Two opposing armies were battling it out in my head. I could clearly imagine them as they rolled in their cannons and blasted small iron balls at each other. It was a battle between logic and emotion and the discomfort it created in me was alien and disturbing. Alex was right when he accused me of acting in a way that completely went against my character. How could I trust Daemon not to shatter what was left of my heart? In the end, there was only one answer I could give him.
“Yes.” My voice was quiet as I said that and his eyes narrowed at my response.
“Yes, what?”
Sonofabitch, this was annoying the crap out of me. Why did he always make me voice the confessions that were the most difficult for me to even admit to myself? This was uncharted territory for me and I had no idea what I was doing or why I was even doing it. My first instinct was to leave the club and return his bike to him as I had planned to do when I attempted to leave earlier. His words and questions were difficult for me to process and I was angry that it had grown as complicated as it had. Speaking my mind had never been a problem before, but something about those crystal blue eyes that were currently burning into mine…intimidated me. Daemon had somehow forced his way past my walls and I couldn’t grasp how he had been able to do so in such a short period of time. There was no other choice left in me but to relent and admit that he had affected me as deeply as he had.
My words were spoken slowly as I reluctantly confessed. “Yes, I want to be with you, only you, and I want you to feel the same way about me.”
His arrogant smile wasn’t helping matters. My body tensed immediately and I was about to pull myself up and exit this room as quickly as I could. Daemon must have sensed my flight instincts kicking in because his hands grasped around my waist, essentially holding me in place.
The timbre of his voice deepened and he spoke softly when he said, “I’m glad to hear that, Damsel; in fact, you have no idea how happy it makes me for you to finally admit that. I will point out, though, that had you communicated that to me earlier, we could have avoided this entire incident. Although, in all honesty, I’m glad you showed up. If for nothing else, it has been enjoyable in so many ways.” His head angled as he flashed me a brilliant, all teeth smile. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Keeping in the spirit of communication, I guess I should admit that I’m glad I showed up as well. It has been an experience, to say the least.”
“That it has, Paige. However, I regretfully need to cut the rest of this conversation short. I have to get back out there and my ass has fallen asleep from sitting on this hard floor. Besides, you need to go home and put on some more clothing before I have no choice but to take you again while we are in here. Unfortunately, I have work to finish up and your presence is very distracting.”
He stood up and turned to reach for my arms and pull me up beside him. He wrapped me in a warm embrace and kissed me on the forehead. “Would you mind if I came by to see you after I leave here?”
I didn’t mind, so I shook my head and said, “Not at all.” He smiled in response and took my hand to lead me back into the club.
Chapter Fifteen
Daemon and I left the storage room and he escorted me out to David’s car before heading back to the club to finish up whatever last minute jobs he had to perform. He assured me that he didn’t have much to do and that he would be at my place within a couple of hours. I started David’s car and reached for my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed any calls. It was just after one o’clock in the morning and my roommates had been expecting me home hours earlier. I fished around in my purse for the phone when I discovered that it was missing. Sighing to myself, I climbed back out the car and made my way into Tomb in search of my phone.
Hoping Daemon wouldn’t see me and start up round two as he threatened, I hurried back to the storage room and found my phone on the floor near where he and I had been sitting earlier. Picking it up, I hit the little button to power it on and an indication popped up that David had called earlier and left a message. He must have been checking to find out if I was successful in my spy mission and I decided that I would wait to inform him of my failure when I returned home.
While passing the left bar to head back out of the club, Logan waved me over to talk. I grudgingly stopped to talk to him and assumed he wanted to know why I was dressed like this. “What’s up, Logan?”
He eyed my odd choice in clothing and I could see the question he was wanting to ask by the expression on his face. Not wanting to explain, or rather, admit why I was dressed this way. I smiled brightly and raised my eyebrows to dare him to comment on my apparel. He momentarily appeared to be considering if he should ask, but then shook his head and decided against it.
“Hey, Paige. I was just wondering if you have heard from Annie. She was supposed to get here over two hours ago but hasn’t shown up. I tried calling her, but she hasn’t answered her phone or responded to my texts.”
I checked my phone again to see if Annie had called as well as David. She hadn’t. It wasn’t like Annie to stand up a date and it definitely wasn’t like her to not respond to texts. Earlier, she had been overly excited about seeing Logan tonight and the fact that she hadn’t called or showed concerned me. Had something happened and that’s why David called me? I pulled my phone from my purse and hastily hit the button to return David’s call. Placing my finger over my other ear to hear better I became nervous when David’s phone rang five times and then went to voicemail. He had a date with Matt tonight and it was possible they were busy, so I hit the button to check my voicemail. David hadn’t left me a message and all I could hear was a loud crashing sound on the recording.
What the hell?!
My body raced out of Tomb so fast, I didn’t even bother with social pleasantries by explaining David’s voicemail to Logan or even waving a quick goodbye. My feet instantly took me back to David’s car before slamming on the gas pedal to get home.
