Chapter Two
Zeke
P AIN FILLS MY entire body as I dig my way out of the hole I was buried in. I have no concept of time for how long I’ve been under this mound of dirt. My brain is so muddled, all I can think about is getting out and taking a breath of air that’s not sucking dirt and other debris into my lungs and body. It’s as if I try to take a shallow breath and get more dirt in my mouth than anything else. This isn’t good and it’s the only thing motivating me to get the hell out of here. The only thing I can think about right now is clawing my way to the surface as I try to process everything that happened to me.
One second I was getting the clearing set up as I waited for Melissa to show up. She let me know in school earlier in the day she had something we needed to talk about. I have a feeling I know what’s going on, but don’t want to jump to any conclusions. So, once I was done with studying for finals and made sure my mom was okay, I left early to go to our spot. I hate being at home. It’s a painful reminder of what our lives have become.
My dad was in the military and spent a lot of time deployed. Every single mission he could take, he did. It left my mom and I alone most of the time as we waited to hear from him. When he was home and on whatever base he was stationed on at the time, all of my dad’s time would be spent with my mom and me. Mainly my mom, but I didn’t care because the three of us were together and that’s all that mattered to me. Anyway, a few years ago, his team got bad intel about a mission and he lost almost everyone on the team and was severely injured himself.
After spending months in a hospital recovering from his injuries, my dad was released and given a medical discharge. He could no longer properly do his job and serve his country. Obviously it put him in a horrible mood because he no longer had a career. It didn’t mean he didn’t have money coming in still because he did. He just thought he’d spend his entire life in the military and that didn’t turn out to be the case for him. One mission changed his life and all the plans he’d made for himself.
With no job, he started drinking from the second his eyes opened until he eventually passed out each night. My mom and I couldn’t do anything right either. Everything was our fault and he used his fists, whatever he could pick up, and his feet to hurt us daily. I tried as often as I could to get in between him and my mom. To take the beatings he meant to dish out on her body because she doesn’t deserve to feel pain at his hands. All because he got hurt and was fighting the demons in his head. We tried to talk him into getting help, but he refused. Said there was nothing wrong with him. He just needed a better son and wife, and his life would be okay. Not good, but okay. Instead, he was stuck with us and we were failures.
We ended up moving to a small town, and I met the love of my life the day I started school. Melissa. She was everything I wanted in a girl. Smart, confident, beautiful without knowing it, and didn’t judge a book by it’s cover. She took me for who I am and didn’t push when I didn’t want to talk about something. Mainly my home life. Melissa didn’t come to my house. I didn’t want to subject her to the vile man my father had turned into.
Anyway, back to the task at hand—getting out of this hole and finding Melissa. I vaguely remember hearing her scream my name as I was getting jumped. Plus trying to remember what the hell happened to begin with. I push myself to remember what happened after I got the blanket I keep in my saddle bags laid out for Melissa and me. As I was making sure there weren’t any sticks, rocks, or anything else under the blanket to hurt my girl. Before I could finish doing that, I heard multiple footsteps stomping through the woods at my back.
Melissa and I come out to the lake so we can have alone time together. It’s our spot and we spend as much time here as possible. Especially when her dad isn’t around. He doesn’t want me at their house when he’s not there. I get it. However, we still wanted to spend time together so we found this spot at the lake and started spending all of our time here. Plus, I come out here on my own. At this time of night, there’s no one out here but the two of us. With the wild animals in the area, not many people would brave being out here once dusk hits. We didn’t care about the animals though. I knew I’d do everything in my power to protect my girl and make sure nothing happened to her if a bear or some other animal happened to come at us.
Before I could turn around and see who was coming up behind me, I was hit with something in my back. Instantly I crumbled to the ground as booted feet surrounded me. I counted five men standing around me. They didn’t hesitate to start beating the shit out of me. I tried to protect myself and fight back, but I couldn’t get my bearings about me. They just kept landing one hit after another and kicking me in between the hits. I was disoriented and trying to stand the fuck up so I could fight back. There was no way in hell I would be able to take them all out, but my goal was to get a few of them knocked down so I’d have a chance to breathe and get some space put between us.
