Conrad

by Emily Rose

  Miles used every bit of strength he had left and pushed off the wall. Before I could register what he was doing, it was already happening.

  His hand wrapped around the needle and it only took him a second before he shoved it straight into his arm, falling back against the wall and meeting my gaze, “No… it’s not,” he said and then dropped the needle, sliding down the wall onto the ground.

  “Miles!!” I shot forward, but it was already too late.

  I hit the ground beside him and looked up at Marcus with tear filled eyes, “You have to help him. You can’t do this!!” I screamed.

  The wicked grin he held never faded as he stared down at Miles on the ground and then spoke, “Well, I’ll be honest, I was not expecting that to happen,” he said.

  My stomach felt sick and I looked back at Miles. With my hand, I gently grabbed his face and hovered above him. His eyes were nearly closed and he was so out of it that I wasn’t sure if he would hear me or not, but I had to do something.

  “Miles, if you can understand me, just hold on. Just fight through it,” I said as my tears fell from my eyes and landed on his face.

  The sensation of my tears falling against his skin got a reaction out of him. Miles slowly lifted his hand and gently used his thumb to wipe the tears away from underneath my eyes before he spoke, “I’m sorry, Lesley,” he said weakly, dropping his hand back to the ground and letting his eyes slide closed.

  His head went limp in my hands and my tears filled my eyes quicker. “Miles, please,” I begged, but there was nothing.

  The drugs that flowed through his veins took him from me and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. At that moment, Kevin wrapped his arms around my stomach and pulled me away from Miles. I screamed, cried, and fought against him, but it was no use.

  “Knock her out. I’m done with this,” Marcus said.

  Before I could do much less, I saw the girl who had given Marcus the needle walk toward me. She had tears in her eyes and there was another needle in her hand.

  But she spoke, “I’m so sorry,” she said as Kevin forced my arm out, so that she could inject the needle directly into my bloodstream.

  I screamed, but the drug rushed through me like poison. I went limp in Kevin’s arms and my eyes drifted closed on their own, casting me in complete darkness.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Lesley

  My eyes fluttered open and after a moment, I felt the sluggish effect on my body. It felt like I was waking up from a long night of heavy drinking.

  I groaned and rolled onto my side. My stomach knotted and I felt like I could throw up at any second, even though I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually ate anything. Beneath me, I could feel the cold stone floor and I knew I was back in the cellar.

  “Lesley, are you awake? Talk to me baby,” I heard Luke’s familiar voice from his cell beside mine.

  But I couldn’t speak. I was barely functioning. So instead, I laid there and tried to get my eyes to focus on the stone wall.

  “Come on baby, wake up,” he begged.

  Closing my eyes, I thought about what had happened before I got knocked out. God Miles. Tears formed in my eyes at the memory and I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth, so I could bite down on it, keeping my cries silent. I had no idea what happened to him after I passed out, but I needed to know.

  Releasing my lip, I spoke in a shaky voice, but kept my eyes closed. “Luke…” I said and then took a deep breath, “Where is Miles?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him. They only brought you back,” he said.

  Oh God.

  “Luke, they drugged him. They gave him… they gave him meth,” I said with my voice shaking on the words.

  “Damn Lesley, I’m so sorry,” Luke said.

  At his words, I couldn’t hide it anymore. My cries escaped me and I curled into a ball, shivering from everything I was feeling at this moment. Luke didn’t say anything as he listened to my cries and I knew it was breaking him, because he knew I was crying for another man. But I couldn’t even think about that right now. All I could think about was the fact that Marcus and Kevin were slowly killing Miles. They were making his death painful and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. If we didn’t get out of here soon, they would eventually push Miles’ body to the point of no return.

  And then, there would be no point to this thing called life. Miles deserved so much more than he was given. He was so strong, caring, and did everything he could to protect the people around him, even if he didn’t know them. Just like he had protected the young girls Marcus was selling by winning that fight, by becoming a killer. He would forever push himself until he couldn’t do it anymore, and I knew that day was coming or had already arrived.

  There was only so much the heart could take before it just… stopped.

  The longer I laid there, the more I could feel everything around me fade out. My breathing slowed and it didn’t matter what I did to stay awake.

  My body took over my mind and forced it to shut down again.

  ****

  I don’t know how long I was out before I was jerked awake by the sound of a door opening. Blinking, I felt my heart racing as my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the cellar and then I heard footsteps, only these didn’t sound like the others I’ve heard. Sitting up, I pushed the dizziness away and looked at the gate.

  “Who is there?” Luke called, unaware that I was awake again.

  A moment passed and then I saw her. The girl from Marcus’ room stopped in front of my gate and in her hand, I saw the keys.

  She took one look at me without answering Luke and then spoke quickly, “We don’t have much time. Come on,” she said, lifting the keys to the door to unlock it and then pulling it open.

  I stood up and came to stand beside her. “Where are we going?” I asked as she closed the gate back.

  Turning away from me, she started back toward the main entrance again. “Come on. We don’t have much time,” she said again.

