Reclusive: Skulls Renegade MC

by Knox, Elizabeth

  “She’s right you know.” Desmond tells Fredrik, “We were all given the opportunity to out-bid her and none of us did. The only person we can blame for that is ourselves.”

  “Bastards.” Fredrik shouts in a state of pure anger. “You have no power, Mariana. We all know who does and that’s your husband. Who’s to say that your bid is even valid?”

  Mariana’s expression shifts into something I’ve never seen before, she’s obviously offended but the smile that crosses her face means nothing good. “I am. Anything my wife does, has my backing. What I will not tolerate, and never will is someone who thinks that she deserves the type of disrespect you have just bestowed upon her.” Ion raises his hand in the air and the next thing everyone knows, his men are coming for Fredrik, dragging him by his arms away from the ballroom and out through the double doors.

  “Please continue, love.” He tells his wife.

  “With pleasure,” She comments back. “Rafael will not leave this place alive. I will guarantee you all that, and before you moan and groan about that fact, know that you will each have a part in his death. For it’s not just my right, he has done so much to all of us.”

  The doors open to the ballroom and in some sort of device is bought in, it’s wooden and is being rolled in multiple parts. Before my very eyes, I watch as it’s put together piece by piece, looking like some sort of mid-evil torture device.

  It’s some sort of wooden triangle, with chains that come down from the top. On each side holds a metal clasp, with more chains. Mariana obtains the key and walks over towards us, unlocking Rafael. “Please position him properly, will you?” She asks her men, and they do as they’re told within a few minutes.

  His hands are positioned above his head, wrapped securely in chains. He’s already trying to move them, but it’s no use as he only moves a centimeter or two at best. I’ll admit, Mariana did a good job of planning this far. Each of his legs are grabbed and shackled to the wood. Chains secure every limb he has, and I think it’s safe to say that there’s no way he’s getting out of this. “Continue, please.” She states to one of her men, who grabs a knife and puts the blade against Rafael’s clothes, ripping everything off of him, so he’s exposed to the entire room.

  Another man comes forward holding two black buckets and sets them on the left and right of the contraption. I take a look down into the bucket and see knives. “In front of Rafael you will see two buckets filled with knives. I encourage you all to take a step forward and grab a knife. Please stand in a singular line and as you approach him, cut him, wherever you’d like. No stabbing will be allowed. But don’t fret, the fun will begin a bit later.”

  Desmond Mackenzie is the first to form the line, grabbing a knife he approaches his brother-in-law and slashes the blade against his face. Stepping away, there’s a cut from the top of his head through his lip. A jagged groan is all we hear in response. I’d much rather have it this way, to not be subjected to hearing his bitchin’ and moanin’.

  “Tell me there’s gonna be more than cutting him…” Chaos mumbles angrily, re-positioning himself beside me. Dmitri does the same, crossing his arms and stares at Rafael.

  “Of course there will.” Dmitri tells him, “What she’s doing is good. Giving him death by a thousand cuts, one of the oldest forms of torture in history.”

  “Yeah, right.” Chaos doesn’t believe anything of what Dmitri’s just said. “What she’s doing is good, hmm?”

  “She’s making him suffer, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Be patient.” I tell Chaos, hoping my words will ease his angered mind.

  Over the matter of a few hours men and women come back for thirds and forth opportunities to mark Rafael’s skin with a blade. His groans and mumbles of pain turning into sounds only a wounded animal would make. If he thinks that any of us will feel sorry for him, he’s sadly mistaken.

  “Thank you all for your contribution in today’s event. If you’d like to stay to see how Rafael’s life comes to its very late end, please do. If not, you know how to exit.” Mariana says to the crowd through the microphone. A small few people decide to leave, while the rest opt to stay and witness what has been long overdue.

  Blood is oozing over his skin, some of it wet, some of it dried from the older cuts that have been open for more than a couple of hours. From the corner of my eye I see three girls walk in, one of them I immediately recognize. “I didn’t know Maria was showing up,” I say to Chaos, who throws his head over in her direction.

