24. The Forsaker
Chapter twenty-four
The Forsaker
Zeke
W e move quickly but cautiously through the tunnel, the weight of my actions heavy on my soul. Esther was a horrible person, and a shit mother, who never spent any time with me or showed me genuine affection, not like Dinah’s or Abe’s mothers. She preferred to leave me to the care of nannies and maids. I never knew there was a difference in maternal love, until I started attending their homes, and quickly realized what I lacked. My mother spent my youth relentlessly criticizing me for my perceived shortcomings, and abandoning me to my father’s brand of violent discipline. Even knowing and experiencing all these things, I still feel a tinge of remorse for witnessing the horror of what she succumbed to, and being the one to end her worthless life. Even though I granted her mercy, one I know she wouldn’t have reciprocated if the tables had been switched, it still causes my chest to feel tight, and an empty pain to vibrate through me. My head buzzes with static noise, and I struggle to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, and taking my next breath. I feel like I am standing outside of my body, warped and distorted, looking in, rather than trapped inside of myself. I fist my hands tightly, the feeling of the blood caked and drying on my digits repulsing me. I wipe them over and over against my clothing, the desire to rip off my tainted flesh almost overwhelming me. I need to focus on the here and now, and protect my family against those who would harm them. There are enemies around every corner, hiding in the shadows and attempting to deceive us, just waiting to destroy us. I can’t allow that to happen. I can’t lose what I have left.
Abe and Dinah’s heavy breathing in the narrow, damp tunnel behind me comforts me, letting me know that I’m not alone, and that they are here to support me. Right now, I need to find my father and dispatch his miserable, demonic soul to the underworld, where he can join our forebears. The name Rothesay will forever be aligned and tainted with suffering, and as much as I would like to change that, I know that won’t happen in my lifetime. Even if I were to rid the earth of all of us, myself included, our blood would still be a cancer on this earth, forever contaminating everything it touches.
Once upon a time, I dreamed of having a child with Dinah. Watching as her stomach rounded, with my son or daughter growing inside of her. A little human with her delicate features, mischievous spirit, and my eyes. Now, I know the world would be better off if none of us procreated and spread our genetics. Not one of us is sane enough to be a good parent, or to lead the next generation into the light. The thought that perhaps we will all go to our graves together, and be reunited in the next lifetime gives me strength. I never want to be left to draw breath if Dinah and Abe are gone. Even the thought of Sammy drawing breath without us causes a dull pain in my chest. We are all four intertwined tightly, and one can no longer survive without the others. Maybe if I finally vanquish the monster in his nightmares, Sammy will come back to us, and I can see the waning light in Dinah’s eyes return.
Dinah’s fingers grip my shoulder hard, stalling my movements forward and pulling me from my morose thoughts, the shadows not allowing me to see her face, or two feet in front of me clearly. I was so lost in my thoughts, I have no idea how far we’ve travelled down this tunnel. Anyone could have been sneaking up on us undetected, and I was too out of it to know. She rises on her toes, her face leaning against my neck as she presses her lips to my ear. “Not alone, I heard something.” Her warm, whispered words cause a chill to race down my spine, and simultaneously heat to race through my veins. The need to grip her by the neck, push her up against the nearest wall, rip off all of her clothing and slam my cock inside of her, is almost ready to override my good senses and put us in so much more danger. The hazards surrounding us add another element to the fierce, primal, and feral way I feel about her. The way I need her to bring me back to the here and now, to reassure me that we will survive all of these nightmares, even if it’s all a lie. Instead, I force myself to take a deep, unsteady breath and silently nod my head, letting her know I’ve heard her, and will be on guard for an attack. She releases her hold as tension fills the tunnel, all of us now wary of who is stalking through the dark. Could it be my father or one of his corrupt minions? Fuck, I hate that we have no source of light to guide our way. An attack in the dark could mean one, or all, of us won’t make it out. I can’t allow anything to happen to my family.
I don’t have long to wait. The minute I cross the next curve in the darkened tunnel, something crashes into me, and takes me down with a smash to the hard-packed ground. I tighten my precarious hold on the gun, trying to get a shot off without possibly hitting Dinah or Abe in the process, as my breath whooshes out of me on impact. The sounds of fighting echo in the space, filling my ears along with the attacker’s heavy breathing, letting me know instantly that there is more than one, and Dinah and Abe are busy battling them off. A tight grip encircles my throat, strangling me and removing what little oxygen I have left, as two knees press their heavy weight down on my chest. I use my grip on the gun to pound it into the attackers back over and over, desperate to dislodge their hold. My head is starting to swim with the lack of air, and I feel my blows getting sloppier and lighter, as his fucker chokes me to death. “Get off my husband!” Dinah’s screeched voice breaks through the darkness, and something whacks the shadow above me, until they release their hold and they tumble to the side. “Get up, Zeke, and stop fucking around. We are being attacked!” Dinah yells impatiently, as if I was really fooling around here, and not getting the life choked out of me.