It doesn’t take me long before the sound of Melissa’s screams fill the air. I try not to let my attention on the men waver so they can land more hits than my body can take at this point. Honestly, I succeed in blocking her out until I hear a scuffle and find her father, Venom, standing at her back and holding her close. I’m not sure what he’s saying to her, but I can see the anger radiating off him from here. That’s when I try to get the assholes off me so I can get to my girl. However, the hits start raining down more frequently and there’s nothing I can do to get away from the men and to my girl.
I absolutely lose all track of everything when something hard and metal comes down on my head. My body meets the ground and I can’t open my eyes. Blackness is filling me and everything fades away. The only thought in my mind is of Melissa and making sure she’s okay.
***
N ow, I’ve woken up from being knocked the hell out and I’m desperately clawing my way out of this fucking hole. I can’t hear anything and there’s definitely no way I’m opening my eyes in an attempt to see what’s in front of me. That’s a sure way to get the dirt in my eyes so I can’t see anything anyway. So, keeping my eyes and mouth closed, I continue digging my way out of the hole I’ve been buried in.
My body is screaming at me. Especially my left arm. It hurts so fucking bad to move it and I’m trying so hard not to black the fuck out again. That’s how intense the pain is as I dig through the dirt. Finally, my right hand breaks through and a hole is made in the dirt surrounding me. Hope fills me as I fight harder to get the fuck out. My left hand soon follows my right and breaks through the dirt. I use my arms to move the dirt more and try to sit up. It takes me a long time, but I manage to sit up enough to get out of the dirt and take a deeper breath than what I’ve been able to since being buried.
Before attempting to open my eyes, I shake my head. Pain rockets through my head and makes me want to be sick. There’s no way in hell I’m about to use my hands to try and get the dirt off my face and out of my hair before opening my eyes though. Not when I’ve just been digging at this shit for however long. It would do more harm than good as far as I can tell. So, after a few minutes, I manage to crack my eyes open and take in my surroundings.
No one is here. I’ve been left all alone as I try to look around despite the pain filling me and the nausea churning in my gut with any slight movement I make. Melissa is long gone and fear fills me. Yes, I know her dad was with her, but I have a feeling everything that happened here tonight is because of him. That tells me she’s not safe with him and I need to get her away from the club. Venom rules with an iron fist and if he’s behind this then the men who attacked me were members of the club Melissa grew up in.
After pulling myself out of the hole that’s not as deep as it could be, I try to stand on my feet and fall flat on my ass. Pain radiates up my legs and I know there’s no way I’m not going to be able to stand on my own without some sort of assistance. With no other choice, I pull myself toward the parking lot and my bike. I have to stop several times so I don’t black out, but I finally manage to make it there.
My bike is in pieces. It looks as if someone has taken a sledgehammer to the damn thing and destroyed the first thing in my life I bought with my own money. Anger fills me at the thought of these assholes destroying my bike. Especially if they’re bikers and know what a bike means to the man who owns it. They have all told me about the ‘don’t touch another biker’s bike’ thing yet they feel it’s okay to touch mine. Just because I’m not in a club doesn’t mean they have any right to touch something that’s not theirs.
Melissa’s car is in the parking lot next to what’s left of my bike. I know the doors are locked and there’s no way in hell I’m getting in that. Not without the alarm going off. As I look around, I spot the moon glinting off something shiny a few feet to my left. I crawl to get a closer look and find Melissa’s keys at the very edge of the tree line. I’m surprised the little light from the moon was able to hit them where they rest on the grass. Wrapping my right hand around the keys, I slowly turn and drag my body over to my girl’s car. Using the key fob, I unlock the doors and disarm the alarm before getting to the driver’s side of the car.
I have to stop and take a few minutes before reaching up to open the door. Stopping again to catch my breath as even more pain fills my body, I eventually manage to pull myself inside the car and shut the door. My eyes start drooping and I know I don’t have long before I pass out once again. I also know I can’t go back into Mirfield. The second Melissa’s car is spotted, Venom or some other club member will be alerted and they’ll know I made it through their beating and being buried alive. That’s not something I can risk. Not when they have Melissa in their hands and I don’t have the first clue about what’s being done to her at this point in time.