  I looked back at Luke and saw that worry was etched in his expression as he held the bars with his hands. “I’ll be back,” I told him and then hurried after the girl.

  Once we were out of the cellar room again, she turned toward the wall. I stood back and watched as she messed with a piece of brick on the wall for a second. And then a spot in the wall the size of an actual door moved, sliding open and revealing a dark pathway.

  “Hurry,” she said, stepping to the side.

  I didn’t wait on her to explain the secret door or where we were going. I darted into the hallway and she followed. We stopped long enough for her to mess with another piece of brick and then I saw the door slowly close behind us, engulfing us in complete darkness. A second later, she lit a lighter and walked forward, using the tiny bit of flame we had as a light to guide us through the twisty hallway.

  “What is your name?” I asked, following close behind her and trying to ignore the way my voice seemed to echo in the darkness.

  She responded without turning to look at me. “Jersey. What’s yours?”

  “Lesley. How old are you? And if you have keys to this place, why don’t you just escape?” I asked as we continued down the never-ending hallway.

  “I was 15 when I arrived here. I’m 18 now though. I have been lucky to not get picked during the various Devil’s Night celebrations. The older we are, the less likely the buyers pick us and you don’t escape from Marcus. He has people watching every corner of the yard and plus, these keys only unlock certain doors,” she said.

  My heart broke. God, three years she has been stuck in this nightmare. I couldn’t even imagine, but somehow, she was surviving and that gave me a tiny spark of hope.

  “Devil’s Night?” I questioned.

  “Yeah, the night of the fight,” she said and then turned down another corner of the hallway as if she had walked this pathway enough times to know exactly which turn to take to get us wherever we were going.

  “Oh
,” was all I could say to that.

  But I didn’t have time for much more conversation, because we arrived at a set of stairs that led up to a solid brick wall. She climbed them and then pushed on another piece of brick on the side wall, stepping back as the secret door slid open, and then vanishing through.

  I followed quickly and came into a part of the house I hadn’t been in yet, but the hallway reminded me of the one that lead from my old room.

  Jersey messed with another piece of brick and the door we had just come through slid closed before she took off down the hallway. Our heels echoed throughout the large hallway and I could feel my heart racing at the thought of us being caught.

  Who knows what they would do to us then.

  Pushing these thoughts aside, I kept my pace with Jersey until we came to yet another door, except this one was a regular door. She brought out the set of keys again and unlocked it before stepping to the side.

  “Make it quick,” she said, glancing around the hallway as if she were watching for someone to appear at any second.

  I grabbed the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open. When I stepped inside, my heart stopped inside my chest. The room was just like mine had been, but that wasn’t what had my heart struggling to beat. It was the person who laid in the bed. He was hooked up to IV’s and a heart monitor, but it was him.

  Miles.

  Tears swelled in my eyes and I looked back at Jersey. “Thank you,” I said weakly.

  She gave me a weak smile, “I know what it’s like not knowing. I’m there right now and it kills me.”

  My heart broke even more for her. “There’s someone Marcus is keeping from you?”

  She smiled, but it was filled with pain, “He used to work for Marcus, but he… he left.”

  “What was his name?” I asked.

  Jersey dropped her gaze, but there was a smile still on her face. “Dare.”

  Surprise hit me like a tidal wave and I shook my head, “Wait, are you talking about my stepbrother, Dare?”

  Her eyes met mine. “Darian Cross? He’s your stepbrother? I mean I knew Miles was his half-brother, but he never mentioned you as a stepsister.”

  There was so much I didn’t know, and it seemed that my lovely stepbrother still had secrets.

  “Well, I am and he will be back for you. He will come back for all of us,” I said, trying to sound like I really believed this.

  Jersey smiled. “I hope so.”

  “He will,” I said.

  She met my gaze and shrugged. “During my time here, I’ve seen a lot. People came and went. I’ve lost friends. I lost my family. I had lost all hope that this nightmare would end, but then I saw Miles. I saw his strength the first night he fought, and it gave me hope that this will end soon. He has given all of us girls hope,” she said.

  My heart grew with her words and I looked back at Miles as he laid unconscious on the bed, unaware of the moment that surrounded him. “He is amazing,” I said.

  “You better hurry. We probably don’t have much time,” she said.

  I nodded, took a deep breath, and then slowly walked toward the bed. Sitting down on the edge beside him, I scanned my eyes over his large frame.

  His chest lifted and fell with each breath he took. The sound of his heart beating weaker than it should be sent a rush of sadness through me that was so intense that tears formed in my eyes. He was clearly still struggling just to keep breathing and it broke my heart.

  Reaching for his hand, I grabbed it and even though he didn’t react, I prayed that he could at least hear me. I needed him to know that I was still here, that I was okay right now.

  This was a moment I knew might not happen again, so I couldn’t waste it. I had to put it all out there, even if he never heard it.

