The house was relatively empty since most of the men were attending the fights in the back barns, but a few were hanging around, notably Strom who was sitting at a small folding table, an even smaller television playing the latest match sitting on top of it. He was eating a bag of chips, cheese crumbs dusting his beard and the front of his black shirt.
Strom could never be mistaken for anything more than a well-trained soldier, only ever doing what he was told, and probably had no ambition to acquire more than whatever paltry sum he was paid now. But because he was not the brightest, it made instructing him to do something that much easier.
Seeing the mess that Strom had made of himself, Fatos withheld his sneer, forcing a smile so that he at least looked somewhat kind. “I need a favor, Strom.”
He looked up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, then rubbing said hand onto his pants.
Disgusting slob.
Ignoring him for the time being, he opened one of the cabinets, pulling out the industrial-strength ammonia that was stored there. Carefully, he poured some into an old water bottle, securing it back with the top before replacing the jug back beneath the sink. He smiled at the bottle in his hand a moment before focusing back on Strom.
“The girl that Valon has, where is she?”
Strom already had wide, almost bulbous eyes, so whenever he was surprised, it only emphasized this feature. “In his room, no? He doesn’t let her leave.”
For good reason, thought Fatos. Even he knew the kinds of men who walked in and out of this place, and if not for fear of what Valon was capable of, many might have ignored his rule of entering his room and taken the girl themselves. After all, she was one of only three who had stayed in this place for more than a few weeks…and the only one not addicted to heroin or whatever else Bastian forced into their bodies to make them more pliable.
That was how he had gotten the girl here, but Bastian should have known that Valon was not like the rest of them. He didn’t get off on hurting women, and before being put in the Pit, he didn’t get off on hurting anyone.
“I wanted to give her something, but I wanted to make sure that we were uninterrupted. You know how Valon can be about his things…and that dog of his.”
Of course, Fatos had known where the girl was—who didn’t?—but it was his worry about that damned beast of a dog that he’d needed to deal with. He was in no mood to be bitten, and seeing the way Valon had trained it, Fatos had a pretty good idea its orders were to attack first.
“Right, right. I’ll get it.”
Strom got to his feet, tossing the bag he held on the table as he led the way to Valon’s bedroom. Fatos stood back, watching Strom as he boldly opened the door, nearly laughing at his hesitation when the dog’s growling could be heard even at his distance.
“Let’s go, you mangy—”
Strom yelped in pain as the dog opened wide then latched onto his arm. He did, however, take it in stride, dragging the dog out of the room with very little argument.
When Fatos stepped into the doorway, his gaze was immediately drawn to the girl, frowning as he noted that she was wearing Valon’s clothes. Looking at her, he didn’t know what Valon saw in her. There was nothing particularly striking about her, none that Fatos preferred anyway. Besides, they were all whores, her more than others. She only sought to use Valon, but he wasn’t going to let that go on.
There had been fear in her eyes when Fatos entered, but that had dimmed when she saw him, as if she thought Strom was the bigger threat.
“Fatos?” she asked hesitantly. “I think Valon called you that?”
He frowned, not liking the sound of his name coming from her mouth. Did she think them equals? But it did pride him to know that Valon spoke of him.
“Valon is a dear friend of mine.” He turned to look at her, making sure she understood the gravity of that statement. “And I can’t let someone like you destroy that. You understand, don’t you?”
“I’m not—”
“I didn’t ask you to speak!” His voice raised at the end, scaring her as she visibly flinched away from him. He took a breath, calming himself. “He is not yours. Bastian brought you here, not just as a gift to Valon, but as a gift to us all. In fact, I urged him to do this, but not so you would think you have some kind of power over him. So, if you want to remain here, then it is time you show your appreciation.”
Fatos stepped further into the room, closing the door at his back. He placed the bottle on the bedside table, motioning with his hand for her to come closer. Whether out of fear or some other varying emotion, she did as commanded, her face lowered as she carefully moved toward him.
He might not have found her attractive, but her show of weakness, her meekness, called to him a way that nothing else did, and made his dick hard. Maybe, if she acted appropriately, and as a good whore should, he wouldn’t need to hurt her…as much.
Her hands were in tight fists when she was finally seated on the edge, still looking down instead of at him.
Reaching for his zipper, he tugged it down, the sound of it impossibly loud in the silence of the room. Fatos only had so long before Valon returned.
He smiled, reaching to pet her hair as he pulled his semi-erect penis out of his boxers. She just held it for several moments, making his anger ignite, but as he was about to slap some sense into her, she twisted her wrist with strength he didn’t know she possessed, making him see stars as he yelled with pain.
Scrambling away from him, she’d almost made it to and out the door when he spun around and grabbed the length of her hair, yanking her back with strength she didn’t know he possessed.
She screamed, fighting for all that she was worth, but she had mistaken his kindness, and now, she would get what she deserved.
“You fucking bitch!”
He forced her onto the bed, straddling her chest. As she struggled, he used one gloved hand to smash the side of her face into the bed as he reached for the bottle, struggling to take the top off with one hand, but he managed it.
