Chapter Six
“Let me go!” I yell against the hand held tightly over my mouth.
They stop dragging me once we’re hidden from view, but the men don’t let go of me or remove the clamped hand.
The man that clearly had been following me, steps in front of me.
He’s wearing a black suit jacket and a pair of dark blue pants.
He looks to be in his late thirties or early forties with dark brown hair cropped military short.
His narrowed eyes watch me as he lowers a cigarette from his lips.
He blows the smoke into my face as he grins at me.
His teeth are oddly white and for a moment, I don’t understand why I would even notice that.
He leans over a little bit so he’s at my height and presses his face right up close to mine. His breath smells like cigarettes as I stare at him with wide eyes.
“This is what’s going on,” he says as he holds up a roll of duct tape.
A big guy to his right takes it from him and starts to pull a strip free.
The sound of it tearing is deafening in the quiet alleyway as panic settles into my stomach.
The big man reaches out for me and slaps the piece over my mouth.
I fight against them as two of the six men force my hands together, allowing him to tape them to each other.
I struggle and scream and fight, but I can’t budge against them.
The man in the suit smiles at me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Victor Red, and I want you to remember that, alright? Can you do that for me?”
Quickly, I bring my leg up and kick the man behind me in the dick. He stumbles back but never loosens his grip enough for me to run. Instead, a man on my right with bright red hair smacks my face. Startled, I jerk back. My cheek stings as my eye waters.
“I’m sure you’re curious why you are here; let me tell you.
You’ve been hanging around Mr. Price quite a bit, and let’s just say he and I don’t get along.
At the moment, I’m quite upset with him.
The thing is, I was going to leave him alone, I was just going to forget he even existed, but there’s someone sniffing around my business and I need it to stop.
So, I’m going to have you tell him that, alright?
” he asks. His voice is so steady and casual that my brain is trying to trick me into believing that this man isn’t bad.
I realize I need to just go along with what he says so I just nod eagerly.
“Good,” he says with a smile. “Are you going to remember my name?”
I nod again, and he claps his hands together in applause. I jump at the noise and lean away from him.
“Great.” He waves his hand and the man with red hair holds out a baseball bat.
I have the slightest suspicion that it is what they’d hit me over the head with when I had been walking down the road.
“Alright, let’s make sure he remembers that.
” He takes a step back, making my stomach tighten in fear.
I watch the baseball bat with wide eyes, wanting to tell him that I’ll listen, that I don’t need to be threatened, but I can’t say anything through the tape.
“Yes, sir,” the red-haired man says as he raises the bat in the air and brings it down on my side.
The blow is devastating. It knocks my air out, making me gasp, but the tape makes me feel like all air has been cut off.
I begin to jerk against them harder as the pain eats up into my side.
I thrash and kick as the hands on my arms squeeze tighter, painfully holding me in place.
I can’t even get the men to move as the man hits me across the arm with the bat.
It feels like my bones are screaming as the blow reverberates up into my arm.
“Let him go, boys, he’s not going anywhere,” Red says like I’m a timid animal with no chance of escape.
They drop their hold on me, and I’m surprised by the sudden release.
I’d been fighting so hard that when their hands leave me I stumble forward.
As soon as my balance has been gathered, I try to run.
Panic settles in me, but the red-haired man hits me hard across the side.
He draws back and swings again. I bring my arms up to protect myself, but the blow breaks right through my block, before smashing into my head.
White light bursts before my eyes as I drop to the ground.
Light and darkness dance before my eyes as I struggle to my knees.
I’m barely up when someone kicks me back down and suddenly they’re all kicking and hitting me.
I jerk against them and try to crawl away from their circle, but I can’t get anywhere.
I curl up into a ball, trying to protect my head until it stops.
Suddenly there are hands on me, drawing my arms down as the man kneels beside me.
I can feel blood wetting my clothes as he looks at me.
I’m terrified he’s going to kill me. I’m panting, but with the tape over my mouth, I feel like I can’t breathe.
Each gasp of air pulls at the tape as my chest compresses.
The man is just leering down at me as I pray he’ll tell them to stop and just go away.
“You remember my name, right?” he asks, and I nod quickly.
