by Unknown
“I fucking hope like hell you’re right because if you’re not, I’ll never be able to live with this part of my life.” Burner moved again, holding out his hand.
Travis took it giving it a hard squeeze. “Let me go see if I can pull this shit off without getting us all killed.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Burner told him. He snorted before he headed off in the direction Burner had told him to go, hoping he wasn’t going to end up dead.
Chapter 9
Raven heard loud voices outside her new room in the house. The little room wasn’t much better than the one she’d had outside. It was the size of a small walk in closet with nothing in it except a flea infested pallet and a pot to piss in. She wanted so badly to escape from this horrible place.
The things she had witnessed during the last few days had made her feel even dirtier than the knowledge that she still stank to high heaven because they still hadn’t let her bathe. Viper had begun ‘training’ her. It was disgusting; she’d had to touch him and he’d forced her to strip in front of him. She’d never felt so violated in her life as she had when he’d told her to give him a hand job or he’d let her be raped by Ghost. She’d taken the lessor of two evils in that scenario.
It was still a violation of her person and the fact that it had only been a hand job didn’t make it that much better. It had still been against her will and it made her feel disgusted with herself. She didn’t want to do anything with the man, but she’d had to. He’d left her little choice in the matter.
She heard shouting again, closer this time, and wondered what was going on out there. She knew that the man outside her little room today was named Twitchy. He was a juice addict and he’d given her dosed water two days ago, so she hadn’t dared to take the water he’d offered her an hour ago because he’d likely dosed it too. She shivered, remembering the euphoric feeling and the way she’d let him touch her while she was high because she’d been unable to move.
She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to take this place. Hearing the voices getting louder, she was surprised when the door burst open and Burner was standing there. He entered the room followed by Twitchy, who was higher than a kite if the foggy look in his eyes was any indication.
“She’s supposed to stay here,” Twitchy was saying.
“Look, I was told to take her back outside and lock her up. I already told you that, idiot,” Burner growled at him, his brows drawn together in a scowl, and she realized they were the ones who’d been yelling a minute ago.
Raven’s mind screamed at her to run while they were arguing. To just get the hell away from these men and the things they’d forced her to do. Only her legs that felt like jelly and the chain that was looped to the collar around her neck wouldn’t let her.
“Fine, take the birdie. The birdie, the birdie.” Twitchy laughed in a high-pitched giggle that made him sound even more insane.
Raven knew that his brain was fried from all the drugs he’d taken. Burner turned, moving closer to her. Even though he’d helped her in the past, Raven watched him warily. She wasn’t sure who was friend and who was foe anymore. He began unwinding the chain from the hook on the wall.
“I need the key, Twitchy,” Burner told him.
“Keys, Burnie needs the keys. The keys,” Twitchy sang, doing a strange jig before handing Burner the keys to the lock that held the chain to the wall. The man really was nuts, Raven thought, wondering what Burner was up to. Viper had told her that she wasn’t going back in the little sweatbox because if she fucked up again, he was giving her to his men. She was pretty sure that he hadn’t told Burner to taking her back to the hovel.
He’d told her slyly that she didn’t want to be given to his men because even though he wasn’t a rapist, his men had no objections to it. She’d known that already, but she didn’t understand how forcing her to chose sex with him over death was any better.
She felt the chain loosen and then she was being lead out of the little room. Twitch was still singing the odd song about keys when she moved past him following Burner. He led her by the chain attached to her collar, and she wanted to rage at him that she wasn’t a freaking dog. She was suddenly unsure about Viper not putting her back in the hovel. Maybe he’d found a new toy and she was going to be given to his men. This thought made her heart pound and her ears ring a bit.
“Why is he putting me in the hovel?” she asked Burner, fear making her voice shake.
“He’s not. Just trust me a bit longer and don’t fight going back into the little room, your nightmare’s almost over,” Burner whispered.
Raven didn’t know what he meant but she was game for anything that ended her stay here. Whether it was someone her brother had sent for her or someone who Burner knew, she just wanted to get the heck away from Viper and his crew. Even knowing that that choice could land her in an even worse situation, at this point she didn’t care. She just didn’t want to be here anymore.
She meekly followed him as he led her by the chain out of the building towards the hovel. She felt her heart pick up its pace as they neared it. She wanted to run, but she knew that she couldn’t. She didn’t want to go back in there; she could hear the roaring sound of her heart in her ears pounding in time to the throb in her head.
She hated that little house with its lack of light and the heat. Dear God, the heat. It was night now, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to go back in there. She waited as Burner hissed at her, “He’ll be here to get you soon, you just have to hold it together.” Then he shoved her back into the hovel despite her whimpers.
She didn’t know who ‘he’ was but at this point she wasn’t sure she cared. She leaned against the wall, tears forming in her eyes. How had she gotten her life this screwed up, she wondered grimly as she waited for her rescuer to come for her.
Travis moved up behind Burner, a light whistle leaving his lips to let the man know he was here. There weren’t many guards left at the compound because they were chasing the false trail he’d set up for them to follow. It had taken him a hell of a lot longer than he’d thought to lose those bastards.
