Girth

by Savannah Rylan

  “Who do you think put you here?” she said and I felt some more fat tears roll down my cheeks. This couldn’t be my reality. This couldn’t actually be happening to me!

  Nancy put the cloth away and brought out a makeup bag. She unzipped it and seemed to be picking colors. Garishly pink lipsticks, orange and blue eyeshadows…she rummaged through them till she found the ones she was looking for.

  “Pucker up those gorgeous lips, honey,” she said emotionlessly, like she was doing my makeup for my wedding day. I kept my mouth firmly shut.

  “No, I can’t do this. This can’t be happening to me…” I cried, my voice drowning away in my own sobs.

  “You have to earn your stay here, honey, that is the only way to stay safe,” she said, that hint of kindness entering her voice again. Our eyes met and I could see that the strength and the matter-of-factness that Nancy displayed was only a facade. Deep inside her, she could still remember the day she had felt exactly like this.

  “I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to earn my right to stay!” I cried and this time, she gave me a smile. It was a sad helpless smile and it filled me with fear.

  “You don’t have a choice, Brooklyn,” she said and hearing my name had a destabilizing effect on me. I felt crippled again and I crashed to the ground. I wanted Gunner. I wanted to see him again. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed wildly, hoping against hope that he was still alive. That he might find me. If only I could see him again…

  “It’s time for you to pick a name, honey. We can’t call you Brooklyn anymore,” I heard Nancy say and I looked up at her with my foggy, watery eyes. She bent over me, bringing the cheap plastic lipstick case close to my lips.

  “I think you look like a Scarlet. What do you think girls?” she said, trying to get the others involved. I pressed my lips together, resisting as much as I could against her efforts to try and put makeup on my face.

  “My name is Brooklyn Jenson,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her but Nancy just smiled. My resistance wasn’t going to affect her. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it whether I liked it or not.

  Chapter 20

  Gunner

  We arrived at the warehouse in groups of five, parking our noisy Harleys and muscle cars some distance away so that they wouldn’t hear us.

  Axel had wanted us to wait till it was dark, even though I was ready to go several hours ago. I couldn’t be sure where they had taken Brooklyn but I knew she couldn’t be far from this place. They knew I was in her apartment. They would want to punish her for having me there, and this was the only kind of punishment I knew the Dragon Knights would order on a girl. They were going to use her in their prostitution ring.

  Brooklyn was alone with them. I could feel it in my bones. I could sense that she was in danger and she was being kept somewhere against her will. The warehouse was the only place that we knew of where she might be kept captive along with the other girls. I wasn’t doing this for the Club anymore, my priority was Brooklyn and I knew the others knew that too.

  I was crouched behind one of the cars with Glock, Tank and Hunter. We were all quiet, blending into the dark and only communicating through signs. Across from us, through the barbed wire fencing; we could see that there were armed Dragon Knights guarding the warehouse shutters. This wasn’t going to be an easy job. The element of surprise was the only thing we had going for us.

  Axel was with us, crouched behind another car some feet away from me. I looked over at him and he nodded at me. Giving me the green signal to go.

  I was itching with the need to go. I wasn’t going to rest till I’d rescued Brooklyn and for now, there was no sign of her.

  I nodded back at Axel and then placed a hand on Tank’s shoulder to signal to him to cover me in case I was noticed.

  As quietly as possible, I snuck out from behind the car and in one swift motion, I climbed the fence and had jumped over the barbed wire. The gravel crunched under my boots when I landed on the other side; but other than that; I’d made no sound. I could see the Dragon Knights walking around in front of the warehouse, talking to each other in intervals. They hadn’t noticed the movement in the dark.

  Still in a crouched position, I rushed noiselessly towards them. The military had taught me how to remain camouflaged in the dark and I was putting my training to good use. I ran, as fast as my feet would carry me towards the men and just when one of them turned to the other side, I snuck up behind the side wall.