  Watching the way my hand looked inside his own, I spoke as the tears gently slid down my cheeks. “Miles, if you can hear me, I need you to know something. I’ve been so scared to tell you, because you’re my stepbrother and it is pretty scandalous for me to feel this way, especially when I have Luke and I care so much about him, but I can’t keep hiding this from you,” I said and then looked up at his face only to see that his eyes were closed and he looked so completely at ease, “Miles Conrad, you’re fucked up. You’re everything I should run from. You’re dark and twisted, and you’re the last person on this beautiful planet that I ever thought I’d feel this way about, but you have broken down my walls. You walked into my life and you stole everything about who I am as a person, but I wouldn’t take a single moment of it back,” I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the words I could never say before, “Miles, I’ve fallen so deeply in love with you that I can barely breathe without you. Please, come back to me,” I said.

  He didn’t respond, but at my words, I heard the heart monitor change. Lifting my eyes to the green line that showed each beat of his heart, I saw that every beat was backed with so much power that it made a half-cry, half-laugh break from me.

  Picking his hand up, I put it to my lips and looked at him. “That’s it, Miles. That’s it. Just keep holding on. We will get through this together. I’m not going anywhere, even if I’m not here when you wake up, I’ll always be the girl by your side. You’re stuck with me and we will burn this shithole to the ground, but you have to keep fighting. I can’t do it without you,” I said as I listened to his heart fight to bring him back from the unknown.

  “We have to go!” Jersey whisper yelled from where she stood outside the door.

  Kissing Miles’ hand, I laid it back down and spoke, “Hold on, Miles. Just hold on,” I said before I walked away from him, silently praying that he continued to fight.

  When I came out of the room, Jersey locked it back up and we rushed for the secret hallway, vanishing inside a moment later. Taking the path back to the cellar room, my heart raced and that was when I felt it. Like someone had finally lit the fire in my soul, the will to fight this battle with every part of my being, that rage returned with a vengeance.

  And I embraced it.

  This wasn’t a battle between good and evil, because we were all dark and twisted souls that endured the torture thrown at us.

  This was a battle between the fallen and the Devil.

  And it was time to break the chains on our wrists and let the fury that burned inside our souls take out his kingdom.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Lesley

  I had lost count of how many days I had been locked in this damn place.

  It could be weeks or even months, but nothing had changed lately, which worried me. Luke and I spent our time in the cellar and every once in a while, either Jersey or the other girl who used to come to my room would bring us food. I knew Marcus wasn’t feeding us because he wanted to take care of us; he just needed us alive, mainly so he could torture us when he got the urge to do it again.

  I hadn’t seen Miles since the night Jersey took me to his room, but every once in a while, I would hear the loud chatter coming from the cage room, which told me that a fight was going down and that another week had passed.

  And every time, my heart broke a little more. I had no idea who was in the fight, who won, which girl was taken. I was worried about everyone at this point, but there was nothing I could do. I was still stuck behind these damn gates, only imaging the worst and maybe that was what Marcus wanted. He was trying to kill me by keeping me in the dark about what was going on outside these walls.

  But I had to keep the hope alive.

  I had to believe my own heart when it told me that Miles was still alive, doing everything he could to keep me and everyone else safe.

  And then there was still Luke. He hadn’t said much to me lately, but I knew he was just lost in his own thoughts like I was. Neither one of us seemed to have the urge or need to discuss our relationship, and I wasn’t sure now was the time to try to figure it out. But the guilt of what I had said to Miles burned inside me.

  Luke needed to know the truth, even if it was the last thing
I did. I cared about him, but my heart was torn. I was stuck between my history with Luke and my future with Miles. That wasn’t even the worst part. I had no idea if Miles had even heard me when I told him how I felt about him and even if he had, I didn’t know if he felt the same way since I never got a chance to see him after that horrible night.

  Marcus was doing this on purpose. I knew it. He was making sure we weren’t around each other, because he could see the strength build when we were and that worried him. He was trying to break that bond Miles and I had created.

  And I had no clue if he was succeeding. I was confused by what Marcus really wanted. At one point, I had thought he wanted to slowly kill Miles, but now I wasn’t sure.

  Now I felt like maybe he wanted to turn Miles instead, fracturing the parts of him that make him who he was, because if he did that, he could control him.

  The man was a sick and twisted individual, because the mind was a fragile thing and Marcus knew exactly what to do to either drive you over the edge or control you.

  And that was what made him so dangerous.

  These thoughts ran through my own mind as I laid on the stone floor, gazing up at the splits in the rock ceiling. Even inside these walls, I could hear what sounded like a muffled boom of thunder, but that was the only noise. It was strangely calming as I took each breath slowly as if it might be my last and I wanted to take the time to feel it.

  At that moment, I heard the door open, but unlike any other time, I laid there and waited for whoever it was to show their face. Luke didn’t say anything either, which made me think he was also adjusting to the routine of this hell we lived in.

  It wasn’t long before I heard the footsteps that came down the hallway stop at my gate, but still, I didn’t look to see who it was.

  And then they spoke, “Get up,” he said.