A shot blares out around us in the tight confines without warning, causing my ears to ring and making me grasp at them, as a pained grunt leaves my lips, and I smack the barrel of the gun I’m still holding into my scalp. “Atasi, that’s eighteen. Catch up already!” Oh my fucking god , this psycho is still playing one-upmanship with Dinah, while we are once again under attack. When this shit is all over, I’m going to have a talk with Abe about his blood-thirsty disposition, preferably while he’s tied up by chains in my bed, with my cock shoved down his throat so he can’t argue back. “Motherfucker!” Dinah yells as I feel her walk away from me, strumming with anger at being bested by our lover. I force my body from the ground, and use my foot to kick at the asshole who attacked me, who’s trying to get back up. Fuck that shit, this bitch needs to die. I point the gun at his shadow, and with a pained groan, I pull the trigger once, and then again for good measure, and he stays down.
“A little help over here, Zeke, if you’re not too busy being a pretty bystander!” Abe yells, and I can barely make out his massive shadow fighting against two others, as Dinah savagely beats someone else to the ground, the glint of her blade rising and falling in the barely lit space. Fuck, how many are there? I rush over to Abe’s side and push my gun into the nearest body, pulling the trigger and watching as it collapses. Abe slams the other body into the wall, and with a shadowed gleam of his bright white teeth, he snarls and bites into the person’s face like a rabid predator, and screams fill my ears. Another gunshot has me stepping back and vigilantly searching the tunnel for more attackers. The only sounds are the grunts Dinah is making, as she impales her blade again and again into the body she’s straddling, and mine and Abe’s heavy pants. I kneel next to her, grabbing her wrist as she goes to thrust the blade again. “Snow! Snow, come back to us, baby,” I demand, as I tighten my grip until a whimper escapes her, and she raises her head in my direction. Her gray-blue eyes are hidden from me in the darkness, and I’m not sure if she’s still trapped in her rage-induced episode, or back with me in the danger-filled present. All I know is I desperately want to wrap her in my arms, and leave this place. “Please come back to me, my pretty girl, I need you.”
“I... I’m here,” she pushes herself off the body, wetness dripping down her arm to meet my tight grasp as I release her. I stroke my fingers together, the thick liquid oozing between them, and instantly know that it’s blood, and she’s probably coated in it. That thought should disgust me, but instead, it makes me hard. I yank her towards me until she slams into my chest. “When we leave here, don’t change. I want to fuck you, covered in our enemy’s blood, and honor you like some depraved warrior fucking queen. You’ll be screaming my name for the whole world to hear before I’m done, and have a permanent imprint of my cock inside of you.” Her hand rises, her delicate wet fingers grazing my chin, before she leans forward and bites my jaw. “Let’s worry about getting out of here first, shall we? Then you can fuck me, and all my holes, any way you want, Prince Charming.”
“Whatever you’re promising him, Atasi, I want in on. I’ve killed more than him, and I deserve to be rewarded,” Abe calls out, sounding like a petulant child. I turn away from them and search through the shadows, to determine if any more are lying in wait to murder us. “Abe, you still have those matches handy?” I question as I kick the offending fucker nearest to me. “Yeah,” he answers me with skepticism in his tone, and I hear him shifting in the darkness. “Light one of these fuckers aflame, and let’s see who they are.” Instantly, the sound of a match striking the rough stone walls can be heard through our deep breathing. The orange glow of the flame illuminates the bodies around us, showing us five of them on the ground, in various states of bleeding and death. Brotherhood uniforms, fuck, I knew it, they are still supporting my father. The one that Dinah was stabbing looks like a slab of raw meat sliced in every direction, his sightless eyes staring at the ceiling of the tunnel. Abe leans down, holding the precious small flame, and touches it to the body at his feet, and the guy’s dirty clothing instantly catches fire. Fuck, it’s about to get really hot in here.
I take the opportunity to search the features of the others, discovering one still breathing. “Where is my father?” I demand, getting a good look at the asshole, and realizing it’s ‘Gorilla number two’, as Sammy liked to call him during our captivity together. The memory of everything this cunt made us suffer rises within my mind, playing out like a macabre video, and rage takes me over as I slam my boot down on his hand, crushing it underneath my sole, as I grind it into the dirt. “Tell me!” He moans and releases a pitiful cry, writhing in pain as he clutches with his other hand at his blood-soaked side, where Dinah had managed to slash him open with her sharp knife. “Kill me... anyways... fuck... you!” He screams in pain. “There are worse things than death, asshole,” Abe grunts.
