Broken Trouble (Broken Storm Book 1)

by Kristan Billups

  "Get out, we're here," she snapped, stepping out of the car and striding up the sidewalk to the house.

  I got out, settling the strap of my bag onto my shoulder. I only paused when I noticed her ring the doorbell.

  Who rang the doorbell to their own house? Didn't she have a key? Now that I was alert, I glanced around. The neighborhood wasn't exactly the type that I imagined goody two shoes bitch living in.

  "I received a very important call while I was in the gas station and I can't have you stay at my house as planned. You'll be staying with my boyfriend for the night."

  Ah, how wonderful. I'm sure that this was going to be fun. Though you never know, maybe her boyfriend is a really nice guy that's just stuck in a relationship with her.

  A man's voice called out from inside, and Mrs. Dollghen opened the door on her own before stepping inside.

  The man's voice sent chills down my spine.

  No, it couldn't be him. It was just my mind playing tricks on me, maybe it was someone who sounded kind of like him.

  The looming feeling of dread washed over me and I hesitated to step foot in the house.

  "Get in here," Mrs. Dollghen snapped at me, grabbing my arm to pull me inside. "Roger dear, I brought her!" she called out, the tone of her voice changing to be cheery. She walked deeper into the house and I followed her slowly, resisting the urge to run out the door as she peaked into the living room.

  It had to be another coincidence that it was his name. Roger was a common name. Practically everyone was called Roger.

  She turned and a smile spread across her face as she looked over my shoulder, "Ah, there you are. Here she is, keep a close eye on her and don't feel shy about giving out punishment if you need to." She strode past me.

  I slowly turned, my breath coming out in panicked pants as I realized it was him.

  The monster who haunted my nightmares at night.

  The man who was the cause of my panic attack with Landon. He had been my foster parent at one time, only he had been married to someone else.

  A part of me wondered what had happened to his wife. Had she found out how horrible he was and finally left? Or had he beaten her to death? I brushed the thought quickly aside, I had more things to worry about right now.

  "I changed my mind, I'd like to go back," I said, hoping there was an ounce of goodness in this woman.

  "I don't have time to drive you," Mrs. Dollghen snapped, glaring at me.

  "I'll take a bus."

  "You'll do no such thing. We can't have a delinquent like you on the streets. You'll probably rob the first place you see." She turned to Roger, whispering low enough that she thought I couldn't hear, "You might want to put her somewhere that she can't get out. I don't want to waste time tracking her down."

  "I know exactly how to deal with her," Roger assured her, his eyes never leaving my face. "You go ahead, I've got this." He took the case of beer from her and kissed her cheek.

  My breath came out in panicked rushes as I watched her march out the door, not looking back.

  I couldn't stay here with this monster. I had to at least try and escape before he could get his hands on me.

  So I ran.

  I made it a few steps past him before he caught me around the waist, yanking me against him. I fought, throwing my elbow back into his face as I struggled against his hold. Pain shot through my side as he landed a punch, knocking the air out of me. He started walking backwards, ignoring the kicks to his shin and dodging my attempted head-butts.

  He pulled a door open and I struggled harder, watching as Mrs. Dollghen watched us from the doorway. I thought maybe she would come back and help me, but I’d been at the ranch for far too long. These people weren't anything like them. They were horrible with no mercy or kindness of any kind. I was reminded of that like a bucket of ice water over my head as I watched her smile and leave, closing the door behind her.

  I felt myself be heaved around in his arms like a rag-doll, right before I was thrown through the doorway. My hip and ribs hit the steps first, then I tumbled the rest of the way down, only stopping when I reached the cold concrete at the bottom.

  Blinking the pain away, I sat up. I tried to prepare for another attack, but he didn't follow me down the steps. He just watched me from the top. "I'll see you in a few beers, you worthless shit," he held up his case of beer, then slammed the basement door. The sound of a lock being turned echoed throughout the basement.

  I tried to look on the bright side. At least I had some time to prepare for when he came back down. I slowly stood up, cringing at the stiffness in my hip as I looked around me. It was pitch black, too dark to see the anything. I wished I had a light.

  Wait a minute, I’d had the phone in my pocket.

  Mentally crossing my fingers, I pulled out the phone and pressed the power button. The light from the screen was almost blinding against the dark. I could see a small crack on the screen, but it worked!

  Using the phone, I explored the tiny basement, finding absolutely nothing.

  The basement was completely empty aside from me, leaving me with no weapons or even anything to keep me warm against the cold. I had lost my bag in the struggle, but at least I still had my phone. Not that it would do me much good, I didn't have any service down here.

  I heard the sound of the TV being turned on with the volume blasting a football game. Because why not watch sports and drink beer before you go beat a girl to death?

  There was nothing I could do to prepare for what was coming, nothing I could do to stop it.

  I was on my own.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  It had been over an hour of me waiting in the darkness for him to come back, and he still hadn't. I hoped that he had passed out drunk. Or died.

  Maybe things had changed. Maybe he wouldn't beat me so badly with Mrs. Dollghen coming back to get me.