  He grumbles out his response, “Neither did I.”

  “Who are those two women with her? I’ve never seen them before.” I say, able to tell that Maria knows them because she’s chatting to the both of them. The group of them walk up to Elena, the black girl, gives her a hug first, placing her hand on Elena’s huge stomach and then the smaller girl with the long hair does the same.

  “That’s Cecil and Kimberley. They were all trafficked by Rafael together. When Elena was working with the FBI to crack trafficking down in an attempt to nab Rafael for all his shit, she and Reed purchased a few girls. Maria, Cecil and Kimberley were the first of many.”

  Damn. I had no fucking clue.

  “Is Elena still working for the FBI?” I ask, not really knowing too much about her past.

  “Eh. If she is, none of us know about it.” Chaos says,

  Dmitri shrugs. “I don’t think she is. I think both of them use each other as resources when they can, but she hasn’t involved herself in their matters for a while. Especially now since the baby is coming.”

  Chaos huffs, “They sure keep hush about this shit.”

  “Sure do. But not our job to worry about it.” I tell him.

  The three girls walk straight towards Rafael and by God they seem to be a force to be reckoned with. The girl with the long hair, or Kimberley as Chaos just told me says something lowly to Rafael. I can only here the mumbling of words before I see her grab a knife and shove that fucker straight into his micro-dick. Jesus! I don’t feel sorry for him or anything in the slightest, but that was hard to watch.

  “I’ve been waitin’ a long ass time for this day to come. Just glad I could be here to witness it.” Cecil says to him, digging her blade up from his middle finger, along his forearm, over his shoulder and to his neck. She’s gone over countless open wounds, cutting deeper than anyone else had before her. His eyes grow wide at the pain that is obviously flooding his body as he cries out through the gag.

  She steps away, and then I see Maria, with a somber look across her face. She’s paler than usual, as if the sight of him physically makes her nauseous. Cecil heads towards a bag that is close to Mariana, both of them saying a few short words before she returns, opening it in front of Maria. “Whatever she’s doing, you don’t interrupt.” I tell Chaos, looking over to him. “This is her retribution, not yours.”

  “I have a right to participate, to make him suffer.”

  “No, you fuckin’ don’t. This is for her, not you so keep your selfish ass back here or Dmitri and I will make sure you do.” I hiss out, not understanding how he isn’t grasping the importance of whatever it is Maria is going to do. This is her closure for everything that has been done to her. I’m not even her ol’man and I see that.

  Maria digs her knife into his chest, peeling back the layer of skin until she reaches muscle. She inserts her knife even further, smiling when his screams grow louder. “I don’t think you’ve realized what I’m doing yet, but you will. I don’t know how yours is still beating after all these years. After you’ve proven to everyone countless times that you don’t have one. So, it’s simple. I’m going to rip it out of you.”

  His eyes go wider than I’ve ever seen them, and I snicker. Bastard is getting what he fuckin’ deserves. Cecil pulls out some sort of saw from the bag and hands it to Maria. It’s small and compact, so I’m sure she’ll be able to use it.

  She clicks a button, and at that the machine comes to life. Over the sound of the motor, she yells at him. “I ha
ve to get through your ribcage first, but if you pass out, don’t worry. I have something that will wake you right up!”

  “Jesus Christ. Remind me to never piss her off…” Chaos says, getting a chuckle from Dmitri.

  The sound of the saw hitting the bone greets us. Shocking me at how similar, it sounds to sawing down a tree. With every rib she’s going through, I can almost hear the resemblance of a tree limb breaking.

  The crowd begins to chatter, probably talking about how fuckin’ crazy this Latina bitch is. Can’t blame them for that.

