by Ruby Carter
“You bitch! You are coming with me, and this time, we won’t be interrupted by your Devil’s Reaper’s scum boyfriend!” He screams at me, as he has made it across the room to me in one whole stride. “I-I-I don’t know what you are talking about? He’s not my boyfriend P-P-P-Paul. Please, let’s sit down and talk about this.” My whole entire body is shaking with terror.
I am clutching my arms around my belly, squeezing to prevent the boiling sickness from escaping. I can’t stop shaking my head back and forth as he grabs a hold of my arm so hard and tightly, I swear to god, he has cut the blood supply to my arm as its starts to feel numb. He takes me downstairs with the gun cocked and held to my temple. I have to walk past Zara in her car with fear in both our eyes.
I mouth “I love you” as a single tear runs down my face.
The nightmare isn’t over.
It never ends.
~ Chapter 25 Axe ~
Mi Vida Loca –My Crazy Life.
I can't stop thinking of Dani... My Dani.
I feel like she’s put some kind of magic spell over me. She is all I have ever thought about since I sunk myself into her beautiful body.
I am just finishing a phone call up with Dog about his VP, when Zara’s number flashes up on my phone. I have waited for this phone call to come, for her to give me an ear bashing about how I spoke and what I said to Dani. I am surprised it has taken her 2 weeks to do it. I grab the phone to go to answer it and it cuts off. I think “fuck it” and chuck it on church’s table and carrying on talking to my brothers.
“Who was that, boss? Was that Dani? When are you going to grovel to her after the shit you spouted out to her? You have had a face like you smelt some shit around for the past 2 weeks, boss. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that you haven’t even had a whiff of any action, not even Brandy.” Flex asks as he sits next to me. I should call him out on that shit, but he’s right. Motherfucking busy body. He is right. The thought of going anywhere, another woman, after being with Dani just isn’t going to cut it for me, there is only one woman I want to sink myself into. I have been kidding myself thinking otherwise. No other woman is going to be so responsive to my touch than her.
“Brother, I hear ya, man. But you know, shit aint that easy. Her ex is still out there and the club has shit going down. I don’t want her mixed up in that. She deserves better than living in fear. She deserves better than being mixed up in club life. She’s too pure and good for the club. And for me. Just drop it, brother.”
Saved by the bell. My phone starts ringing. “It’s Zara again, Dani’s best friend. Wonder what she wants,” I say to Bear and my eyes land on Flex and see his eyes staring at my phone with his jaw clicking. What the hell is that all about?
“Yo Za---Whoooa whoooa calm down, girl. I can’t understand a damn thing you just said.” Girl is screaming down my ear and now I am automatically on edge. She repeats what she said, “I SAID HE HAS GOT HER! HE TOOK HER FROM HER APARTMENT! Axe, oh my god! She looked absolutely terrified and scared for her life. He had a gun to her head and walked right past me….I don’t hear anything she’s carried on talking. I swear to god and on my life and my club, my heart stopped. I know, before she carries on, who she is talking about. I didn’t tell Dani her crazy ass ex was still alive, as I had hoped I would have been able to catch him by now.
My nostrils flare, my free hand is clenching and then unclenching, again and again. I begin pacing the room.
“Zara where the fuck did he take her?” I am trying my best to stay calm but my heart is beating so hard out of my chest, I can’t get it under control.
“I don’t know, Axe. Oh god, please help me. I need to find her. I don’t know where the hell he has taken her. I went to follow them in my car and he waved his gun at me then shot one of my tires out. He headed east from her apartment. That’s all the info I have.” I am cracking my neck from side to side. I grab my chair and kick it over, then start punching the table until my knuckles started dripping with blood. Nothing is going to release the anger I have inside of me. Flex comes next to me and takes the phone off me, and starts asking questions to Zara. I zone out while they talk.
“Boss, look. I will get Brains on the job and start asking the other chapters to start looking and combing all areas, ok? We will find her, boss. Is there anything else you need? “Bear asks me as he has his hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down. But I feel like a caged animal ready to for the kill.
