Black

by T. L Smith

“Yes, and I’m about to do it again. I don’t waste money, Black. She will be loose change. You… well, you are my gold mine. I can’t replace you.”

  “You won’t have to replace me.” I smirk at him, and he starts to smirk too. Then realizes I’m not talking about what he is.

  “I wish you would reconsider.” He shakes his head, and I grab my gun. He looks behind me, and I’m knocked so hard on the back of the head I fall to the ground.

  I wake to Ru tying my hands behind my back, my legs are already tied in front of me. Rose sits on the ground, watching me. Gray is standing in the same spot, looking at his phone, then back to me.

  “You found my boy,” he says, and I know he’s referring to Jake.

  “He’s your son,” I say trying to break free. Ru pulls me back down, having the advantage over me.

  “Did he tell you… did he tell you what else I did?” He laughs like it’s all a game. “I let my boys play with him. The boys from prison. Can you guess what they did, Black? Can you?” He taunts me, an evil smile playing on his lips.

  “I’ll kill you for that!”

  “I knew it would hit a cord with you. He’s the only reason you stayed, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s lucky I didn’t kill him. He disobeyed me. Betrayed me. He shouldn’t have told you. Shouldn’t have said we knew. This whole thing would have been a lot smoother if you didn’t know.” His hands wave around. He’s angry that I knew, that Jake told me.

  As I fight my restraints, Ru stands and Gray nods for him to leave. I watch as he walks away then stops, looks back to Rose and smirks.

  Liam’s face is so tight, so much anger emanating from him. His hands and legs are tied down. He can’t escape, and he can’t do anything as Ru takes steps closer to me, blocking my view of Liam.

  “I want to play a game, Black,” Gray says. Ru’s eyes are on my body, looking me over, lust evident in them. My skin starts to crawl.

  “I want you to choose. Choose which part Ru touches.” I try to move backward, the drop off the cliff just inches below me. I hear Liam struggle more. I can’t hear see him, Ru prevents me from doing so.

  “Touch her, I dare you to. See what happens,” Liam says. I’ve never heard that voice before and it’s scary.

  “Okay, I guess I will choose,” he taps his chin like he’s thinking, “her breasts, bite them.” Ru bends down so he’s on top of me. He looks to my bra, and with a knife, cuts the front part in half, breaking my tits free. I try to kick him, hit him, anything, but he’s stronger and I’m weak. My head is so sore.

  “Ru, I will kill you if you touch her,” Liam says. Ru laughs, like everything he says is a joke. And bends down and covers my nipple with his mouth, pinning me with his body weight. Preventing me from moving, it doesn’t stop me from trying though. I try to buck my chest away from him, when I do so I realize what a huge mistake that is, his teeth clamp down on my nipple, making me scream worse than I’ve ever done so before.

  When he lifts his head, I see blood around his lips. I look down, and see my nipple is covered with blood. It hurts and stings so badly.

  “Next one, Ru, we don’t have all night,” Gray says. This time, I feel his erection when he leans on top of me to reach my other breast. Vomit forces itself up into my mouth.

  Screams tear from my throat, my vision now blurry. The pain is too much to bear. I hear Liam talking, I just don’t understand a word he’s saying. Ru lifts from my breast then reaches down between us, freeing his cock, and I feel it touch my leg. The hardness of it. I close my eyes, hoping it will be fast, hoping it will end soon.

  “Ru, bite her lip.” Gray is getting him to mark me, torture me, so I’ll no longer be wanted. I feel Ru rub against me. His cock is getting off on the pleasure, I feel it between my legs. He smiles on top of me, thrusts hard over my underwear. Pushing my undies inside and brings his mouth down to mine. I turn my head, but he bites my cheek, then pulls my face with his hand to face him.

  I spit at him, and he smiles.

  “Get off me, you sick bastard!” I yell. Gray taps his shoulder. Ru stands, his cock out in front of me, and he tucks it back into his pants. I look to my side now that I can see. Liam is watching me. His eyes seem broken and I can’t do anything to assure him. I think I just broke.

  She lays there, her eyes dull as the first time I saw her again. No tears are in her eyes, just sorrow. Ru stands and walks away, leaving just Gray here. He looks from her to me and shakes his head. I try again to break free, knowing I need to touch her, comfort her in some way. Fix the broken that just appeared in her.