  I sighed, pulling my knees to my chest and hugging them. A man like that would never change his ways, it was just a matter of time before he came down those stairs and took out his anger on me. There was no escaping him tonight.

  I pulled out my phone, ignoring the tears that had found their way to my cheeks. Or maybe it was water dripping from the ceiling, the basement was really damp.

  I was so stupid to have left the ranch, insisting that I would be fine with her. Just because Gavin didn't want me to come back, didn't mean I should've turned my back on the others.

  But isn't this what I deserved? This was my life, going from home to home, dealing with people like Roger. Did I really want to drag the guys back into my life? If I could save them all the hurt that I would cause them by going back, then didn't I owe them that after all they had done for me? Yes.

  It still didn't stop me from looking through the phone at all the pictures they had taken. I didn't know why I was doing it. Wasn't my heart already breaking and bleeding pain enough? Hadn't I already hurt them enough? Hurt myself enough?

  Apparently not, because I turned on my phone and stared into the seemingly blinding light coming from the screen of the phone.

  The first was of the picture of me, smiling at the camera with everyone squashed into the picture, everyone trying to fit into the shot with me. The pictures that followed were random shots of the guys making faces at the camera, most of them grinning or smiling.

  I kept flipping through the pictures until I came to a video. I turned the volume on low to make sure that Roger wouldn't hear it, then hit play.

  The camera swung around, showing Dylan, Wyatt, Gavin, Chili and Polly waiting around on the porch. This must have been when I was upstairs getting my bag, when Landon had my phone.

  "Okay guys, this is a video so say what you want to her," Landon's voice came through the speaker. He must have been doing the videoing.

  Everyone froze, looking like they were being put on the spot, not sure what they should say.

  Polly smiled. "Well, I'd like to tell her how special she has become to us during her time here." Polly fell silent,
not saying anything, causing Landon to sigh heavily and the camera shake.

  "Then tell her, this is a video to her."

  "Ah! Is it on now?" Polly asked, looking closely at the phone.

  "Yes," Landon said.

  "Nova Honey, you came to the ranch completely lost and alone. You've grown before my eyes so much since then, and I hope that you have found yourself. No matter what happens today, you're not alone and you never will be again," Polly spoke loudly, like she had to for the phone to pick her up.

  "Okay Dylan, what would you like to say?" Landon asked, moving past Polly to zoom in close on Dylan's face.

  Dylan froze and blushed, being picked on by the other guys to say something. Finally, he spoke, "I guess, I would like to tell you that I will miss you every second that you're gone until you come back."

  "Aww!" Landon said, the camera jarring as he moved around to sling his arm over Dylan's shoulder, ruffling his hair. "You just have to love this guy, right Nova?" Landon smirked at me through the screen, making me swallow the sob that was trying to force its way out of me.

  "Well of course she loves me, who wouldn't?" Jayden's voice was muffled slightly, before the image blurred and the phone was pointed at him. He had a hold of my phone now, shooting a video of himself with his usual grin. "You've got nothing to fear at court today, who would want to send that sexy body of yours to jail? Unless there was a possibility of you and another girl fighting in the jail yard, all sweaty and hot..."

  "Give it back Jayden, we don't need you making your sex video on her phone," Landon complained, the image blurring again as he tried to steal the phone back.

  "Well, now you've given me an idea," Jayden said, coming into focus again with a wink.

  Landon had the phone again and was walking away from him, rolling his eyes as he focused on the camera. "Okay, that's it from us, you should be down any minute and we don't want you seeing this until later."

  "This is a see you later from your hot cowboys," Jayden spoke, running a hand up the front of his pants and underneath his shirt, showing off his abs with a sexy smirk.

  Landon sighed and shook his head. "See you later Nova."

  All the guys waved, except for Wyatt, who raised his fist in the air and made a punching motion at the screen. Gavin watched him and frowned. "What the fuck was that?"

  "That was—" The video ended cutting off Wyatt's words. It didn't make a difference. I knew what he was reminding me of, what he wanted me to do.

  Fight.

  They had to hate me now for leaving them. Whatever cruel words they would end up sending me when they realized I wasn't coming back, I deserved to hear them all. I deserved to feel that pain and so much more. They had been wrong about me after all, thinking that I wasn't the person everyone thought I was. I was evil for playing with their feelings and leaving them. I was worthless and weak for letting my guard down, for believing that I could be someone I wasn't.

  How could they still feel the way they did? No one had ever asked me to stay, no one had ever cared before.

  My phone pinged in my hand, reminding me to turn the phone back on silent mode. Texts were coming in from the guys via the single bar of service. What really caught my attention was a text from someone I hadn't heard from before on my phone.

  Gavin.

  I only knew it was him because the guys had programmed his number into my phone too. He had never texted me before now, but I knew that unlike the other guys, he wasn't going to say anything nice or sweet. He would tell me everything that I expected to hear from the others. I wanted to hear his harsh words telling me off, it would be much easier to hear than loving words from the others. With shaking hands, I opened the text and read the two words typed in all caps.

  *Gavin - COME HOME

  I covered my mouth my hand, gasping as a sob racked through my body.

  He wanted me to come back. Even after everything that I’d done and everything that he'd said, he wanted me to come back to them.

