Her Knightmare

by Sam Crescent

  She didn’t veer off the path, and the moment she was in her home, he drove off, heading to a bar near the center of the city where he could forget all his troubles.

  The bar was a strip club. The music was always soft, and normally he liked to look at the women prancing around naked or dancing until they were.

  Today he wasn’t interested in the women, just the music and the hard liquor that was poured for him. He knew there was a time Beast and Caleb used to come here. Long before they had women and families. Now when they came here it was to deal with the books in the back. No woman was allowed near them.

  “Has it been a long day?” Caleb asked, coming to the counter.

  “Fuck me, man. Just thinking about you brings you into existence.”

  “You’re the nightmare, not me.”

  “What are you doing here?” Dwayne asked.

  “Got word that you were here and decided to come and see what’s wrong with my good nephew.”

  “Like you give a shit.”

  “I do give a shit. Don’t mistake my lack of caring for not giving a shit.”

  Dwayne snorted. Of his two uncles, Caleb had been the one who’d come closer to shooting him a lot more often than Beast.

  “Well, we’ve had that pleasant chat.”

  “Beast wants a word,” Caleb said.

  “Of course he does. Don’t you get tired of being his messenger?” he asked.

  Caleb laughed. “We’re both his messengers. When you go on one of your killing sprees, it’s not you they fear. It’s Beast’s tool. Remember that.”

  He didn’t mind.

  Dwayne was known as The Nightmare, regardless of who he was working for. It helped him and instilled fear into anyone who was close.

  Following Caleb out back to the office, he entered the large, luxurious room. Beast, as always, was behind the desk, looking very royal.

  “You had a long day,” Beast said.

  Dwayne didn’t say anything, staring at his uncle who was also his boss.

  “I see. We’re going to stick with the silent treatment.”

  “What do you want?”

  He took a seat, aware of Caleb sitting back and Beast’s focus was on him, yay.

  “The Charity girl.”

  Dwayne hadn’t told anyone about his meetings with her. “What about her?”

  “We’re not idiots, Dwayne. We know you’ve been seeing her, even though you really shouldn’t.”

  “What I do on my down time is my concern.”

  “Her family is worried,” Beast said. “I got a call from her dad. They were wondering if I’d be willing to find out what’s wrong with her.”

  Caleb laughed.

  Dwayne smiled. “We’re not security experts.”

  “It got me thinking about you. You’ve been seeing her.”

  “She asked for my help, and I’m providing it.”

  “What are you charging her?” Beast asked.

  Dwayne’s jaw clenched.

  “You’re doing it for free?”

  “I think it’s safe to say that our boy may be pussy-whipped,” Caleb said. “It had to happen. There’s no way he could be doing the shit he does without getting a release anywhere.”

  “Nothing is happening, and don’t even think for a second to lecture me about her age. If my memory serves me well, both of you fell for eighteen-year-olds. Let’s just say I’m following in my family’s footsteps.” Dwayne had no intention of falling for Charity or having anything more with her. She deserved better than a man like him. He liked being around her. She was a sweet woman. Right now, she was struggling with her life and the changes that were happening, but in time she’d be different and she’d no longer need him.

  Her company helped him a great deal.

  Since seeing her, he was more focused, grounded if that was even possible. His need to kill had lessened. Most nights he went out to find a reason. Now, he didn’t need one. Whatever Charity was doing to his head, he needed it to stop. In his world, people preyed on the weak, and he refused to join the ranks.

  “I’ll stop seeing her,” he said.

  Even as he spoke the words, he knew the execution of it was going to be torture.

  ****

  The following week, Charity arrived at his private warehouse to continue training, and as she checked her watch, she realized he was over two hours late. Glancing down at her cell phone, she realized she didn’t have his number or any way to contact him. Whenever she needed him, he always arrived. After waiting another hour, she knew he wasn’t coming.

  Dwayne was a lot of things, but being this late wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t going to show up. Instead of driving back home, she made her way to the forest where he’d taken her not too long ago to shoot some cans.

  As she parked, there was no sign of his car, but then she doubted she’d even know if he was following her unless he wanted her to know about it.

  Tapping her fingers against her leg, she glanced around, taking deep breaths.

  She didn’t like this panic that was consuming her.

  The days she spent with Dwayne helped her a lot, and right now, he was avoiding her and she was trying not to freak out. What had she done wrong? Had she done anything wrong?

  When they parted ways last week, everything had been fine, and now, nothing.

  She turned in a circle, and she couldn’t see any sign of him. Heading back to her car, she glanced around, but there was nothing but the open road and the forest, along with one lonely sign letting travelers know the direction they were heading.

  Again, she didn’t go home but instead headed to the mall.

  She got a ticket and parked. Deciding against the elevator, she took the stairs, going to the third floor of the mall first.

  As she entered the large building, noise enveloped her, which she hated. She wasn’t a noise person these days, but at least she wouldn’t have to lie to her mother when she asked.

