by Dex, Trace
RAINER
Trace Dex
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Copyright © 2015 Trace Dex
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
ISBN-13:
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To my readers, for all your love and support. You make this all worth it.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Extras
Fin
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CHAPTER ONE
Candace
What am I doing here?
A question I asked myself every day for the past four years — but something was different.
“You fucking idiot! What are we supposed to do now?”
“Why you blamin’ me? This is your fault, too, you know.”
My insides shook as they yelled at one another. Whoever these guys were, they weren’t far away.
Again, what am I doing here?
“Couldn’t you tell after you saw her fucking face?”
“I’ve never even seen her before! But you have, so why didn’t you notice?”
“You know damn well I don’t give a shit about no broads!”
What am I doing here wasn’t a question about how I’d awoken in some dreamy stranger’s bed, or how I hid away in some dark closet inside the room of my sexy pretend boyfriend’s even sexier brother — no, nothing fun like that. The main reason I asked myself this question in the past was simply because I didn’t really see a point in living anymore.
It was my third time waking up today. The first time was on top of my uncomfortable bed, where I lay with aching joints, wishing that I could just stop waking up so that I wouldn’t have to exist anymore. The second time happened in a moving car, or maybe it was a van — I really don’t know. I just knew it wasn’t the bus that I was supposed to be on.
I wasn’t awake for long during the second time — probably a few seconds as far as I know. I don’t remember what happened, but I do recall people yelling, and I kind of remember leaning against something warm while the blur outside the window looked to be moving faster than what I was used to.
“Alright,” a new voice started. “This is a joke, right? I know you two aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, but really? Even a prospect wouldn’t make this mistake! I’m not dealing with this fucking mess.”
There was a bitter taste in my mouth, a slight ringing in my ears, my throat felt dry, and I couldn’t see shit. Whatever it was that covered my eyes had a tiny opening at the bottom. Fortunately for them, I wouldn’t be able to see either way — at least, not without my contacts. I was practically blind without them. I did intend to wear my contacts, but I wanted to appear more professional for the job interview I had scheduled, so I chose to wear my glasses instead. I wondered where they were, and if they were still on my face, but the sound of a matchstick striking fire interrupted that thought. Forcing a heated reminder that the location of my glasses was the least of my concerns.
My neck felt sore and I wasn’t exactly sure what position my body was in. I assume most people in my situation would have panicked by now, but after watching a bunch of violent movies, I knew better. Instead of yelling and screaming, I tried my best to stay as still and calm as possible so that I could listen to the voices. If these people believed I was still unconscious, then maybe they'd let me go. That’s how it worked for grizzly bears, at least.
Maybe they’d drop me off at the bus stop, or maybe they’d leave me on the freeway to fend for myself, or maybe they’d just let me walk out of here because this was obviously a mistake. There’s absolutely no way I could possibly be the person they were after.
“Well what the fuck are we supposed to do? He got the wrong fucking girl.”
“You mean we got the wrong girl.”
“Shut the fuck up, that’s not the point. We can’t just let her go like nothing happened. She’ll go straight to the pigs and you know it!”
“But what if we can convince her to keep her mouth shut?”
As my mind drifted closer to reality, and my thoughts became clearer, I began to feel the ground beneath my feet. There was something hard pressing against my ass, and a sharp discomfort pressing against my back. I thought it strange that the lack of sight could cause me to be so disoriented.
The place smelled of rust, smoke, and gasoline. My chin seemed to be resting on my chest and my shoulders felt like they were being pulled back. There was a sharp pain on the inside of both my arms. My wrists felt restricted and my hands tingled as if they were losing circulation. The fact that I could make out my knees and feet with the limited vision I had led me to conclude that I was strapped to a chair. There was also an abnormal and inconsistent muffled sound nearby, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“How about this,” began one of the voices. “Since you both fucked up, I’ll let you two intelligent imbeciles figure this one out. You probably should have babysat them through this one, brother.”
“If I knew they’d mess up this bad, I would’ve gone. I really shouldn’t be so surprised, I honestly didn’t think they were capable of fucking up this bad. But hey, at least it wasn’t a complete fuck up. They managed to get him in one piece.”