  I tried not to breathe too hard so that they wouldn’t hear me. Keeping myself pressed to the wall, I fixed the silencer on my gun. There were quick metallic clipping sounds in the air, but the DK’s still hadn’t noticed.

  I peeked out from the corner and now saw a dark figure, which looked like Glock; running up on the other side and hiding himself against the wall at the other end.

  I smiled to myself, glad for having friends and partners like these guys. In a couple of minutes Tank did the same and then Hunter followed, silently joining me behind the wall. Now there were four of us, hiding in the dark behind the guards while three Dragon Knights were still up front. We had successfully outnumbered them and we were all armed.

  I turned to Hunter in the dark and I nodded my head once. He did the same.

  I peeped out from around the wall and saw one of the Dragon Knights had walked closer up to me and I held up a hand to Hunter behind me. He knew what I was going to do and he pointed the gun forward just as I stepped out.

  The DK was within arm’s reach and I wrapped my arms around his face in one swift motion, muffling his cries. He struggled and was just about to fire a shot when I shot him in his temple. I felt his body go limp in my arms and I had no thoughts in my head as I released him. He slumped to the floor and that was the first sound the other guards heard.

  “Hey!” one of them said and just when he turned to look in my direction, Glock had come up behind him and dragged him away. I knew he’d shot the guy, even though I didn’t hear it because of the silencer.

  The third Dragon Knights had walked forward, towards the barbed wires but he’d heard the second guy’s voice and now we saw him walking towards us. He hadn’t seen us in the dark yet. Axel came out of nowhere. We hadn’t seen him behind the tree. He grabbed the third guy and fired a bullet to the back of his head and finally looked up at me.

  We’d got all three guards, without setting off any alarms. Our plan was in motion.

  Axel came up to me, smiling.

  “You did good, son,” he said and thumped my shoulder. Some of the others behind him joined us, while Tank, Glock and Hunter came up to us as well.

  “We can’t open the shutters. It’s too noisy,” I said, keeping my voice as low as a whisper. We couldn’t be sure who might hear us.

  “There’s a side door here,” Sniper said, pointing to the side where Tank and Glock were and I smiled at him.

  “Good, that’s the one we’ll take,” I said and hurried towards it. I was in no mood for wasting a breath. I had to get to Brooklyn and I had to get to her now.

  ***

  We’d snuck into the warehouse without being noticed. I hadn’t counted exactly but I knew there were at least eight of us in there, and we had no idea how many of the Dragon Knights we would find inside.

  The place stank of gun powder and damp and there wasn’t enough lighting so I didn’t know exactly where I was going but I was leading the way.

  The warehouse was full of rooms and storage units with locked doors. The passageways were narrow and my boots creaked on the flooring as we tread carefully. We could hear voices echoing somewhere and the sound of what sounded like knives being sharpened. There were electrical sounds everywhere, like the DK’s were preparing for a war as well. Arranging weapons and gathering men. At least because of all the noise, we didn’t have to whisper anymore.

  Glock was directly behind me and from time to time, I turned to look at him and he nodded. I had the fate of all these guys in my hand and that familiar feeling o
f responsibility crept up on me. The same responsibility I had felt towards my men and Jenson. Only this time, I was also responsible for the life of Jenson’s sister.

  I was leading these guys to nowhere. I could be leading them into a trap, to their death! But I didn’t care in that moment. All I cared about was finding Brooklyn.

  I heard someone’s voice.

  I stopped. Glock and the other stopped behind me.

  The voice sounded close enough and up ahead, I saw a group of Dragon Knights come out of a room. I peered in the dark, pressing myself to the wall.

  There was a guy at the head of the group who was passing around weapons to the others. Rifles and guns and knives. What were they preparing for? I counted five of them. They were already close to outnumbering us, and I had no idea how many others were there in this massive warehouse.

  We had backup, but they were outside.