~
My front door was ajar when I finally arrived to the apartment. It hadn’t taken me long to get here and I believe I broke just about every traffic law known to man to make the quick transit happen. I cautiously approached the door and stood outside to see if I could hear anything within the apartment. Nothing.
I toed the door open as I poked my head in to inspect the entryway. All appeared normal so I opened the door further.
Oh my god.
The living room in the apartment was completely destroyed and there were broken lamps and vases littering the ground. The furniture was knocked over and the coffee table was broken down the middle. I moved towards the living room to investigate further and, due to the broken glass spread out over the floor, I chastised myself for having left my shoes in the car. I carefully walked around the broken pieces when I noticed a trail of what appeared to be blood leading to behind the couch. Tiptoeing over to follow the trail, I remained quiet as I attempted to listen for movement in another part of the apartment. My jaw dropped when I found Matt balled up behind the couch with a nasty looking gash on his head. My purse fell from my hand as I ran over to kneel down and check to see if he was breathing. His chest was moving and when I pressed my fingers to his neck I found that his pulse was still strong. I shook him awake and his eyes momentarily fluttered open before closing again. He groaned while conscious for that split second and I could have sworn I heard a faint sound coming from near the bedrooms.
Deciding that Matt was okay for the moment, I jumped up and hurriedly crossed the room to look down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. My face fell and a gasp escaped me when I saw David’s battered body lying near Annie’s bedroom. His face was covered in blood and his arm was twisted in an unnatural position and my heart shattered at the sight of him.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not David. Please not David.
I dropped to the floor and crawled on my hands and knees to get to him and I began to check for any signs that he was alive. His breaths were shallow and his chest barely moved as he inhaled. My fingers ca
me in contact with his weak pulse and I carefully nudged him to see if I could wake him up. Tears began pouring from my eyes when he wouldn’t respond and I called his name in an attempt to rouse him. His face was almost unrecognizable and his body twitched every so often making me afraid to move him in an attempt to encourage him awake. I couldn’t tell if he was in pain and my lips trembled at the thought that I couldn’t wake him.
“David? Come on David, wake up for me. Please David, please wake up.” My voice was strained and it quivered as I begged him to let me know he was okay. My entire body slumped and I felt like a hundred pound weight had been placed on my shoulders. I was desperate for him to speak to me, to somehow communicate with me that he was still with me. I was upset about Matt, but losing David would be too much for me to bear. My agony was crippling me and I struggled to get my emotions under control. He needed medical attention and it took everything I had to leave him to call for help. Fear overtook me that he could die while I went to retrieve my phone, but I had no choice but to attempt to get him the help that he needed.
I started to turn to go back and call for help when I heard a groan coming from Annie’s bedroom. I instantly remembered Logan’s concern over her absence and I realized that she would have been home as well. I nudged the door to her room open and spotted her lying on the bed, half dressed and in the same beaten state that I had found David. Her body and the white bed sheets were stained with blood and she lay face down over the mattress. Pushing up from the floor I raced to her side and tried to cover her with the blanket on her bed. She was unconscious like everybody else and I started to rush back to the living room to call 911.
As I turned to exit the door, my hair was grabbed from behind and I was pulled backwards off my feet. The floor impacted instantly with my back and my breath was knocked out of me briefly. My lungs struggled to gasp in air when I felt someone heavy straddle my midsection. My eyes flew open to discover Chris looking down at me. He had an evil smirk on his face and his hands and body were covered in blood. A few dark bruises were beginning to form on his face and I was thankful that someone was able to get in a few good shots in the struggle. How in the hell had he fought and won against all three of them? Matt and David weren’t small guys and I didn’t understand how Chris was able to beat them so badly while still incapacitating Annie.
“Hello, Whore.” Disdain dripped from his lips as he spoke to me. My body clenched at the sound of his grating voice and I struggled to lift him from my body.
“I’m so glad you have finally made it home. I was starting to wonder if I would have to keep pleasuring myself on Annie while I waited for you to return.”
I remembered Annie’s half-dressed state and was instantly sickened when I realized what he had done to her. I opened my mouth to scream but he forced his grimy hand over my mouth to silence my voice. He pressed down on my face so forcefully that I felt my teeth cut into the inside of my lips.
Adrenaline graciously began to course through my body and my shock gave way to allow anger to drive me. I reached up and pressed my fingers into his eyes, attempting to blind him. He howled in pain and released my shoulders when he reached up to remove my hands from his face. I let go quickly and then began hitting him with my fists in an attempt to force him off me. He slapped me across the face and the impact caused my head to spin to the side. My jaw where he had hit me was pounding and tears welled in my eyes. My rage kept me going and my knee came up from behind him, impacting with his head with enough force that it knocked him sideways. Once I was freed from his weight, I scrambled to roll over and crawl away on my hands and knees. Why did I not call for help when I first got here?!
Chris swiftly recovered and grabbed one of my ankles as I was crawling. My foot instinctively kicked back and caught him in the forehead. The impact of my kick jarred him enough that I was able to crawl far enough to push myself off the floor and out of Annie’s bedroom. If I could just make it to my phone I could call the police and hold him off until they got here. I started screaming for help as I ran towards the living room and I hoped that one of my neighbors would hear me.
