by Xander Hades
***
After what felt like the longest drive of my entire life, we pulled up in front of the hospital. All I wanted to do was jump out and run, but I knew going off alone was foolish and would only put me in danger. My hands were shaking when we arrived at the hospital. Once inside, my composure started to fail me again and I was struggling to get the words out to the reception desk. Saying his name out loud, here, in this place, it all suddenly felt far too real.
Tina was right behind me, taking control of the situation in her usual tough tone.
“Jake Handleman. He was brought in tonight with a gunshot wound. We need to know where he is.”
“You will have to go to the waiting area and join the others,” the nurse at the desk said. “A doctor will come out and give you an update.” I started to argue, but Tina grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.
“Pull yourself together. This is going to be a long night and you need to stay alert. We aren’t alone here, and I can guarantee that this is not the end of your nightmare.” Tina held me until I started to breathe calmly.
“Do you think it’s safe to go to the waiting area?” I asked. “We don’t know who is over there and I’m so scared…”
“This is the safest place we can be right now,” Tina assured me. “The Flaming Dragons are here for Jake, even bikers know where to draw the line, and starting a problem in the hospital is not on their agenda.”
As we walked into the waiting area, it felt like all eyes were on me, and I couldn’t control the tears as they started to fill my eyes. Everything about this was too much, and seeing Jake’s club family just hit home that this wasn’t a dream. I stood, frozen to the spot, and clutching Tina’s arm like it was my only life raft. What could I possibly say to these people? Part of me was so angry that it had come to this, and I blamed each and every one of them for causing this to happen. But another part of me was racked with guilt, knowing that if I had just stopped this from starting then Jake would have been safe and all of this could have been prevented. As I stood, lost in my thoughts, an older gruff man approached.
“You must be, Dana,” he said awkwardly. “I’m Billy. Billy Ridgeway. People usually just call me ‘The Hammer.’ Whatever you like, I’m easy. I’m the Road Warrior for the Flaming Dragons. I was with Jake when this happened and I am so sorry. It all happened so fast that I didn’t even get a chance to react. I thought we had him protected, and I…” Billy trailed off, looking as defeated as I felt.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for getting him here.” There was nothing else to say. There was bad blood between us right now, and in a small part each of us blamed the other. But now was not the time to deal with problems, now was the time to focus on solutions. Everyone in this room was praying for the same thing, that Jake would pull through and all of us could go back to our normal lives. I was full of frustration, thinking that love was supposed to conquer all, not be the fire starter in a war. How could Jake and I be the only two who understood love?
Instead of speaking, Billy and I simply stared at each other, a mutual understanding unspoken between us. Both of us felt guilt and both of us were afraid. Sometimes it takes the worst of situations to really bring reality to the forefront.
Standing in the waiting room, it took everything inside me not to collapse on the floor. All I needed in this moment were the two strong men in my life, and yet here we were, with both of them laid up in hospital beds because of me. I knew in time that Mitch would recover, and that gave me some comfort, but the uncertainty around Jake was too much to bear.
Staring at all of these strangers made me feel more alone than I had ever felt in my life. I turned to Lisa for some comfort. Reaching out, I gripped her hand tightly, and she squeezed it back in a gesture of reassurance. Suddenly, the doors opened and the doctor entered the room.
Chapter Fourteen
Jake
Everything was black. I wasn’t sure where I was, and I couldn’t force my eyes to adjust to the darkness. As I blinked, I got nothing but tears. Far off in the distance, I could hear the sound of glass shattering, followed by noises I couldn’t distinguish. Yet, I couldn’t place what direction it was coming from or what words were being spoken. I shook my head as the sounds started to dissipate, and a heavy silence crept in. I knew I had to get my bearings to survive this. I must calm down and take a more rational approach to my situation.
“Keep calm, Jackhammer. Focus. Breathe,” I told myself. “You need to figure out where you are, get a grip of your surroundings.”
No matter how hard I tried, the darkness was too thick, and no light penetrated where I was. I felt so vulnerable; wherever I had been taken to, the other guy definitely had the upper hand.
The last thing I remembered was being at the safe house without Dana, but it was still possible Mack had gotten to her. If this nut job was able to take me, there was no doubt that he had the strength to take Dana as well.
“DANA,” I called to the dark, praying she would respond. “DANA. BABY. YOU HERE WITH ME?”
Silence.
“DANA! If you’re here I need you to tell me, baby! Just scream and I’ll come find you!”
Still nothing. I waited for the longest minute of my life, and then gave up.
I sighed, allowing my head to fall in to my hands. No Dana, but maybe that was a good sign. Leaving her with Tina was the smartest move, and if she wasn’t here then she was more than likely safe. I hated not being there to protect her, but at the moment I was more of a danger than a savior. How this man had captured me was unfathomable, but wasting my time wondering wasn’t going to get me out of here any faster. I wasn’t going to let some asshole get the best of me, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him keep me from my woman.
