Chapter Three
Melissa
I HAVE NO clue how long I’ve been in the basement of the clubhouse. Instead of being taken home when my father took me from the lake, I was brought down here and strapped to a table. In the time I’ve been here, I’ve been beaten, taunted, and degraded by my father and the men in his inner circle. Waking up again, I find myself now also shivering from the freezing cold air surrounding me. At some point, all of my clothes were stripped from me. Minus my bra and panties. I guess it wasn’t enough for them to torture me through my clothing, they wanted to make sure I felt every ounce of pain they could inflict on me.
The men I grew up believing were my uncles and cousins have done so much damage to my body. There isn’t a single spot from my head to my toes that’s not in some sort of pain. I’m covered in blood as well. The one thing I do remember from my time down here is that when one side of me gets too bad to beat, I’m flipped over to the other side. My back feels as if it’s one, giant, open wound instead. It hurts so bad to lay on the wounded flesh that I feel as if I’m going to be sick. When I’m put on the front of my body, it’s the same thing. Unimaginable pain fills every breath I try to take. Hell, I can barely see since my eyes are swollen mostly closed.
Lifting my head, I look down the length of my body as good as I can. I’m covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. Not a single area has been left untouched. Including my stomach. I’m sure my father is trying to ensure I have a miscarriage. He won’t want me to have the children who cost him so much money. The thought of my father selling me fills me and I can’t stop the bile from escaping as I barely have time to turn my head so I don’t get sick all over myself. Throwing up makes my body and head pound in time with my racing heartbeat. I’ve never felt pain like this before.
The pain isn’t only from the beating my father and his club brothers gave me though. It’s also from the thought of losing Zeke. Pictures of him fill my head as my eyes fill with tears. It’s as if a movie is playing on a loop and I relive every moment I spent with Zeke. From the very first day he started school until the night he was so savagely taken from me. No matter how hard I try, I can’t force the images of Zeke out of my head. The pain is too raw and horrible right now. One day I’ll be able to look at pictures of him and remember the time we spent together without the need to break down filling me. At least I hope I’ll be able to.
While I don’t remember much of the beating or taunts my so-called family threw at me, I do remember my father’s words about Zeke. He got right in my face; his own face red and covered in sweat from the exertion of the beating he’d given me. Rage also made his face turn a deep shade of red as well as the vein in his neck stand out as his entire body became taut.
My mind drifts to the words he spewed at me.
“That little bitch who touched you and ruined everything is dead. I paid those men to torture him until he was dead. He’s now laying in a shallow grave where the animals can feast on his remains. Still, it’s better than he deserves for taking money out of our pockets,” my father informs me, his voice deceptively low and calm for all the rage flooding his system. “He’ll never touch another woman or take what’s not his again.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” I cry out as my father slowly backs up from me as I lay strapped to the table in one of their torture rooms.
The table I’m strapped down to is stainless steel and freezing cold as I don’t have more than my bra and panties on. Knives, straps, whips, and anything else you can imagine as a weapon of torture fill the walls and a table against the wall as my eyes dart around, looking for a way to escape. There’s no way for me to leave here until they decide to let me go. At this point, I’m not even sure they’re going to let me out of here alive. My baby or me.
“You’ve always been nothing more than a means to an end. I never wanted you. When your slut of a mother told me she was pregnant, I was forced by your grandfather to do the right thing by her and you. So, I did. I wanted a son; someone who could take over the Burnt Brothers when it was time for me to step down. Your mother couldn’t even get that right. Instead, I got you,” he states as if he’s talking about the weather instead of my life. “Knowing you ain’t got any friends led me to formulate a plan. I sold you off to the highest bidder. A member of one of the cartels we work with every now and then. He wanted you a virgin upon delivery and I’ve already spent the money we were given for you. The rest of the money is supposed to come once I deliver you. We’ve all spent the money. Now, it’s our lives on the line and that’s not acceptable.”
My father and his inner circle leave the room, their laughter echoing off the cold, cement walls around me.
