Twisted in Chaos (Destructive Devastation #2)

Chapter 6

Water drips from the corner of the prison we’ve been trapped in for God knows how long.

The ever-present darkness surrounds us, pushing heavily on our shoulders.

Mine especially.

In the dark, I see the demons of my past. The screams of my victims that were forced upon me. The begging uttered when I held a knife to their necks or stabbed through their ribs. No matter the harm I caused, it haunts my every waking moment. Intensified by the complete darkness we were plunged into after the person muttered, “Let the loyalty games begin.”

Here, I don’t have music to drown out the haunting nightmares. Or the sleeping pills to pull the dreams away.

It’s just Shepp and me. The prison and us. Locked away and forgotten.

Despite the warmth Shepp has offered me through this ordeal, the bitter cold seeps through the evening dress barely covering my skin.

Shepp’s presence cocoons me, keeping me safe from the realities of our situation. The warmth of his body keeps me close. The brush of his breath against my cheek when I lay my head on his chest lets me know I’m alive. His presence drowns out the darkness building inside me, begging to burst and hurt everyone who has taken our freedom from us.

But I prevail, not drowning in the inky existence churning inside me.

Shepp is the only one keeping me grounded.

Arrow and Jericho, too. Where are they? Are they looking for us? Was that explosion from them? God. It’s driving me up the wall not knowing if they are safe. Sunny sits in the back of my mind, as always. Is she okay? Are they treating her better than my monster did? Or is she suffering, too? How is her heart holding up?

God, I want to hold her again. She was there for a split second in my sights. Then, yanked out of my hold once again.

My head leans against Shepp’s chest, listening to the beating of his heart. Thump. Thump. Slow and methodical, sending relief through my system.

We are alive. Barely.

My chapped lips nearly stick together from lack of water and food. We’re slowly starving to death and barely surviving on the drips of water collecting in the corner of the room. At least we have that. I’m sure it’s only been a day or two. To me, it feels like a damn eternity here in the dark.

If we have to spend one more day in this dark room without the means to survive—we’ll die in each other’s arms. Internally, I shake that dismal thought away, refusing for it to take root.

We won’t die here. I won’t allow it.

Shepp and I deserve a happy life. Away from here. With the ones we love.

But how will we make it out of here?

We have yanked on the door, tried to pry it open, and attempted to remove the hinges, all while stumbling through the dark. I’m sure whoever oversees watching us is eating popcorn and enjoying our misery.

“You okay?” I murmur groggily into his chest.

My energy reserve sits at zero. The thought of moving from this spot sends my head into a dizzy spell.

‘Yes,’ he writes on my palm with shaky movements . ‘I’m fine.’

“How about some more water?” With as much as I can muster, I lift my head from his chest. My fingers reach out, clasping his cheeks.

Whenever we wake up from falling asleep, I check him over. His face. His drooping shoulders.

Since seeing his father, he’s internalized a lot.

My breath shudders when he interlocks our fingers, dragging them away from his face. He squeezes three times.

God, I miss the desperate sound of his voice right now. The assurance it always gave me when he spoke only for me.

But in these circumstances, I understand. His father returned from the land of the dead and stood before us with menacing instructions.

We’re fucked.

My heart skips a beat when Shepp tightens his hold on me. The lights around us flicker to life. I squeeze my eyes shut. After being in the dark for so damn long, I’ve gotten used to the nothingness around us.

“How’s everyone feeling today?” a voice asks through the speaker, echoing through the vast room.

My eyes blink open, and I glare toward the speaker, focusing on it. With shaky limbs, I remove myself from Shepp’s lap and get to my wobbly feet. With my arms wide, I turn in a circle.

“What do you want from us?” I growl.

Or attempt to. It comes out weaker than I would have liked.

“Want from you?” he chuckles. “I think it’s you who needs something from me.”

I stop dead, standing still beside the spinning in my head. “And what is that?”