Anything to just let me go. As I breathe, blood is bubbling out of my nose.
“You tell him exactly what I did to you and tell him that if he doesn’t make it stop, I’ll do something else to you.
Got it? I asked if you understood!” he yells, but he hadn’t given me time to react.
I nod quickly, and he smiles.
“Good. Cut the tape off his hands.”
The red-haired man to my right pulls a knife out and cuts the tape off my shaking arms. Refusing to move in case they change their minds, I watch as they leave me lying there in the dirty alleyway.
I’m shaking as they leave, scared to draw their attention.
As soon as they are out of sight, I quickly reach up and grab the tape, pulling it off my mouth.
Nausea hits me hard, forcing me to lean over and throw up as my body shakes.
I’m gasping for breath as blood runs out of my nose, dripping onto the ground.
I watch each drop hit and spread across the dirty ground.
The taste in my mouth is making me more nauseous and I fear I’ll throw up again.
My head is pounding, and each move makes it hurt as I try to steady myself.
My entire body is aching as I slowly roll onto my hands and knees.
It causes my vision to blur, and for a moment, I can’t tell which direction I’m facing.
As soon as it clears, I wipe at my face and my fingers return wet with blood.
I close my eyes and drop my head, trying to calm my breathing.
Slowly I crawl up onto my feet, causing pain to course down my entire body as dizziness rushes me.
I lean against the wall and try to calm myself, so I can make it home.
As soon as I can take a breath, I walk toward the road, holding my stomach.
As I walk, I begin to calm enough that I stop shaking and I can finally take a steady breath.
About halfway home, I realize I don’t have any of the stuff I’d bought, and I wonder if I even give a shit. When I reach for the door, I’ve pulled all composure back to myself. Taking a deep breath, I pull open the door only to find Lane standing there.
“Felix?”
“What?” I ask as I look up at him. I’m surprised by how steady my voice is, but it isn’t like I haven’t had practice at this before. I kick my shoes off into the corner.
“Where the fuck have you been? You said you were headed home over forty-five minutes ago,” he says.
“Oh,” I say as I walk past him. He reaches out and catches my wrist before I can move past. I wince and try to pull it back from his vise-like grip.
“Felix, what the hell?” he asks. “You weren’t answering your phone again .”
I look down at his fingers that are touching my bloody sleeve. “Oh,” I repeat as I pull my hand back and turn away from him. “Are you a police officer?”
“What?”
“I broke into your safe a few nights ago,” I say.
“How’d you do that?” he asks.
“Are you?”
“…Not exactly. Felix, are you okay?” he asks.
“Fine,” I say as I head for the bathroom.
“Felix?”
“Hm?”
“My hand’s wet and it smells like blood.”
“Oh…”
“Did that guy that was following you, stop you?”
“Yes.”
“And you weren’t going to say anything to me about it?” he asks, surprised.
“I don’t know,” I realize. I’m not sure why I wasn’t going to say anything. All I seem to know anymore is that my head hurts. Every step causes my head to pound.
“What did they say to you?”
“To tell you to stay out of their business.”
“How badly are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I say.
He stands there, uncertain of what to do, so I turn from him and head into the bathroom. I grab onto the sink and try to figure out what’s going on. My head really hurts, and I just want to curl up in my bed until it stops. Even the light in here seems too bright as my brain threatens to explode.
I reach for the light switch when suddenly there’s a knock on the door. The noise makes me jump. “Felix, it’s James. Lane called me when he couldn’t get a hold of you earlier and told me that you weren’t home yet, and he was worried about you. I’m glad to see you made it home. Can I come in?”
“Why?” I ask as I turn the faucet on and stick my hands under it. They are red with blood from my nose, but the blood is already drying. As soon as the water hits it, I realize that my left hand is aching horribly and can’t understand how I hadn’t noticed it before.
“Because I want to check to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m fine.”
He pushes the door open and walks in against my reply. “What happened?” he asks as he looks me over, but I continue to stare at my throbbing hand.
“Some guys stopped me, said what I already told Lane and roughed me up a bit. It’s fine. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”
He grabs my wrist and pulls me away from the sink. “Come on, we’re going to the hospital.”