“No. This shit is all on me, Bear. This is all me.”
“What did Zara say, Flex?”
“She’s calmed down, boss. I told her to go to her brother’s and stay there, and we will update her if we find or hear anything. She is scared and upset she couldn’t do anything for Dani. She feels helpless, like she should have gone in with her.”
“No. That is on me, brothers. She is out there with that fucking maniac doing god knows what to her in who knows where. I need to find her or I am going to lose it. I put her in danger again. Fuck, what have I done?” I growl and pull at my t-shirt. It feels like I’m choking. I jump up. I need to be alone with my thoughts at the minute. Otherwise I am sure to blow with waiting around. Bear has got this sorted.
“Bear, keep me updated. I am going to be in the gym. Get me if you find anything or hear anything, ok? I know you got this, brothers.”
“Yeah, sure thing, boss. You know we got this. Don’t worry, ok?”
I don’t reply to either of them. I can’t. I am worrying, as this is on me. I need to work some of my aggression out. I can feel the pounding in my ears and the adrenaline rushing throughout my body.
She’s fucking been abducted.
Son of a bitch! What have I done yet again? I have put her in danger AGAIN! The thought of her being hurt… The thought of losing her … literally kills me inside! What have I done?
She’s scared and alone with HIM. The bully who abused her, because that’s what he is a bully. Real men don’t abuse women. I have to find her. I will do whatever it takes to make sure she is safe.
My little Pixie. “MINE” screams in my head on repeat.
“MINE!”
~ Chapter 26 Dani ~
Darkness again.
I swear to god, why can’t I stay awake when this happens? I have a blindfold over my eyes. It feels rough and grainy over my eyelids.
I try and move my arms. They are handcuffed behind my back and my ankles are shackled also with handcuffs. I am unsure. I can smell piss, damp, and alcohol, wherever I am. I hear a door open in the distance and my whole body goes on edge and rigid as I can hear footsteps and there are more than one pair. My breathing starts getting raspy. I squeeze my eyes shut tight. If I pretend to be asleep, maybe he will leave me alone, even if it’s for a while.
Another door swings open. It must be the one to open my room that I am sitting in, as I feel the waft of air hit my face and arms. I instantly smell cheap aftershave. Whoever is wearing it smells like he has swallowed the whole bottle. I bite the inside of my lip to hold my breath in as the smell mixed with all the other stench in here is making me nauseous.
“Heeerrrreee she is, boys. She is the bitch that got away from me. Ssshhe belongs to me and I am gonna make sssure she remembers that.” Oh, this fucking asshole is pissed as newt, he is always worse when he’s been drinking… I can smell the nasty whiskey he has been drinking, mixed with that and his grimy sweat.
“We going to get to have a go, boss? She looks like she got enough cushion for us all pushing’, if you get me?” the man has a deep, grating voice as he snickers with another man in the room.
“You will do nnno ssssuch thing, either of you! Sshe is mine! Aren’t you, bitch?!” He shouts and spittle comes out and lands on my arms. I try not to move, as I just want him to fuck off with his ‘friends’.
I have this cold chill running down my spine. What if that’s what he has brought me here for? To share with other men, to gang rape me? I would rather die a slow painful death.
“The fffucking whore is sti
ll out cold from where I butted her with my gun earlier. Come on, bboys. Letssh go back upstairs." The door slams behind them as I hear their muffled conversations when they open the last door; I swear to god, I can hear music? Maybe the devil himself has me locked in a basement of a house or something. Fuck if, I know I just want out. I can hear my own heart beating and the drip drip of water? Or some kind fluid in the corner of the room?
I don’t know how long I have been down here, but the only time I see anyone is when a woman comes to let me go to the toilet in a bucket in the corner of the room. She doesn’t speak or make eye contact but comes in and uncuffs my legs so she can assist me to and from the bucket. Then she recuffs me and leaves a glass of misty water in a grubby looking beaker. She looks like she is either afraid to talk to me because I am a stranger or because Paul has told her not to speak. I am going with the latter. She reminds me so much of myself when I was with Paul. The woman is wearing a dirty denim skirt, a tube top and high-heeled boots. She looks ill and badly beaten. You can see the imprint of someone’s hand still fresh on her sallow, gaunt face.