“You want to survive, Journey?” the voice asks, dipping low with venom spouting from his voice. “You want to protect your sister? Keep Sheppard alive?”

My heart drops into my stomach. What is with all these villains using my sister against me? Oh, right. They know they can control everything I do to ensure her safety, and I’ve shown them repeatedly what she means to me.

“What are you offering?” I ask, lifting my chin.

Warm hands squeeze my shoulders, holding me steady.

“Food. Water. Whatever you may need. In exchange for your loyalty.”

“Why’re you so desperate for it?” I ask, shaking my head.

I don’t understand why he wants us to be loyal to him. What the hell does it even matter? We’re his prisoners now, and there is no escape from this place.

Nothing more has come from the speakers for some time. Shepp and I stand in the middle of our prison, blankly staring at our surroundings. It’s been so long since I’ve seen it. So, I need to memorize it again before the lights go out. I have no doubt that if I don’t give him an answer, he will continue to break us down until we give in.

Eventually, we will.

All humans do. We’re not immune to the torture. If we’re not careful, we’ll die.

“I’ll tell you anything you need to know,” I say, licking my dry lips. “Anything about Gabriel.”

I swallow hard when nothing comes from the speakers still. I know this tactic. He’s holding out and expecting me to keep going and spilling my guts.

“He’s after you,” I say. “Especially after what you pulled at the initiation ball.” My breaths come in heavy pants as my head spins. My stomach aches from the lack of food.

God, this is so taxing—even to speak, move, or breathe. I want to survive, but at what cost? How much weaker can I get?

“The initiation ball?” Shadow’s voice crackles through the speakers.

Shepp tightens his hold on me, clinging to me as I nod. “Yeah. You attacked them.”

Shadow scoffs. “Why the fuck would I do that?”

I blink several times. “Because you hate him and want his territory?”

Isn’t it obvious? Shadow is the villain of Gabriel’s story, causing havoc and mayhem.

“Is that what he has to say about me behind my back? That I’m the bad guy?”

‘Tell him about the man who bombed our mansion,’ Shepp writes on my palm.

Wait, what?

“You sent a bomb to the mansion.”

“Interesting. So, I attacked your stupid initiation ball and sent a bomb? I’ve been up to a lot these days, haven’t I?” he chuckles through the speaker. “I have more creative ways to fuck with Gabriel.”

‘It wasn’t him?’ Shepp writes on my palm. ‘That doesn’t make sense.’

He’s right. It doesn’t make sense—at all. The people who attacked at the initiation ball said Shadow’s name, bellowing about him setting it up. So why would he lie?

My breath stalls in my chest when I turn to look into Shepp’s eyes. He’s pale. Too fucking pale. His eyes practically sink into his skull, and life is no longer present in his vibrant eyes.

This cave has killed him.

And me.

“So you’re saying it wasn’t you?” I ask, furrowing my brows.

Shadow says nothing else through the speaker for some time, leaving us in the light of the room.

I sigh, sitting down on the ground, and Shepp follows suit. At this point, for our survival, the smartest thing to do is go to Shadow’s side and tell him everything he wants to hear. It’s a good strategy to consider. We have nothing else.

My ears perk up when I hear a screeching sound near the door. The sound reveals two bottles of water and packaged food being pushed in through a small hatch in the door on a metal tray.

Shepp eyes it wearily as he walks toward it and picks up the metal tray.

His eyes implore mine as he sets it in front of us.

Silently, I check the seals on everything and shrug. It seems sealed tight. I’m so desperate for the minuscule snack and drink that I will take anything at this point.

‘It seems clean,’ he writes on my palm.

I nod in response, trying to keep our conversation private.

Shepp opens the bottle of water for me, passing it to me. I gulp it down. I rip into the two granola bars for me and urge Shepp with my eyes to drink and eat his. He nods, gulps half his water, and then eats his two granola bars.

“I want to play a game,” Shadow says through the speaker, drawing our attention to it.

