TORCH

by Ashers, LeAnn

  My mom and dad are always on drugs. My dad is fucked up in the head and abusive. The house I am living in is rat-infested, run down, and holes litter the ground so large you can stick your hand through them and touch the ground.

  Jordan is a reprieve from the life I am living. The only haven I have is my room and Jordan. With him I can pretend my life isn’t complete shit.

  “Baby?” he asks again. I drifted off again. I look down at the phone and can see he’s concerned. In the past two months, we have become close. He has offered to take me out, but I keep on refusing.

  I don’t want him to see the life I am living.

  Jordan is so funny. He can make the worst day better with his cheesy jokes. Don’t forget, he’s absolutely gorgeous on top of having that bad boy look, complete with the tattoos. Protective. When I had a black eye and said I ran into the corner of the cabinet, he freaked out. He was pissed. Nobody has ever worried about me like that before.

  The thing is, I never ran into a cabinet. My dad punched me in the face because I knocked over his drink. I walk on eggshells constantly, because anything can set him off.

  “Why is this door locked?” my dad yells from outside of my room. My eyes widen in fear and I look at Techy. He’s furious. “Jordan, I will call you back.” I click end and hide my phone in the hole beside my wall, sliding a picture on top to cover it.

  I walk over to my door slowly, my hands sweating. When I unlock the door, my stomach hits the floor. My body is jittery from the nerves.

  My bedroom door flies open and hits the wall, hard.

  I take a step back away from him, push a strand of my hair behind my ear, and stare at my father.

  He is six foot tall and is skin and bones. His face is sunken in and his hair is stringy. Drugs and a poor diet will do that to you. Constant hunger is something I have become accustomed to.

  “I will not ask again, bitch,” he says and brings me out of my thoughts. I stare at him in sadness. I never had a father who cared about me. It’s sad that I have become used to this.

  “I was changing,” I lie and try to look innocent.

  He sneers at me and looks around my room. “Bull fucking shit. What were you doing?”

  That’s when the picture that covers the hidden hole in the wall falls down and my phone slides out and lands on the bed.

  “What the fuck is this, bitch?” he roars in my face and stomps past me. I know I won’t be walking for a week after this.

  He picks up my phone and I see it’s going off, Jordan’s picture popping up as he Facetimes me.

  “Who the fuck is this?” He shows me the screen. I close my eyes. Yeah, I am doomed.

  “WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?” he screams in my face, spit flying out of his mouth, hitting me.

  “Nobody,” I say in a soft, meek voice. I am scared. Beyond scared. The thought of the beating I am about to get is looming in front of me.

  “Well, we will see, won’t we?” My father chuckles evilly as he thrusts the phone in my hand. “Answer it.”

  I shake my head no. I can’t let Jordan see me like this. My father’s face darkens and I gulp. He punches me in the nose. I flinch in pain. Blood is dripping down my face.

  “ANSWER IT!” he roars again and tears well in my eyes.

  I tap the green circle and his face pops onto my screen. I mouth ‘I am sorry’ to him. A million different emotions cross his face at the sight of me. I feel ashamed.

  “Well, I see why you are hiding the phone, bitch.” My father clucks his tongue and fists my hair.

  “Take your fucking hands off of her or the whole fucking Devil’s Souls MC will take your ass out,” Jordan threatens my dad in a voice I haven’t ever heard him use before. I look at him and he mouths ‘I am coming for you.’

  My dad throws the phone against the wall. It shatters into a million pieces.

  “You just signed your death warrant, bitch,” my dad screams in a high-pitch voice. He pulls his hand back and connects with my face. Then does it again and again. When I fall to the floor, he kicks me in the stomach. I curl into a ball as he steps on my hands, kicks my stomach anywhere he can get that will cause harm.

  I black out and hold on to the hope that Jordan is coming for me. I can’t live this life anymore.

  Techy

  “FUCKK!” I yell at the top of my lungs at the sight of Alisha with blood running down her face and a man fisting her hair in his hands hard. Her eyes filled with tears, lost, sad, and utterly alone.

  Not anymore.

  I run up the stairs of the basement where my office is and up into the clubhouse. I spot Butch, Vin, and Trey sitting at the bar shooting the shit. They look at my expression and stand up immediately.

  “What is it, Techy?” Vin asks.

  “I met this fucking girl online on a dating site when I was tracking down the fucking gang members. I couldn’t get her fucking out of my mind. I messaged her two months ago, and we have been video chatting since. Someone was banging on her door right before she disconnected. I called back a minute later. She picked up with blood pouring down her face and a man’s hand in her hair,” I explain quickly, not even caring they know I met her online.

  “Fuck, man,” Butch says. I see him walking toward the door, ready to ride with me.

  “She yours?” Trey asks and I look over at him. I nod and he nods back. He walks outside and Vin follows suit. Butch follows behind him and I run out, my gun in my holster, then climb on my Harley and floor it out of the parking lot.

  The only thing between Alisha and me is the open highway.

  No fucking woman should be hurt like that, especially her.

  He is going to fucking pay with his life.

  Alisha

  I groan as I reach for a blanket that is hanging off my bed, drag it across the floor and under my head. I shiver and wince at the pain in my stomach. The tears running down my face feel like scalding hot water.

  He has never beaten me this badly before. I knew it would be bad, but this is something else altogether. My body feels like one huge bruise. I know I won’t be able to get up, so I decide to go to sleep here.

  My mom is in the house; I’ve seen her look into my bedroom as he was kicking me, but all she did was turn around, as if this was something she sees every single day of her life. He hits her, too, but not like he does me.

  I lie here all alone on my floor, crying, in pain, miserable, and I wish my life would end. I don’t want to be in a world like this. I have a small bit of hope, and that is Jordan. He gave me something to look forward to, which is that maybe the rest of the world isn’t as bad as my life.