Taking as deep of a breath as I can, I finally start the engine and put the car in reverse. Leaving the parking lot, I continue heading out of town. It’s not long before I realize I’m in farm country and know the houses are going to be few and far between. The first house I come to, I pull down the long, dirt driveway. My vision is turning hazy and I know I don’t have long before I’m completely out of it. Thankfully, I manage to get close enough to an old farmhouse that’s still got a few lights on inside. Parking Melissa’s car, I leave the engine running and barely manage to get the thing in park before opening the door and collapsing out on the ground next to me.
I don’t waste time and move as fast as my broken body will allow me to, I make my way toward the sagging front porch of the house. Time is again lost to me as it feels like several days pass before I make it to the bottom step. I’m covered in sweat, bile is rising in me, and the blackness is filling more and more of my vision as each second passes. There’s no way I’m going to make it to the door. Using the last bit of strength I have in my body, I lift my right arm and slam it down on the boards of the porch. The thud reverberates through me causing my body to tremble with even more pain. It’s loud enough that I can hear footsteps coming from inside though.
Just as the door opens, my eyes slide closed and the blackness pulls me under. I barely hear the voice booming above me as I sink into unconsciousness.
“What the fuck?” a man’s voice sounds, barely breaking through the fog.
I hardly feel my broken body being lifted from the porch and carried inside. The only reason I feel anything at all is because the pressure of the person’s arms on my body is sending even more pain through me. Everything else is lost to me as the blackness wins and I lose my battle.
***
I have no clue how much time has passed as my eyes barely open and I have a hard time seeing where I am. Panic fills me because the last thing I remember is trying to dig my way out of the hole I was buried in. Light surrounds me though. Pain fills me to the point I’m still nauseous, and my vision isn’t clearing up. Thoughts of Melissa break into my mind despite the pain and panic. I’m not sure where she is or what’s going on with her. Something important is niggling at the back of my mind, but I can’t pull it forward to figure out why I need to be worried.
“You’re okay, boy. Really banged up, but the doctor’s been in to see ya. Gonna be back soon to check on ya too. You been here for three days now and haven’t woken up more than a few seconds at a time. The best thing you can do is sleep right now. Let the medicine do it’s job,” a man’s voice booms from somewhere close to me. “Don’t try and move or get up. You don’t have to go to the bathroom in the toilet. Doc got a catheter in ya. Get more rest and know I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe here.”
Without knowing where I am or who I’m with, a feeling of safety floods my body. My heart starts to slow down and my breathing also slows. I never put my trust in someone I don’t know. Even Melissa didn’t have my trust at the beginning. There’s just something about this man that puts me at ease and I know he’s not going to hurt me more than I already am.
“Keeping this off the books, boy. I don’t know who did this to you, but the cops don’t know. Doc won’t say anything either. We discussed it and don’t want no trouble with anyone. So, you rest and know I’m here when you wake up and can stay awake for more than a few minutes.”
I really want to know what the hell has been done to me and by who. Right now, my brain is nothing but a mess and I can’t separate anything to pull the pieces apart. Instead, I let the blackness pull me under once again and rest easy. In the blackness, there’s no one coming for me, no thoughts of Melissa, or anything else. It’s simple relief where immense amounts of pain aren’t filling me.
My body feels as if it’s floating as I look around the darkness. There’s a voice talking in the distance, but I can’t see who it is. In the blackness, I can stand on my own two feet and look around without the pain filling me. Still, I can’t find the source of the voice as it fades in and out. It’s so distant, no words can be made out and I try to force myself to wake up so I know what’s going on. It’s impossible. Nothing I do will bring me back to the surface where I can feel everything and hear things clearer. Frustration fills me as I continue searching for the voice.
It tires me out and I have to stop fighting my way through the blackness. It’s making me feel as if my body is on fire and that’s not good. Feeling the pain is more than enough for me. So, I let the black fog surround me and pull me deeper so I can be done with hearing the voice I’ll never get to again.