The last person who spoke was a voice I hadn’t heard. My sense of hearing was the only thing that seemed to be working. My ears told me that there were four people in the room. They all had rather distinct voices so I gave them each a name: I labeled the two people who apparently kidnapped me as Angry and Idiot; the person that should have joined them was Brother; and the other guy who they all seemed to be taking orders from was the Boss.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one they captured, but the other person hadn’t made a sound. Maybe he’s pretending to be unconscious like I am. Or maybe he’s… dead?
“Please,” screamed a new voice. “I beg you! I’ll get this all sorted out, just let me go—“
I guess he wasn’t dead after all.
A loud thud distracted my thoughts. It was a sound that was similar to a meat tenderizer hitting its target, but sharper. Directly after the sound, I felt a splash of liquid land across my legs followed by the sound of heavy breathing. I nearly jumped when it hit me, and I had a feeling that maybe it was best I ignore the warm temperature of whatever it was.
“If I hear one more thing out of you, I’m going to rip that tongue right out of your damn mouth you fucking piece of shit.”
Although I couldn’t see the details, I could still tell that whatever had landed on me was red. And my imagination wasn’t strong enough to convince myself that it was unrefrigerated fruit punch.
Was it really what I thought it was? I mean, what else could it have been?
I considered my situation and the only thing it could have been was blood. No matter how much I try to deny it, it had to be blood.
I twitched at the possibility. Don’t move. Do not move. I paced my breaths hoping they didn’t notice.
The muffled sound I heard from before grew louder and faster. It began to sound like an injured animal crying out for help. My focus shifted from the red dots against my legs to the floor underneath my black heels. It looked completely black earlier, but I was wrong — I’d never seen anything so red. My eyes shifted towards a bod
y just inches away from me — alive, shivering on the floor and desperately grasping for air. This red stuff was definitely blood. Actual blood. His blood, and I was stepping right on it. Did it all belong to the guy on the floor or was some of this blood coming out of me?
I’m not usually a squeamish person, but seeing blood in real life gave me a much different feeling than when I’d see it in photographs or movies. It didn’t help that some of it landed on my legs, or that I was blindfolded and confused, or that I was tied to a chair. It also didn’t help that I had to sit here and listen to strangers talk about their future plans for my life.
For the first time in a long time, I felt scared. A feeling — along with many others — that I hadn’t felt in years. I tried to breathe slower, but I couldn’t. My heart raced faster with each passing second. I don’t think they would let me leave if they knew I saw the guy on the floor.
“She didn’t see any of us in the fucking van, right? What exactly did you do to her?” the Angry voice asked.
“Well, I came up from behind and put her in a chokehold, then I slipped her a Xanax that I had in my pocket. I slipped it right under her tongue. You know, that stuff really knocks you out. I sleep like a baby whenever I take it,” the Idiot one said, matter-of-factly. “I don’t know how she managed to wake up in the van but she didn’t get up after the second time I had her in the chokehold.”
“You idiot! Why didn’t you just hit her across the fucking head?” said Angry. “I told you to knock her out, not choke her and waste a perfectly good Xannie bar. Where the fuck did you get the idea of using Xanax anyways? When did that become part of the plan?”
“Well, you know, he said he wanted her unharmed, so I had to improvise!”
“First off,” said Brother. “She probably woke up in the van because people don’t usually remain unconscious very long after they’ve been choked. You think this is a movie or something? You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” Idiot didn’t respond. “To be honest, I’m actually really surprised the Xanax worked.”
“See! I told you,” said Angry.
“Second, if he went with your way and hit her across the head, knocking her out cold, if she didn’t wake up soon after, she would have been better off dead.”
“Preach, brother,” said the Boss. “When I say I want someone unharmed, that doesn’t mean that I want you to drug them up and nearly choke them to death.”
“So you wanted us to pick her ass up, throw her in the fucking van, and drive the fuck over here?” said Angry.
“Now you’re using your brain,” said the Boss. “It’s not like she’s huge or anything. She’s smaller than you and that’s saying a lot.”
Everyone was silent for a moment; the only audible sound was the sad attempt at breathing coming from the guy on the floor.
“We don’t have all day,” said Boss. “Figure out what to do with her right now, then we’ll go find the real piece of shit.”