His inner circle consists of the officers of the club. All the men who have been in the club with him since the very beginning. These men who were my uncles growing up and made sure I could defend myself, protected me, and were loving. That’s all changed now. The evil sound fills my ears and plays on a loop as memories of happier times fill my mind. Of birthday parties with the members of the club surrounding me, laughter, teaching me how to drive, shoot, fight, and everything else these men I loved as if they were my own blood did for me when I was growing up. It was all a lie. I’m just not sure when things changed. Or what made them decide to sell me to the highest bidder.
I’m truly on my own now. Oaklynn is gone and I don’t have a way to contact her right now. Zeke is dead and I’ll never see his smile that only I ever got again. My family in the club is shattered and there’s not anyone I can count on any longer. There is no way I’ll be able to tell who’s on my side and who’s simply a spy for my father and his circle of assholes.
***
I have no clue when I was moved into my room at the clubhouse. I’ve been in and out of consciousness for I don’t even know how long. It could be hours or days at this point. The only constant I remember is the pain in my body and my shattered heart. Tears are also a constant when I’m coherent. So much has been ripped from me in such a short amount of time. I have never in my life felt pain like this. The only person I want right now is Oaklynn.
The men who took turns beating me were laughing their asses off about me losing my baby. I’m not sure if I have or not; there’s been no bleeding that I’ve noticed yet. However, I’m not sure how much time has passed or what’s happened when I’ve been out of it. My greatest fear is that I’ll lose the last piece of Zeke I have left. The only thing that will make it even a little bit easier to know he’s truly gone from this world for no good reason. All because my father is a selfish man and doesn’t want to lose his own life versus protecting me—his only child.
I’m lying in my bed, not tied to it for some reason. My bladder is letting me know it’s full and I need to go to the bathroom. Slowly, still causing unbearable pain to fill every inch of my body, I slide off the bed. I don’t even sit up all the way as my feet hit the floor and I take a few minutes before attempting to stand up. Spots are already filling my vision as I try to push myself from the bed. I’m dizzy and there’s an overwhelming need to get sick as I get to my unsteady feet and sway to and fro for a second before I lean on the small stand next to my bed. Whatever’s on top of it crashes to the floor at my feet.
Before I can take a step from the spot I’m rooted to, my door slowly opens. Sweat covers my body from the pain and trying to stand as my eyes begin to flutter close and my breathing picks up to an alarming rate. I can’t seem to get a full breath in my lungs as my head slowly turns to see Jace, one of the Prospects, sneaking in my door and softly shutting it behind him. Jace races to my side and catches me before I fall to the floor.
When we were in school, Jace was in my class. He never once taunted or tortured me like the other boys in our class. Jace kept to himself, only hanging out with others when he was on the football or baseball fields. If he wasn’t at practice or a game, he was alone. I’m not sure why and I never got the chance to ask him. He was even shyer than Oaklynn. Always the first to leave class when it was over and the last one in making it just before the bell would ring. There was never a chance to talk to him about anything. Even during group projects, he’d try to work alone without a partner. I was always so sad for him and wanted to befriend him. The only reason I didn’t was because I could never tell if someone truly wanted to be my friend or wanted me as an in for the club.
“Melissa, are you okay?” he asks me, keeping his arms locked around my body.
“I. Need. To. Go. To. The. Bathroom,” I grit out between short intakes of breath.
“Alright. Let me help you,’ he softly responds, picking me up in his arms as agonizing pain fills me.
Jace apologizes repeatedly as he carries me into the bathroom attached to my room. He helps me push my panties down before setting me on the toilet. After he’s positive I’m not going to fall off and hit my head, he turns his back without leaving me alone. Once I’ve wiped, I let him know I’m done. He helps me stand up before pulling my underwear back up to cover me. My entire body is freezing as I begin to shiver violently.
“I’m gettin’ you outta here,” he informs me. “I called Oaklynn when I found out what was bein’ done to you. I’ve got clothes for you to put on and a backpack of things from your dad’s house. Your purse and license are in there. I’ve also got you a burner phone with Oaklynn’s number in it. My number is in there too. Your phone is still sittin’ in your dad’s truck. I don’t want them to be able to track you. I’ll be takin’ you to the bus stop. I can’t be gone for the two days it will take to get you to Oaklynn. I’m sorry about Zeke.”