Some of the ammonia spilled on the floor as she jostled him, but he was in his element now. He didn’t bother with pretty words to explain why she deserved this. They both knew the truth.
She was nothing, would never amount to anything, and more importantly, he wanted to make sure that she understood exactly what they all thought of her.
Flipping the bottle upside down, he poured it onto her face, laughing as she screamed as her skin immediately started reacting to the chemical.
He was a decent man. He didn’t want it to damage both sides, just one.
Truthfully, he didn’t even want her to die. That would only upset Valon.
Plus, he wanted her to see exactly what he had done to her.
When there was nothing left, he tossed the bottle, pushing his way off her, but he didn’t leave. No, he remained, enjoying the way she writhed on the bed, using her hands to try to wipe off the liquid as though that would help.
Feeling a moment of compassion, if he were to call it that, Fatos headed for the bathroom, filling a bucket with water before exiting and throwing it on her face. She choked and gagged, now crying quite loudly, a fact that annoyed him.
He filled it once more and repeated the process before dropping the bucket on the floor and watching it roll over to a corner.
Tugging off the gloves he’d worn to protect his own skin, he tucked himself back into his pants and zipped up.
Fatos shook his head at the sight of her before walking to the door. “Whores need to learn their place. Valon doesn’t need you destroying everything he’s built for himself.”
Two of Bastian’s men came running to the door, undoubtedly drawn by her screams, and when they caught sight of her, their eyes widened in horror, and when they looked to him, there was fear there.
Not fear of him, he soon realized, but fear for him.
Did they truly think that Valon would hurt him over some whore?
Then they were as dumb as they looked. He
wouldn’t choose someone like her over him. Their friendship went back years, and there was no one, not now or in the future, who Valon would ever put above him.
“Get her cleaned up and clean up the mess.”
To anyone else, they might not have had to follow his request, but because of who he was, or because of who his father was, they rushed to obey.
As he left the room, Fatos felt rejuvenated, better than he had over the last couple of weeks since that girl had arrived. The food chain had finally been corrected, and now everything was back in its proper order.
-
12
______
Valon used to draw out the fights, make his opponents believe they had a chance at beating him, but with the thought of Elena waiting back for him in his room, he was eager to get this over with.
With a kick to the sternum, he sent the unfortunate man who was in the ring with him to the floor, walking over him without looking back. The crowd wasn’t as keen on him leaving the way he was, especially since he hadn’t drawn as much blood as he normally did. They didn’t care that the man was unconscious on the ground; it was about the show for him.
Over his last few fights, Bastian had shown his displeasure with the way Valon was fighting, but he had never vocalized it. Tonight, however, Bastian was back to his usual self, though there was a calculated gleam in his eye that bothered him, but instead of paying it any mind, Valon waited for his nod of approval before leaving the ring.
Walking the short distance back to the house, Valon swiped a hand over his shaved head, his muscles aching at the movement. As he got closer, he frowned seeing Loki sitting outside, his ears perking up as he noticed Valon’s approach. Even during the rare times that Loki was waiting for him, his tail always thumped wildly, but tonight he whined and even when Valon rubbed his head, he still made the noise.
“Let’s go.”
Entering the house, Valon couldn’t help but notice the startling odor that permeated the air. Everything was quite the same day in and day out in this place, so whenever there was something different, no matter how small that change was, he noticed it.
The house was quiet, a little too quiet, but this was usually the case when he had a big fight. Most came out to watch or bet on him. Surprisingly, however, Strom wasn’t sitting at the table watching television as he usually did.
Putting it out of his mind, Valon turned the corner and ran into Fatos. He was one of the few who never seemed bothered by the sight of the blood covering him. Sometimes he wondered if they shared the same sickness for brutality.
With a chin nod in his direction, Valon moved to walk around him but came up short when Fatos blocked his path.
“What do you want?”
“Have you no time for me anymore?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing together as he regarded Valon.
An emotion was in his eye that Valon couldn’t quite read. Maybe on another day, he would have cared to find out what it was, but tonight he was busy.
“I’m busy, Fatos.”
Just over his shoulder, he could see men walking out of his room, and when they caught sight of him at the end of the hall, they paled and hurried off, but not before he noticed the sheets and towels they carried, one stained red.
“Where’s Elena?” Valon asked Fatos, and his tone was anything but playful despite the fact that Fatos was now smiling at him, an expression that did nothing to quell the anxiety Valon felt.
“Don’t worry,” he said placing a hand on his shoulder. “I made sure she understood.”
Valon didn’t think before he had his hand around Fatos’ throat and shoved him back against the wall with enough force that his head bounced against it. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“She was trying to distract you from what’s important. I—”
His heart beat just a little faster as he looked from Fatos to his door, and then squeezed his eyes shut as his hand tightened reflexively. “Fatos, what did you do?”