  Grabbing a chocolate milkshake from one of the stands, she paid, and then began to gaze into the window of each shop. Some of them were designer, and even though her parents could afford it, Charity never liked to spend her money on such luxury clothing. She walked from one shop to another, trying to let the mall distract her in some way. As she rounded a corner she came to a stop when she saw a couple of her old friends.

  They’d not hung out in such a long time. Being around them was difficult. In the days after being saved by Dwayne, she’d not wanted to be around anyone, and her friends didn’t help.

  She always thought she had some amazing friends. Demanding at times but supportive. When she withdrew into herself, they didn’t help. No one stuck around to care, and the truth was, she didn’t care for their company either. She was a changed person and couldn’t go back to the way things were before.

  Sipping on her milkshake, she passed them without giving them the time of day. Moving on ahead, she stopped outside of a lingerie shop. The mannequins looked really pretty with the outfits they wore, and she wondered what they would look like on her.

  Did Dwayne like sexy lingerie?

  Why do you care?

  She was attracted to him.

  Had been for some time now, but she simply didn’t show it.

  Finishing off her milkshake, she held it in her hands as she stared at the window knowing deep down she looked like a crazy person just standing there.

  Someone took the milkshake out of her hands and tossed the empty carton into the trashcan.

  Glancing to her side, she saw it was Dwayne.

  Had he been watching her?

  Averting her gaze, she stared at the shop window still.

  He’d not been there for their appointment.

  She wasn’t going to be the first one to speak.

  How could he just turn up now?

  She was annoyed and happy to see him, which only confused her more.

  “You’re late.” She gritted her teeth, hating that she spoke first. He should have been the one to
cave, not her.

  “I wasn’t late, because I had no intention of turning up.”

  She laughed. “Of course. Just keep me waiting for three hours as if I have nothing more important to do with my time. Thanks for that. Wow, I can’t even believe you did that.” She shook her head and moved on, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

  “Did you like anything you saw in that window?”

  “I liked a whole lot of things, but it doesn’t matter now.” She didn’t pause to look at another window. Instead, she made her way toward the stairs, not expecting him to follow her. Why would he? He’d just admitted to leaving her waiting for three hours. What kind of asshole did that? Not one she wanted to speak with that was for sure.

  He didn’t yell her name or tell her stop, but he kept on following her. Grabbing the rail, she made her way down the stairs.

  “You can keep running if you want to.”

  “Don’t talk to me,” she said.

  “You’re mad.”

  She stopped on the step and whirled around. “My time may not mean anything to you, but it does to me. You could have told me or done anything to reach out and tell me you weren’t going to be there today. I mean, come on, Dwayne. I thought you were better than that.”

  He stepped down until he was right in front of her and she had no choice but to back up until she hit the wall. Dwayne didn’t step down. He advanced toward her, and she stared at him. Was this some kind of test? Did he expect her to attack him?

  She wasn’t afraid of him.

  Far from it.

  Her body was on fire for him, with her dreams being completely devoted to him and him alone. He was messing with her head.

  “That was your first mistake, thinking I’m a better person. I’m not a good person, Charity. Never have been and never claimed to be. Don’t sit around waiting for me to fall for you. It’s not going to happen, ever.”

  She knew her eyes went wide in shock and her cheeks heated. “I’m not waiting for you, Dwayne. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You and I will never happen.”

  “Go fuck yourself.” The moment she said the words she hated them.

  His blatant rejection stung, and right now she just wanted to get to her car and head home.

  “You and I, we’re done. No more training. No more nothing.”

  “Fine with me.”

  She shoved him away hard and rushed away, hoping the tears would stay at bay long enough. Once inside her car, she pushed the key into the ignition, trying hard to ignore her shaking hand. Her car started, and without a backward glance, she headed on home. The journey back was completely blank. She hoped she didn’t run any red lights or knock anyone down. She was tempted to pull out and drive the same path just to make sure.

  Then shaking her doubts to one side, she made her way inside. It had started to rain, and she stood in the driveway looking up at the sky.

  “Honey, what on earth are you doing?” her mother said.

  “Nothing.”

  “Get inside before you catch something. You’re going to be completely frozen to the bone if you’re not careful.”

  It may be raining, but it was warm. She wasn’t about to tell her mother that though. Putting her bag on the floor near the door, she stared at her mother.

  “How was your day?”

  “Fine. I went to the mall. Had a shake. It was nice.” Saw Dwayne, a guy I’ve been crushing on but you don’t need to know that. He rejected me. “I’m going to go and get washed and changed.”

  “Okay, honey.”

  She didn’t linger and made her way toward her room. Even as she took a shower, the tears didn’t fall. It was only as she sat on the edge of the bed, a towel around her body and one wrapped in her hair, that she allowed the tears. Saying nasty things to him didn’t help, and now she had no way of apologizing.

  Dropping her head into her hands, she wondered what the hell she was going to do.