  The DK’s hadn’t seen us. They were joking and laughing amongst themselves and from his side profile, I noticed the guy who was handing the weapons out was the same one at the bar. The one who had called Brooklyn by her name. The one who had put his arms around her when she had tried to leave the bar. I gripped my gun tighter in my hands and clenched my jaw. Now I was certain that Brooklyn had to be here. He seemed like he would keep her close to him.

  When the guys walked out of our vision, I held my hand up in the air and then pointed forward. None of these Bad Disciples had any military training like I did, but they knew how to follow commands.

  I walked stealthily forward, keeping my gun pointed ahead of me. I could hear the voices and the feet of the DK’s moving away from us, but I had every intention of following them. That asshole was going to lead me to Brooklyn.

  I kept myself and my men in the shadows as I followed them, at a distance from them and they still had no idea they had company.

  That’s when I saw another metal door slide open at the end of one of the passageways. I held up a hand and stopped and Glock and the others stopped too.

  A woman came out of the room and I watched as she started filing a group of girls out. The DK’s had gone ahead and disappeared, but my focus was now on the girls.

  They were following the older woman’s orders. Keeping their heads down and eyes to the ground. They were dressed for prostitution work. That much was certain. And my eyes quickly scanned the group, which was made of seven of them.

  Then the older woman, who seemed to be their leader, stuck her head into the room again.

  “Scarlet, come on out honey. Don’t make me get one of the guys!” I heard her say and I squinted in the dark to see.

  That’s when I saw Brooklyn. The woman had a hand on Brooklyn’s elbow, pulling her out of the room. She was resisting.

  I clenched my jaws, tightening my grip on my gun as I saw her come out of the room. She was still wearing the same clothes I’d seen her in that morning, except that her cheeks looked tear stained and her makeup looked loud and cheap. She’d been forced to appear like the rest of the girls.

  “Stand here, keep your head down and do as you’re told. You know the rules now, Scarlet,” the woman said and I could feel my breathing getting harsh.

  “My name is Brooklyn!” she screeched and I had to do everything I could to not step out of the shadows.

  Instead I turned to Glock and nodded my head at him.

  “Go,” Glock mouthed the word. He knew it was Brooklyn and he knew what I had to do. I made a thumbs-up sign and broke away from my group. I crouched and ran up into another passageway, closer to where the group of girls were standing.

  “Don’t make me call the men, Scarlet. They won’t treat you as well as I’m treating you,” the woman said and I pressed myself to the corner of the passageway. If I looked out, the girls would see me now and I couldn’t risk them raising an alarm.

  “Let’s go girls!” I heard her call out and then I heard the shuffling of feet.

  I was alone now. The others were going to focus on taking out the rest of the Dragon Knights gang. My only responsibility was Brooklyn and I was so close to her. Close enough to have seen the sadness and frustration in her eyes.

  I’d just have to wait for the right moment to grab her and take her to safety.

  Chapter 21

  Brooklyn

  I wasn’t about to give in that easily. Nancy had a tight grip on my arm and I knew she wanted me to herd out with the rest of the girls, but I jerked my arm away from her.

  “I want to speak to Viper, first,” I snapped at her. I knew she was just doing her job and she’d get into trouble if she didn’t do it correctly, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I could see the look of fear mixed with anger in Nancy’s eyes and I crossed my arms over my breasts.

  “I’m not going anywhere till I’ve spoken to Viper,” I said.

  The other girls were standing around us, glaring at me. If they admired me for my courage; they were keeping it to themselves. Outwardly, they could only pretend to hate me for delaying them from what was inevitably about to happen.

  Nancy had her jaws clenched at me.

  “You have to do as I say, Scarlet. You’re the club’s property now,” she said and now Candy spoke up.

  “We all are,” she added.

  “I have to speak to Viper first,” I repeated myself in a hissing voice and Nancy rolled her eyes at me.

  “You’re going to get us all killed if you keep up this attitude,” she said and I shook my head.