As he waited for the answer that he knew he wouldn’t like, Valon was suddenly struck with a memory from grade school, of a time when Fatos hadn’t gotten what he wanted. They were different then, just two boys smaller than the others. As it had always been, Valon was usually picked on by the older boys, not just because of who his father wasn’t, but because of who his mother was.
Fatos, in his blind loyalty, had never taken well to anyone bullying Valon, especially if he could do something about it.
One night, Fatos had two of his father’s men kidnap the worst of Valon’s bullies and had them tie him to a pole in the middle of town. Fatos had dragged Valon out with him on this night to this place, and seeing the boy, whose name was Esteban—a name that Valon would never forget—he had promptly asked what was going on.
Fatos had merely smiled, then began picking up rocks on the side of the road and started pelting the boy with them with no explanation.
Oh, Esteban had begged, promised to never say anything against them ever again, but Fatos never stopped, never stopped throwing those rocks until the boy was bloody and unresponsive. At one point, he had asked Valon to join in, to hurt the boy the way he had hurt Valon. But Valon, who was too shocked to do anything more than stand there, never lifted a finger.
He should have known what Fatos was capable of, and he should have warned Elena about it, but he had been too arrogant, believed too much in his own strength that he’d never thought the one closest to him would hurt him.
Not like this.
Shoving away from him before he could answer, Valon hurried to his room, Loki at his heels, ignoring Fatos calling him back.
Fear choked him for the first time in years as he stood at the mouth of the door, too afraid to face what he knew was awaiting him. But whatever Fatos had done, Valon would fix it.
She was on his side, her back to him, but it was obvious that she was in tremendous pain from the way she trembled. Soft moans passed her lips, but a cloth that was stuffed in her mouth muffled them.
“Elena…”
He kept his voice low, but even so, she flinched, making him feel worse than he already did. Slowly walking toward the bed, he tried to prepare himself for what he might find when he got to her. He wouldn’t put it past Fatos to rape her, and while he might not have been able to fix that, he could be there for her to help her heal.
“Elena,” he called her name again, laying his hand gently on her shoulder as he turned her over.
She didn’t resist, didn’t fight back, but as her face came into view, he realized why. He might not have known what Fatos had used, but he saw the grisly result of it.
Nearly half of her face was burned, from her forehead to her chin, and even spots on her neck as well.
Valon didn’t realize his hands were trembling until he took the cloth out of her mouth.
“Hurts…it hurts.”
Slipping out of the bed, careful not to jostle her, he went to the bathroom, wetting a rag, and grabbing the first aid kit from beneath the sink.
He bandaged her wounds as best he could, gingerly cleaning off the blood, applying the only ointment he had available to him before applying the bandage and taping it into place. Whether from fatigue or pain, she remained silent through most of it.
Valon had grown used to others staring up at him with sad, pleading eyes as they tried to find any way they could for them to avoid death. And yet, as Valon moved to sit across from her, regret heavy in his heart, he didn’t see any of that from her.
No, she looked resigned, as though she didn’t care whether she lived or died.
Something, a piece of him that he had thought had long since died inside of him clicked back on. For once, he felt remorse for his actions.
“What can I do to fix this?” he asked though he knew, despite everything he was capable at this point, there was nothing he could do to give back what she had lost.
There was a void in her eyes as she faced him. She didn’t even seem to notice him gently stroking her hair.
>
“Kill me,” she whispered.
Her words could have been yelled and they would have had the same effect on him. Valon pulled his hand away. Every part of his being rebelled at the idea of ending her life.
“I—”
“Please…I can’t…please.”
She had never begged for anything since she had arrived, not even her freedom, which only told him of the strength of her desire to die.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. And that was the only thing he could say because there were no other words he could offer.
Reaching into the bedside table, he pulled out some of the pills Gjarper had given him, ones that were meant to numb the pain he felt after his brawls. Instead, he helped Elena sit up, placing both on her tongue, then pouring just enough water in her mouth to wash them down. She didn’t resist for a second.
It took a few minutes, but they finally began to kick in as her body relaxed in his arms, and no sooner than that, she finally passed out.
Valon left her there, alone on the bed as he sat in the corner, the same place she had occupied for the better part of six weeks. So quickly had her walls worn down, had she opened herself to him, becoming the one thing he’d needed to escape the darkness he had fallen under after years under Bastian’s care.
He had failed her.
He was meant to protect her from this, from what being with him would cause.
She had trusted him with so much of herself…and what had he done.
Gotten her hurt. Disfigured.
And undoubtedly, she would suffer more the longer she remained with him because this was only a warning. Fatos was capable of much worse and could have done much worse.
Once, he had considered helping her but banished the idea.
Now?
Now he had no choice.
-
13
______
“Elena…Elena.”
Valon woke her up gently, his hand on her shoulder, his body hovering over hers. She came awake violently, lurching away from him until she realized that it wasn’t Fatos above her. But even as she calmed, she still didn’t look particularly happy that she was there with him, not like she used to.
Valon: What Once Was (Volkov Bratva Book 0) Page 8
