracle you make it out of here alive, I will make sure he never feels safe again. You know what that’s like. If you’re a good girl, I won’t touch him, got it?”
My mouth went dry as he cut me free. I shouldn’t have been shocked he was willing to go so far but hearing him say it out loud made me want to throw up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I needed to do this, no matter how disgusted I was. It was for Ryder. Even if we were just going to die, I would do everything in my power to make sure he wasn’t touched. Not in that way. I couldn’t bear the thought.
The sound of unzipped pants brought me to reality. Devin grinned. “What are you wai
ting for?”
My body shuddered as he hovered over me for a second before letting me up. He made sure his open pocket knife was in my line of sight at all times. I forced back tears as I serviced him. He closed his eyes and moaned. It took everything in me not to bite him. Taking this opportunity, I felt around with one hand for the knife Chris had dropped.
Curling my fingers around it after what felt like an eternity searching for it, I felt a surge of adrenaline jolt through me. With a cry, I jerked back and then plunged the knife into his stomach. His eyes popped open in shock and he looked down at the wound in disbelief.
“How did you-”
I didn’t give him a chance to answer. I never wanted to hear him talk again. I never wanted to see his face again. I never wanted to be reduced to doing what he wanted ever again.
After a flurry of stabs and a series of groans, he had stopped moving. His eyes were frozen in horror. Good. He didn’t deserve any better. My shaking hands were covered in blood. For the first time in my life, I felt truly powerful. He was dead. I was free.
I heard footsteps upstairs. Were the girls home? How long had it been? Was Ryder okay? I looked over at him. He looked like he was sleeping. His chest was rising and falling weakly. His skin was pale. Too pale.
“Police! Drop the weapon!” A police officer in a bulletproof vest was pointing a gun at me.
I immediately dropped the knife. My heart leapt to my throat as emotion overtook me. My whole body shook with sobs as I collapsed to the floor. I saw two other officers go over to Ryder and get him down from his restraints. One radioed for a medic. My vision blurred as the tears continued to flow. For the first time in a long time, these tears were tears of relief.
It was over. I was free. This house of horrors could finally be shut down for good.
Chapter Twenty-three
Ryder
It took a while to realize I wasn’t dead. The IV of blood in my arm was a dead giveaway, no pun intended. The dead didn’t need blood.
“You gave me a heart attack, dude. Welcome back, hero. Now, can I finally ask what the hell it was you were doing?”
Looking over, I saw Dave sitting on a chair against the wall. The TV was tuned to sports. One basketball team was dominating the other, 15-0.
I chuckled. “Layla’s got one hell of a past.”
He sat back and laughed. “You don’t say?”
“How is she, by the way? Is she okay?” My chest tightened. If anything had happened to her…
Dave smiled. “Calm down, she’s fine. She hasn’t said anything, aside from asking me to check on you. Literally not another word. The cops questioned her friends and got their stories. But she isn’t talking.”
“I need to go see her!” I exclaimed, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Dave was on his feet in an instant and gently put his hands on my shoulders.
“Not now. You’re hooked up to, like, every monitor known to man right now. Just wait for a bit. I’ll get a nurse and they can clear you for walking. Then we’ll go see her.”
“No, I want to see her right now!” I insisted, fighting his grip.
“Nurse! Can we get a sedative, please?” he called as he restrained me as best he could without hurting me. Logically, I knew I should stop but apparently, I wasn’t up for being rational at the moment.
A female nurse rushed in, followed quickly by a male nurse. “Is he on anything that you know of?”
Dave stepped away so the nurses could do their jobs. He pulled my bottle of prescription pills out of his pocket. “No, but he takes meds for Borderline Personality Disorder. He hasn’t taken them today, and probably yesterday either.”
“Ryder, when did you take your last dose?” the male nurse asked as he gently but forcefully eased me back into bed.
I thought for a moment. The last few days were fuzzy and mostly a blur of pain. “Um, what’s the date?”
“It’s the 20th,” the female nurse answered.
“Crap, I missed…” My brain felt foggy, probably a side effect of missing my meds. Massive blood loss probably played a part too, now that I thought about it. I resorted to counting on my fingers. “Four doses. I took my morning dose, but then…I intentionally skipped the dose that night, then…Can I see Layla, please?”
My mind was all over the place. One minute I was thinking about my pills, and then the next minute I was thinking about Layla, and then about cheeseburgers. God, what I wouldn’t give for a cheeseburger.
“Can I see the bottle?” the female nurse asked. Dave handed her my meds. She read the information on the front, wrote it down on a prescription pad, and handed the bottle back to Dave. Tearing off the piece of paper, she put it in her pocket. “Max, I’ll be right back. Do not give him the meds in that bottle, Dave. For legal reasons, I need to give him a pill from the pharmacy.”