  There are good people in this world.

  I just never met anyone good apart from him and my best friend.

  I’ve been lying on the hard ground for thirty minutes when I hear the motorcycles. My heart stops in disbelief. Has he come for me? He said he would. I sob into my blanket. I could be free. The motorcycles get closer and closer until I know they are parked outside of my house. The broken-down trailer feels like it’s shaking from the power of the motorcycles vibrating through the walls.

  The trailer silences. The TV is turned off and all I can hear is the sound of my breathing until footsteps sound on our ratty porch and a couple of men talk. I strain to hear what they are saying. When I hear someone else speak, I recognize the voice.

  Jordan.

  He came for me.

  I plant my hand on the ground and push myself over onto my stomach then lift with all of my might until I am on my knees. I pant in pain loudly. It’s excruciating. I grab the edge of my bed and push myself up the rest of the wall, my body shaking from the exertion.

  When I am standing, I bend in half, clutching at my stomach, and walk slowly to my bedroom door. I pull it open, my body screaming at me.

  I hear a loud noise and my mom screaming. They must have kicked in the door. I hold on to the wall with one hand while the other grips my stomach. I clench my jaw at the pain and close my eyes to hold back the t
ears.

  “Alisha!” Jordan calls and I spur forward, entering the kitchen, which is connected to the living room. I look up and see Jordan standing there with three other huge men. Techy is just as big. My knees start to give out and I grab the corner of the wall to hold myself up.

  “Where is she?” Jordan roars at my dad. My dad starts apologizing. Jordan pinches the bridge of his nose and walks over to my dad, throws his fist back, and punches him right in the face. My dad falls back to the floor, out cold. I stare in disbelief at how he can knock someone out with one punch.

  I just want to be held right now; and I want that to be Jordan. I want to be as far away from this place as possible.

  “Jordan,” I say softly

  His eyes connect with mine and I see fury once he looks me over. I feel ashamed. Jordan runs over. He stops when he is a hairbreadth away from me and touches my face. I wince at the smallest of touches then let go of the wall and wrap my arms around his waist.

  I let out a deep breath as I feel his warmth, the strength of his chest, close my eyes, and sink farther into his body, letting him hold me. I don’t care about the pain. All I know in this moment is I feel like I belong somewhere for the first time in my life and that everything will be okay.

  “Baby, I am so fucking sorry,” he whispers. I shake my head no. “You didn’t know, Jordan,” I whisper back.

  “I am taking you away from here. You will never see this fucking place again,” he says vehemently.

  “Let’s go,” I whisper and look up at him as Jordan stares into my eyes. “Nothing will harm you again.” I close my eyes at the feelings running through me. I feel protected, safe.

  “Okay,” is all I can manage to get out before I black out from exhaustion, the pain, and everything that has happened today. I feel him catch me; and then there’s darkness.

  Techy

  I catch Alisha as she passes out and pick her up bridal style then turn around and look at my brothers. They look at the girl in my arms, and it’s fucking heartbreaking how messed up she looks. She is five foot nothing and one hundred and twenty pounds at a push. Even through the cuts and bruises you can see how beautiful she is.

  “Man, she’s fucked up,” Vinny says. I set her down on the couch, turn to her father, who is now waking up from when I knocked him out. I kick him in the side and he startles awake.

  I knew the moment I got a good fucking look at the man sitting here in this living room, these were her parents. She has her dad’s fucking eyes and hair color. Her stature is just like her mother’s. Her mother is so strung out, she is fucking just staring into space, with drool running down her chin.

  I pull my gun out of my pocket and twist the silencer onto the tip. “Vin, cover her ears.” Her dad wakes up and stares at me in disbelief as I click the silencer into place. He starts shaking his head no. I bend down until I am eye-level with him.

  “Please,” he whispers and his putrid breath hits my face.

  “Death is too easy for you, but I don’t have time to torture you, waiting for you to beg me to kill you. Enjoy hell,” I say lastly and stand up. I grab a pillow and place it between his head and the gun so the blood doesn’t splatter on me. He cries, begs, pleads. I click the safety off and pull the trigger. He slumps against the ground. Then I stare at her mother. She is still staring into space. Fucking pathetic.

  Vinny lets go of Alisha’s ears, and I hand my gun to Butch, the sergeant at arms. He nods and stuffs it in his pocket. He will get rid of it and make sure it will never be found. I walk over to Alisha and pick her up off the ground.

  Then I carry her from this fucking hell.

  No looking back. I climb on my bike and Trey takes her from my arms and turns her around until she is front to front with me. He lifts her legs and sets them on top of my legs. I tuck my leather jacket around her and wrap my arm around her back, holding her to my chest. Fuck, she’s fucking tiny.

  “Call Myra and have her meet me at my house.” Trey nods and opens his phone. I look down at the girl in my arms out cold. Then I start the motorcycle, tighten my grip on her, and speed out of this fucking place.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To all my fans! I am astonished at the amount of support I have gotten since I revealed I was publishing this book. Your excitement, made everything worth it and million times more. Without you guys I wouldn’t be a author. <3

  To my review team members that loved my books since day one. You kept encouraging me to continue and I thank you for that.

  Brooke Miller, my best friend. I want to thank you for being such an amazing friend! <3

  Emily, for helping me with my million a one questions.

  The Hype PR for handing my cover reveal and release.

  To everyone that promotes my work everything you do is a huge help and means the world to me.

  To everyone that has helped me along this journey. Without you I wouldn’t be here today.

  Thank you.

  More of LeAnn?

  Protecting His Forever: Http://tinyurl.com/jbypqvq

  Loving His Forever: Http://tinyurl.com/jmaqhjq

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  Email: Authorleannasher@gmail.com