  Chapter Six

  The following week, Dwayne stared at his warehouse door to see the letter taped there. It had his name on the letter, and he lifted it up.

  He knew instantly it had to be from Charity, and he didn’t like the twisting that he got in his gut. He’d not followed or seen her since the day in the mall. She’d looked so fucking upset, as if he’d shattered her entire world with saying that he didn’t want her.

  She was a beautiful woman and so easy to talk to. It had been a nightmare to him saying that shit to her. Still, his uncles had backed off, so whatever he said must have worked. He didn’t know how they knew everything, just that they had eyes everywhere.

  “Charity dropped that off a few days ago,” Beast said, suddenly appearing at his side.

  Dwayne stared at his uncle, not surprised by his appearance.

  “Do you have some special device that gets you around?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I have a car and a pair of legs. You’re becoming sloppy in observation. Not good for you, Dwayne.” Beast’s arms were folded, and he looked disappointed.

  “I’m at the top of my game.” He opened up his jacket, showing everything he carried. Six guns, two knives, and his cell phone. He never went anywhere without them.

  “Someone sneaks up on you though, injects you with some drug that puts you to sleep, all that shit is useless to you.”

  “Do you have a point being here?” This was the first time he’d been caught being distracted in a long time. Not since he was teenager had he been this careless.

  “I was worried about you.”

  “You don’t need to be.”

  “Okay, reports are that you killed fifty people this week.”

  “What? Is my quota down?” Dwayne asked.

  They were at the docks, interfering with a Carson shipment. He was bored of the complaints, so he broke in, waited until shit went down, saw what was happening with his own eyes, and dealt with the problem.

  That was what he was, a problem solver.

  “Quite the opposite, really. At this rate we’ll need to go to another country to help with their overpopulation process.”

  He sighed. “You’re going to complain about how I do business?”

  “I worry about you.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, right.”

  “I hate to remind you of this, Dwayne. You’ve turned into a man that I am proud of. Your reputation rivals even mine, and I’m happy about that. Don’t forget, I was the one that came for you. I was the one that stopped my brother from his abuse.”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “I know I was too late. That you had already suffered a great deal.”

  “Look, Beast, what do you want?”

  “I care about you. I worry about you constantly. You think it’s easy for me to know what you do, to remember everything you went through?”

  “No, I don’t spend my time thinking about all that, Beast.”

  “You don’t?”

  Dwayne stared at his uncle, waiting for whatever he was about to say next. “No.”

  “I do,” Beast said. “I think about what I could have done if I’d gotten to you sooner. If I’d not taken my time to get my shit together. What he did, the person he was, he should have been stopped.”

  He stared at his uncle, seeing the regret in his eyes. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “No, and yet I think about what would have happened if I’d gotten to you sooner. You think I don’t know about the time you killed when you were younger. When you saw men beating the shit out of women, out of kids. How you didn’t just snap one time but a few times.”

  This time Dwayne didn’t say anything.

  “These bodies that are being uncovered, I know you buried a couple there.”

  “What have they found?” Dwayne asked.

  “Two women have been uncovered.”

  “I never buried women there, Beast. I was only after men at that point. Everyone else could eat shit for all I cared.”

  “Just men?”


  “Yeah, just men. Women … I only started killing women that betrayed us, Beast. That sold out the Carson name.”

  “Someone is burying or uncovering bodies, and I need you to find out who.”

  “What exactly do you want me to do?” Dwayne asked. “It’s a prime fucking dumping ground for that shit. No one goes there unless they’re some sick fuck looking for a high.”

  “Either someone is trying to get a message to you or send you one, or they are just using it as a dumping ground and it’s completely unrelated to you. Whoever it is, I think you need to find them. Maybe compile a list of people you’ve pissed off.”

  “That will be a pretty big list.”

  “Just do what you have to do and get the job done.”

  Beast spun on his heel and started to walk away.

  “What is all this shit with Charity?” Dwayne asked. “I wasn’t doing her any harm.”

  “Did you fight for her?”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. All I did was pass on a message to you about Charity. You didn’t put up a fight. Do you want her?” Beast asked.

  “When you were with Hope, what was it like?”

  “I’m still with Hope, Dwayne.” Beast’s arms were folded. “She became everything I thought about. In fact, I couldn’t go or do anything without wondering if she was okay. She consumed every single thought that I had and then some. I wanted to know she’d be fine without me. If her day was any better. The truth was and still is, that she became my whole world overnight and I couldn’t for a second imagine life without her. I wanted to kill anyone that hurt her, and for a while that meant myself. By giving her father the gun, I felt like I’d taken everything away from her.”

  “It’s not how it works.”

  “I get it, but it doesn’t make the guilt go away. This past week without Charity, what has it been like?”

  “It has been torture. I’ve wanted to reach out, to make sure she’s safe. I can’t just ignore these feelings that she inspires inside me.”

  “Then don’t, but be prepared to have to fight for her. Are we done with the man-to-man talk?”

  “Yeah, we’re done.”