“Fuck, ‘bout time. I was beginning to think they’d caught you,” Burner grumbled. He took keys from his pocket and opened the door to the small little room.
Travis moved into the little room. He saw a female figure in the far corner and noticed she was wearing a collar. Fuck, he thought, watching her hover near the wall. He figured she’d be a broken bird by now. He’d likely have to coax her every step of the way, he thought dismayed. Damn, he hated whiney women; not that she didn’t have a reason to be whiney, but he still hated them.
“Okay, we need to make this quick. Make it look convincing because my life depends on it,” Burner told him, standing near the little door waiting for Travis to hit him.
Raven studied the man that Burner let into the door of the little room. He was tall, about six-one, with green eyes and dark hair. He had stubble along his rugged jaw, and his form was packed with lots of muscle. She didn’t know him, which was disappointing because she’d hoped whoever it was coming to save her would be from the Red Devils. She wanted to go home, but it looked as if she was instead going with this man; she just hoped that he’d take her home.
Damn, she thought, then cringed, realizing she’d cussed again. The man nodded at Burner’s demand that he make it look good, whatever the heck that meant. Then the dark haired man was hitting Burner in the face with the butt of his gun. Raven watched in horror as Burner feel to the ground unconscious.
“What are you doing? Are you insane?” she demanded, shocked that he’d just cold-cocked Burner.
“Saving his life, that’s what I’m doing, Princess,” the man said, his glare hot.
He then began kicking Burner’s unconscious form, making Raven cry out in shock when he kicked the man several more times. She thought when he finally stopped kicking him that he was done hurting Burner, only it wasn’t the last of the beating he was giving the other man. He leaned forw
ard and began punching Burner’s face, which swelled right before her eyes. She let out a loud gasp, horrified.
“Stop,” she demanded of the man who was savagely beating the only person who’d tried to help her.
“No, I have to make this look real or they will kill him. Now shut up and be a good little princess while I make this look legitimate. We don’t have time for arguments right now.” Travis punched Burner one more time before he grabbed the man’s hand and scraped it on the ground, then balled his fist and slammed it into the ground several times.
Raven was horrified by what he was doing, he knew, and he hated that, but he had to make it look like Burner put up one hell of a fight or they’d assume he’d betrayed them and kill him.
He looked Burner over, deciding that it was as good as he could make it look without seriously injuring the man. He stepped back turning to Raven. Seeing her in the corner of the darkened room with her back pressed against the wall pissed him off. He didn’t like that he frightened her. He knew that she wasn’t going to want to go with him now, which was going to cause problems because he wasn’t leaving here without her.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Raven stared at the man before her debating on whether or not she should leave with him. He had just violently beaten a man half to death. Burner was bleeding from his lip, his nose and his knuckles. She didn’t know if she’d be safe with him or not.
“Look, I don’t have all day here. If we don’t get out of here and fast, they’re going to catch us both and you’ll be locked up and I’ll be dead. And I don’t intend to die today and that means in fifteen seconds I’m leaving with or without you. So what’s it going to be, Princess?” Travis knew that he wasn’t leaving without her, but she didn’t. He hoped his bluff would work.
Raven wasn’t sure she could trust this man, he seemed unnecessarily violent, but she also didn’t have much of a choice if she wanted out of this place, and she did. She might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but a single man seemed less dangerous than an entire biker gang.
“Fine, I’ll go with you,” Raven finally answered.
Travis breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to fight her while trying to escape this compound without getting them both killed. He grabbed the key off Burner and turned, unlocking the chain and ripping it off the ring on her collar. He then grabbed her by the arm and began to tow her towards the door.
She came willingly, if a bit stiffly. When they exited the little hovel, he expected the smell that was so pungent it was almost making his eyes water to dissipate, only it didn’t. That was when he realized the odor was coming from her and his nose wrinkled in distaste. Damn, she stank like they hadn’t let her bathe in days.
He tugged at her arm, pulling her towards the brush he’d been using for cover. They began making their way towards his bike, which was parked in the woods about half a mile from the compound. They were about there when he heard the alarm being raised and cursed.
“Move your ass, Princess!” he growled to Raven, who’d slowed down in the past twenty minutes, likely because she’d been starved. Right now wasn’t the time for her to take a break though, not if they wanted to live. He had a feeling that her anger at him would keep her moving.
Raven was pissed. The man was a dick. And the way he called her Princess in that snide little tone that said she was useless made her stomach burn with angry resentment. She moved faster towards the wooded area he was leading them to because she’d be darned if she was going to let him be right about her.
It didn’t matter that she was so tired she felt like she was going to pass out at any moment, or that she was so hungry that her stomach was eating her backbone. She was determined to prove him wrong. She could hear men behind them yelling and she decided that she needed to move faster.
At this point there were still about three hundred yards between them. She ran faster, not wanting him to leave her here. She was trying to keep up but she wasn’t able to in her current condition. She had a feeling he would leave her behind if he thought for a second she was going to get him killed.