  “It’s time, Black. It’s time to say goodbye.”

  He shoots me, the pain not registering. The screams rip from her throat as she watches. She tries to move, but it doesn’t work. His smile is evil, so sinister, it breaks me. I know what he’s about to do, and what I’m about to see.

  He looks to her, raising his gun, I see it all in slow motion like it’s a movie and it’s terrifying. Nothing I can do will stop what’s about to happen, I can’t get to her fast enough, can’t stop him. It’s like my own nightmare, on replay in my head coming to life. Her eyes flick to mine, she sees it, and she knows what’s about to happen. Her eyes tell me so. I try to loosen my restraints and I give it all I’ve got. They break free and all I can do is run, run to be as close to her possible. His lips tip in a smile, his eyes on me, but the gun on her. The river flowing below is loud. I want to make it stop, make this very moment cease to exist. The noise is unlike anything I have heard, the pop. Then her eyes, a single tear forms, a single tear slides down her cheek and drops to her lips, her beautiful, full pink lips. Ones I’ve treasured on multiple occasions. Now replaced by blood and tears.

  He lowers his weapon as the ringing stops, and I don’t give him a chance to raise it again. I body slam him to the ground, disarming him of his weapon. It flies away from him and he tries to body crawl under me to reach for it, but I get to it first. His eyes are now shocked as I raise it above his head, aim it at him as he did to her.

  “Rose,” I say, it should be the last thing he hears before I kill him. He should know this is for her. His eyes open wide, the gun is now positioned at his skull. I click the trigger. Blood coats me and soaks the floor. His eyes are open, and he’s hopefully in hell.

  I hear a whimper, it’s soft, but it’s her. When I reach her, I don’t want to touch her, she’s covered in blood more so than me. Her chest now crimson red, her pink lips now bright red, her hands holding her stomach, clutching it, trying to stop the pain. It won’t, it can’t.

  “Liam,” she whimpers. I pick up her head, lift it and place it on my lap. Her eyes follow me as she closes them in pain at the movement. But I need to hold her, have to.

  “Don’t close your eyes, Rose. Don’t…” A pain so intense shoots through me. Like a piece of my soul just got ripped away. It’s excruciating.

  “I love you, Liam Black,” she says, and there it goes the last piece of me, shattered, bare for all to see. It’s ripping its way through me, the losing her, after finally getting her back. I can’t take it. My world ceases to exist. I could live before, just live. Now, I would die, die just to be put out of this misery. Though it is a misery I well deserve.

  “I love you, Rose Miller.”

  “The pain is going.” A smile touches her red lips. I hear the sirens, they’re getting louder. Closer. “Don’t hide again…” She takes a heavy breath, her breathing coming in slow staggers. “Shine bright, Liam… the world is meant to see you.”

  “I can’t, not without you.” I touch her cheek and it’s cold. She closes her eyes, and I watch as the last breath leaves her mouth.

  It’s all black now, everything is black, just like me. Just like everything I touch.

  Sax tracked us, that’s how the ambulance and police knew where to come. Sax was the first I saw as he ran up the Hill with a gun in hand. He looks to me, then down to Rose. He panics, takes off his shirt and covers her body.

/>   She’s taken to hospital, and the whole way her heart stops and restarts. Like a game, a game I don’t want to play.

  I pace the floor, the floor of the hospital. Stand, then sit, then pace. How do I control what’s happening in me. How do I make this right? How do I make her feel right again? I wait, wait for the doctors. It goes on for hours, and for hours I do the exact same thing—I wait.

  The doctor walks out hours later. Telling me I can see her now. My heart jumps, I actually feel it kick start again.

  She’s now in recovery and asleep. Her head was hurt badly, her nipples had to be restitched, her body needing time to repair. I watch her every day, only leaving when I have news, news that Sax has just brought me.

  He found Ru.

  The police stand at the front of her hospital room door, thanks to Robbie. They connected all my killings to Gray, it was originally him that killed people and left a card, the same one I have left at every kill I’ve ever done. No one suspects me, I was young when the killing first started, so the case is closed.