  “Just let me speak to Viper,” I said, in a louder voice and then we heard footsteps. I looked up to see Viper approaching us. He had a gun in his hand and two other Dragon Knights with him.

  “Viper!” I said, rushing towards him. I’d sweet talk my way out of this if I had to. These guys were drinking with me at the bar just the previous night. Surely, they’d be sympathetic to me.

  “Hello, sugar,” he said and grabbed my shoulders when I came up to him.

  “What is going on? You’ve taken it too far,” I said in a squeaky voice and he smiled at me sleazily.

  “You’re not enjoying this?” he said and I looked up at him with a pout.

  “Okay, I’ve learned my lesson. Can I please go back home now?” I said, trying to make my voice sound as sweet as possible. There was no point being aggressive towards him now.

  “Lesson? We’re not trying to teach you lesson, sugar. We’re putting you to work,” he said and that smile on his face remained while I stared at him with widened eyes. I never thought I’d ever hear him say that.

  “Why? Viper, you can’t do this to me. Luke would never have allowed it,” I cried and my hands flew to my mouth.

  “Luke is dead, and you’re no use to us. You’ve been causing trouble, Brooklyn, and you need to be kept under control,” he said and brought his face close to me. He was peering into my eyes, breathing in my scent.

  “I didn’t mean to cause trouble, Viper. I promise. I swear I’ll listen to everything you say from now on,” I cried and he smiled again.

  “This color suits your whore face,” he said in a sizzling voice while he studied my makeup, and I felt goosebumps on my arms. No matter how mean he had been to me before, I’d never heard him use this voice with me.

  “Viper, please…” I said, tears beginning to well up in my eyes again.

  “That’s what you are, aren’t you? A whore. Whoring around with that Bad Disciple motherfucker?!” he said and raised a hand over my face.

  “We need her without bruises for tonight,” it was Nancy who had cut in and Viper looked up at her and I could see the look of warning in his eyes. Nancy had dared to stand up for me. I cowered beneath him, all my courage draining from my muscles now.

  “Viper, please…I told you I can explain,” I whimpered, trying to think of excuses to come up with why Gunner was in my apartment.

  “Save it, you’re good for nothing now,” he said and turned from me. I shrieked and threw myself at him.

  “Did you kill him? Did you kill Gunner?” I
screamed, bunching up my fists and throwing them at his back. It barely even affected Viper and he looked over his shoulder at me. He was smiling at me again.

  “Is he your little boyfriend? Well, he’s dead now,” he said with a sly smile and the tears came gushing down my cheeks again. I couldn’t bear to hear those words. I continued throwing my fists at Viper’s back and he continued to smile.

  “C’mon, get back in line,” Nancy was trying to hold me back while I screamed and sobbed and tried to hit Viper.

  “Give her to Connor James tonight, Nancy,” he said to her and in his eyes, I could see he had decided a terrible fate for me.

  “She’s not ready for him, Sir, she’s not been broken in,” Nancy said in a soft reverential voice.

  “Do what I tell you to do. You’re not her mother, bitch!” Viper barked at Nancy who cowered and nodded her head.

  I was crying, still sobbing loudly. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me. How had my life come to this?

  “Luke would have killed you for this! Daddy would have never let this happen!” I was screaming as Viper began to walk away. The other two guys were going with him, each with sickening smiles on their faces. When had the Dragon Knights turned into this? No matter what daddy or Luke traded in, no matter what crimes they had to commit for work…I knew they would never have put innocent women through this. And definitely not one of their own.

  “You don’t have anyone left to protect you, sugar. Just try and enjoy yourself tonight with Connor James,” Viper said and he exchanged sniggers with the others.

  I felt like I was going to be sick. I’d collapsed to the floor, crying and kicking before Nancy started pulling me up.

  “Don’t pull something like that ever again, do you hear me?” she said in a low voice through gritted teeth. I was still sobbing, beginning to feel helpless.