  Suddenly, the saw turns off and the sounds of Rafael’s screaming greets us. Maria smiles proudly, “I don’t feel sorry for you one bit, not after everything you’ve done to us all. You deserve every bit of what you’re getting.” She places her hand against his chest and picks at the loose bones, pulling them back towards her, something almost carcass like falls from his body. I’m no doctor, and I sure as fuck don’t want to be after seein’ this shit.

  Groans and screams continue to come from him until his head falls to his chest. “Jude!” Maria shouts, calling Purgatory’s doctor over.

  He comes walking up with a vile of something in his hands. He opens it, rubs it along his finger and then under Rafael’s nose. “Give it a moment and he’ll wake right back up.” He tells her, approaching us.

  She stands there, bloodied arms crossed.

  “Did you know how crazy your bitch is?” He asks Chaos, who responds in a glare. “Okay, nevermind.”

  Rafael shifts his head to the left and the right in a circular motion, coming back to us. “There you are! I couldn’t have you missing the grand finale.”

  He mutters something into his ballgag in response, so Mariana unclasps it, allowing it to fall and hit the ground. “What was that you were saying?”

  His eyes are filled with exhaustion, but a callousness lies behind them. Even when knocked down, he is still a savage beast. “You’ll burn in hell for this, girl.”

  Maria laughs, digging her hand inside of him. “I’ve already been to hell and back.” She pulls her hand back hard and I witness her ripping his heart straight from his chest cavity, tossing it on the floor behind her. “Like I said, you shouldn’t have one of these.” Maria doesn’t so much as look at anyone while she makes her way for the front door.

  Jesus, I never thought this is how today would’ve gone.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Don’t force yourself to fit in where you don’t belong.”

  - JustLiveHappy

  Angel

  “Fuck, she did what?!” Enzo shouts into his phone. I don’t know who he’s talking to but I’m assuming it’s one of the guys. Today was the auction for that evil dude. I walk towards him, giving him a concerned look. Out of everyone here, Enzo is the last to judge me, and I’d like to think that because of that we’re friends. He hangs up and tosses his phone on the pool table. “Jesus!”

  I raise my eyebrows at him, “Care to elaborate on what’s so shocking?”

  He stands up, eyes going wide if I’ve ever seen such a thing. “Maria ripped his fucking heart out of his chest.”

  “Huh?” I’m confused. There’s no way he could’ve just said what he did.

  “Maria cut his skin, carved off his muscle, took a fuckin’ bone saw to his ass and cut out his ribs and then she dug her hand up in there and ripped out his heart.”

  Good god. My insides are rolling. “There’s no way she would’ve done something like that.” I say, not wanting to believe it. Cause if she did… it means she’s one twisted bitch.

  “She did.” He firmly states as I try to wrap my head around it.

  I thought I heard her come in through the back a bit ago, so I leave the main room in the clubhouse and head to the back towards her room. I hit my hand against the door a couple times, and with no answer I decide to just let myself in. As I open the door, I see Maria sitting on the edge of her bed, her body wrapped in a towel with her hair dangling over her side.

  We aren’t really friends, but we’re friendly to one another. She’s essentially my sister-in-law, so I should check in with her. It’s the right thing to do. “Maria, are you okay?” I ask because I’m genuinely concerned, especially at what Enzo just told me she did. It’s not normal for someone to act like that.

  “I’m nowhere near close to being okay.” She mutters, staring down at the floor. “I don’t know how to be okay right now.”

  I take a couple steps towards her and sit next to her on the bed. “What’s the matter?”

  She laughs at first, but then it turns into a heartfelt sobbing cry. “Everything is. Every part of everything.”

  “You’re not making any sense…” I tell her lowly, not wanting to sound judgmental or rude.

  “I missed my period and took a pregnancy test last week. It was positive. I didn’t tell either of your brothers and I don’t know how the fuck I’m supposed to tell them this.”

  I smile, knowing that they’re going to be so happy with this news. “You just tell them, Maria. They are going to love hearing this from you!”

  She shakes her head back and forth, “No, they won’t. They’ll hate this. They’ll hate it. They’ll hate me.” At this point I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest as her sobs grow heavier. I don’t understand why she feels this way.