  I kiss her head, squeeze her hand, and walk out of that hospital going straight to my home. Jake’s there, so is Sax. Jake looks bad, like he should still be in the hospital. Maybe he should be. I don’t talk to them as I walk straight to my room, grab every weapon I can strap to myself and walk out.

  I follow the address and see it’s a strip club. One the club owns. He’s been hiding out there. He’s heard that his president is dead, now he hides for life.

  Jake and Sax follow me out. Getting in their own cars and following me until I stop at the destination. Security lines the outside. Jake walks up and tells them to leave. They give him an odd look, but technically he’s the president now.

  The music is loud when we enter, the place is in darkness. I look for him and don’t see him anywhere. Jake points to a back room and starts walking in there. I follow, and when he opens the door, there he is, dick in hand, a woman on the ground. Jake smiles and pulls his gun out, making Ru freeze mid-stroke. The girl on the floor screams and runs for the door. We let her pass.

  He looks to us, his eyes on Jake, gauging his damage. He pulls again, stroking his cock. I pull a knife from my pocket, walk up to him and slice his hand that’s on his cock. He pulls it back and a scream tears from his throat.

  “You bastard!” he yells. Jake has a rope in his hands. He walks to one side of Ru and I walk to the other. There’s a table in the room. Sax hits him with the blunt of his gun, knocking him out, and we lift him to the table. Jake starts tying him down.

  “When will they be here?” I ask Sax, and he scratches his bald head.

  “You sure you want to do that?” he asks.

  “Sax, when?” I ask impatiently. He pulls his phone from his pocket and looks back up to me. I haven’t slept for days, just sitting at her bedside, waiting for her to speak, to see me.

  “You have ten minutes.” I nod my head. Jake has stripped Ru completely naked, and he’s just starting to rouse. He pulls against the ropes that have tied him to the table, but has no luck. Jake’s made sure of that.

  “We’re going to play a game,” I say to him. He looks panicked for a second, then laughs.

  “That’s all you got? Cut me, I love it,” he says. I nod to Jake, and he grabs the barbwire from his bag and starts strapping it around his mouth like a cloth, stopping him from speaking the same way Jake was.

  I walk to his hand which is placed on the table and let the coldness of my knife touch his pinky finger. He looks to it, the wire cutting his mouth each time he moves. Jake smiles.

  “I think the game we should play should be Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe,” I say, touching each finger. “Moe,” I say, smiling at him before slamming the knife down on his pinky, cutting it away from his hand.

  “Black,” Sax says, looking at the finger on the ground in shock. Jake has a smile on his face. “There here,” he says. Looking over his shoulder, a group of men walk in. Looking around, but the leader has his eyes on Ru.

  “Sax.” He nods to him as he enters. These men are dangerous and perverted. Men I wouldn’t associate with. Sax has, though. He’s done work for them. He told me if I pay them enough, his men would do whatever I wanted them to. I just couldn’t be there to see it.

  So I paid them, I paid them to rape him. Break his soul, break his body. Just like he did to Rose. A tiny little man comes bouncing in, his nails are painted and his hair is long and pulled up high. He looks to me, smiles and whistles.

  “I want to play with you,” he says, winking. The main man calls him to him, and he puckers his lips in disappointment as walks over to the naked Ru. He starts undressing, and we’re told to leave. I watch as he climbs on the table, dick in hand. He sees me and winks, then slams into Ru.

  That’s all I can take as he screams. I walk out the front, the sky bright. Jake stands next to me, shaking. I tap his shoulder, he looks surprised. Except I know what they did to him, how seeing that would have made him feel. It was Ru that did it to him, he told me. So I got Ru back with two stones. For Jake, and especially for Rose.

  “Will you protect her?” I ask him, Sax stands there with his glasses on his head watching as I speak to Jake.

  “Of course.”

  “I won’t always be there, Jake. She is my soul, she owns it. I bleed for only her. I weep for only her. Do you understand?” He nods his head, and I know, I know he will. He will put her first. Just like he has me, and just like I have him.

  I wake with heavy eyes, there are no voices around me apart from a constant beep. I don’t remember what happened, or why I’m finding it hard to move. I manage to open my eyes. I find Liam asleep on a sofa next to the bed. His eyes are closed, his feet crossed. I try to say something, but my throat is too dry. Nothing leaves it apart from a small squeak.