I stiffen. What is this? Are we on the set of Saw ?

“What kind of game?” I ask carefully, setting my water bottle down.

Fear crawls beneath my skin when the silence wafts through our prison.

“I know what you’ll do for your sister. You’ve done it over and over again, haven’t you?”

My back stiffens at the ominous sound of his voice.

“You already know that,” I say, attempting to hold my fear at bay. Slowly, I get to my feet, raising my chin. I will face my enemy like a woman. “She had better be okay.” My darkness shifts inside me, ready to protect my emotions at any second.

“Oh, she’s more than fine,” he says confidently. “But she won’t be. And neither will one of you.”

My eyes widen, darting back to Sheppard, who comes to stand beside me.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re going to play a game. One of those waters has poison in it…” his chuckles fill the room.

My stomach drops. My eyes fall to the two water bottles half empty. I swallow hard. Poison? Does he want to kill us or use us?

There has to be a reason for this. It is a game, after all.

“What would you gain? Don’t you want information?” I rasp, curling my fingers at my side.

“Everything. I want to take down that fucking psychopath. Own his empire. But I’d like to have a little fun in the process. What better way than having Gabe’s little puppet and his son’s guard?”

Shepp grunts behind me, falling to his knees.

“No!” I cry out, holding his face in my palms. “What’s happening?” I ask.

At the first hint of his discomfort, panic consumes me. He clutches his stomach, his light eyes gazing into mine.

“What’s happening is, within the next three hours, the poison will eat away at his insides. Unless you win.”

“Win what? What do you want?” I shout, climbing to my feet and marching toward the speaker.

“Gabe never beat you hard enough, did he? He may have locked you in a pretty little prison and taught you his ways, but you still show your weaknesses every chance you get,” he tsks at me. “Tell me, Journey. Have you ever killed a man?”

I swallow the bile in my throat burning through my damn esophagus. I’m still weak and half-delirious.

“Yes,” I croak, sucking in a breath.

“How many?” Shadow asks with curiosity.

How many men and women have I killed in the name of protecting my sister? There are too many to count. Yet I know the exact number because I can never forget them.

“Fifty-five.” I blink several times, letting a slight haze take over my vision.

“Well, he used you and abused you, didn’t he?”

I nod in response, recoiling in on myself. I resent the number of people he blackmailed me into killing. I hate that I’ve taken lives at all. I like to pretend that every time I do it; I don’t lose a piece of my humanity with the blood that flows from their veins. In some ways, I justify it. The men and women I’m forced to take down are all bad people. Lawyers with twisted values. Doctors who don’t follow Gabe’s rules. Some are innocent. Wrong place-wrong time, kind of situation. They saw something they shouldn’t have, and it all fell on my shoulders to correct it for him.

“Interesting…” he hums.

I turn and look over my shoulder at Shepp, kneeling on the ground. Red takes over his once-pale face, and his eyes roam over my body.

“What do you need me to do to save Shepp?” I question, blowing out a big breath.

“What would you be willing to do? Show me your tits? Get naked? Kill whoever I say?”

Sweat breaks out across my flesh. Not that, anything but that. How can I refuse, though? Shepp deserves happiness—not poison in his water, not dying in a small cave prison with no food or water.

“Anything.” I nod with false confidence.

Am I willing to lay down my life for them? Yes. If it means Shepp gets the help he needs. If it means Sunshine will live a long life. Yes. I’m willing to do it all in the name of my family. Because that’s what they all are—mine.

Shepp claps his hands, getting my attention. He shakes his head, reddening by the second. Gasps spill from his lips, and he looks like he’s on the brink of collapsing and passing out.

Whatever I have to do.

“Then let the games begin,” Shadow chuckles again, grating on my damn nerves.

I cannot wait to fucking stab him in the throat for all the terrible things he has done.

“I’m sorry,” I choke out, tears forming in my eyes.