I must have nodded or passed out again as I hear the door open and SMACK! SMACK! I get slapped across the face so hard, I swear, I have bit my lip. The blindfold the woman tied around my eyes, or should I say dirty rag, is ripped off my eyes. I blink a few times, trying to adjust them to the lack of light. I look up to see Paul standing there with a dirty wife beater on, baggy jeans, and greasy hair slicked back on his skull.
"Morning, Danielle. I brought you an apple as we need to shift those pounds. Don’t we?"
"Fuck you, Paul!" THUMP THUMP! He’s using me like a punching bag, blow after blow after blow on my face, torso, anywhere he can pound his fists on like a piece of fucking meat. All I can feel is searing pain through my face and my body, I heard a crunch on my cheekbone. I think I have broken another rib. No scrap that I definitely have broken a rib… It hurts too much to breathe in and exhale.
All I can think about at this point isn’t about survival, no. It’s about that damn sexy biker who claimed my heart. I wish to fucking god I wasn’t so damn proud and stayed with him at his clubhouse. At least I wouldn’t be here, cold, afraid of losing my life, and starving. No, I would be safe with Axe.
I don’t know how long I have been down here. It feels like weeks when it’s probably been a day or two.
“Shall we have some fun, Danielle? See, thing is I ain’t giving you up for no one. I want to see how long it takes until you start losing weight, so all you get to have is water. I do love you, Danielle, but I don’t want a fat bitch for a woman. I hope you don’t mind. I have needs. I couldn’t wait for you,” he says so close to my ear, I breathe in his odor. God, my stomach rolls and I can taste bile at the back of my throat, eager to get out.
“Just let me go, Paul. Please. If you let me go, I won’t tell the police, I swear! I just want to go home.” I plead with him in desperation to be set free because I know deep down he isn’t going to keep me alive. He’s going to either rape me until I pass out and then kill me or just kill me for attempting the next thing.
The last time the scared woman recuffed me, I sat down and found out what that noise in the corner was a dripping leaky pipe. I am sat directly underneath it. The water is dripping onto my handcuffs behind my back. The water is lubricating my hands, as I try to pry and wiggle my wrist free of one of the handcuffs. I keep an eye on the knife pouch attached to his hip as I try to distract him by being all fake nice and sickly sweet.
“Come on, Paul. Let’s go and we can sort this out at home, yeah? Me being down here isn’t going to sort us out,” I say, trying to distract him as I wiggle my hand free.
Fuck, it’s free! I look back at the pouch and him. It’s now or never. I hear screaming, shouting upstairs, and gunshots. Fuck! I go to grab it as Paul is distracted. I have it my hand.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” He screeches “Gimme that, you stupid, fat whore!” We are fighting to grab the knife out of my hand. He is scratching, biting at me as I near closer to him. I’m trying to end him, to end my nightmare.
But he overpowers me in the to and froing. I don’t know how. Maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten the whole time I have been down here. The next thing I know I feel a like I have been punched so hard in my stomach, I can’t breathe. I literally can’t catch my breath. My stomach feels a really strange pressure. Everything is moving in slow motion. I look at Paul in blurred vision, staring wide eyed at me but holding no knife.
Where’s the knife?
I look on the floor and move my head down, but suddenly the knife is in my stomach. The full blade is deep inside me. All you can see is the K-Bar handle sticking out of my body somehow doesn't feel the pain right away, though it soon grows after seeing the blood, my blood, oozing out of the wound. I think it was a delayed reaction from some form of localized shock to the nervous system from the violence, or if my brain kicked in after seeing the blood.
I don’t know, but I start feeling clammy, cold, and sick.
I fall to the ground. I lay on the opposite side of my wound to see Paul running out of the room as I try to shout him to call him back, but my voice is barely a whisper.