My eyes meet Abe’s, and he nods his head, signaling I’m likely to get nothing out of the cunt, but when my eyes slide over Dinah’s face, there’s a haunting demonic look overtaking her features. For a moment, I don’t see my girl anymore. I only see the Unholy Ghost, and that scares the shit out of me. She gets down on her knees near him, her body covered in blood, the blade clutched in her crimson-stained hand. “Were you one of the cunts that hurt my Sammy? Was it you that helped to break his mind, and turn it against me?” Her voice shakes with the words, as her fingers trail down the side of his face with gentleness. I take a step forward to stop her, but Abe’s muscular arm intercepts me, forcing me to halt, and watch my girl lose a little more of her sanity to the wrath that lives inside of her.
“He... was... worthless,” Gorilla two grunts, as blood-tinged spittle coats his lips, and he moans in agony. Dinah’s fingernails dig into his skin, shredding the surface of his cheek as he screams and tries to push his body away from her, but she doesn’t release her hold. Instead, she brings the blade clutched in her other hand forward, and presses the tip inside one of his nostrils. “He was mine. You took him and broke him. You destroyed the love of my life.“ Her hand slices upwards, cutting through the skin of his nostril, before removing the blade and using the sharp point down the side of his face, from the corner of his eye all the way to his chin, splitting the skin with its movements. “Please! I... I... followed... orders!” Ah, fuck, that’s the worst thing this idiot could have uttered, not that I care one iota if he suffers painfully before he dies. My worry is only for my Snow, whom I am watching deteriorate before my eyes.
“Orders?” Dinah questions incredulously as her voice rises. “He wasn’t an assignment. He was a human being who did nothing wrong, except love me!” She plunges the blade into his shoulder and pulls it rapidly back out, only to hold it near his eye. “What did Noah use to poison him against me? Tell me! Tell me, goddammit!”
“ Snow, “ I call out, knowing that she’s losing herself rapidly to the insanity that wars within her. “ Don’t. Let her seek her vengeance. It’s hers to take,“ Abe orders, his fingers clutching the fabric of my shirt, preventing me from taking a step forward to comfort Dinah. Everything within me wants to break his hold and go after my girl, my wife, and my pretty princess, whom I nicknamed Snow as a child. Yet, I do none of those things. Instead, I stand by, filled with trepidation, shoulder to shoulder with Abe, and watch as she slices the fucker’s ear off, like one would a fine cut of beef, and holds it before his eyes. “I will cut every single part off of you before you die of blood loss. You know who and what I am. You know that I enjoy butchering men like you. Tell me what he gave Sammy, and I’ll kill you now, before any more damage can be done.” Fuck, a shiver of fear fills me that her mind might actually crack, and she’ll lose herself as the Unholy Ghost this time.
“Syn... synthetic... LSD... with MDMA... he double-dosed him... each time. Starved him.” Dinah tightens her hold on the blade, and I can tell, just from her expression, that she wants to go back on her word, and torture this useless fucker some more, but instead, she brings the sharp point underneath his chin, angling it, and shoves the blade forcefully into his throat. Loud gurgling noises escape him as his eyes go blank, and he takes his last rattling breath. The smell of cooking flesh, deep smoke, and heat, are becoming unbearable, and I have to get us out of here. I shove against Abe’s arm, with a warning look on my features that if he tries to stop me again, I’ll beat his ass next. He slides his arm away with a gruff belying his own emotions, and I grasp Dinah underneath her arms and force her to stand, taking her in my arms and crashing my lips down on hers. My hope is that the feel of me, and my taste, will call her back to me, to where she belongs, in my arms forever.
When I finally pull back, I stare at her tear-stained face, despair etched across her blood-streaked features. The ones I have always loved with a part of my heart that was divided for her, Abe, and Gabriel, and now holds a section for Sammy. I know hearing what drugs were used to torture him is shattering her a little more inside. “I will always be here to hold all your broken pieces together, Dinah. I’m your husband, and that’s my privilege, but I can’t and won’t ever attempt to replace him. Stay with us here on this plane. Don’t lose yourself to the madness that is calling you, so that you can bring him back to the land of the living.”
Her lips tremble as she releases her hold on the blade, which crashes to the ground next to us. Her dark, stormy eyes melt into mine with so much fear, that it’s as if we were children again, and I was once again comforting her from her fear of thunderstorms. “What if he never comes back from the darkness?” Tears continue to slide down her face, and I lean forward and kiss her eyelids, first one, then the other, wrapping her tightly in my arms. “Then we’ll go in and drag him the fuck out, kicking and screaming,” I answer with a confidence I don’t feel, but can’t let her see.
“Guys, we gotta go now before we die of smoke inhalation in here.” Abe coughs, and I release my hold, pushing Dinah in his direction. I reach down and grab my weapon, and her discarded blade, handing it back to her. “Let’s go kill Noah Rothesay, and go home to Sammy.”