Tears course down my face once again.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen to you if you get caught helping me escape. Jace, they’ll kill you,” I tell him, knowing I need his help, but I don’t want him to die for me.
“I’m not comin’ back here. You’ll be headin’ to Oaklynn and I’ll be headin’ in the opposite direction. If anyone suspects anythin’, they’ll have to choose which one of us to follow. I’ll do everythin’ I can to get them on my tail instead of yours. This is our one and only chance to get outta here,” Jace pleads with me. “They’re gone for about an hour or two at the very most.”
With a slight nod of my head, Jace takes me back into my room and sets me carefully on the edge of the bed. Before dressing me, Jace takes pictures of my entire body. He documents all the abuse that’s been done to me. While he’s taking them, he lets me know I’ve been at the clubhouse for just over a week now. During the entire time, I’ve been beaten, laughed at, recorded, and not given more than a few sips of water each hour. They didn’t want me to die before they were ready to make it happen. I was only moved to my room that morning and it’s now late afternoon. Jace just found out what was happening when he was forced to move my limp, lifeless body. That’s how he described me as he finishes taking the pictures.
I’m not sure what he’s going to do with them; it’s not my business. Maybe he’ll use them against the club to ensure his own safety. Or maybe he’ll show them to someone who can take down my father and the rest of his family. All I know is I’ll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. If it’s not my father and the club coming after me, it will be whoever bought me. Someone will want to finish the job my father started. Especially when I know the men surrounding my father and him don’t like to leave witnesses.
Jace helps me get dressed carefully before we leave the clubhouse. He sneaks me out the back door of the building where there’s already a car waiting. The windows are tinted to the point I can’t tell if anyone is in there or not. Jace sets me carefully on my feet before opening the back door. He’s thought of everything as there’s a blanket laying on the seat to make it more comfortable for me. Once I’m as comfortable as I’ll be, he shuts me in and jumps in the driver’s seat. We take off and the pain makes me fall asleep once more. I welcome the relief the black fog gives me. It takes away all the pain from the beatings and knowing the man I love will never come back to me again.
I don’t wake up until Jace is picking me up from the backseat at the bus station. He’s already bought my ticket for the trip and has everything for me ready to go. A baseball hat is placed low on my head to hide some of the bruising and cuts on my face along with a hoodie. When I look down at it, I realize it’s one of Zeke’s. I stole it from him when we first got together and were out at the lake. It still smells just like him. Jace even helps me on the bus before kissing me on the top of my head. Once I’m settled in the seat, he leaves me with one last wave through the heavily tinted bus window. Laying my head against the glass, I wait for the bus to take off.
The pain is worse as the bus finally moves and we hit the highway. I now have two days on this bus with barely any stops. Jace set a bag of food next to the bags of clothes and other things he packed for me before we left. I literally have my purse, two bags of clothes from my father’s, the blanket that was in the backseat, and the bag of food and water. Thankfully there’s a bathroom on the bus because I’m sure at some point I’ll need it. I’m not moving from this seat, with the exception of going to the bathroom, until I reach my final stop. I can’t move fast enough to get off and on the bus so there’s no point in trying. Plus, the more I show myself to others, the more likely it will be they’ll see the evidence of what I’ve been through.
I don’t really want to eat right now, but I know I need to. The thought of still being pregnant fills me and it’s the only reason why I open the bag as carefully as I can so things don’t spill all over. Digging through the bag, I pull out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, bottle of water, and small bag of corn chips. Eating my small meal, my stomach wants to revolt, but I manage to keep everything down. After finishing the food, I put the garbage back in the bag and tie it up. Moving everything around so my food is hidden from the other passengers, I grab the blanket and cover myself completely.
Closing my eyes, I let sleep claim me as memories of Zeke circle through my mind. I don’t notice the lone tear sliding slowly down my pale, bruised cheek as sleep claims me fully. My body needs to rest and heal from the damage inflicted on me by the men I’ll never willingly see again. Men I thought would never betray me or do the horrible things they’ve done to me over the last week. The last image I see is Zeke smiling down at me telling me everything will be okay.