by Erin Osborne
I cower as he makes his way out of the cell that has been erected in whatever basement we’re being held in. Once I hear a second door slam shut, I spread myself out as much as I can to try to stretch out my bones. Wincing when the pain shoots through my body I gasp to stop the scream that threatens to erupt from me. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to give these men the satisfaction of knowing that I’m in pain. These men are nothing more than bullies that want something they’ll never have in a normal way; they want a woman to bend to their will and stand by their side unconditionally. The way that Bear knows I’ll do anything for him along with the rest of the men of Satan’s Anarchy. No, the men that have us are vile men. Ones that want to pillage and plunder for everything they get. Not men that work hard for what they have and go after who they want in a way that doesn’t scream desperation or fear of being turned down. The very things that make men desperate enough to not care what they do or who they hurt to make that happen.
My thoughts immediately turn to the guys. They’ve all become family to me and I know that they’re going to do whatever they can to find me and get me out of this hell hole. The cost that they’ll pay is what worries me. I know they’re not the best men in the world, and they can be downright dangerous. But, they are good to me and the other women in the club. If you have their respect and are loyal to them, then the men of Satan’s Anarchy are good to you. They’d die to protect me and make sure that I make it home alive.
Then my thoughts turn to Bear. I’ve given him my love, even if I haven’t told him that yet, my virginity, and I want to be able to spend the rest of my life with him. I know that there’s a chance that I’ll never see him again. Not if the men that have me get what they want and I’m sold to the highest bidder. Or, something could happen to him when they find me and try to rescue me. Why is this happening to us? We just got together and now who knows what’s going to happen. But, I won’t regret my time spent with the man that has captured me body and soul. I’ll cherish the memories that we’ve made so far and tamp down any fear that it’s the only time we get together. I push the thoughts of the man I love to the back of my mind so that I don’t break down in here. Thoughts of him are the only thing that will make me break and that’s not something I can do right now.
“Are you okay?” I ask weakly, wanting to make sure that the woman in the cell with me is okay.
“This is normal,” she answers, pausing only to cry out in pain as a coughing fit overtakes her. “I’ve been here so long that I should be immune to the pain they inflict. It’s not pretty and it hurts like a bitch every day. But, I don’t shut my mouth and I goad them into most beatings. So, I take the punishment as I have no other choice.”
“Why would you do that?” I ask, confusion and pain lacing my voice for the thoughts of this young woman taking the brunt of punishment because she pushes them into it.
“Because these assholes aren’t gonna fucking break me. They’re a bunch of bitches that have a pussy instead of a cock. And, I’m not gonna let them break me. What’s your name?” she asks, another cough racking her frail body.
“I’m Callie. Who are you? Why did they take you?” I ask, trying to sit up as pain continues to flow through me.
“I’m Hadliegh. They took me because I talked back and refused the attention of one of the men when they came in the bar that I worked at. I wasn’t about to let him violate me so instead they took me. And, he got what he wanted anyway,” she tells me, rolling over so I get my first real look at her.
The girl in the cell with me has long dark hair that’s matted and greasy from her time in captivity. I can see tattoos going up her arms through the filth and grime that covers her skin. Her eyes are a shade of brown that I’m sure warms to the softest looking chocolate depending on her moods. She’s wearing nothing, the same as me. And I can see that she’s so full of confidence and sass that she’s going to take what she wants when she wants. I can’t begin to imagine the damage that’s been done to her in the time that she’s been here.
“So, Callie, why did they take you?” she suddenly asks as she gets up into a sitting position finally.
“They took me because the men that surround me pissed them off. The one that came in here wants me and the men showed up before he could take me,” I tell her, wincing once again as I move the slightest bit. A coldness flows through me as the cement sends chill after chill through whatever part of my body is touching it. “Plus, he thinks that I’m a virgin still. I’m not anymore, but I’m going to hold that close to my chest.”
Hadliegh begins to laugh uncontrollably at the news that I’m not a virgin like they suspect I still am. I personally don’t see what’s so funny in this situation, but I don’t say anything more about it. She’s obviously been through so much and this is a chance for her to think and worry about something else. Now, I just have to figure out how to keep the truth about my virginity from coming to light. Even though I just met this woman, there’s a trust that comes from knowing we’re going to be suffering the same at the hands of these jerks. I may be saved from being raped because they think I’m a virgin, but I don’t see her letting my secret go. Not after she said that she stands up to them herself. I trust that she’ll keep my secret.
“We have to keep that secret from coming out for as long as possible. Whenever I can, I’ll take the brunt of the punishment so they don’t figure it out. They’re not very smart so it won’t be that hard to continue to trick them,” Hadliegh says, mirroring my own thoughts.
“I won’t let you take punishments meant for me,” I tell her, letting her know that I won’t put her in the position to be hurt even more than she’s already been.
Before Hadliegh can respond, I hear the door screech open one more time and several booted feet coming toward us. The men are laughing and talking amongst themselves as they continue to come closer and closer to us. Hadliegh rolls back over and turns her back to me as she feigns that she’s too hurt to move that much. As I lay back down on the freezing cement, a shudder rolls through my entire body causing me to shiver and curl in on myself to seek any warmth that I can find.