I want to sleep…
~ Chapter 27 Axe ~
An hour before...
She has been missing for 7 days. Seven fucking days. The longest seven days of my life. I feel like I can’t breathe. I will myself to calm the hell down; this isn’t going to get Dani back. All chapters of Devil’s Reapers are looking everywhere for her, near and far.
Fuck my life! I have to get her back. I can’t think of the alternative. Damn it. There isn’t going to be an alternative. Shit. I know deep down, I can’t live without that woman. She took a hold of my heart with those big green-grey eyes and I mother fucking drowned in them. I didn’t realize then what I do now.
I love her. I love my little Pixie, my Dani. I can’t deny it anymore she’s mine!
I am walking up and down Brains’ room. He calls it ‘HQ’, the geeky fucker. I say walk, but I look more like a prison guard on patrol. My back is rigid; my fists are clenched so tight, my knuckles may shatter into tiny shards. My face and hands are so sweaty I am waiting to hear back from the other chapters and even called in a few favors I cashed in with some of the Nomad bikers.
Flex comes barging into HQ. “Yo, Boss! I have just heard back from Bishop, one of the Nomads. He says some shit is going down with The Scorpions that doesn’t look too good. Apparently the VP has gone bat shit crazy and turning some of the members on Dog.” His voice’s rumbling in the room. I block out most of what Flex is chatting about.
“I didn’t think about asking Dog, as he has his own shit to deal with, but fuck, Flex, I will try anything.”
“Dog, How ya doing, brother? ...”
“Yo Axe, this isn’t the best time. Fuuuuckk!!! Axe, my VP…” BANG! BANG! BANG!
Then the phone line cuts dead. All I heard on the other end of the phone was screaming and shouting and obviously gunshots.
“Shit, we need to go to The Scorpions clubhouse NOW! Brains, update me if you hear anything back from the other chapters.” I order out to my men. Since this entire drug dealing in the town, me and Dog have been trying to work together. We have grown quite close.
We ride out to The Scorpions’ clubhouse in the crack ass middle of nowhere, down some crappy, dirty track that is messing my bike’s suspension up. We pull up to their compound gates to what can only be described as a fucking riot come shit hole. The clubhouse door is wide open. I can hear women screaming either from fucking or getting beat up. Music is blaring out my ears. We all get off our bikes and slowly approach the clubhouse.
As we enter the main door, we are greeted with a stink of stale beer and whiskey. There are clubwhores every which way I turn, some having a threesome, some getting fucked. Hard. In the ass. Fucking hell.
The place is a fuckin’ pig sty. They are all drunk and drugged up to their eyeballs, so badly
that they haven’t realized we have walked in. I am trying to scan the room for Dog but there is broken glass and wooden stools scattered over their clubhouse floor.
“Fan out and see if you can find Dog,” I say to Bear, Dagger, Wrench, and Tinhead. Flex and me carry on walking through the back until we hear screaming from the other end of the clubhouse. We start to walk in the direction of the screaming when Bear comes up to us followed by the rest of my crew. “Boss, man. Shit, I can’t say it. Just come with us.”
We walk through the exit at the back of the clubhouse. There I stop stock still.
There, hanging upside down, butt naked like the day he was born, is Dog tied up on a tree, 3 bullet wounds and throat cut from ear to ear, his blood draining out on the ground like the fucking red sea.
The words carved into his big beer belly are ‘Spider is Prez’.
“WHERE THE FUCK IS SPIDER?” I scream out to whoever the fuck can hear me. I don’t give a shit. This isn’t my club, but from prez to prez, that is fucking disrespectful. I am full of so much rage from trying to find Dani and now finding my friend has been killed in cold blood. I am a wild animal and the animal has now been let loose.
“Wrench, Tinhead, cut Dog down, with care and respect. Cover him over. Stand over him until we finish this shit, then we will load him in Doc’s van,” I growl at my prospects. If we all survive this shit, those two are getting patched in.