Fear was beginning to turn into anger, and my frustration was starting to boil over. I didn’t have time to be trapped in some maniac’s makeshift prison cell.
“MACK!” I screamed to the void. “MACK, I KNOW YOU’RE THERE!”
Silence. Not even an echo.
“MACK! ANSWER ME!”
Nothing.
My hands began groping around but the room seemed infinite. No walls, no furniture, nothing to anchor myself with. I had been in some shit situations before, but this was so outside of my realm of experience. How do you even get a room to be this completely dark? I started to worry that I might be underground, and all of a sudden my claustrophobia started to come on. I felt panic. I liked to think of myself as one hell of a tough guy, but running out of oxygen was definitely one of my weaknesses. As my hands started to sweat more, I knew that I was heading towards a full-blown panic attack. It would worsen things, so I sat down and focused on trying to remember what had happened before I ended up in this place.
The safe house. I knew that I had gone there, because I could distinctly recall talking to Dana on the phone. I was downstairs, she had called, we had talked about Key West; all of this I remembered. What next?
Next Billy had come, and I vaguely remember talking to him. Talking to Billy wasn’t as clear as Dana, but I did know something he said had pissed me off. And then…?
Blankness.
I tried backing up to the conversation with Billy, but it was a dead end; nowhere to go from there. Did Billy have something to do with this? I wanted to believe that The Hammer would never betray me, but at this point I couldn’t be sure of anything. He was definitely the last person I was with, so there had to be some meaning in that. Was I drugged? I tried to recall what I had eaten or drank, but nothing stuck out to me. I couldn’t figure out how Mack alone could immobilize me long enough to transport me to this hell hole. There was no way he accomplished this all on his own, so who helped him, and why?
“Fuck!” I yelled at the silence. “Why can’t I remember anything?” There was no one around as far as I could tell, but talking out loud gave some comfort. Having my voice break the never-ending silence was necessary, as I couldn’t stand being deprived of all of my senses. Wit
h no light and no sound, no scent, and nothing to touch, I felt like I was encased in one of those deprivation tanks. It was horrible. I sighed. “May as well try and find a way out somehow. This room has to have a door somewhere...”
As I stumbled forward, I started to doubt my original idea. This room most certainly did feel infinite and after what felt like hours I had yet to find anything solid besides the floor beneath my feet. I started to wonder if I had done nothing except walk in a circle over and over again. I had zero point of reference for where I had started and where I was now. My eyes still could not adjust and the darkness was so think that I couldn’t even see my own hand in front of my face. I was about to completely give up and rethink my plan, trying to decide what my next move could possibly be.
That’s when I heard it—faint and distant, but just enough to pierce the deafening silence.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I stopped dead in my tracks and took a moment to assess it. “An alarm? A...bomb?” A shot of fear coursed through my veins. “Maybe just a machine of some sort? A message in Morse Code!?” I shook my head at my last guess; there was no way Mack was that smart. And besides, this beeping was extremely regular, without any difference to the sound.
But the sound was oddly familiar in a vague sort of way. I knew Mack was crazy, but a bomb seemed a bit overkill. We were talking about a guy I embarrassed, but to take it to murder was beyond crazy. Then again, when it comes to crazy you never can be too sure.
“There’s only one way to find out…” I started walking towards the sound.
After what seemed an eternity, I saw a flash of something in the distance. Small, red, blinking… It was too far away for me. I wondered if it was maybe an exit sign. I kept moving forward, my eyes completely focused on trying to distinguish what the blinking thing was. The shape was small, and the red glow seemed to spell out what I think was… numbers…?
“Shit… maybe Mack is crazier than I thought. I’m no expert but that looks a bit too bomb-like for my comfort…” I slowed my pace down and tried to decide what to do next. If this was a trap I didn’t want to simply walk into it like an idiot. This was better thought-out than I would have expected, and maybe running blindly wasn’t the smartest move. Wherever Mack was keeping me was intense, I couldn’t even wrap my head around where he found a space this immense. He had obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this plan, and I couldn’t just shrug off the idea that maybe I had totally underestimated him.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sound was so steady and rhythmic. The pace of the beeping hadn’t altered in any way, and thinking back to every action movie I’d seen, I knew that bombs tended to increase in speed as they got close to detonation.
Something was tickling the back of my mind, nudging me to think harder about what this sound was.
“I know this sound… I know it… But from where…what is it?” I couldn’t put my finger on it and it was starting to drive me crazy. “Fuck it.” I took a deep breath and mustered up the confidence to start walking towards the beeping, flashing thing. Realistically, if it was a bomb, it wasn’t going to matter much if I was standing here or there. I didn’t know much about explosives, but what I did know told me that I was toast regardless of whether I was a few feet back or not.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
It took until I was almost right beside it before I figured out what exactly I was looking at, and that’s when confusion took over.