  Liam jumps at my sound, immediately standing next to me. He grabs a glass of water and places the straw to my lips. I sip slowly, then he places it down and touches my face softly, so much appreciation in his touch.

  “What…” is all I manage to say.

  “You were shot, Rose.” I remember then, I remember Liam running to me. I remember him being tied down and not being able to move. Then I remember the gun. “You’ve been asleep for two weeks,” he says, standing tall next to me. He looks so tired. I reach out and touch his hand. He looks down at it and doesn’t speak. I try not to remember the rest, the stuff that man did to me, I try to not think of anything but Liam’s green eyes.

  It’s finally time for me to leave the hospital. Liam has been at my bedside every day, not talking much, just watching me. He hasn’t allowed anyone in the room, it’s just been him for two solid weeks. I’ve started to see a different side of him, a worried and scared side, one I thought he never possessed.

  “Take me to the lake, Liam,” I ask as we reach his car. He opens my door and just looks at me.

  “Home, Rose.” He demands, so broken. My beautiful, strong man, so beautifully broken.

  “No, I just need to remember. I just want to watch the water, watch it with you.” He helps me in the car and starts it up. He sits there for a bit, not moving, just thinking. Then he begins to drive, and he’s taking me there. Texting as he drives.

  When we pull up, he tells me to wait in the car. Then I watch as he grabs a tool out and makes the hole in the fence bigger for us to get through. He comes back to the car, picks me up, and carries me straight through the hole and holds me in exactly the same spot where we first jumped from.

  “I didn’t expect you,” he says. I turn to him to see him watching me. I actually came here to tell him something, something the doctor told me.

  “You didn’t?” I ask smiling. He adjusts my weight and shakes his head, green eyes staring into mine.

  “I’m glad I didn’t, Rose. The best things are unexpected.” The look he’s giving me is like none I have seen. It’s full of so much love, so much emotion, he holds it in his eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, I think I see his soul, and it�
��s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  “My heart bleeds for you, Liam Black.”

  “My heart weeps for you, Rose…” Just as he says those words, his eyes open wide, a shot rings out. I look behind his shoulder. Ru stands there, smiling with a gun in his hand. I look back to Liam, his eyes opening and closing, his hold on me slipping. Blood starts oozing from his mouth. He looks down to me and we fall.

  Both of us drop into the lake. His body slams into mine, pushing me under the water. It hurts to try to swim upward. My chest is still sore from my surgeries.

  I reach the top, gasping for air, looking around for Liam. I can’t find him. I swim under the surface, searching for him as best I can, but coming up each time with nothing. My breath starts coming in short bursts as I realize I can never find him in this place. I swim the area of the lake, my chest hurting and pulling with each stroke I take. I don’t think it’s the pain from the surgery, it’s the pain from him. Like a knife stabbing me, again, and again. I circle it three times, finding no trace of him.

  My eyes are now covered with tears, the water melding them together. I can barely see as I try to pull myself up. Hoping that Ru is there to give me the same death he just installed on Liam. A hand reaches for me, pulling me from the lake. I thrash at it, hoping to pull it in with me, but it yells at me.

  “Stop, Rose!” I realize it’s not Ru. It’s Jake. He picks me up and carries me to his truck. I look outside, my tears blurring my vision as I watch a car go up in flames. Then alone, by itself is Liam’s truck. Just like he is, alone.

  I try to tell him. I point, point to the lake. Jake throws his shoes and shirt off, chucks me his phone and runs back to the lake. I hear him scream his name, hear his thrashing around in the water, hoping and praying for the best. I call the police, my voice not being able to get the words out.

  I move to the edge where he fell. I look at that spot. That spot that will hold different feelings compared to what they used to. They will now hold my nightmares, of that I am sure. My hands shake as I lean on them, water drops to them, except, it’s not water it’s my tears. They are falling so slowly I don’t even realize it. The pain is consuming me, holding me in its vice grip, strangling the life from me. I don’t know how to handle it. How to work through it. I can’t stop the tears, can’t stop the knife that won’t stop stabbing my heart.