“Time to go slut,” one of the men call out as I hear a key going into the lock that keeps the door sealed shut. “Boss wants to talk to you about your friends.”
I know that it’s me they’re talking to, that they want to find information about Renegade and the rest of the men that I consider my family. There’s nothing I know about them that will appease these men. I don’t know club business and I don’t have a clue what they do. These men believe that I know more than I do because I spend time with them. Hadliegh slightly turns toward me so that she can figure out what the best way to go about this new situation is. Before she can do anything, one of the men turn toward her and not only block her view of me but he attacks her as well. I do cry out as I watch the man begin to pummel the girl before me.
“Stop! Please don’t do this to her! I’ll go with you, just leave her alone,” I scream and cry out as the men surrounding us begin to laugh. The sound grates on my nerves and I want to lash out at the pain they’re causing her and the pain I know is about to be inflicted on me.
The men roughly grab me up off the floor once the shackle around my ankle has been removed. I can feel hands touching and pinching every available area of my body. Bile rises in my throat and I have to choke it back before I throw up on the man in front of me. There’s no point in trying to fight them off because one man has my arms behind my back which causes my chest to arch out in front of me. A second man has my legs in front of me, lifted off the ground so they don’t drag on the way to wherever I’m being taken. Honestly, I don’t know why they care about what happens to me when they’re going to be doing much worse to me soon. Nothing they say can change my mind about what they’re going to do.
I’m led through a maze of hallways in what looks to be an old warehouse of some sort. The men are moving too fast for me to get a good look around at where we are and where we’re
going in case we get a chance to escape. One of the men behind me laughs as he sees me trying to look around. The laughter stops abruptly when we get into a large room and I see the man that’s told me what’s going to happen to me since the first day I met him. If he said his name, I don’t remember it. I only know that he’s a man I wish I’d never met.
“What’s so funny?” the man in charge asks, looking at all of the men in the room with us. “Is there anything about what we’re going to do here today that’s funny?”
“She’s trying to find a way to escape. This bitch was trying to ensure that she can find a way out if they get a second away from their cell,” the man that was laughing says with a confidence in his voice that he doesn’t truly feel as it wavers toward the end of his speech.
“Is that so?” he asks, striding toward me as the men let me fall to the floor in a heap. “Let’s show her what awaits her if she steps foot outside.”
He roughly pulls me from the floor by my hair. I have no choice but to follow him as he pulls me or the hair he’s holding will be ripped from my head in a large clump. But, I don’t cry out as I want to, I hold it in as a lone tear runs down my cheek and over the edge of my jaw. I’ll use the pain that I’m feeling and the humiliation that they’re making me suffer through to ensure that they end up paying with their lives once Renegade and the guys get here. The man pulls me over to a dingy window and rubs a circle in the grime that covers it so that I can see outside. After shoving my face into the glass and almost breaking my nose in the process, I wait for my eyes to focus only to see a large pond. The process is repeated as he takes me on the opposite side of the building to showcase a large forest that is dense. There’s no way that we’ll make it through the trees on our own.
“So, you see, there’s no way for you to escape. No one knows that you’re here once they discover you’re gone. We parked your car far away and it will throw them off the scent long enough to see that they’ll never get you back. You’ll be sold and long gone before they discover this place. But, we’ll have our fun and make sure that you’re broken the way your new master wants. Men hang her from the chains and let the fun begin,” he says, watching as his men chain me up to the chains hanging from the ceiling. “Now, you’re gonna tell me what you know about the Satan’s Anarchy MC. I want to know what runs they go on, when their next one is, and what their relationship is to the Phantom Bastards MC.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are the Phantom Bastards?” I ask, confusion lacing my voice as I try to ensure that he knows I’m telling the truth right now. I’ve never heard talk about another club besides the men that I’m friends with. The ones that will get me out of here one way or another.
“Liar!” he bellows, the echo bouncing off the walls as he practically runs up to me and lands punch after punch to any part of my body he can reach. “Bring my tools to me.”
My vision is blurry as my eyes begin to swell closed with the punches that have landed to my face. A shiver runs through me at the mention of tools. I knew that they were going to inflict as much pain as they could on me but using other items to help them achieve that never entered my mind. The pain radiating through my body is already causing me to want to shut down and black out to not feel it anymore. But, I hold strong and think of Bear and the men that have been growing to mean something to me. Like a bunch of brothers that I never had but always wanted. Even though they’re not here, they’re giving me the strength I need to stay awake and not take the easy way out when it’s what I want most to do right now. The only thoughts I shut down are the ones that concern Bear. If I think of him, I know I’ll break and give in to what these guys want. Not that I know anything, but I get the feeling that they’d want me to black out so they can torture me as long as they want without my knowledge.