My phone was in reach when Chris tackled me back down to the floor. He turned me over onto my back and straddled me again and I hit him with as much force as I could. Broken shards of glass on the floor tore into my skin and the pain from the cuts was excruciating. It was unfortunate that he weighed so much more than me and was apparently built like a brick shithouse. My own muscles started to burn from the exertion of my actions. I started to scream again and Chris covered my mouth with his hand. My teeth tore into his fingers as I bit down on him trying to free myself. He snarled when I bit down and grabbed my head with his other hand and started beating my head into the floor repeatedly. My head screamed in pain and I bucked my body up trying to shift him off of me. My efforts were useless and after a few more hits to the head, my vision tunneled, until all I saw was black.
~
“Wakey, Wakey.”
Drops of water sprayed over my face as my head was being assaulted with the worst headache known to man. My thoughts were jumbled and I came back to consciousness, rapidly remembering my current circumstances. I tried to move but found that my hands and feet were bound and a gag was tied tightly over my mouth. The cords used to tie me were cutting into my skin and they stung every time the water washed over them. I opened my eyes to discover that I was lying down in my bathtub. The porcelain was freezing and it didn’t help that Chris was spraying me down with ice cold water.
“Since a bad little whore decided she needed to fight, she got herself all dirty. I’m just going to clean you up so that I can do my job and dirty you up all over again.”
Oh, this guy was a sick bastard. I’ve known he was abusive, but I could have never guessed the depth of his depravity. My limbs continued to struggle against the cords but whatever he had used to secure me was effective. The water was freezing and it felt like knives were raking over my body. He continued to wash me down and I jumped when he began rubbing his hands over me. His fingernails scratched into me and I cringed at the feel of his calloused hands touching me. He placed one hand on my ass and squeezed so hard a cry escaped my lips. His lips turned up into a nasty sneer at the sound of my pain.
“Wouldn’t let me touch this before, would you? Well, now sweetheart, I’ll be touching a hell of a lot more!” He hit me with the shower head and then threw it into the tub by my feet. After turning off the water, he pulled me up by the cords around my hands and dragged me up and over the lip of the tub. My body impacted with the floor again and my feet slapped against the floor uselessly. The pain in my wrists was making my hands go numb and I thrashed back and forth in a hopeless effort to break myself free. Chris reached down and grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the bathroom by my hair and my hands. My head hit the door frame as he pulled me past it and I cried out again from the blow.
I opened my eyes as he dragged me into my bedroom and I was stunned to see that he had lit at least three dozen candles. The room was dark except for the dancing light and shadows and it made Chris’ face appear even more sinister than before. How long had I been unconscious to give him time to do this? Rage coursed through my system and I was thankful for that emotion smothering my fear. I wouldn’t give Chris the reaction he was looking for and I glared up at him after noticing what he had done to the room.
“Do you like it? I hope you don’t mind that I helped myself to Annie first. As I recall, she would have given it to me willingly if it hadn’t been for you and that fucking faggot out there! If it makes you feel any better, I know I’m going to take my time and enjoy you more thoroughly. I don’t see your buddies waking up anytime soon, so we should have hours before I finally kill you.”
My body continued to thrash as I screamed at him that he was a fucking lunatic. The gag muffled my words but the sudden anger in his gaze indicated to me that he understood what I had said. He picked me up by both of my bindings and threw me onto the bed. He slapped me across
the face again before screaming, “Stop fucking moving, Bitch! You keep fighting me and I’ll go out and kill all fucking three of them! Do you understand me?!”
It took all the willpower I had to stop fighting against him. Annie, David and Matt were still alive when I checked them and there was a chance that they could live through this in time for help. My instincts were screaming at me to keep trying to free myself, but I used all the self-control that I had to stop moving. Thoughts and ideas of ways to get out of this flitted through my head and I couldn’t calm down enough to focus on what I had to do. When my body stilled, Chris smiled his sick grin and said, “I’m glad to see that you do understand.”
His eyes began to travel over my body and he licked his lips with anticipation. Both of his hands grabbed my breasts and forcefully squeezed, causing me to whimper from the pain. The sick smile on his face only widened when he saw that he had hurt me and I could tell that he was relishing my captivity.
He leaned down to speak in my ear and I had to hold back from being physically ill at the nearness of him. “Now, you are going to be a good little whore and sit here while I go get something. I won’t be leaving the room; so if I see you move even an inch, your friends will be dead before we try this again.”
Chris’ heavy footsteps echoed as he crossed my floor back into the bathroom. I could hear him fishing through the drawers by the sink and they opened and slammed as he searched them. He returned to the bed and I looked over to see that he was carrying a pair of scissors with him. The adrenaline in my body was surging for me to move, but I had to force the instinct aside by remembering my friends in the other parts of the apartment.
“I appreciate the outfit choice, Paige, but I’m afraid all that material is going to get in my way. It’s a shame really that I will have to cut it off of you to get where I intend to go.”