  “They won’t hate that baby at all, they will love and adore it more than anything else in this entire world, and god help anyone who tries to fuck with your bundle of joy.”

  “Torment, bundle of torment.” I don’t think I’m hearing her right. “There is nothing joyous about having your rapist’s baby.”

  Oh. My. God.

  “Maria, it’ll be okay. It will. I promise you…” I’m making promises that will never be able to be kept, promising her that everything will be okay in the end when we already know the possibility of that happening is slim to none.

  She whips her head in my direction, looking up at me with tear filled eyes. “Please don’t tell anyone. Please, Angel. I can’t. No one can know about this, not even Trick. I need this to stay in our family, because if I decide to… keep it… I don’t want anyone looking at it at feeling sorry for it, or for me. I can’t live with the shame of knowing everyone else knows… please keep this secret. I’m begging you, please.”

  “You don’t have to worry. I won’t say a word. I promise, I won’t ever say a word.” This isn’t my secret to tell, but I know first hand how secrets can end up killing you. I just hope it doesn’t for her sake.

  I hope this burden won’t be too hard to bare.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

  - Dr. Seuss

  Angel

  It’s been three days since Maria confessed to me that her baby is fathered by Rafael, the now deceased ex-leader of the Mexican Cartel, also known as her rapist. Truthfully, it hurts my heart to know about the turmoil she must be going through every single day. The thoughts that must be running through her mind. I’m not even sure if she’s told either of my brothers yet, but it’s not my place to say anything. I’ve kept my promise, though, I haven’t told a soul. Not even Trick.

  It’s the end of February at this point and with that the weather is starting to get a bit warmer. I can’t fucking wait for spring, to feel the air blowing against my face as Trick takes me for a ride on his bike. Pfft, he hasn’t even asked me to. I’m just assuming that he will at some point.

  “You’re still here?” Immediately I’m able to identify the bitch whose voice is speaking to me. I turn around and look at her, still not understanding why she hates me so much.

  I roll my eyes and sigh, cause’ lord knows she will still not grasp this even after I say it again. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You need to. Preferably back on the streets and keep yourself far away from the club. We can’t have you ruining shit for us, Angel. That’s always what happens with you. Everything you touch turns to ash. You’re an infection
, ruining everything for everyone.”

  Here we go, again.

  I turn to face her as my entire body fills with anger that I’ve never felt before. “Listen up, Jenna. I don’t know why the fuck you have a constant stick up your ass whenever I’m around, but you need to lose it. I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I’m staying right where I am with the man who happens to adore me, so either get used to it or don’t bother coming around at all.”

  “You don’t know why I have a stick up my ass? Are you dumb? Do you not remember what you made her do!?” I want to ask her if this bitch has lost her damn mind. I have no idea what she’s talking about, not in the slightest bit.

  “What are you talking about!?” I scream at her, throwing my hands up in the air.

  She grabs me by the back of my hair and yanks my head down, glaring at me right in the eyes. “You don’t remember me when we were younger. Do you?”

  I squint my eyes together, pushing my hands against her to try to get her to let me go. Luckily, after a second time with a good bit of force behind me, she does. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I was on the streets too, for a time. You and I crossed the same paths a time or two,” There’s no way. I would remember a girl like Jenna. “Do you remember Dot?” Immediately when she says the name, I remember the girl. Dot was a girl who was trying to get off the streets, off drugs. It didn’t work well for her. She died after she got mixed up with a dealer who was giving out a bad batch of something. I don’t think any of us will ever know the full story.

  “What about her?”

  Jenna looks flabbergasted. “Holy shit. You don’t remember. You don’t remember any of it! You introduced her to Troy, you piece of shit. You’re the reason she’s dead!” Her voice rises and she lunges straight at me, knocking me down onto the ground. She pulls her fist back and before I can move my head, her knuckles come plummeting down into my face.