“Okay,” Dave replied.
“Ryder,” she said in a soft voice, “my name is Carla. You stay in that bed, okay?”
I nodded. Carla sounded like a mother. I thought it would be in my best interest to listen to her.
Dave’s phone rang. “It’s Rachel. Again.”
“Why is she calling you?” I asked.
“Cuz no one knows where your phone is, dude. Should I answer it?”
“Depends on what she wants,”
He laughed. “She wants to know you’re alive, you idiot. What, you get shot and you don’t expect the hospital to contact anyone? They got the information off your files.”
I sighed. “Pick up but say I’m asleep. Alive but asleep.”
He gave me a thumbs-up as he hit answer and put the phone to his ear. He waited for her to finish talking. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she sounded panicked. I wanted to tell her not to worry. That she should never worry about me. That I would be better off dead so she wouldn’t have to.
“He’s fine, Rach. I promise.”
She sounded like she had switched to yelling.
“He’s asleep?” Dave gave me a sheepish look.
Suddenly, I heard her loud and clear. “Then fucking wake him up! If he’s fine, he can talk. After five fucking years of him not answering my texts, the first thing I get is a call saying he’s in the hospital and that he’s been shot! I deserve a fucking answer this time!”
Dave looked at me questioningly. I shook my head firmly. “What-was- oh god, Rach…you’re…up. Sorry, call…ck later.”
“Bullsh-”
He quickly hit the button to end the call. “She might just put you back here.”
I gulped. “I know.”
“What are you going to do about that?”
Shrugging, I fell back on my pillow. “I have no idea.”
“You can’t leave her hanging. She’s family.”
“I know.” I repeated. “I just need a bit more time. How did she get your number anyway?”
He smiled. “You friended me on Facebook and we always post pics from parties we go to so she knows we’re good friends. My number’s on there.”
I groaned. “She’s too smart for her own good.”
“Yeah. Cute too.”
I chuckled but I was serious. “You know you touch her, you’re dead.”
“Of course.” Dave grinned. “I’m hungry. Want anything from the cafeteria?”
“Two cheeseburgers, if they have any. Or ham sandwiches.”
“Anything meat, got it.” He left the room just as the nurse was coming in with a paper cup. Inside it was the exact same pill I took every day.
“Hungry?” she asked. “As you know, you should take this with food.”
“Dave’s getting food,” I said. Taking the cup from her, I swallowed the pill and washed it down with a cup of water she held in her other hand. “Sorry for earlier. If I don’t take my meds, I can be pretty irrational.”
She smiled. “You’re just worried about your friend. She’s doing fine. Just a minor concussion.”
“Concussion? He hurt her?!” I exclaimed. If the bastard w
asn’t already dead, I’d kill him.
“Ryder, calm down. She’ll be fine. Concussions are easy enough to heal from. She just needs rest. The good news is her heart is fine. With so much stress, it was a little fast, but we monitored it and she’s fine.”
“Then why can’t I see her?”
“Because you can’t walk around while being given blood.”
I glared at the tube in my arm. “Can you rip it out if I ask? I am an adult.”
“No, I’m afraid not. But tell you what, it’s nearly done. So tomorrow, if everything goes well, I can let you walk around a bit.”
I sighed. This was going to be a long wait.
Dave came back with two BLTs for me and a turkey wrap for himself a few minutes after the male nurse left. Carla had come back to check my vitals. I barely remembered to say thank you before taking a huge bite of my food. It was the best sandwich I’d ever had.
“Good. Your appetite seems to be good. That’s always a good sign,” Carla said.
Dave laughed. “Oh, believe me. Ryder could be dying and he’d still wolf down two cheeseburgers and a large fry!”
She chuckled. “Well, if you did, you’d be the first. I have to go, but I’ll check on you before I leave my shift, all right?”
“Thanks, Carla,” I said in between bites. “Anything on TV?”
After some debate on the limited channels, we decided on an old, crappy sci-fi flick from the 60’s. It provided more than a few cheesy laughs. After it was over, Dave had to leave. Visiting hours were over.
He smiled. “Anything I can bring you tomorrow?”
“Nah, I’m good but thanks.”
After he left, I felt very alone. I was worried about Layla and wished I could see her. Or maybe she could come see me. My wound itched. Getting shot was stupid. I hadn’t thought that through. I probably could have just pushed her out of the way. I was glad I’d gotten shot instead of Layla, though.
An hour later, Carla come to say goodbye and she took the blood transfusion IV out. The IV of meds was still in my arm. I sighed and listened to the foreign sounds of the hospital until I fell asleep.