An alarm clock…?
No wires. No countdown. No ominous message written on it.
“Seriously, Mack? What the fuck does this even mean?” I sighed. Maybe the guy was just trying to mess with my head, make me think he’s going to do something and really he just wants to see me scared.
“Can’t even face me like a real man?” I taunted “Have to hide behind the darkness just to make yourself feel in control?”
No response.
I reached over and hit the alarm clock; I couldn’t take the beeping any longer.
Bright light.
I could feel something heavy over my body, and warmth pressed against my side. My eyes scrambled to adjust as I heaved my body forward, bolting up to a sitting position.
“Baby? Is everything okay? Did you have a bad dream?”
That beautiful voice washed over my hearing. The sound brought me back to reality and helped me adjust to the shift in my environment.
As my eyes began to adjust to the light, I was finally able to take in my surroundings. I couldn’t quite place where exactly I was, but everything about it screamed home.
My eyes focused on the pale, beige walls that held what looked like family photographs. Next was a dresser carefully decorated with flowers and perfume bottles, the scents all familiar.
Lastly, my eyes came to rest on the large mirror, reflecting back reality to me.
Here I was in bed, a thick white duvet covering me, and to my side was my wife, clutching my arm.
“Jake? Baby? Talk to me.” Her voice was so soothing as her hand caressed my arm.
A dream. The room. The bomb. Mack. My conversation with Billy.
I started to laugh nervously, and turned to look at my gorgeous wife, her hair tussled around her face and her eyebrows furrowed in the most adorable look of worry.
“Oh, Dana Doll. I’ve never been so happy to see you in my entire life.” I turned and pulled her close. “I don’t even think I could begin to tell you the nightmare I just had, everything just seemed so real.”
“Did you lose me?” She playfully asked, sticking out her tongue. “I can’t imagine anything scarier than you without me.”
“You have no idea, my love.” I tipped her head back slightly and placed my lips firmly against hers, taking in the feel and scent of her. My body needed her in ways I couldn’t explain, and this was a moment that called for action, not words.
I felt her body responding to mine, pushing back against me, demanding more from my lips. I pushed my tongue gently between her lips, and felt a shock through my body as her tongue began to entwine with me. Our kiss overtook me, and my urge to take her was all encompassing.
As Dana lay on her back, I began kissing her cheeks, down to her throat, and then paused when I reached her perfect breasts. Slowly circling my tongue around her nipple, I took her into my mouth and flicked my tongue until I heard her call out.
“Oh Jake,” she moaned, digging her nails into my back. “I need you inside me so badly.”
I was more than happy to oblige her request, and I pushed forward, deep into her most sacred spot. She felt like fire wrapped around me, and the heat increased as I slowly pounded her, deeper and deeper.
“Jake… Jake…”
Just as intensely as it had begun, I felt her body grip me tightly and she let the passion take over. I clung to her as I felt the orgasm wash over me, and the world seemed to freeze as I took in this moment. Pure bliss was all that existed, and I knew I had found heaven with my wife.
“Good lord,” she exclaimed, struggling to catch her breath. “How do you do that every single time?” She laughed.
“It’s all you, darling,” I smiled, “You bring out the best in me.”
I rolled off of her, and let out a satisfied sigh. Everything felt so right in this moment, like I was exactly where I was meant to be. I reached over and stroked Dana’s face, feeling her soft hair brush against my fingers. This moment was perfection and I wished I could lie here for the rest of my life.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
My eyes shot open and my heart started to race. I turned to Dana, and she lay stiff as board, unmoving. I pulled on her arm to shake her, but she didn’t react in any way.
“Dana? Dana? Do you hear that?” I could feel fear rising up in my chest and I couldn’t understand what was happening. “Dana? Wh
at’s wrong? Are you ok?”
“Please wake up…” Dana’s lips didn’t move but her voice was clear. There was a sense of urgency to her tone and she sounded terribly sad.
“What? I am awake? What’s going on?” My voice trembled as I tried to make sense of what was happening.
“I need you to wake up, Jake. Please. Look at me. I need you.”
I tried to tell her I didn’t understand, but no words would come out. My voice had disappeared and as a mouthed my thoughts, there was no noise to express them. A silent scream escaped my lips as I tried to scramble out of the bed. Looking down the floor was entirely black, like looking in to the darkest of voids. I stared down in to the depths and screamed a silent scream once more. I reached out for Dana, needing her to pull me back, but she was no longer lying on the bed. Our beautiful beige walls were beginning to crack, and pictures started smashing to the floor. These frames depicted happy memories of Dana and I, and they were all chattering around me. And the sound of glass breaking brought a horrible feeling to my mind. Breaking glass. Breaking glass. What did it mean?
“Come back to me, Jake. Don’t leave me.”
I started to scream. “I’m here! I’m right here!”
“Please, Jake…”
The walls began to crumble, revealing nothing but blackness behind them.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