  There wasn't any possibility that he was wanting me back just for himself. He wasn't in love with me, he barely tolerated me. Yet he had changed his mind, deciding that he thought I was worth risking everything they had at the ranch for. I didn't think I was worth that much.

  His words were giving me a true opening to a better life, all I had to do was take it and fight for it.

  I didn't even think about going back to the ranch to escape Roger, I wouldn't do something like that to the guys. They deserved better than a forced return on my part.

  I had no one that nice telling me that I shouldn't go back to them, so why was I hesitating? I was going to end up overthinking it and making the wrong choice.

  The wrong choice of leaving them behind, which meant the right one was going back.

  Before I could overthink it anymore, I quickly typed a message back to him and hit send. One word, even shorter than his, but would hopefully ease his and the others worries. I’d made my decision and there was no going back now, I just had to survive the night.

  Panic filled me when the lock on the door slid back and the door opened. So he hadn't passed out, that just meant that he would be angrier and even more drunk. I quickly shoved the phone in my back pocket, hoping he wouldn't notice it and take away my only contact with the guys.

  As he descended down the stairs towards me, I took a deep breath and stood so he couldn't kick me right off.

  I felt like this time would be different. I wasn't just going to take his hits and let him win. This time, it felt like I had the power of the people that cared and loved me behind me. I wouldn't just make it through tonight, I would fight for life.

  His fist hit my cheek first, faster than I thought it would happen. I’d forgotten how quick he was, even when he was drunk. I stumbled back, feeling my head smack against the wall. His hand grasped my arm in a bruise inducing grip that made me wish for Gavin's gentle grasp.

  He hit me again and again, never giving me enough time to recover before another punch landed.

  Finally, he paused and let me tumble to the floor. "Gretta and me were planning on getting married and adopting you so we could have some fun with you. But why not just report you as a runaway and keep you locked down here instead? You got away from me once, you won't be doing it again. I'll make sure you never see the light of day again if I have to."

  Gretta? Was he talking about Mrs. Dollghen? How could they have already talked? Except if it was over the phone, but then he wouldn't have known it was me. Who cared about that though? He was planning on lying about where I was and keep me locked down in this basement for the rest of my days, using me as a punching bag whenever he felt like it.

  I’d been through that before, only I’d had social workers checking in. This time would be different, he would keep me a secret from the world and I doubt the bitch would tell on him. Which meant that he wouldn't have to watch what injuries he gave me, not that he'd ever cared before.

  Another hit landed to my stomach, though it didn't do much but cause pain. I’d already lost my breath from his previous punches. I felt the hopelessness seeping in, but the memory of the guys flickered up, making me wonder what they would do to someone like him.

  Probably more than I was doing, I hadn't even been able to lay a finger on him yet.

  "Over my dead body," I whispered, struggling to stand up. When I was on my feet, I lunged at him. I surprised him, slamming my fist into his nose.

  This only enraged him.

  He grabbed me by my hair, landing his hits randomly. I struggled to try and get away, but he was bigger and stronger.

  "You want to fucking hit me huh? Go ahead, hit me again. Hit me!" he screamed as he punched me over and over again.

  I could taste the blood in my mouth already, which was nothing new to me. I could live with blood in my mouth, what I couldn't live with was blacking out, but that's exactly what was happening. I felt dizzy with pain, my vision fading occasionally, letting me know that I didn't have much longer until I was complete
ly useless.

  I took deep shallow breaths, then kicked him in the stomach. He bent over for a split second and I took the opening, darting towards the stairs and the open basement door.

  He recovered quickly, grabbing my hair again and yanking me backwards to the floor. Air rushed from my lungs and didn't come back, his shoe slamming into my body over and over again until I finally drifted into painless darkness.

  When I blinked my eyes open again, my face was bumping against his back in a position I recognized all too well as being slung over his shoulder. He had taken me upstairs, dumping me onto the kitchen floor.

  I made the mistake of groaning in pain when I hit the floor. He'd been waiting for me to wake up, because what's the fun in beating an unconscious person? Apparently he did. He started kicking and punching me and the pain faded as my vision did. Everything went black.

  I kept my eyes closed when I woke up again, not wanting him to know I was awake. Still he seemed to know, landing a kick to my hip, the same one that I'd landed on the stairs earlier. He stepped back, waiting for me to do something. I could hear the sound of him drinking more beer as I focused on catching my breath and gathering my thoughts. We were in the kitchen last time I opened my eyes, so there had to be a weapon of some kind around here somewhere.

  Wait a minute, I'm such an idiot. I have a weapon in my pocket, the pocket knife I always carry.

  What would be the best place to stab him that I couldn't miss?

  I opened my eye just a slit, watching as he drank beer and paced the kitchen.

  I waited for his back to turn, then made my move. Snatching the knife from my pocket and flipping it open, I lurched to my feet, trying to ignore the pain that shot through my body. It slowed me down enough that my knife didn't go where I'd planned. Instead of hitting an artery in his neck, it just grazed his shoulder.

  He spun, grabbing my wrist and squeezing hard, making it feel like my bones would snap at any second. I screamed as I was forced to release my knife.