Weak Without Him

The pain shot through me more intensely when I tried to sit up, and I sucked in a wavering breath. Screaming and yelling filled the room when Abbot and his men entered.

"Bloody hell. I can't leave you two alone for five minutes."

Sable, a bulky man with a handlebar mustache that curled on the ends, helped me to my feet. Once I was standing, he wrapped his arm around my waist and steadied me. Luke walked beside me with Je

"You were going to fuck her. You bastard," I mumbled.

"I wouldn't have. Abbot told me to play along, that he would be here tonight. I didn't think I would be in a room full of people though. That threw me for a fucking loop," Luke said.

"I wish you would have told me."

"I know. I'm sorry. I had to do this. Jesse wanted to kill her and almost did several times. If I wouldn't have been here..."

I turned my head and looked over at my brother. Seriousness covered his face.

"Jesse is a fucking sociopath. A lunatic and egotistical maniac. We aren't safe. She won't stop until we are all dead or until she has you."

I swallowed and saw actual fear in his eyes.

"Neither of those things will ever fucking happen."

Thirty-six

Strong hands held my body tight. Slightly tilting my head to view my capturer, I saw a face that I had learned to disregard. My hate lingered. Luke said he tried to save my life, but after everything, could he really be trusted? What part did he play? He wasn't the ringleader, but rather a caged tiger. With everything I had, I slammed my slack hands at his chest. Weak from the drugs, my world shook.

"Shh. It’s going to be okay," Luke said.

We traveled forward but weren’t alone. Several footsteps shuffled as we walked, but I couldn’t see who surrounded us. The show must be over. Did Luke have sex with me? I wanted to remember. I needed to remember what happened, but the memory didn't exist. Each time they incapacitated me, they took away a little piece of my life. Life. Jesse would end mine without thinking twice.

I panicked.

Could Luke really save me from her and the men that seemed to do whatever she said? I let out a whimper as fear consumed me.

"Je

I couldn’t see Fi

"You’re safe now. I’m here."

I stared at him. Water streamed down my face, and I realized I was crying, crying because he had come for me. He wiped away the tears that continued to fall.

"Are you real?" I whispered, not sure if I spoke or just imagined it.

Fi

A man with blond shaggy hair grabbed Fi

I tried to focus on Fi

My eyelids were like glue and once they closed, I couldn’t open them. I dove back into an unconscious pool of my fears. I screamed to be released, to wake up, to be back in the dank hall looking into Fi

A woman stood in front of me: my mother, bruised and broken. I focused on her face and eerie smile, as she transformed into Jesse. My blood curdled. The drugs allowed the dark thoughts to capture me and run freely. I hated it.

I felt pain shoot through my body, and I was back in the hallway. Luke didn't hold me anymore, and the cold cement felt icy on my half naked body. Fi

In the faint distance, a gunshot resonated and screams confirmed Fi

"Can you walk? Je

More gunshots resonated behind us and with every ounce of strength I had, I forced myself into a sitting position. Although my world shook, I knew I could do this. I didn't want to die here.

My balance wasn't right, but Fi

"We will worry about it when we are out of this fucking shithole." Hell hath no fury like Fi

Cages lined the walls, and women screamed and reached out for us as we passed. I remembered being in this hallway once, and I saw the end staring me in the face. Right around the corner we would climb the stairs that led to the exit on the street.

Everything quickly became mass chaos as the blond man unlocked the temporary prison cells. Gunfire zipped through the hall. Frightened women ran past Fi

Fi

We rounded the corner alone, and a snarling man blocked our way to the stairs. The exit was on the other side of him, and I knew we wouldn't get past without a fight. My legs went out from under me, and Fi

"Move," Fi

Fi

"Let's get out of here."

When I reached up for him, I saw a brute of a man looming over us with a knife in his hand.

"No." I tried to force out, but it was nothing more than a whisper when I saw the flash of a blade disappear and watched Fi

I struggled to move as Fi

The blond man rounded the corner. As the brute brought the knife down for another round, one single gunshot escaped from the gun in Blondie's hands.

"What a stupid motherfucker."

The man went slack on top of Fi

"I should fucking shoot him again for good measure."

Fi

Blood was everywhere. I couldn't look.

Death—something so inevitable for all things living—significantly changed my outlook on life, and I didn't want to live through it again. I was tired of losing people I cared for, and a part of me desperately needed Fi