How I have any, I don’t have a clue. The water we received barely quenched my thirst. Not to mention the granola bars. They didn’t touch the hunger pains eating away at me.

I’m weak and vulnerable, heading into the unknown of Shadow’s depravity.

Shepp shakes his head again when the door squeaks open ominously.

I move, falling before Shepp and taking his face in my hands. Maybe for the last time. Those light eyes cloud over with fear, begging me to reconsider. But how can I? I can’t sit here and watch him die right before my eyes when I can do something about it.

“I promise you; we’ll get out of here. I’ll be fucked if I let you die from poisoned water.” My voice quivers with every word. The darkness within me swirls to life when all my emotions drown in the blackness crawling beneath my skin.

Shepp shakes his head, grabbing for me before another hint of pain takes him over. His body folds forward, and he groans, shivering.

“Give him the antidote!” I shout, jumping to my feet. Tears stream down my cheeks. “Stop hurting him!” I promised myself years before that I wouldn’t beg monsters for results. Here, though? I have no fucking choice. He’s about to kill his son. And for what? Why? I don’t have a fucking clue. He took me. Big fucking deal. I’ve been through this before. He took Shepp and my goddamn sister. That makes it personal.

I’ll live my entire life in this cave if Shepp and Sunshine are safe.

“Walk out the door,” Shadow growls.

“Not before you make him better!” I hiss, crossing my arms with stubbornness.

I peek at Shepp, withering away before my fucking eyes. I can’t let him die. He’s taken care of me for years now. Between the food he left in my fridge, the donuts, and the nurturing at the mansion.

He’s been my rock.

And he shared the biggest piece of himself with me. Something he couldn’t share with the others. His voice. His being.

“Shepp,” I breathe with apologies on the tip of my tongue.

But he’s fading and fast.

“I’m sorry,” I choke out.

I try to keep all my emotions inside, but I fail miserably. My tears drip faster down my cheeks when I walk outside the door into the darkened hallway, lit by tiny lights on the cave-like walls.

My soul nearly leaps out of my body when the door slams behind me, and I turn to look at the only exit from my prison, locking the man I love inside.

I swallow hard, searching the length of the hall. From my viewpoint, it seems to go on forever.

“Walk,” Shadow says from behind me, causing me to whirl around.

He grins down at me, eyeing me with his lone eye. It lights up at the sight of my discomfort and pain. Fueling Shadow’s madness.

“Not until you help him,” I growl, clenching my teeth. “He’s your son!” Not that he ever thought about him like that.

Shadow smirks. “Is he, though?” He shrugs a shoulder with nonchalance. “He won’t be helped until you’re in The Pit.”

“What’s The Pit?” I question.

“The sooner you walk, the sooner you’ll find out. Then, I’ll let dear old Shepp get the antidote,” he barks, pushing me backward with force.

I swallow all the words on the tip of my tongue and turn on my heels. Despite the nagging inside my head, begging me to stab Shadow in the throat. I can’t.

I have to blindly trust him to heal his son while I’m doing god knows what. The Pit? The sinking in my stomach continues the further away we walk from Shepp. I’m abandoning him. Or that’s what it feels like.

For what seems like ten minutes, we travel down the long hall and up a set of stairs until we’re in an above-ground room. The pressure physically changes around me, and my ears clear out.

Shadow clutches my upper arm tight, pulling me toward another door. The faint hint of a roaring crowd is my only warning when Shadow shoves me through it, and we enter a dank locker room.

“Now, the real fun begins,” he says with a smirk, staring me down. “You’re our entertainment for the night.”

“Entertainment?” I ask, lifting my chin.

I can do this. For my sister. For Shepp’s safety.

No matter what it is. No matter how much my fear sits in the pit of my stomach, telling me to run away and go back to check on Shepp.

“And I do this…” I trail off.

“Then Sheppard will be revived, yes.” Pulling out his phone, he shrugs again like it’s no big deal. He clicks a few times and grins more, turning it toward me.