“Now, you’ll begin to feel pain; true pain. The only thing I can’t do is take your virginity. But, there are other ways I can rip my enjoyment from you,” the man says, as I feel a sharp object dragging across the skin of my stomach and down to my thighs. It drives into my thigh before I feel it sliding back out. There’s a flood of blood that I feel sliding down my leg. Still, I don’t scream out in pain.
The cuts and slices continue on until I’m about to let the blackness pull me under. All the time, the leader of this group of men continues to yell and shout questions at me about my family. Other men begin to put their hands on me and I can feel my fingers on one hand being broken as more punches and kicks begin to land along my body.
“Leave her hanging for now. I’ll come back in an hour or so and see if she’s ready to talk,” the man says as my head falls forward and I finally let the darkness take over and the pain to ebb away from me. At least for a little while.
As I begin to stir and wake up, fear immediately takes hold. I can’t seem to get my bearings as I try to figure out where I’m at. The last thing I remember is hearing that they were going to let me hang where I was for a while and then come back. Right now, I know that I’m not hanging anywhere, but it takes a few minutes for me to discover that I’m back in the cell with Hadliegh. I curl up into myself as pain continues to rip through my body and the chill that I’ve felt since waking up settles into my body. I’m literally chilled to the bone as I lay here.
More alert now, I look around until my gaze settles on Hadliegh sitting in the corner. She’s more awake then I’ve seen her so far and I know they’ve given her a reprieve for a little while. Turning my body around, I will myself to remain silent as I move and the pain becomes almost bearable.
“How long have I been back?” I ask, my voice sounds low and like I’ve been gargling with rocks. My mouth is so dry and I can’t seem to get enough saliva to wet the dryness that has taken root.
“A little while. They dropped you off and left. Must be you settled their thirst for blood and violence for a little while,” Hadliegh answers as we begin to hear screams coming from somewhere within the building. Chills run through both of us as we know what’s about to happen to another victim.
“How do you get through the time here?” I ask, not wanting to let my thoughts go to the one man that wants to take hold of my mind and relive every moment that I’ve shared with him.
“It depends. Sometimes, I shut my mind off and just lay here. Other times, I think of things that I would’ve done differently in my life. Ways that I could’ve prevented being kidnapped. I just don’t let my mind wander to what I’ll do when I get free because I don’t see that happening,” she responds, coming closer to me. “Tell me about your man and the ones that you think are gonna come for you.”
“I’ve been trying not to think of him. He’s my one weakness, the one thing that will make me break. We met on the side of the road when I got a flat tire. As soon as I laid eyes on him, I felt some sort of weird connection. After something horrible happened, he moved in with me and he’s been there ever since,” I tell her as the memories I’ve been fighting invade my mind and play over and over again. “The day I met these assholes is the day that I gave my most valuable asset away. He took those memories away for me and made the whole thing all about me. But it’s more than that with him. It’s the times that we spend in silence, just sitting with one another watching TV or reading. It’s when we sit outside and watch the day begin to unfold before our eyes. Or it’s the feeling of freedom when he takes me for a ride on his bike. I’ve lived such a sheltered life and he ensure that I experience everything that I want to. The only thing he can’t give me is a girlfriend. So, my only friends are the guys in Satan’s Anarchy MC.”
Hadliegh gives me a minute to let the times that I shared with Bear continue to run on and on. I don’t speak again until I tell her about the day he took me for a ride on the bike that ended with us at a little park. The park was full of trees with waterfalls and a pond the water flowed into before heading down the stream. There was a bridge that covered the gap of the pond that we stood on for a while. We watched the water flowing free and the wildli
fe exploring and finding food. Life had never seemed as simple and pure as it did in that moment. That was where I realized that we’re just a small part of such a big universe and I wanted to continue experiencing times like that with Bear at my side.
“What about the club? How did you manage to get involved with them?” she asks, wanting to take our minds off of our current predicament.
“Well, apparently, my grandma had been with one of their members for a long time after my grandfather passed away. They were looking over her house until I moved in and have been there ever since. I met the first member when I met Bear. He stopped and called in for a tow and didn’t leave me stranded there alone. These are men that people run from and never make eye contact. To me, their my family. They mean more to me than my blood family and I know that they’ll protect me and make sure that I come home,” I tell her, letting my voice convey how serious I am about them coming for us. “You know that I’m going to get us out of here, don’t you?”
“I don’t count on anything like that happening. The only thing I want is for them to get you out. If they can help me, then that’s great. But, if they only have time to get to you, then I’m going to do what I can to help them,” Hadliegh responds, crawling over to me since she doesn’t have a chain on her ankle like I do. “Bear may not be able to make sure you have a friend to talk to, but I can. Now, we’ll lay back to back so that we can try to stay warm. That’s going to be the only thing we can do.”
As the two of us lay on the freezing floor, I begin to shut my mind down. Talking about the guys has only made me miss them. In their own way, they all have the ability to give me strength and tear it away with the thought that anything bad will happen to them. So, for now Hadliegh and I make sure to keep our conversation away from them as we continue to talk amongst ourselves. We tell one another about our childhoods and what we wanted to do without lives. But, we’re careful not to let the conversation turn to what the future will truly hold for us.