“Fuck… okay, I’ll just kill her? I’ll just shoot her in the head,” said Angry. “She’ll die, the fucking pigs won’t come knocking on our doorstep, and there won’t be a fucking problem anymore.”
My face felt hot and my heart was beating faster than ever. I worried that it was loud enough for everyone else to hear.
The room was silent again. What bothered me most was the fact that they all seemed to be considering Angry’s proposal, as if what he said was a valid option.
“Don’t get any blood on my ride or else she won’t be the only one that gets killed tonight,” said the Boss.
Wait… was he serious?
“Hold on, are you sure?” said Idiot. “That kind of goes against our rules, don’t it?”
“It does,” said Angry. “But we don’t really have any other choice now, do we?”
“He has a point,” said Brother.
Earlier, when I woke up in my bed, all I could think about was how I had to suffer through another day, and how much I wished I were dead. But now, death felt a little too close, and I didn’t like it.
Today was supposed to be the start of something new. The day that I’d take control of my life and actually make it worth living. I did everything right up to this point. I lived an honest life. A safe life. I sacrificed my social life to get to where I was. I sacrificed happiness for safety. I knew I’d been selfish and ungrateful, despite how far I’d come, but these past few minutes made me realize there’s more life out there for me to live.
All the times I wished for my own death, I take that all back, I don’t want to die. Not yet. All the suicidal thoughts I’ve ever had, and how pointless I thought life was, I take it all back. This can’t be it. Life can’t end like this!
A thousand thoughts raced through my head. It was loud, like a coliseum full of screaming fans. Their collective voices starting deep, and then increasing in pitch with every passing second. The loud noise in my head came to an abrupt stop once I heard the distinct sound of gun being cocked.
“No stop! Please. Please, don’t kill me,” I said, sobbing harder than I ever had in my life.
“Ah, finally she speaks,” said the Boss. “Took you long enough. Go on, princess, convince him not to kill you.”
“Please. You have the wrong person, I’m not —”
“We know,” said Angry, whose voice let me know that he was the one standing next to me.
I felt the cold barrel, positioned dead center against my forehead. “Wait! Please! Just let me go, I swear I won’t tell anyone anything!”
“Shut the fuck up,” said Angry.
“Now, now,” said the Boss. “Let the lady speak.”
“You gettin’ soft on us, Rainer?” Angry said.
I heard the gulping sounds in the distance, followed by a loud high-pitched slam, like a glass bottle landing on a table.
Rainer. The boss was named Rainer.
“Funny,” Rainer belched out. “The only thing soft in this room is that thing you have between your legs whenever a girl is around.”
One by one, the footsteps grew louder towards my direction. The barrel of Angry’s gun kissed my forehead, ready to smooch my brains out. I didn’t want to cry because if I did, then I really really wouldn’t be able to see. But just like everything else, crying, too, was out of my control.
The room remained silent when the last and loudest step landed before me. There were two of them standing in front of me now. Through my blurred vision and the tears in my eyes, I barely made out the four boots standing on top of the pool of blood below me. The strong scent of alcohol and cigarettes coming from the new guy was hard to ignore. I sat there trembling as I contemplated all the bad stuff that could possibly happen next.
“Put it away,” he said. Instantly, I knew that the voice belonged to Rainer.
“Are you fucking serious?” snapped Angry.
“You heard me, don’t make me say it again.”
I felt warm fingers replace the cold barrel as it gently brushed my hair away from my forehead. I gasped as two rough and warm hands landed softly against my elbows. I could feel the warmth of his body as he stooped before me. The smell let me know it was Rainer.
His breath sent chills through my body as each slow puff tickled my ear. He placed his fingers above the blindfold and gently pressed the area around my eyes, dabbing most of my tears away. I was scared to talk so I blinked until my sight was as clear as I could get it.
He had on jeans that were ripped at the knees. There were a lot of brown dots surrounding the rips, which could have either been dirt or blood — I really couldn’t tell. When Rainer placed his fingers gently under my chin, my body twitched in the way it sometimes does when someone is taking too long to take a photo of me. His thumb softly brushed against my lips as he lifted my head. I’m not sure why it happened, but the heat that rushed to my face was the type of heat I only felt whenever I’d blush.