My breath stalls at the image of Shepp lying on the ground, barely moving. His chest moves. Barely. Like he’s clinging to life.

It has not been that long. Have they weakened him enough with the lack of food and water that his body will fail?

“So, you see. You are running out of time. If you do not get out there, he’s as good as dead.”

His words ring in my mind when he drags me through another door to the edge of an area.

The stench of old blood tinges the air.

“Show me what Gabriel taught you,” he says with a slight smirk. “Prove to me you are worthy of proving your loyalty. Survive this, and you can survive anything.

Ugh. Again, with the loyalty crap. Does this monster 2.0 think I want to be loyal to him? Why would I? He is just like Gabriel. Hellbent on taking over the fucking world, for God knows what reason. And he might be worse. He has no boundaries. At least with the monster I am familiar with, I know what he is capable of. Did he smack me around when I fucked up? Yes. Did he ever touch me inappropriately or threaten me? No.

But with Shadow? We have history. He touched my sister with his hands. Held her the fuck down and tried to take something that did not belong to him and touched me in places I didn’t consent to. Now, he’s here begging for our loyalty and throwing me into an arena filled with bloodthirsty people.

“H-how?” My eyes move through the enormous crowd seated in the stands, rising toward the ceiling.

They’re everywhere. Watching the blood-stained dirt floor with glee in their eyes. They cheer. Hoot and holler as a man appears in the arena, waving his arms around. My heart beats so fast in my chest, I swear it’s about to punch through and run away, much like I want to.

But I can’t.

Shepp’s pain sweeps through my mind. The furrow of his brows. The twisting of his face. His hands on his stomach, cradling it as the poison took hold of him.

This is all I can do to protect him. I don’t have a choice.

“Consider this your penance.”

“What is this exactly?” My gaze flickers between Shadow and the man doing cartwheels in the bloodstains with a grin. He’s playing into the crowds’ chants of his name.

Brian! Brian!

“Pick your weapon. Kill the man. Or you will be killed. Simple as that,” Shadow sneers, eyeing me with malice.

Oh, so it’s a fight to the death to prove my worth and loyalty and to save Shepp and Sunny.

Wonderful.

“And if I win?”

Shadow has the audacity to snort. “If you win, Sheppard will get the antidote and survive. And your sister? I’ll give her a new heart. And you’ll live, of course. But if you lose, everyone loses.”

“Of course,” I say, swallowing all the emotions bubbling in my throat.

Now is not the time to swim in the feelings roaring inside me. Now is the time to dive deep into the darkness. It is begging me to surrender to it after all this time of just dipping my toes into it.

Everything seems to shift inside me. Like the torture I endured comes to the surface of my flesh, clawing its way out and running free. In its place is the darkness shifting inside me. Starting at my toes, it works its way up until I’m drowning in the numbness and nothingness.

My eyes scan the arena again. Everything falls away. The excitement and shouts. Even Brian’s dancing ass fades into nothing. I examine the exits, the grounds, and everything that might be to my advantage.

“If it’s a fight you want. Then, it’s a fight you’ll get,” I hum, curling my fingers into fists.

Shadow stares down at me and shrugs. “Good luck. Hopefully, he doesn’t throw a knife through your throat. But if he does, I might feel a little happy. One life down, one to go.” He hums as he retreats, going through the door behind us.

Before anything else can happen, I tear the beautiful thin dress Jericho gave me for the event at the legs. It may have cost ten thousand dollars and makes my heart hurt doing it, but I have to move to fight. It’s been my only source of clothing these past few days. If you could even call it that. It’s barely a scrap of fabric. Perfect for an evening of dancing and drinking. Terrible for a night of kidnapping in a dank, dark cave. I rip it until it only reaches my thighs, giving me enough space to move my legs fully.

And then the lights dim. The crowd roars, and a spotlight blinds me.

I guess it’s my time to shine.