He disappeared into some trees and her heart almost dropped to her knees. She prayed with everything inside her when she heard the roar of a bike starting ahead of her that he didn’t leave her. When she finally burst through the trees in the little clearing to see him waiting on her, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hurry it up, Princess.”
She rushed to the bike, slinging her leg over and gripping his waist tightly. She felt the bike lurch and they were tearing out of the small clearing onto the road. She lay her face on his back, sighing in relief. No matter where she was going now, she knew that at least she wasn’t with the Headhunters anymore. She just hoped that where she was headed wasn’t worse than the place she’d just left.
Chapter 10
After hours on the bike running from the Headhunters, Raven was glad when they finally stopped. She was exhausted and she needed a shower badly. They pulled up between a motel and a diner and she climbed off the bike heading towards the motel.
“Where the hell are you going, Princess?” he demanded from behind her.
“Aren’t we getting some rooms for the night?” Raven asked, turning to look at him. He stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
“We’re on the run. You do realize that, don’t you, Princess?” Travis asked the insane woman. She couldn’t have seriously thought that they were just going to stop for the night and stay in a motel along the road, could she? The damned Headhunters would find them within an hour if they did.
“Yes, but since you stopped at a motel I thought we’d lost them and it was safe.”
“We did lose them but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still looking for us, Princess,” Travis told her snidely. He was astonished that she didn’t realize that them getting a room was out of the question. He’d brought a tent so that they would have somewhere to stay while they were on the run.
“Look, you big jerk! I don’t know you and if you want to just leave me here, fine! My brother will send someone to get me once I call him but you’ll have to pay for a dang room so that I can at least bathe. I stink and I know you have to have noticed that. I am not going to go another day without a freaking bath!” Raven wanted to just hit him for being such a dick.
“You’re insane, woman! Your brother ought to be shot for not telling me what a pain in the ass you are. Of course, after meeting him I should have expected it!” Travis roared.
“Wait, my brother sent you to get me? You’re with the Red Devils?” Raven demanded, shocked.
“Who the hell else did you think was coming after your bitchy ass, Raven?” Travis demanded.
“I am not a bitch! I just want a freaking bath! I haven’t been able to bathe in fifteen freaking days and six of those were spent in that dirty sweatbox!” Raven felt tears threatening her eyes. She knew that a bath may seem unimportant in the scheme of things but to her it would be a return to normalcy. It might also make the dirty, disgusted feeling that she had for the things she’d been forced to do at the compound go away.
Travis saw tears forming in Raven’s eyes and felt like a real dick. He knew she’d been through a lot in the past fifteen days and he was sure smelling like the inside of a trash can wasn’t pleasant for a woman like her. She was the type who had likely never gotten dirty before this ordeal. He’d met women like her in the past; they were always high-maintenance and a bit annoying.
He was either going to listen to her bitch for hours or he was going to have to let her shower. Damn it, they didn’t have time for this!
“Fine, no tears. You can get a fucking shower but you have ten minutes and that’s it,” Travis growled.
“Fine, umm, I don’t know your name,” Raven said, wondering why her brother had sent such a jerk after her. She just wanted a shower, and with the way she smelled you’d think the man would want to let her. Ten minutes later they were standing in the doorway of the room he’d
rented. The place had made him rent for the whole night, refusing to allow him to pay for an hour rental. It had been fifty credits and her brother was going to be paying him back.
Travis grunted, jerking up his duffle. He opened it to remove a change of clothes he’d gotten from her place before he left. “Here, and the name’s Travis. I mean it, only ten minutes or I am coming in there to get you.” He shoved the clothes towards her.
“I’ll get them dirty,” she said shaking her head. He sighed with a jerky nod and headed into the room at a clipped angry pace.
Raven didn’t know what to say to that as he led her towards the bathroom. Travis was mad at her and she had no idea why. She wasn’t being unreasonable to want to wear clean clothes after two weeks of dirt and sweat being on her skin but apparently he thought she was.
Stepping out of the shower nine minutes later, finally feeling human again, Raven wiped the mirror with a towel. Her face was no longer caked with dirt and she could now clearly see that she was pretty bruised up. Her left check was still black with some blue mixed in and along her jaw where Viper had hit her was yellowed. Lovely, she thought, staring grimly at herself.
Along her side there were purplish blue bruises that were turning a bit green as they were beginning to heal. Her shoulder was by far the worst. It looked black and it was swollen fairly badly. This didn’t surprise her as her shoulder had been aching for days, but she hadn’t realized until this moment how bad it was.
Bang, Bang, Bang
Raven nearly jumped out of her skin when a fist pounded on the door and Travis yelled.
“Hurry the hell up, Princess. I want to eat and we need to get the hell out of here before they find us!”
Raven sighed and grabbed the clothes he’d set on the counter earlier. She was at least clean and she didn’t smell like she’d been living in a cesspool anymore. When she was done getting dressed, she braided her hair instead of trying to dry it. When she was done with her hair, she stared again at the bruises that were visible on her arms and face. With a sigh, she exited the bathroom. Travis was standing at the window with his back to her.
